“ L et me take you on a date.”
“A date?” Kendall grinned.
“Do kraken date?”
I shook my head.
“Not in the sense you’re used to. However, I have a plan. I had our researchers read up on Earth and its customs. The dates sound fun.”
“Some are,” she said.
“Have you been on many?” I hoped not.
If she had, I wasn’t sure I could compete, since I was making everything up as I went along.
Kendall shook her head.
“No. I’ve read about them.”
“When you were studying other planets’ customs and comparing them to your own.” I nodded sagely.
Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson.
“Not quite,” she replied.
“From shows?” I frowned after I asked.
Didn’t make sense.
One watched shows, not read them.
“No,” she squeaked.
“I, ah, well,” she paused and sucked in a deep breath.
“You have to understand we had a lot of downtime on the ship. I’m a bit socially awkward, so I read a lot.”
“Right.” I waited.
“Did you observe others on your ship and take notes on their courting rituals?”
Kendall shook her head.
“No. Oh my, this is embarrassing. I read romance books. All kinds. Historical, science fiction romance, contemporary romance, which to be fair were probably historical by the time I got to them, and,” she mumbled something unintelligible.
“I didn’t catch the last part.”
She repeated whatever she’d said, mouthing the word.
My shoulders rose in a shrug and I shook my head.
Still had no clue.
“I can’t believe you’re going to make me say it.” Her flush climbed from her chest to her hairline.
“Say what?”
“Monster romance. They were my favorites.”
A monster.
Unexpected.
“Do you see me as a monster?”
She reached one of her tiny hands to my chest.
“No. You’re not a monster. Intimidating at first. You’re enormous, at least a head taller than anyone I’ve ever seen. It’s kind of,” she sighed.
“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like you swam out of the pages of one of my favorite books.”
Fabulous.
Reality was even worse than I thought.
She was going to hold me to a fictional man, or monster’s standard.
Just what I needed.
Impossible standards to live up to.
A pit formed in my stomach.
“Unfortunately, you’re stuck with a very real monster who has never been on a date.” I extended my arm.
“Would you care to accompany me, anyway?”
Kendall smiled and placed her hand in the crook of my elbow.
“It would be an honor.”
I led her up a pearl staircase hidden behind a door in our bedchamber.
We emerged at the top, and I pushed through a curtain of kelp aside, revealing my private balcony on top of the palace.
A table for two rested to the right.
A centerpiece of glowing flora rested near the edge, and I’d brought up a meal earlier when I decided to put my plan of wooing my mate into action.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
I nodded.
“It’s one of my favorite places. I come here to sit and think. It’s peaceful. I enjoy watching the city at night.” I held a chair for Kendall.
“Come. Feast.” I’d prepared a platter of her favorites.
“You did this for me?”
“Of course.” We ate and talked about everything.
No topic was off limits.
She asked me about my family, and I told her stories of my misspent youth causing mischief with Ahtu.
She laughed at my recollection of my first time eating a spiny creature with venom that caused my hands, face and lips to swell, and how I’d denied it to my mother.
Eventually, we lapsed into companionable silence after the tray of food emptied.
My eyes glowed, illuminating her face framed by a halo of wavy blonde hair.
She looked ethereal, otherworldly.
Beautiful.
Mine.
Eyes on the prize, Bourne, I chastised myself.
Go slow.
Don’t scare her off.
“Would you like to see why this is my favorite spot?” Kendall nodded.
I sat against one of the marbled columns and pulled her up next to me, nestling her between my legs and tentacles.
“Look,” I said, pointing to the city below.
It glimmered and teemed with life.
“If we stay quiet, sometimes music drafts up.”
“Really?” her eyes widened.
“How amazing.”
“This is where the night gets even better. See the darkened current?”
“Yes.”
“Watch.”
Kendall looked on in awe as a school of jellyfish floated in on the current.
Combined with the music drifting upward, the jellyfish appeared to dance, their thin, hairlike tentacles glowing, pulsing, propelling them forward.
Her mouth opened in an O.
I loved watching her experience their dance.
“It never gets old.”
“Thank you for showing me, Bourne. I wish I could see it again. How often do they dance?”
“Every few rotations.”
She rested her head against my chest.
“I suppose you’ll have to let me know earlier next time so I can prepare.”
It took some moments for my brain to process her words.
“So you’ll stay?”
“Bourne, you didn’t have to go through the trouble of tonight to convince me to stay.”
“Oh?”
Kendall shook her head, blond hair undulating with the waves.
“No. I feel at peace here. I feel more myself, more at ease and comfortable in my skin.” She laughed, raising her arm, showing off delicate scales, an outward symbol of her change.
“Even though it doesn’t look like my own.”
Heat crept into my face.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to save you.”
She caressed my cheek.
“I’m glad you did. Don’t look so worried. I want to stay.”