Page 41 of Whispers of the Starlit Sea (Avalore Chronicles #1)
Chapter twenty-five
A rick paced the damp sand, its grains slipping beneath his boots as the waves whispered against the shore. The sun was still two handbreadths above the horizon, casting gold rays across the water, but he was anxious for Sorcha to return.
Deep down, he questioned whether she would. But she had promised. And if she chose to stay with her family, well…he’d find a way to be with her anyway.
He rubbed his chest. The ache of separation no longer tore at him, but he didn’t need a magical tether to tell him how much he adored being by her side.
Not quite a month had passed since he had woken up on that beach after the storm that had nearly killed him and Thomas. And he’d found her there — lost, alone, and unclothed.
He hadn’t understood it then, but something had compelled him to bring her with him. And he knew without a doubt that it was more than just magic that kept drawing him back to her.
The soft strains of her lullaby floated across the waves. He turned, and a smile meant for her alone curved his lips.
She was back.
The setting sun reflected off her shimmering scales as her powerful fin sent droplets flying, scattering rainbows through the air.
She swam close to shore, until the rocks kept her from coming closer.
Once again, he splashed out into the shallows to lift her from the sea’s embrace.
She fit perfectly against him, her arms sliding around his neck as if they’d always belonged there.
“You came back,” he whispered, his forehead pressed to hers.
“I said I would,” she teased, her voice as soft as his.
The sunset painted the horizon in hues of gold and rose, streaking the water with molten light. The broken silhouette of the castle stood sentinel in the distance, a reminder of all they had survived.
Sorcha turned her face up toward him, her sapphire eyes wide. “I’m choosing the human world, but do I really belong here?” she whispered, her voice trembling ever so slightly. “I’ve never really fit in anywhere.”
His thumb drew circles on her back where scales turned to skin. “You fit with me.”
She drew a shaky breath. “But I want to explore…do things…see the world. I don’t want to hold you back — I don’t want to force you to follow me.”
“You wouldn’t be.” His grip tightened just a little. “I’d follow you wherever you wish to go or wait for you to come back, if that’s what you need. Because I want you to be yourself, whatever that looks like.”
Her lashes glimmered with unshed tears. “And if I get lost? Unsure of my purpose…unsure of who I really am… What then?”
He drew her close. “Then I will be there. I’ll be your siren amid the storms. I’ll call you back to me, no matter how far you roam. I’ll be your safe harbor, your ship upon the waves.”
He tightened his embrace, feeling the softness of her damp curls against his cheek as she turned up her face to him, smiling with pure, vulnerable love.
His pulse thundered in his veins as he paused just a breath away, letting their noses brush in a fleeting caress.
When she leaned in, he captured her lips with his own, gentle at first, then deepening, until there was no space left between them, only warmth, connection, and the promises that anchored their hearts.
Her hand slid along his jaw, burying in his hair, drawing him even closer.
And in that kiss was their vow — that no matter how far they strayed, they would always find their way back to each other.