Page 23 of Salt and Knot

There’s a beat of silence, and my heart cracks. This is a lot for her to take on. She hasn’t been searching for her fated mate for centuries. She hasn’t had the depths of despair, and given up, like I have.

“For now.” I stop, because my kraken is boiling with rage that I’m suggesting anything other than immediate consummation and bonding. What if she rejected me? Could I accept that? My kraken certainly wouldn’t. “Once your heat passes it should get easier,” I grit out the words.

“Oh.” She looks over at the horizon then down at our entwined bodies. “Still, I need to get my stuff from the beach. Assuming it hasn’t been stolen,” she half laughs, but in a way that isn’t joking.

The beach. Fuck. Where my kraken took liberties with her. Can I control my kraken side enough if we were so close to open water?

“If it has been, I’ll replace it,” I offer. It’s not like money is an issue, and I’d love to see her smile and have everything she’s ever wanted. “And anything else you want. Maybe that’s easier⁠—”

“No need.” She shakes her head. “I had my whole life in that bag. And I can just⁠—”

“Isla,” I say to get her sincere attention.

“Yes?” She’s sweet and clear-eyed and has no idea I’m a monster.

“I should explain that…” I hesitate. Can I really tell her that I can’t trust half of myself not to drag her into the water and try to give her a bonding bite?

Chapter 12

Isla

My fated mate. He feels it too. It’s all so much to take in. I feel like I’ve slipped through the cracks of reality, but he says he’s my mate, which agrees with the pounding madness in my head.

Mate mate mate.

Though, he doesn’t want to bond. Oh sure, he phrased it that I’m so young and whatever, but I know that he’s just too honourable to reject me himself. He’s centuries old. What if he has other women? I don’t think you can have other mates, but immortals might be different? They’re the stuff of legend and secrecy. A tiny percent of the population, and tend to keep themselves to themselves.

Until you pass out next to one of their houses after being deliciously violated by a sea creature, apparently.

I breathe and try to clear my head of all the fuzz and heat and confusion. I’d like to get a second opinion on this, because my body is clamouring that Dylan is everything for me. The person I didn’t know I was missing. But then he’s saying that he can give me space, and is he being weird about me getting my stuff?

“Explain what?” I ask when he doesn’t continue.

The corner of his mouth lifts in an almost sad expression. “I’ve had a lot of time to save money. Let me spend it on you, little omega.”

I blink. It’s so unexpected. “And it’s your money. I don’t want you wasting⁠—”

“What do you think it was for?” he interrupts me. “I’ve had hundreds of years to dream about how I’d spoil my fated mate, if I was lucky enough to find her.”

“Oh.” I don’t know how to respond to that.

“So we can leave the bag?” he suggests. “I’ll just buy you⁠—”

“I need my phone, at least,” I say firmly, rising from his lap. The loss of his cock inside me is an immediate ache, but I straighten. I don’t want him to think I’ll just take his stuff. “It has all my contacts. Hopefully I can make it to the beach…”

Dylan moves with me, catching my hand in his wordlessly, and it’s sparks of pleasure just from that slight touch.

“You’re coming with me?” I ask in a small voice.

“You’re in heat, Isla. I don’t want you passing out again. And you’re my mate. I want to be with you,” he says casually.

My heart does a bubbly thing, happy. My fated mate.

We chat as we walk, Dylan pointing out landmarks, the different names of the hills, and the little pink flowers. And he asks me about the trip I was taking before it got so waylaid and squeezes my hand when I tell him about the plan, and how I wanted to spend time next to water and see as much of it as possible. From cliffs, and beaches, and just… Be near it.

“I love the sea, too,” he admits softly as we take the turning off the main path and make our way down the little track, to the beach where he found me. As we get to the sand, Dylan falls silent.

A few steps, and I see my bag and clothes exactly where I left them, and surge forwards.