by Abbie McAnn
“Are you okay?”
She thought at first that the deep masculine voice belonged to Michael. She hadn’t even heard him open the bathroom door.
“Go away,” she muttered, then threw up again. As she did, a hand rested on her back and started to rub it. It immediately soothed her, and her spinning head started to right itself.
The hand couldn’t possibly belong to Michael.
When she was done, she opened her eyes and looked to her side. She couldn’t see the hand that was rubbing her back.
“Sam,” she whispered.
“I’m right here, Kate.”
She searched for his eyes and let out a sigh of relief when she looked up high enough to find them.
“What about Michael and Jessica?” She asked.
“He took her to bed a twenty minutes ago. He didn’t even bother to come to check on you. That guy is an asshole,” Sam growled.
“Oh. He’s never liked me very much,” Kate replied.
“His loss,” Sam muttered. “Here, I brought you some water.”
Kate was touched. She sipped on the glass and managed to keep the water down.
They sat together on the bathroom floor for a long time. The bathroom was bigger than most, but she was still surprised that Sam fit. He couldn’t kneel like she was, so she had to crane her neck to see his eyes. But she didn’t care, she was just glad that he was here.
She could hear some shuffle coming from the bathroom floor and something brushed against her leg. Before he could move it, she reached out and grabbed the tentacle.
“Kate,” Sam said. She didn’t know if it was a warning or an invitation. She didn’t care. She was too focused on the fact that after all these long months, she was finally getting to touch that part of him.
The outer side of his tentacle was surprisingly soft and smooth. She ran her fingers over it, awed by the feel. She had the urge to rub it against her cheek, though she thought better of it.
Her fingers trailed down to the underside where she knew his suckers were. She ran her hand over them and was surprised when they sucked at her skin. It didn’t hurt, in fact, Kate kind of liked the feeling. It tickled.
With just the tip of her finger, she traced the brim of one of the suckers. It pulled on her finger, closing around it and sucked.
She was so wrapped up in her exploration, that she was shocked when Sam moaned.
Her eyes shot up to his, fast enough to make her dizzy again.
As hard as she looked, she couldn’t find his eyes. Were they closed?
The sucker continued to suckle her finger. It was a strange sensation, but not a bad one. She was dying to know what he was thinking.
“Does that...does that feel good?” Kate asked hesitantly.
“Yes,” Sam hissed.
That one word was enough to cure Kate of her sickness. She no longer needed to throw up. She felt hot and bothered for very different reasons.
“Why?” she whispered.
“I can taste through my suckers. The pads are extremely sensitive. They can sense more than any of my other senses combined.” Sam’s voice was very strained when he replied.
“Oh,” she replied. “OH.”
Her face heated up as she registered what he had said. He was tasting her. She might as well have stuck her finger right into his mouth.
What did she taste like to him? It seemed like he enjoyed it since her tentacle was still sucking on her finger.
Sam cleared his throat. All too soon, he let her finger go and gently pulled his tentacle out of her grasp.
“I think maybe I should get you to bed,” Sam said.
Warm arms wrapped around her and she was suddenly floating in the air. It was too confusing for her brain to process the fact that she was being held by someone she couldn’t see. She closed her eyes and imagined his blueish-gray chest. She snuggled closer to it. She could stay like this in his arms forever.
It was strange to feel Sam walk. He didn’t have the two-beat gait that everyone else did. Instead, he glided across the floor. It really did feel like she was floating.
“Wait, Sam,” She said, probably a little too loudly. But she wasn’t concerned about Jessica and Michael right now.
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to be alone tonight. Please let me stay with you.”
Sam stopped moving.
“That’s not a very good idea. I think you should stay in your own bed.”
“No, please,” she pleaded. “I promise I won’t do anything. Just sleep. I just...I missed you today and I don’t want to be alone.”
He was silent for a long time. Was the idea of sharing a bed with her really that repulsive?
“Ok,” Sam finally said.
Before she knew it, Sam was laying her down onto a soft bed. He started to remove his arms from her, and her hand shot out to grab his.
“I’m not leaving,” he whispered. “I just had to set you down before I could get into bed.”
She only let him go after making him promise to return.
She felt the bed dip beside her. She rolled over, hoping to get to see him, but he was still camouflaged.
“Here,” he said, as he laid his extremely large comforter over both of them.
Tentacles brushed against her legs and she scooted closer to him. She felt for his chest with her hand and then moved so that her head was laying on it. She draped her arm across his stomach and moaned at how good he felt.
He was stiff as a board and it took several minutes for him to relax. She sighed when he finally closed his arms around her. Tentacles wrapped around her legs and his suckers gently tickling her skin through her leggings.
She was lulled to sleep by his warm, sure body encircling hers.
Chapter 15
“Kate.”
She could feel someone shaking her and she wanted them to go away. She was having the most wonderful dream and she never wanted it to stop.
“Kate, I think it’s time to wake up.”
She groaned and tried to roll away from whoever was talking, except that she couldn’t. Something was wrapped around her legs and upper body, holding her in place.
She was trapped!
She started to struggle as her eyes flew open.
It took her a moment to realize that she wasn’t actually trapped, it was just Sam holding her. By the time that she did, he had completely released her. She regretted her struggle, missing the feel of him wrapped around her.
“Sorry,” she whispered. When she spoke, she was able to smell her breath in the air. It was horrible. It smelled just like vomit.
Oh shit, did I throw up last night? Did Sam see me? That is so embarrassing!
Her breath wasn’t the only horrible thing. There was a pounding in her head that was growing by the second. It felt like someone had beat the crap out of her.
“Uhh,” she groaned as she sat up and clutched her aching head.
“Are you okay?” Sam asked, his voice clouded with worry.
“Yeah, just hungover. This is why only morons drink as much as I did yesterday. It feels like a bitch in the morning,” Kate said.
Sam made a sympathetic noise.
“I think that Michael and Kate are going to get up soon since he told you that he was going to take care of the animals in the morning,” Sam said. “Do you need me to carry you to your room?”
She considered his offer, if only to be in his arms again for another few minutes. “No, it’s okay. I’m sure I can make it upstairs just fine. Wait, how did you know that Michael said that?”
“You guys weren’t exactly being quiet out there.”
“Oh,” Kate replied. Did that mean that Sam had heard everything she and Jessica had talked about? If he did, then she might just die of embarrassment.
“I think I better go now,” she muttered as she got out of bed.
The world spun as she stood up and she had to hold on to the bed until it passed.
“Are you sure that you don’t ne
ed my help?”
Kate declined his offer again and left his room. She made a quick pit stop in the kitchen for some Tylenol and water, before making the trek upstairs. Her head hurt too much for her to focus on how embarrassing her behavior was last night. It was punishment enough.
She fell back into her own bed, almost immediately falling asleep. She didn’t know how long she slept for, but the next time she was woken up it was by Jessica.
She cracked eyes open when she felt someone pull on the covers. She groaned and turned to see Jessica crawling into her bed.
“Morning, sleeping head,” Jessica said as she snuggled up next to her.
“I’m going to kill you,” Kate said.
“Oh, come on, you always say that. And it never stops you from drinking with me again. You have to admit that it was fun.”
Thankfully, the Tylenol had kicked in while she was asleep. The pounding in her head had lessened to a subtle ache.
“I suppose that it was a little bit of fun,” Kate relented.
Jessica pouted, making her laugh.
“Okay, fine. I had a lot of fun with you. I’m really glad that you made the drive up here to see me. I didn’t realize how much I needed a girl’s day,” Kate said, and she meant it. It wasn’t something that her poor body could handle doing all the time, but she had loved spending the day with her sister.
“Look, Kate,” Jessica said, her tone much more serious than before. “I know that Michael really wanted the money from the inheritance and honestly, I did too. But even with it, Michael still works just as much as he did before. And it wasn’t like we weren’t already well off. I’ve been thinking and maybe it’s time for you to come back home. I need you more than I need the money. And I’m worried about you. No one should have to live like this, especially not a twenty-five-year-old woman in the prime of her life. I wouldn’t be mad if you decided to leave and I can deal with however Michael reacts. Who knows, maybe we can petition the will again and higher someone else.”
Kate stared at her sister as her eyes glazed over with tears. This was by far the most selfless thing that Jessica had ever said. Was her sister really willing to turn down millions of dollars just for her? One look in Jessica’s eyes was all it took to know that she was being sincere.
She turned away from Jessica, laying back on her back to stare at the ceiling.
Jessica was giving her an out. Not only had Kate been able to pay off all her debt over the last six months, but she had also been able to save up quite a big nest egg. If she left here, she would be able to start over and really make something of her life. She could finally go to college or she could travel the world if she wanted to. She could do anything.
Not everything though. If she chose to leave here, she would be leaving behind one very important part of her life, something she didn’t think that she would ever be able to replace.
“I know that you don’t understand how I can like it here, but this place is my home. I’ve found something at this lake house that I’m never going to find anywhere else. I could search the whole world and never find it again. I’m so happy here, Jess. I don’t want you to worry about me anymore. This is where I belong, and I’ll stay here as long as this place lets me.”
I belong here with Sam and I’ll stay here as long as he lets me.
∞∞∞
It was bittersweet when Michael and Jessica finally left. She stood in the driveway, waving at them as their car disappeared down the long drive. She was going to really miss her big sister. And after what she had offered this morning, Kate had a newfound appreciation for her.
But she also really needed to go find Sam. She needed to explain her behavior from last night and make sure she hadn’t hurt their friendship by insisting that she spend the night with him. She had been waiting all morning for them to leave since she couldn’t talk to Sam with them here.
She stood out there until the car disappeared into the trees and any sign of them was gone.
Kate turned back towards the front door.
Her heart stopped.
“Sam,” she gasped. Both of her hands came up to cover her face in shock.
Sam was standing in front of the house. She knew this, because she could see him.
Sam was finally giving her an unobstructed view of his body in all its beautiful glory.
Her eyes went first to the parts that she had gotten to see before. She stared at his cerulean eyes, his strong arms, and the tapered ends of his fascinating tentacles. But now she had a chance to finally take in the rest of him. He was even more handsome than she could have imagined.
He had a strong jaw, well-defined cheekbones, and an elegantly straight nose. His strong features were perfectly contrasted by soft, inviting lips. He was completely hairless, but his strong brow took away any weirdness from his missing eyebrows.
He turned his head, allowing her to see the side of his head and neck. Instead of having an ear, there was a hole where it should be. There were three lines on the side of his neck, the same ones she had noticed before. As she stared, they opened just wide enough for her to see the membrane inside before closing again.
He had gills!
Kate felt silly for not realizing what they were when she had seen them before. It made perfect sense that he would have them. He needed some way to breathe underwater.
Her eyes went further south, tracing the lines of his well-defined abdominal muscles. He was in much better shape than Kate had imagined, even after getting to feel some of his muscles. He wasn’t bulky though, his shape resembling more of a swimmer's body. At about where his belly button should be, his skin changed into the silky texture of his tentacles. She was finally able to see all of them.
It was fascinating to see how they were able to hold him up. She wanted to watch him walk, to be able to see how he moved. What was he like in the water? It would be amazing to watch him swim.
Sam wasn’t hiding any part of himself, not even his skin tone. He wasn’t pretending to be Caucasian like she was. Instead, his skin was the familiar bluish-gray.
He was finally letting her see all of him.
Kate couldn’t contain her emotions anymore as tears spilled down her cheeks.
She ran to him and threw her arms around him.
“What does this mean? I-I thought that you didn’t feel the same way,” Kate said.
She looked up at his face, thrilled by the fact that she could finally see it. She no longer had to decipher his emotions from his eyes.
“Of course, I feel the same way. I love you so much Kate, I always have,” Sam said, and she could see the sincerity and love plainly written on his handsome face.
“You do?” she asked in disbelief. “But it’s been such a long time. It’s been five months since I made you promise. If you felt the same way, then why did you wait so long to show yourself to me? I thought that you didn’t feel the same way, that you just wanted to be friends. Why did you wait so long?”
“Because what you said back then was right. I’ve been stuck here with just John for most of my life. How could I not instantly fall in love with the first woman that shows up here? You were so beautiful, so full of life--I knew that I would do anything to have you.
“After I made that promise to you, I took the time to make sure that you were really want I wanted. I had to be sure that I didn’t just want you because there were no other women here. Kate, I was so fucking in love with you, I knew it had to be real. Everything about you, your kind heart, your amazing work ethic, your fascination with the outdoors, your silly jokes, your horrible taste in movies, and your heart-stopping smile; how could I not fall hopelessly in love with you? I just didn’t know how to show you. I was terrified that you were never going to believe me. And then as time passed, I started to become just as scared that I had missed my chance. You seemed to be moving on and I didn’t know how to stop it. I didn’t want to miss my chance with you, but I also didn’t want to ruin our friendship. I wasn’t lying when I said tha
t you were the best thing that ever happened to me. And last night--fuck, I knew then that I had waited too long.”
“I don’t understand what you mean. You thought you missed your chance because I wanted to spend the night with you? Because that was me saying that I was still really fucking into you,” Kate said.
Sam chuckled before getting serious again. His face twisted and he looked like he was in pain.
“No, before that. I was stuck in my room, forced to listen to you and Jessica talk about those guys on tinder. I was furious at myself for missing my chance and was practically going insane from jealousy,” Sam paused, closing his eyes for a moment. She stared at his face, seeing the heartbreak and longing that so perfectly echoed her own. “Did I miss my chance, Kate? Are you going to sleep with one of those guys?”
There was only one way that Kate knew to respond. She gently pushed on the back of Sam’s neck and stood on her tippy-toes so that she could press her lips to his.
Sam groaned as she moved her lips against his. She knew that this was his first kiss and she tried to take it slow. Sam wasn’t having any of it. He lifted her up in his arms as his tentacles wrapped around her legs, locking her in place. He deepened the kiss, taking his time to explore every part of her mouth.
She wanted to cry when he finally pulled away. She couldn’t believe that she had finally gotten to kiss him. And it was so much better than she could have ever imagined. The things he did with his tongue...Kate couldn’t believe it was his first kiss.
Sam leaned his forehead against hers. They were both panting and his hot breath against her skin was doing strange things to her body. She was so turned on that she could barely think. All she knew was that she needed more of him.
She leaned back in for another kiss, but Sam pulled away with a groan.
“Wait,” Sam panted. “Just--I need to know I’m the one you want. I can’t--I don’t think I can do this if there are other guys. I have to know, Kate.”
She needed to clear the air right now because she was going to explode if she didn’t have him.
