“Oh, here, let me get the blanket.”
He was out in the bedroom and returning with the colourful blanket before I could tell him not to bother. Draping it over me, he made sure I was covered.
“Better?”
“Actually, I wantedyouto wrap me up and keep me warm.”
He glanced at the bathroom door. “Are you sure?”
The little happy fire that had been burning in my gut since I’d convinced myself that this whole poly thing could work suddenlydimmed, almost going out. Maybe I’d been wrong about it, after all.
Making my voice as cheerful as I could, I said, “You don’t have to. It’s okay if you only want to be with Declan. He’s amazing. I get it. And we can still make it work. We can have like an open relationship or something. Is that what it’s called? Where’s Declan’s phone, I need to look it up.”
Before I could stand up and search for Declan’s phone, Erik sat beside me and grabbed me in his arms, pulling me back against him so I was half-laying on him. His arms wound tightly around my chest and he arranged the blanket so it covered my feet to keep them toasty.
His breath was warm on my ear as he spoke, a strange, slightly pleasurable physical sensation that emphasised his words. “From what I already know about the two of you, I’ve already worked out that we are really going to have to work on clear and open communication. So let me put my cards on the table. I like Declan.”
“You more thanlikehim,” I corrected, and then worried I’d gone too far.
Erik huffed out a breath that might have been a chuff of laughter but I couldn’t see him to check. “You’re right. I just said we needed to be clear and then I hedged. So let me be clear: I love Declan.”
His hands stroked over my arms and down my stomach.
“Relax,” he said.
I hadn’t realised I’d become tense. “Sorry.”
“I like you. I feel like I know you better than I should after meeting you, what, five days ago? Declan’s told me all about you. I like you a lot already, more than I thought possible.”
Relaxing again under Erik’s gentle hands, leaning back on his hard chest which, by the way, don’t think I hadn’t noticed, I let my mouth get away from me.
“I know what you mean. Declan’s been talking about you for months and I could hear how much he cared about you, how much you meant to him, and it made me sick with envy. Then I met you and I couldn’t even hate you properly.”
I twisted my head round to look at Erik’s face.
“Oops. I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”
He smiled and his hand brushed against my arm. “I think it’s best to tell the truth. It’ll help us all in the long run, even if it’s awkward right now.”
“Are you, um, thinking of keeping me around for the long-haul then?”
Was that too obvious? Why did I not have the ability to subtle like other people?
His arms tightened around me.
It was a good answer.
I relaxed, turning back to face away from him, watching the fire crackle merrily and grow.
“Hold me properly,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Properly. With your tentacles too.”
Erik hesitated, and I was about to twist round again, afraid I’d crossed a lineagain, but then he breathed, “Do you really not mind them?”
“I like them. They’re soft and strong, and they make me feel safe. I remember them from the water.”
