“I am so sorry. I don’t know what has gotten into him,” he apologizes, scrunching up the tissue.
“Maybe he’s hungry. We did get distracted last night,” I say, kindly making an excuse for the horrible creature.
“He has an automatic feeder, and have you seen him? It’s not like he’s starving.” He moves back inside, and I follow him.
He heads toward the cat tree where Stormy is still standing guard, watching over his domain. He picks up the giant animal, and I watch as he snuggles his face into him while scolding him like he’s reprimanding a toddler.
I’m not sure what breed of cat he is, but he’s bigger than any I’ve seen before. He bats at Nox’s face playfully, not a claw in sight, before Nox carries him under his arm into the kitchenand prepares him a can of wet food. He places it in a little ceramic bowl with the word “Stormy” on it before setting it on the ground. Stormy ignores me as I approach and tucks into his food. I take a seat at the breakfast bar as Nox grabs a mug and fills it with coffee before offering to refill mine. I nod, and then we both add cream and sugar before he joins me.
“You up for surfing today?” Nox asks, and I groan and stretch, the aches in my body not easing in the least.
“I don’t know, my body is pretty achy,” I tell him, and his smile turns into a wide, smug grin that tells me he knows exactly what I’m talking about. “Maybe I’ll just sit on the beach and watch. I don’t even have a swimsuit here,” I remind him, and he shrugs.
“I’m pretty sure I have a spare rash guard somewhere that my sister left behind when she and her mat—family visited.”
He jumps up and hurries into the spare room as I think about what he just said. That’s the first time he’s mentioned his family. I look around the room, searching for evidence of a family, but there aren’t any photos except for the one above the fireplace. I guess he must not be as close to them as I am to Mom, Granny, and Grampy, but then again, I don’t have any pictures of them in my apartment either, so maybe I’m overthinking things.
“She didn’t bother taking them home because there’s no ocean near our village.” I frown again as he mentions his village. I didn’t actually know there were any villages in the human zone. I mean, it makes sense, but I thought all the humans lived in the city. I guess that was kind of silly of me to assume. “Ah, here it is, and a pair of shorts for you too.”
He returns with a big smile, holding out a red, long-sleeved rash guard and a pair of black boardshorts. “These should fit you. She’s a little taller than you, but that shouldn’t matter. I have her wet suit outside in the rack with mine, and you can use that as well.”
I take the offered clothes and look down at them, unable to come up with any other excuse now. I need to put my money where my mouth is.
“Well, come on then, let’s get moving. We need to take advantage of the waves while they are good. Luckily for us, this is a private beach, so no one else can use it, but it doesn’t stop anyone from paddling around the point to tackle the waves. I’m actually surprised there’s no one out there yet. Usually on a day like today, a lot of locals join me.”
He doesn’t wait for a response, just gives me a quick kiss on the lips and hurries outside, calling, “Get changed, and I’ll make sure the boards are waxed.”
The door closes behind him, and I finish the rest of my coffee, eyeing his half full cup. I guess surfing superseded coffee for him. Hopping off the stool, I head to the bedroom to get changed. I feel something before I see it, and I quickly jump to the side just as Stormy leaps from behind the counter, his claws extended, and tries to go for my leg. He misses, and I’m tempted to kick him because seriously, what is his problem, but instead, I pick up the pace and close the door in his face when he tries to follow me.
“Ha, suck on that, you evil Satan spawn,” I grumble as I strip off my borrowed clothes to put on the other borrowed ones. They smell like fresh laundry as I pull the rash guard over my neck. The arms get stuck on my cuffs, and I have to ease them over. Grimacing, I remove the cuffs and place them on the end of the bed before tugging the sleeves over my marks. I can’t surf in them, and I don’t want the saltwater to ruin or damage them. Luckily the sleeves cover the marks, so I don’t have to worry about Nox seeing them and asking about them.
I tug on the shorts, which are very tight, but thankfully they have an elastic waist which stretches over my butt and thighs. I’m a little worried I’m going to split them, but hopefully if Ican get the wet suit on, it shouldn’t matter if I do. Obviously his sister is taller and skinnier and he was just too polite to say anything.
I crack the door open and peer out. The little furry fucker is nowhere to be seen, so I make a mad dash across the room to the door and let myself out. I slam it behind me, and Nox looks up from where he’s rubbing wax onto a board and raises an eyebrow.
“You okay?” he asks, and I lean on the door and blow out a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, to be honest, your cat hates me, and he’s an asshole, so I thought it might be prudent not to get in his way.”
His eyes widen in surprise as I step away from the door. He looks between me and it and goes to take a step, but then he shakes his head like he’s thinking better of it. “Stormy hasn’t really had a lot of socialization apart from me. He’s probably jealous. I’m sorry,” he says sweetly as he wraps his arms around me and gives me a kiss, resting his forehead on mine. I lean into the hug as I stare into his gorgeous eyes. I can see the sincerity in his gaze, and I’m not going to hold his cat’s behavior against him.
I sigh dramatically. “Fine, but I expect to be a surfing expert by the time we’re finished. You better be one hell of a teacher.” I lean in and press my lips to his, but he pulls away and puts a finger against them.
“None of that, or we are never going to get into the water. Stop distracting me, woman.” He returns to waxing the surfboard, and I take a seat and enjoy the view.
He tosses the block of wax back onto the shelf once he’s satisfied with the job he’s done. Nox turns to meet my eyes and smirks before stripping off his shirt and shorts, leaving him only in briefs. He waggles his eyebrows suggestively, and I giggle as he grabs his wet suit and pulls it up over his body, grabbing thezipper and dragging it up. The gold flecks in his eyes seem to glisten slightly.
“Come on, let’s get you suited up.” He holds out a hand, and I jump up and let him help me into the spare wet suit before he grabs both boards, and then we head down the stairs and to the beach.
Chapter
Fifteen
Gryffin
“It’s been three days. Why hasn’t anyone come forward already?” I watch as my father paces back and forth across the throne room, wringing his hands in agitation. My three mothers watch in concern from their thrones, and I see apprehension on all their faces.
“Did something go wrong with the spell?” I ask my frazzled father. I’ve never seen him this agitated before unless we’re dealing with feral wolves, which is a heartbreaking process for him.
