Pierce is mymate, she thought fiercely, as she let her eyes range over his body, lust stirring within her again, even though shethoughtshe’d just gotten everything she wanted from him.I’ve already let my duty and my family come between us once. I won’t ever let that happen again.
“Uh, maybe you should… cover yourself,” Celeste said, forcing herself to tear her eyes away from Pierce’s abs, glistening as they were with sweat. “You’re kind of distracting.”
“Speak for yourself,” Pierce said with a small laugh, gesturing to her bare breasts and thighs.
Blushing, Celeste pulled at the knitted throw, pulling it around her shoulders. “Okay, okay!”
“I can’t help it,” Pierce said, his voice still tinged with humor. “You’re beautiful. You’re just as beautiful as the first day I met you. You can’t really expect me to keep my eyes to myself.”
“I feel like you’re just stealingallmy lines today,” Celeste grumbled as she started buttoning up her shirt. “There – is that better?”
“As good as it’s going to get,” Pierce said. “But I’m sorry. I should have waited until we’d finished talking.”
“Don’t apologize for that,” Celeste said, shaking her head and shivering a little. Small aftershocks of pleasure were still tingling through her. “I’m just as much to blame. But yes… I really should explain everything now, I guess.”
She swallowed, chewing on her lower lip. She’d never had to explain any of this to anyone before – that tended to be the nature of secret, generations-old duties that had been entrusted to her family and her family alone. Generally, you triednotto have to explain them to anyone, for any reason.
But… I guess there’s no way around it. Maybe it’s best just to jump straight in. With both feet.
“Pierce,” Celeste said, steeling herself to overcome every lesson that had ever been hammered into her to never,nevertell anyone about the sacred duty she’d been entrusted with. “Have you ever heard of the kraken?”
Chapter 9
To be honest, Hardwicke hadn’t thought it possible that anything else could surprise him today. From being led around in pegasus form as part of a Christmas parade, to finally being able to be honest with his mate and show her exactly how much she meant to him… he’d thought that he would be indifferent to any curveball Celeste threw at him.
But this – this was… unexpected.
So unexpected, in fact, that his pegasus was momentarily shocked into silence. A rare occurrence, indeed.
“The kraken?” he said, feeling his eyebrows rising of their own accord. “As in, the ancient sea monster? I thought that was just a myth.”
“Well, it’s nice to know that there are still some things that can surprise hotshot agent Pierce Hardwicke,” Celeste said, her mouth twitching into a smile for a moment before settling back into a more serious expression. “But yes. It’s very muchnota myth. At least, I hope it’s not – I’ll be pretty annoyed if it turns out I’ve spent the last twenty-two years holed up in a lighthouse for nothing!”
“Let’s backtrack for a moment so I can make sure I have this straight,” Hardwicke said, holding his hands up. This was all a bit much, even for him. “You’ve been living in a lighthouse for the past twenty years because of… a kraken?”
Celeste pursed her lips. “It sounds ridiculous when you put it like that! I’ve been living in a lighthouse because it’s my family’s sworn duty to maintain the wards that keep the kraken at bay and protect the people of Portsmith, and beyond.” She shuddered almost imperceptibly. “The thought of that creature getting free doesn’t even bear thinking about. I’ve always been told ithasto be kept where it is – it was sealed up centuries ago in a cave below the waterline, and that’s where it’s been ever since. It’s my job to make sure things stay that way.” She glanced up at him, apprehension clear on her face. “That doesn’t sound crazy, does it?”
“Hmm.” In the end, Hardwicke supposed it wasn’tsosurprising – really, he dealt with stranger things every day. It was just a bit weird to encounter something that he had always thought was a human folk tale. Maybe this was what it felt like, whenever a human encountered a shifter for the first time.
He reached out to take her hand, stroking his thumb gently over the back of it. Looking into her eyes, he saw uncertainty there, and he hated the idea that he had anything to do with it.
“Don’t worry,” he said, putting all of his love and reassurance into his voice. “I believe you. I was just a little taken aback, but I believe you.”
She seemed to melt into his touch, turning and sliding down until she was leaning against his side, and he pulled her in close.
“It is such a relief to have heard you say that, you have no idea,” she murmured, her eyes half-closing. It was as if a veil he didn’t know had been hanging over her had dropped away. “I’ve been keeping this secret for so long, I’d forgotten what it was like to just be completely honest with someone. To not have to worry about checking every word that came out of my mouth before I said it.”
His heart broke a little, hearing her talk like that. To think that she had not only been here by herself all these years, carrying her burden of sacrifice and self-isolation, but that she hadn’t even been able to relax and have a normal conversation on the rare occasions when shedidget to talk to someone!
If only he had been honest with her twenty years ago, she could have at least had one person to confide in… but the past was the past, and wallowing wouldn’t change it. All he could do was make the present as good as possible. In that moment, all he wanted in the world was to see her smile.
“Is that why you told me you had to leave, all those years ago?” he asked softly, reaching out to cup her warm cheek with his hands. “Because – because –”
“Because I knew I’d have to give it all up and come here,” Celeste finished for him. “I always knew that was what my duty was – to live here in isolation, making sure the kraken was sealed away. I only get to go out to Portsmith a few times a year. And I couldn’t have asked you to give upyourwhole life as well to join me here. It wasmyduty, but I couldn’t have made it yours as well. You used to talk a lot about how much you wanted to travel and see the world – it broke my heart, but I couldn’t have asked you to give all that up for me.”
“I would have, though,” Hardwicke said, meaning it. “In a heartbeat.”
“See? That’s just what I’m talking about!” Celeste said, throwing her hands up. “Iknowyou would have, and that’s exactly why I wasn’t – I wasn’t honest with you back then. I had the feeling even then you’d say that. And that was just what Ididn’twant! How could I have asked you to give up all those things for me?”
