There were no guards watching us or doctors fussing over me. I felt rested and calm in a way I never had before.
When I finished eating, I leaned against him, hoping to create the same tension as before so I could sneak in another kiss, but Nico was shrugging me off in a hurry as he ran to get the bag we’d brought.
“Change into this,” he said, holding out my swimsuit and pointing to the boat’s small cabin.
Impatience filled me, but I did as instructed and changed into the light blue swimsuit, struggling with the ties. Elio had helped me tie it yesterday before my foray into the ocean and I was now having trouble tying it tight enough that I wouldn’t accidentally flash someone.
Although, I thought to myself as I ascended the short set of steps back onto the deck of the boat, maybe flashing Nico wasn’t such a bad idea.
He had been champing at the bit yesterday in the ocean and in the outdoor shower stall, but now he seemed almost cold. It was like he didn’t want to kiss me at all and was packing our day full of activities in order to avoid it.
I found Nico putting away the remnants of our lunch, his bare back rippling as he put things back into the picnic basket.
Yesterday, when we’d been playing in the ocean, I hadn’t noticed the small tattoos of seagulls crawling up from the small of his back and up one shoulder blade. They looked like they could detach from his skin at any moment and fly off into the horizon.
I wondered if that was what he wanted to do. To run away from this kind of life. After all, he hadn’t lived it to start with. I didn’t know much about his parents because Elio and Nico rarely spoke of the wayward man who had run away from his duties and married the love of his life.
It was ridiculously romantic, and yet it had ended with their deaths and their orphaned son being returned to a life of crime once again where he didn’t even have the choice of his partner—not really anyway.
The thought made my stomach twist with discomfort. Nico liked me, that much I knew, but ever since my body had changed and I developed an omega’s perfume, I couldn’t help but shake the idea that the only reason they finally agreed to marry me was because our scents were a match.
Nico turned around as I approached, his dark brows drawn together in confusion as he stared at me. I had almost forgotten that I bit him yesterday in the shower and he must have been feeling my negative emotions wafting off of me.
Holding my suit with one hand, I turned and lifted my hair out of the way, my wordless request obvious.
Firm fingers grasped both strings and pulled them taut as Nico began to tie my suit together.
My body flushed from his nearness, his pinky fingers grazing the sensitive skin on the back of my neck as he double knotted it so it wouldn’t go anywhere.
Once he released the strings, I turned and tried to pull him in for a kiss only to be met with a pair of goggles.
‘S-N-O-R-K-L-I-N-G?’he finger-spelled sheepishly, probably seeing and feeling my irritation down our half-bond bond.
I narrowed my eyes at him before taking the goggles.
One hour in the water looking at all of the coral reefs and aquatic life was nice. Nico pointed out everything of interest and we didn’t even have to come up to talk like normal people would because we could sign to each other.
After two hours, however, my irritation was starting to grow again.
Had Nico brought the two of us out here just to eat charcuterie and stare at fish?
Yesterday he had been so aggressive in the outdoor shower that I thought for sure this would be our chance to have a private moment to ourselves and come together.
Somehow it had been easier with Elio, which I think was what surprised me the most about the situation at hand.
By the time Nico helped me back onto the boat I had started to spiral.
What if he didn’t want me after all? What if he had regrets about joining me and Elio in the shower and it had taken him sleeping on it to figure out?
As Nico turned to go do something toward the back of the boat I grabbed his wet hand and held on for dear life. When his dark eyes turned to look at me questioningly, I pointed to the bond mark that Elio had left on my neck.
‘Bite me,’I mouthed, mimicking the motion with a click of my teeth.
Nico frowned and he brushed his damp curls out of his eyes as if they were impeding on his ability to understand what I was asking for. “What?”
I let go of his hand so I could sign it before pointing at myself.‘Bite me.’
“Why?” Nico asked, his eyes jumping down to the bond mark on my neck.
