Zephyr exhaled a shaky breath, and I slid up and pulled him into a soft kiss, morning breath be damned. Zephyr made a softsound as he kissed me back, and I held him close, breathing him in.
Zephyr was stronger than me, and he didn't need me to protect him from physical harm, but his heart? His heart was all mine, and I'd guard it with my life.
No one was allowed to hurt my mate ever again.
Twenty
Keoni
"This is nice," Zephyrsaid with a soft sigh, and I smiled as I glanced over at him. He was spread out on his front beside me on a large blanket, with his arms folded under his chin.
The sun was bright and warm above us, the breeze thick with the scent of salt and sea.
We were in Ocean, one of my favorite areas in the Sanctuary.
It'd been a few days since Zephyr and Rei's reunion, and I'd dragged him here today for a do-over of that date.
Instead of going out into the human world again, I'd figured we'd earned a relaxing day at the beach, so here we were.
Jacinta had helped me arrange everything with a blanket from their own collection, as well as a huge basket full of food to snack on.
They'd also found a vast parasol, and it offered just enough shade for us to sit comfortably.
I ran my palm over Zephyr's bare back, and he hummed. If he was a cat shifter, I was sure he'd be purring.
"Maybe you should put on some sunscreen," I mumbled, feeling the warmth of his skin.
"I don't get sunburn. Don't worry," he mumbled, sounding sleepy. Then he turned his head to look at me, his eyes soft and glowing bright in the sunshine. "Are you comfortable?"
Sitting in the blanket-covered sand was a new experience for me. When I had to use the cart, sitting wasn't an option, but now that I could control my back legs, I could sit the way other centaurs did, with my legs folded under me.
"I'm good. This is much more comfortable than lying on my side," I said with a grin, making him smile.
We sat in silence for a while, and I watched the waves as I ran my palm up and down his back to their tempo. This part of the beach was communal, so there were no homes in the stretch of water before us, and Jacinta had promised we'd get privacy for as long as we wanted to stay.
It had still taken Zephyr a while to relax, but he'd finally melted into the blanket. If he let me, I'd drag him here every day, because after all the stress of the past year, he deserved some R and R.
"Wanna take a dip?" he asked as he leaned up on an elbow, and I grinned.
"Sure!"
Thankful that both our aids were waterproof—Draven took care of everything—I stood up, then offered Zephyr my hand. He pulled himself up, and we padded over the warm sand. Ihummed as the water washed over my hooves. It was cold, but not too bad. Enough to be refreshing without chilling us to the bone.
We held hands as we waded deeper, stopping when the water reached our chests. There was no risk of getting swept away, since though the water looked unending just like an ocean, there was an edge. Plus, Zephyr would never let either of us drown.
I pulled Zephyr close, wrapping my arms around his waist as he slid his around my neck, his blue eyes sparkling with sunlight. While we both had blue eyes, the color of his was much closer to that of the water around us, and when he smiled, they lit up like the water did when the sun made it gleam.
"Thank you for arranging this," Zephyr murmured as he rested his forehead against mine, and I smiled.
"It was my pleasure. Though I should probably tell you Jacinta helped, or they'd make me pay."
Zephyr chuckled, then brushed his lips over mine. I opened my mouth and ran the tip of my tongue over his lower lip, tasting salt and warmth and joy. We kissed slowly, like we had all the time in the world—which we did—and warmth suffused my whole being, though I couldn't tell if it was because of the sun or Zephyr's closeness. Maybe both.
My crush on him from when we first met felt childish compared to the way I felt about Zephyr now, maybe because back then, I'd only seen one facet of him. I'd looked up to him, seen him as the man who saved me. He'd been bigger than life, and while he was still that, he was also much more... human, for want of a better word.
I could see the other sides of him now. The insecurity about his arm that he'd hidden so well, the way he would let me do anything I wanted to him in the bedroom if I allowed it, the way he was still haunted by his past, the way he was so fucking bad at asking for help.
The more I learned about Zephyr, the more I fell for him, the words dancing at the tip of my tongue. I wanted to tell him, but I didn't want to rush him. I'd wanted him for a lot longer than he'd wanted me. Hell, until I came clean about my age, I hadn't even been on his radar. It would take him a while to get where I was, and I didn't want to push him into saying something he wasn't ready to admit or, worse, didn't feel.
