Filed To Story: The Saltwater Curse Book PDF Free
Cheeto
—to hang around with her on the beach.
He’s the most annoying chicken. Made my tentacle bleed twice.
Five times, actually. Not only does Vasz want to bite me and my mate want to stab me, but I have to be on constant lookout for a chicken that wants to fight me for dominance. It is exhausting.
Cindi shifts, pulling her legs out of the water to lean back on the board.
“I was also thinking a fridge would be nice to preserve food.” This is the third time Cindi has mentioned a fridge. I will ask the tourist human what it is. “Ice would be great too.” I nod when Cindi casts me a glance. “I want to look into drying fish.” I can’t imagine anything worse. “I know you can with the really, really little ones, so I want to test it out one day.” They taste terrible. “Not sure how you’ll catch them, but it’s just an idea.” I’m sure I’ll find a way.
We continue moving in silence. I want to say something, maybe ask her about her day. I hope she may eventually come to enjoy my company. I want to tell her she said my name in her sleep for the first time last night while I’ve been dreaming of her every day since I met her.
But I can’t bring myself to speak for fear I will say the wrong thing and upset her. I opened my mouth two days ago, and look what happened. I made Cindi scream at me then ask to return to the mainland—something she hasn’t done in a while.
So the silence builds and builds until it’s suffocating. Cindi puts me out of my misery when we’re halfway around the island.
“Oh, and we need batteries too. I would kill for a fan.” I’ve learned this is what Cindi calls sarcasm, and she wouldn’t actually kill someone for it. It has been a learning curve. “Another generator would support a lot of things if my whole renewable energy idea doesn’t work. I could hook a fridge, fan—
oooh, and a radio or something so I can play music.”
I’m about to grunt, but Cindi’s lips twist in preempted disappointment before I can utter a response. It spears me the same way it does whenever she stares blankly at the horizon or plucks at the grass, expressionless.
I’ve never been one to think things through; it’s no different now.
“What—” Cindi cuts off in a scream when her board capsizes and she falls straight into my awaiting arms. I tug her against my chest, her arms and legs immediately wrapping around me like it’s second nature, and there’s nothing I can do to stop the contented purr from rumbling to life.
She doesn’t hate me.
“You did that on purpose,” my pretty mate accuses, hitting me playfully.
I try to hide my smile by looking down at the water. “Vasz must be around.” It’s not a lie. He is nearby, just not quite within biting distance.
“I could’ve drowned.”
My tentacle that can never seem to keep to itself taps Cindi’s leg as if offended she’d imply such a thing would happen.
“You’re not slick,” she huffs, a smile playing at her lips.
That… Okay. No. This must be sarcasm again, because I do believe I am quite smooth.
I lean back in the water with an arm around her waist so she can fully relax and let me do all the work. She props herself up, straddling me like she does on the board, her hands flat on my chest, staring out at the island as we continue our slow swim around it.
I may not trust myself to speak, but this? Holding her in place, touching her in reverent worship? I can do this for every waking moment until I die.
Minutes pass before she readjusts her position. She lies against me, head tucked beneath my chin like we do at night. Bumps erupt over my flesh when she traces the scar along my ribs before wading her hand through the water.
My purr increases in volume, drowning the sound of the surfboard bobbing against the waves. Her little sigh goes straight to my breeding arm, and this time, I do nothing to settle it. My mate is in my arms, fed and well, placing her full trust in me to keep her safe. I want to absorb every moment of it.
“Do you have any stories about this place?” Cindi timidly asks.
I wish I could take back my weeks of silence. Cindi should never be timid, and I made her that way. It’s getting hard to remember why I’m so insistent on keeping up with it.
Still, the only answer I can give won’t be what she wants to hear. “None you will enjoy.”
She tenses, and I place my hand over her back to stop her from running. “Ordus…” She peers up at me through her lashes, brows pinched in worry.
I quickly scan our surroundings for any new scents. Other than Vasz, there’s not another living soul around us.
“You said your people call this place the Malediction Island, the beach Mutant Shores.”
“Yes.” I nod.
“I think you should rename it. It’s your home. You should treat it that way.” Her frown deepens for reasons I can’t decipher.
She may not see it this way, but it’s Cindi’s home too. She’s made the island hers. Our den is made up entirely of her belongings. The land is covered in things she’s made or needs for survival.
At this point, the island is more Cindi’s than mine.
“You should have…positive thoughts about this place.” My mate says it like she’s uncertain that’s the correct word.
The only good thing to happen on that island is the woman in my arms. Nothing else compares. She’s the only light left.
I run a finger down her spine, and her scent sours, but only for a moment. “What would you suggest?” I ask.
“Not Vaszeline and sure as shit not petroleum jelly.” She chuckles, shifting back up to look at me.
I hope Vasz didn’t hear that. He already thinks it’s his island. Cindi’s rejection would make him spend a whole day sulking.
“Your name, then? Cindi’s Island?”
She sighs, releasing my gaze. “My… That’s not my name.”
What?
Have I been calling her the wrong name this entire time? I’m a bad mate. An awful one. Why didn’t she correct me?
“I changed my name to Cindi after I ran from my husband because as far as I’m concerned, Kristy is dead. So, I mean, yeah. I guess Cindi is my name.”
I’m both relieved and enraged. How could anyone want to harm her? Why would she have to kill a part of herself to survive?
I inhale deeply, pulling her scent into my lungs to calm the need to act upon the anger.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.