Chapter five

Cooper

Listening to Dorian's story has lit a fire inside me. I've known this stranger for a few hours and already I feel fiercely protective of him. I want to wrap him in a blanket and shield him from the shit hand he's been dealt. I want to kiss his brow until it's smoothed out. I want to-- wait, what?

"So where do we go from here?"

Jeff leans over, grabbing Dorian's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Honestly? You look exhausted. Why don't you head to bed for the night and we'll start making a game plan in the morning."

"I don't have anywhere to sleep."

"Come sleep with us," Martin blurts out. I watch as his face takes on one of horror, his eyes widening and his cheeks flaming. "Not like that," he says right away, pointing at Dorian. "Don't even start. I mean you can come sleep in our RV."

I point over my shoulder. "That one is ours. And there's more than enough room for you in there." Ever since Ronny found his mate, a cat shifter named Zander, I've been bunking in Martin's camper. At first it was awkward and stilted, but now I've moved my chests of books in there. Wherever those chests are is where my home is.

I always sleep on the pull out couch but all of my things are in there. That's my home on wheels whether Martin wants to admit it or not. Maybe someday he'll let me move some stuff into the bedroom with him, but that would mean letting his walls down and letting me in. I'm not sure he's ready for that anytime soon.

Which is fine! I'm not trying to pressure Martin into being with me. If he ever wants that, I'll be waiting with open arms. Just being around him is enough for me.

"That would be nice," Dorian says softly, giving us a soft smile. He lets out a wide yawn and Jeff is right, he looks exhausted after everything that's happened tonight.

"Come on," I say gently, picking up our beer bottles and tossing them into our bin.

Dorian stands up, stretching his arms over his head. His shirt pulls up slightly, showing me a delightful sight of his toned stomach with a line of hair leading down into his jeans. His treasure trail is the same shade of blue as the hair on his head.

I look away, cursing the way my cheeks are heating, visions of that pretty blue treasure trail invading my thoughts. I need to keep my thoughts in check. With my luck, sirens can smell my dirty thoughts and that's the last thing I want.

Dorian follows behind me as I step into our RV. "Can I borrow some sweats?"

"Absolutely. Give me one second," I murmur, turning away and digging through my bags. I find a pair of sweats. Turning around with them in hand, I find Dorian already passed out on the couch.

"Dorian?"

I get a snore in response. A small smile plays at my lips and a warm feeling encompasses my chest, feeling scarily like fondness. Why am I feeling so fond over this man? Gods, these feelings make no sense.

Martin steps into the RV, looking at me and then down at Dorian. "He's already passed out?" Martin whispers. I nod, giving him a shrug.

I step over towards the front of the RV, finding one of my chests and digging through it until I find one of my books. This one is about sea creatures and water legends. I sit down in the passenger seat, flipping through my book as I search out anything about sirens. I could have sworn this one at least mentions them.

"Hey," Martin whispers, ducking down between the passenger and driver's seat. "Do you want my bed tonight? I uhh, I noticed that Dorian's sleeping in your usual spot."

I just barely keep myself from making a noise of surprise. My heart hammers against my chest. This is such a nice gesture and for a split second I think about asking if Martin is ill, but I don't. I'm so warmed by his words.

"I wouldn't want to put you out, Martin. That's your bed."

He looks down at the floor, his ears turning pink. He clears his throat a couple times before finally whispering, "there's room enough for both of us. If you want."

"Yeah, okay." I say, committing before he can take his words back. "I'm just gonna finish some reading and then I'll come to bed. Okay?"

Martin nods before turning around and heading to the back of the RV where his little bedroom is. I stare out the windshield, my smile so wide that my cheeks hurt. He's letting me in! He's finally bringing his walls down! Oh my gods! I wiggle in my seat, letting out the excited energy before ducking my head and praying no one actually saw that.

My eyes scan over the pages of my book as I try to ignore the giddy feeling welling up inside of me. My stomach flutters when I find mentions of a siren. The pictures in the book are nothing like Dorian except for the blue hair. The pictures show sharp teeth, scales, gills, and piercing eyes. Some people would look at these pictures and see monsters, but knowing Dorian, all I see is the beauty in their otherness.

The story that Dorian told us tonight seems to be true. It's a siren tradition to burn your deceased before throwing their ashes into the ocean. They believe they won't find peace in the afterlife until their remains are returned to the water. All of their major life moments happen in the water it would seem. Birth, death, ceremonies, mating. None of them are complete if they're not surrounded by water.

I also find a passage about their magical abilities. They're able to entice people. The explanation that Dorian gave matches up to this book. He can't make people feel things they don't already feel. Other creatures are able to be unaffected, but the only sure fire way a siren's enticement won't work is if they try to use it on their true mate.

There's something about that line that hits me square in the chest.

Did Dorian try on Martin or me? Did it fail because..? No, that can't be it. I shake my head, looking away from the page. I rub my eyes under my glasses before closing the book. Anything else can wait until the morning.

As silent as possible so as not to wake up Dorian, I throw on a pair of sweatpants before stepping over into Martin's little partitioned off bedroom. He looks up at me.

"Hey," I whisper, "is this still okay? I'm fine with sleeping up in the passenger seat if this is weird."

"It's not weird," he says right away, his voice coming out gruffer than he probably meant it to be. I just nod before sliding into the bed, leaving a wide berth between us.

I take my glasses off, putting them beside the bed before laying back, pretending this isn't awkward as hell. Martin clears his throat and I turn onto my side, facing him. He continues staring up at the ceiling.

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"Yeah," I whisper back. "It turns out Dorian isn't lying."

"I didn't think he was," Martin says, his fingers tapping a random pattern on his belly. There's a long pause before he adds, "there's something about him."

"Right?" I nod, glad that I'm not the only one who gets it. "He draws you in. It's hard to look away. Like a moth going towards a light."

Martin turns onto his side, looking at me. "Exactly," he whispers and I can just barely make out his soft smile. "I'm umm, usually pretty good at holding my feelings back but with him I feel like I can't."

This feels like an opening, like an offering. I'm not going to turn away from it. I've been waiting so long for this. Tentatively I reach out, putting my hand between the two of us. Martin looks down at it for a long moment before his own hand reaches out, landing on top of mine. My stomach erupts with butterflies.

"You're incredibly good at that," I tell him gently, "but I'm glad Dorian is bringing them out, Martin."

I can hear his throat click as he swallows. "Me too, Cooper."

I turn my hand around so I can properly hold his. "For the record, it's okay that you have these walls up to protect yourself. I understand. But you don't have to keep them up around me."

Martin squeezes my hand before taking his hand away. I instantly miss the feel of it. I know he's retreating because he needs to internalize all of this, think it out, overanalyze the entire thing. So I let him.

"Good night," he whispers as I turn over onto my other side.

"Good night, Martin."