Seventeen

Hobie woke around two hours later after a nightmare-free nap, something that was slowly but surely happening more and more lately. I"d worried that visiting a therapist and intentionally recalling his trauma would be more harmful than helpful, but my fears had thankfully been unfounded.

Over the last two months, Hobie had grown more relaxed. He was less likely to have a panic attack now if Nala or Tarika touched him without warning, not that they did. He also hadn"t had a flashback when we were kissing in a while, which I was truly glad for because they scared the shit out of me.

"Mmm," Hobie mumbled, clinging tightly to me like the sea creature he frequently enjoyed comparing me to. I had my tentacles securely wrapped around him too, and I used the tip of one to push his hair away from his face. The waves of his dirty-blond hair were clumped together with dried sweat, and I worked through a few tangles as he slowly drifted back to the land of the awake. Maybe he"d want to grab a bath together once he was fully awake...

Hobie"s fingers clutched at my chest, tangling with my chest hair and then freezing. I glanced down at him as he slowly peeked his eyes open, his face turning a bright red.

"Hey, Hobie."

His eyes shot up to mine before sliding back to my chest. "Um, hi."

I couldn"t help but smile at his cuteness. "Are you getting shy on me now?" I teased, and he huffed, squeezing his eyes shut.

"No." His denial was rather grumpy, and he dragged out the o sound.

Chuckling, I leaned forward and pressed a kiss into his hair. "Do you regret it?" I asked without moving back, preferring not to see it on his face if he did.

Hobie stilled, then pulled back, turning his face up so I couldn"t not look at him. His eyes were warm, and his face was set in determination. "I don"t regret it at all. I...I liked it," he added, cheeks flaming once more.

Smiling, I dipped down and pressed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I"m glad." Straightening up, I gave him a questioning look. "Would you like to take a bath?"

Hobie"s eyes widened instantly. "Together?" he squeaked out, and fuck, could he get any more adorable? He"d better not, because it might be the one thing that could kill me.

"If you want. Or we can do it separately." I kept my voice level. I didn"t want him to feel pressured in any way.

Hobie gazed up at me for a long moment, his brown eyes full of warring emotions. He took a deep breath and nodded to himself. "I want to take a bath with you."

I smiled widely before leaning forward and pressing another kiss on his lips. "Okay. Wait here for a minute and I"ll set everything up."

Making sure not to let too much of the heat escape, I slid out from under the blanket before walking over to the bathroom, feeling Hobie"s eyes on me the whole way.

I was glad we"d moved to my bedroom, because the tub in my bathroom was much larger than the one in the guestroom. I"d had it made custom so I had some room. Not that I used it all that much. If I needed to soak, I just jumped into the ocean, but I had a feeling I"d be using it more often now.

Turning the tap on, I checked the water temperature before walking over to the sink and digging out the bath salts and bubble liquid Nala had given me at some point in time. Maybe a few months ago?

I"d never used them before, but the label had directions on how much to put in, so I added double of that to account for my giant tub.

As the tub filled, the scent of strawberries spread through the bathroom, and I hummed. Yeah, that would pair very well with Hobie"s natural scent. I made a mental note to thank Nala for these later and ask him to get me more. A lot more.

When I walked back into the bedroom, Hobie was curled up on my side, his face pressed into the pillow I"d been using, the blanket pulled up to his neck. Maybe I wasn"t the only one obsessed with his mate"s scent.

Perching on the edge of the bed, I ran my fingers through his hair, making his eyes flutter open. He smiled when his eyes met mine, and then pushed into my touch like a cat. Hobie loved being touched. It was something that"d been clear right from the start, but while he"d been hesitant to ask for it in the beginning, now he demanded it like it was his right, which it was. I wanted to give him everything that made him happy, and touching him was the easiest thing for me to do, since I enjoyed it just as much as he did.

"Come on. Bath"s ready."

His eyes widened a little as he sat up, holding the blanket up to his chest as he chewed on his lower lip.

Reaching up, I tugged his lip free with a tentacle. "It"s okay if you don"t feel ready to do something like that. You can say no."

He shook his head quickly, reaching out and grabbing the tentacle touching his face.

"No, I want to. I just..." He trailed off, then shrugged. "Before, it was intense. Heat of the moment and all that. But now...you"ll be able to see."

My brows furrowed, and I shifted a little closer to him. "See? See what?"

With his free hand, he waved at his torso. "The scars, the...the ugliness."

I blinked, surprised. It wasn"t like I hadn"t seen him without a shirt before. In the beginning, I"d changed his bandages every day until he didn"t need them anymore, but after that...oh. I hadn"t seen him without a shirt again. How had I not realized that? Did that mean he"d been intentionally hiding from me all this time? Because he thought his scars were ugly?

While I"d been lost in my confusion, Hobie curled in on himself, his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. He pressed his face into his knees, his hair shielding him like a curtain. Fuck. How did I convince him that his scars were anything but ugly?

Eben hadn"t said anything. Had he realized I was right? Did he not want to take a bath with me now?

A tentacle on my back pulled me out of my thoughts, but I didn"t move, couldn"t move. I didn"t want to see whatever look Eben had on his face.

"Hobie, could you look at me, please?"

Always with that. Why did he always ask me to do that?

Scowling, I glanced up at him, and immediately got caught in his gold gaze, in the warmth and care it exuded.

"Hobie, scars are not ugly, yours or mine. They"re just proof that we survived, that we"re still standing. While I wish you"d never gotten them, that you"d never been hurt, I don"t hate them. They"re a reflection of your strength, and I adore every single one of them."

Every time I thought Eben couldn"t get any better, he did something like this. How could he say something like that and sound like he meant every word?

I slid my gaze away from his, and that was when I saw his torso. He had scars too, a whole bunch of them. Probably even more than me, which made sense since he"d lived such a long life. I blinked as what he"d just said started to make sense. Eben"s scars were proof that he"d made it to the other side, that he"d survived. Why couldn"t my scars be the same?

Dragging in a deep breath, I slowly let the blanket fall, then peeked up at Eben, wary of whatever look he"d be sporting.

His eyes were blazing hot as they scanned every inch of my skin, and I couldn"t tell if I should hide away or not. He looked...angry, but not at me. Right?

"Eben?" My voice trembled just a little, and he jumped.

"Sorry." He shook his head. "I just can"t wait to get my hands on that bastard so I can make him pay for hurting you."

His words should not make me so damned happy. I hadn"t talked to my therapist about this particular issue since I had to avoid the whole "my boyfriend is a centuries-old kraken" topic, and without it, talking about my boyfriend promising to murder the asshole sounded a bit...extreme.

I couldn"t help it though. I couldn"t help wishing Eben would find him and kill him, if only so he"d never be able to hurt anyone else.

"Come on. Let"s go take our bath before the water cools down." Eben stood up and held his hand out.

I took it, and he pulled me to my feet before leading into the bathroom. My eyes widened at all the bubbles spilling out of the tub. Eben had a large bathroom, large enough that I could"ve comfortably lived there, and even so, half of the floor was now covered in white foam.

"Er, looks like I might"ve used a little too much of the bubble liquid."

The tops of Eben"s cheeks darkened a little, making me chuckle. I stepped forward, swishing my foot through the foam. It almost felt like I was kicking a cloud. "Yeah, looks like it," I teased, then took another step and promptly slipped.

Before my ass could hit the floor, strong tentacles wrapped around me and pulled me right off my feet and into a firm chest. I peeked up at Eben with a sheepish smile, and he shook his head.

"I"m going to carry you to the tub," he declared, then carefully walked over and stepped inside, still holding me a few inches above the floor.

Settling into the tub, he placed me in front of him, and I quickly leaned back into him with a sigh. The water was the perfect temperature, and I felt like I could nap again if I just sat there with Eben for a bit.

"This is nice."

Eben hummed in agreement, his hands rubbing both my arms as he rested his chin on top of my head. Wanting to touch him too, I placed my palms on his thighs, then started tracing random shapes on his skin just because I could.

Before Eben, I"d rarely shared casual touches with anyone. My parents or my grandma had never been very touchy-feely, and neither had any of my foster parents. On the streets, it was better to avoid all touches because you couldn"t guess which meant harm and which didn"t until it was too late. The only times I was touched then was when I got paid for it, and that had definitely never felt good.

It was probably why I loved it so much now when Eben touched me. I was starving for it, for simple gestures like holding hands or sitting in the bath together, our naked skin pressing against each other. I"d never imagined I"d get to experience something like this, so now that I had it, I was greedy. I never wanted Eben to stop holding me, which led me to a thought I was surprised I hadn"t had before.

"Eben?" I asked softly, not wanting to disrupt the peaceful quiet we"d settled into but also too curious to stop.

"Hmm?"

"What happens when I grow old? Will I still be your mate?"

Eben froze, making my heart sink. I"d kinda assumed the whole mate thing was a lifetime deal, but what if I was wrong? What if I would die in a few decades, and then another version of me would cross paths with Eben a few centuries later?

"You won"t."

I sucked in a sharp breath. Oh. I...I hadn"t expected that.

"Shit! Sorry, what I meant was you won"t grow old. Not that you wouldn"t be my mate." Eben"s words rushed out in a panicked jumble. I didn"t think I"d ever heard Eben panicked before, which was why it took me a moment to realize what he"d said.

"Wait, what?" I twisted around to look up at him. "What do you mean?"

Eben smiled softly at me and used a tentacle to push my hair off my face. "I mean, you won"t get old. Once our bond is completely formed, you"ll share my lifespan. You won"t be invincible. You could still die—not that I"d let it happen—but you wouldn"t age anymore."

"I"ll live forever," I said, trying out the words. They didn"t sound real. "When will our bond be complete?"

Eben tilted his head to the side, a thoughtful look on his face. "There"s no set timeline. It gets stronger the more we get to know each other."

Just as I was about to ask another question, a loud, inhuman shriek tore through the air, making me jump. All of Eben"s tentacles wrapped around me before the shout stopped, his eyes sharp as he glanced around the room.

"Wh-what was that?" I was glad to have him wrapped around me, instinctively protecting me from whatever it was.

"Trouble," Eben murmured, and I swallowed hard. Fuck.