Page 61 of Saved By the Selkie

Lir glances at them. “I’m sorry if Blizz startled you,” he offers. “He startled me too. I didn’t expect him to shift.”

Everyone relaxes fractionally. Anna peers down at Blizz. “Maybe because there was so much excitement?”

“Maybe,” Lir agrees.

The tension seems to go out of the room. Athos steps in front of Lir. “I think we’ve all had a bit too much excitement. Let’s retire to our bunks, gentlemen. Night watch, let’s get under sail. The winds have calmed, and I want to take advantage of the clear weather while we have it.”

He turns back to us. He looks at Lir. “I think it would be best if you and the babe stayed in your bunk as much as possible,” he says.

Lir shifts. “I’d rather not.”

Athos glances down. “Perhaps the babe then. If he can’t control his shifting, I’m worried he’ll set the men off again.”

Lir glances down, then nods once.

Athos claps a hand on his shoulder. “Good lass,” he says. “I’ll see to it someone finds a bassinet or something. Although …” He pauses and frowns at Blizz. “I think he might have outgrown such a thing.”

“A trunk or a barrel might do nicely,” Anna says.

“Right,” Athos says, straightening up. “I’ll have someone look—I’m sure we have something that will do the trick.”

With that, he strides off. We watch him go in silence, until Lir says, “What’s a lass?”

Oh. Shit. I forgot to tell Athos that Lir isn’t a woman.

thirty-one

Lir

T

he creaking of the ship is going to drive me out of my mind, I swear. It’s still dark; we haven’t left the frigid waters of the north yet, nor have we sailed far enough south that the sun is peeping over the horizon. I have no idea what time it is.

I’ve never wished for night to be over so badly. Blizz is a restless lump between Aramis and myself, and I wish he was gone, because I want to roll over, on top of Aramis, and just rub myself against my mate until he wakes up or I get off. One of the two.

Blizz whimpers, and I grit my teeth and turn over again. Lying on my stomach in my humanoid form isn’t the most comfortable thing, but it does give me some friction, and it deprives Blizz of easy access to my nipples. They’re sore and cracked, and I think the little brat bit me yesterday. I’m not sure if his teeth are coming in or not. Pups usually teethe within a week or so of being weaned, and Blizz really should be weaned already, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

I turn my face away from him when he nudges me. He’s still in seal form—I think he’s found he’s more mobile like that, less helpless. His human form is very fragile.

He nudges me again and whines. I lift my head to glare at him. “You cannot be hungry,” I grumble. “You were just fed.”

He whines again. Do all selkie babies have such sad eyes, or is he just giving me a look?

“Absolutely not, Blizz.” I drag the blanket over my head.

He starts smacking me on the head with his flipper. Fathoms below, who would ever want a pup?!

“Lir?” Aramis asks sleepily. “Blizz?”

The smacking immediately stops. When I resurface from the blankets, I see Blizz has rolled onto his back and is writhing around as Aramis scritches his belly.

Aramis blinks. “What’s going on?”

“He’s being a brat,” I murmur.

Aramis looks at me, then at our son. “I think he just wants snuggles.” With that, Aramis leans down and tickles Blizz with both hands, while cooing, “Don’t you? Don’t you?”

Blizz thumps his tail and waves his flippers in delight. I roll my eyes. Like hell he wants cuddles. Whenever I try cuddling with him, it inevitably ends with him rooting around and suckling on my sore nipples.