Page 62 of Saved By the Selkie

Aramis pauses. “Seriously,” he says, “you don’t have to be mean to him.”

“I’m not being mean!” I bark. “He’s part selkie, and we’re supposed to wean them at two weeks!”

Aramis frowns. I sigh. “His teeth are coming in and he bit me! My nipples are cracking. It’s nature, Aramis.”

Aramis quirks a brow, and I shift, then huff. I’m torn between telling him how torturously horny I am and trying to ignore it. Maybe I don’t want another pup if Aramis is going to tell me to let him feed whenever he likes and that I should just put up with him biting me.

Aramis is still looking at me intently. I shift around some more.

“Should I take him to see Anna?” he asks at length.

I swallow. “Maybe.”

Aramis doesn’t say anything else; he picks Blizz up and marches to the door with him. Blizz tolerates this until they reach the door. Then he seems to realize Aramis is taking him away from me, which results in a lot of distressed yipping and flailing.

Aramis almost drops Blizz, he’s flailing that hard. Granted, I think it’s difficult to keep hold of a three-foot infant seal at the best of times.

“Come on,” Aramis says, barely balancing Blizz in one arm as he yanks open the door, “let’s go see Auntie Anna.”

Blizz barks again, and the door bangs shut. I sigh, not quite in relief—I do love my pup and I hate hearing him bark at me like that—and sink down under the sheets.

I have no idea how long I wait for Aramis to get back. I’m just contemplating the merits of wrapping my hand around my dick and jerking off when he finally marches back in.

The ship’s creaking seems even louder as we stare at each other, Aramis with his back pressed against the door and me with one hand beneath the sheets.

“Am I … interrupting?” Aramis asks.

I shake my head and pull my hand away.

“Sorry it took so long.” He slides back into bed beside me. “Blizz didn’t want to settle.”

I can’t look at him. I feel like I’m a bad parent or something.

I wince as Aramis’s arm slides around my shoulders. “Lir …”

His touch is insistent, and I turn to him, bracing my hands against his chest. I wish I was short enough or he was tall enough that I had to look up at him, but I have to look down at him instead. “I feel bad about Blizz,” I murmur. It’s tough. Weird. I feel like I should be taking care of Blizz, but at the same time, my body’s telling me to do something else entirely.

And I feel like Aramis is judging me for it.

“He’ll be fine,” Aramis says, and I cringe. Is he just throwing that back at me? How many times have I said that now? “He’s not … human, right? So, like, maybe you’re trying to treat him too much like a selkie, but he’s not totally a selkie, and he’s gonna do some things different, but … but he’s not a plain old human either, so maybe I’m wrong too.”

He pauses. “I mean, Anna told me human babies don’t get their teeth for months, and I don’t know about his human form, but he definitely has teeth.” He holds up his arm, and I stare at the gappy bite mark on his skin.

“Aramis.”

He rolls down his sleeve. “It’s nothing. But, Lir … I mean, if he’s biting you and it hurts, then …” He takes a deep breath. “You don’t have to listen to me, okay? I don’t know anything about babies, humans or selkies or otherwise.”

I sigh. “I feel like I don’t either.”

Aramis takes my hands and squeezes. “So we’ll just have to figure it out, right?”

I glance at him, then nod firmly. Aramis beams at me. “And maybe we’ll have it figured out by the time the next one comes along.”

Does he have any idea what he’s doing to me? I bite backa miserable moan and fall onto my back. This has to be some kind of torture. I can’t get the thought of having another pup out of my head, and here’s my mate, talking about figuring out parenting together and getting it together for a second pup, and oh my stars, I am so hard and wet now.

I glare at him. “I hate you.”

Aramis chuckles. “I can see that.” His tone is low, rolling, and this time, I can’t hold back the groan.