Page 17 of The Rake OR The Orca Who Met His Match in a Selkie Desiring Revenge
1. Arndis’s concoctions often feature enhanced or concentrated lunula as well as other fortifying vitamins and minerals that the body may need to heal. Though lunologists can control their body, they cannot fabricate the necessary materials whole cloth, and Arndis’s supplements ensure that these are available when needed.
2. Moments like this are one of my favorite things about writing these books. Aegir and Elspeth are some of my dearest friends, but penning their story allows me to find these small moments when I can see how I have affected them and how they might have affected me back.
3. Some of the earliest visitors to the Compact of Nations, save elves, of course, were were-people for this exact reason. In fact, a fair few were-people settled in the Compact in an effort to escape Pathian persecution.
Chapter seven
Elspeth
IN WHICH SELKIES REQUIRE CLOTHING, REGARDLESS OF HOW THEY’VE SHOWN THEIR BREASTS IN THE PAST
Several hours later, Elspethpulled herself ashore. Aegir was affecting her in ways she could have never anticipated. First, she was self-conscious of the rolling, galumphing motion that she made on land even in her partially-shifted form. For the first time in her life, she realized how undignified it looked. Next, and perhaps, most alarmingly, she found she was embarrassed about her nakedness. For some reason, she waited until she was wearing Aegir’s long shirt as a dress before shifting back. If Aegir grew up in a community of shifters, the odds were that he was as nonchalant about nudity as she normally was, and yet, exposing herself in front of him felt incredibly intimate. Once they were ashore and dressed, Aegirstarted when he turned toward her, blinking, his eyes wide. After a moment, he shook his head, careful to wipe off the smile that had been growing on his face.
“I’ve changed my mind. I think it would be best if you hide in the forest here, and I’ll bring the clothing back to you. I worry if you are in the forest close to town, someone might see you."
“Isn’t the point of the clothing so that people can see me? You weren’t planning on hiding me this entire trip, were you?" she asked. An ache grew in her throat and she cleared her throat trying to dislodge it.
“No, of course not, it’s just that—” He looked to the sky before rolling his eyes back down to her body. “It’s just that you’re… you don’t have any shoes. And I don’t want you walking through the forest and hurting your feet. The town isn’t far, but it’s far enough that you could injure yourself. Your leg is already healing as it is, I don’t want it getting any worse."
“How do you know that? I have spent plenty of time out of doors without shoes on. I appreciate your concern, but I assure you, I will be fine."
Aegir threw his hands in the air with a sound of frustration. “All right,fine. Therealproblem is that my shirt is see-through on you, and ifsomeone were to come upon you in the forest outside of town, they’d see your breasts."
Elspeth squinted her eyes at him. “You’ve been seeing my breasts for the last several hours…"
“I know, and they're glorious. It's a testament to my control that I didn’t spend the entire time staring at them," he snapped.
In her mind, a few connections snapped in place and Elspeth bit her lip, trying to suppress a smile." Aegir…” she said. “Are you jealous?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him.
Aegir scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve never been jealous a day in my life. Or at least never been jealous over a romantic interest."
She was not going to get excited about the fact that he called her a romantic interest. She refused. “A romantic interest? Is that what I am?"
Aegir turned from her, hands on hips as he blew out a breath. “I don’t know,” he bit out. “It seems silly to deny the attraction we have to each other. This bond seems to be doing things to us—making us feel things that we have no control over. So maybe, itismaking me feel like I want to tear out the eyes of anyone who might see your breasts. And so, for their safety and our need to be inconspicuous, I amrequesting that you stay here while I fetch you clothing that is safe for all parties.”
Elspeth couldn’t help the blush that crept onto her cheeks. They’d been bonded from the very first second she’d seen him, considering that she’d bitten his finger before even opening her eyes. As such, she couldn’t rightly say what she’d have thought of him without it, but she had her suspicions. Surely if they were not bonded, she wouldn’t be so focused on that corner of his mouth, and the way that it lifted into his cocky smile. Certainly, if they weren’t bonded, she wouldn’t have been so obsessed with the way his muscles moved and flexed beneath his skin, or have been quite as fascinated by the way his legs split so effortlessly from his tail when he shifted. And she certainly wouldn’t have felt a wave of disappointment when, before her eyes, his skin transformed until it was green, his beautiful, wild hair fell out onto the beach around him to be replaced by short strands that were all black. As fascinated as she was at how quickly he changed, she preferred the appearance that she had grown to associate with him. She must have screwed her face up, because he frowned and crouched, briefly flashing his face back black and white as she’d known.
“It appears it’s affecting you too, a murúch. You needn’t worry, I’m still in here, Ipromise. Though, I will admit that it is gratifying that you like how I prefer to look. But, almost no one has seen me with my orca coloring, so, I’ll likely need to use other forms, at least when we are in public. The good news is, at the inn, they’re used to seeing me as an elf, which is essentially my human form with elf ears and a little extra."
As he spoke, his face continued to morph and shift, the features she was growing to know, shifting into another face entirely.
“Though, that is how I actually look, minus the pointed ears… so do me a favor, and don’t look horrified when you see me that way." He smiled sheepishly, and Elspeth's stomach gave a little flutter. She liked vulnerable Aegir. There was something appealing about him sharing a weakness with her.
Honestly, it was unfair, how good-looking the man was. With as much control as he seemed to have over his body, she sincerely doubted that he ever looked unattractive. Even now, though his face was a completely different color and his ears were pointed, he would be hard pressed to be anything but handsome. “How do you do that so quickly, or is it normally that fast?"
“It’s faster than normal.1 Practice… but really, practice and conscious modifications. My abilities allow me to change the way the cells of my body work. Part of my mission here is collecting DNA samples from all of the peoples of the Empire, so that I can mimic how they look and train others to do so as well. The Yewande people of the midland jungles have color changing skin to camouflage into their surroundings. I’ve incorporated that ability into each of my skin cells, though it’s not quite such a time-consuming process as that might sound.2 For my hair, I usually try to stick with black or white, as long as it's a viable color for the race. Because those are my natural hair colors. Then, I usually prefer to add bulk rather than shift my bone structure. I obviouslycanshift my bone structure if I need to, considering the whole orca thing, but I find it easier to add and dissolve muscle, fat or bones in their entirety, rather than tiny bits or shave them away."
Fascinated, Elspeth watched as he demonstrated by adding or removing bulk to different places of his body.
His hands flew around as he spoke, face morphing constantly, though the smile that graced his face persisted throughout. Elspeth liked hearing him speak in this way. There was an effervescence about how he held himself and his speech was quicker and higher pitch.
“For example," he said, touching his cheek. “My cheekbone is quite far under here rightnow. I've added several layers of muscle, to change how it appears, and if you pinch my cheek or push against my chin, you would see that they are the same cheek and chin you know, even if it appears that I have changed my bone structure."
As he pushed and prodded at his face, he had made his chin appear rounded, rather than the sharply squared off chin she was used to. When he was done, it settled back and he was, once again, simply pale, pointed-ear Aegir.
Astonishingly, Aegir blushed. His human coloring allowed her to see it for the first time. She couldn’t help but smile, something about him had shifted, and she found she quite liked that. He was more open now, not striking as many poses, and his smile had lost its previous cockiness.
“Sorry, I tend to get excited when I’m talking about things like this. Anyhow, I should be off. If you wait just in here, you should be relatively hidden." He walked inside the edge of the forest, indicating a boulder.