Page 23 of The Rake OR The Orca Who Met His Match in a Selkie Desiring Revenge

"Yes, please." The words came out clipped, so perhaps she was still nervous, though in an entirely different way.

Aegir popped around the corner, giving her a reassuring smile before placing his hands on the knobs on the wall. The quiet buzzing inside her rose to a cacophony of beating wings, excited and flustered, jangling about inside her. All over her body, the gooseflesh stood on end, every inch of her skin became aware of his proximity.

"This one will dispense hot water, and this one cold. So, you’ll need to turn them both on or off to get the right mix. If you twist them the other way, they’ll turn off. Sometimes it can take the hot water a minute to get here, especially since we’ve retired early in the evening. When others likely haven’t started bathing yet."1

Now that theywere alone, Aegir had allowed the black and white patterning of his orca coloring to bleed into his skin, returning to the form he’d had on the ship. He waved his hand at a small shelf on the wall. "There is soap here. Do you—" Aegir coughed and—was that a blush? It was hard to tell on his orca-colored skin.

He turned his head away for a moment before collecting himself. "D—do you want a new shift for sleep? Or will you wear the one you have on?"

"I’ll wear this one. I’ve only had it on for a few hours, after all. But thank you for thinking of it."

When the tub was full, and Aegir had disappeared back behind the temporary wall, Elspeth stripped off her clothing and hung it over the partition, careful to ensure her pelt was at the bottom of the pile. With as often as she swam in the ocean, a warm bath was actually a luxury. She lowered herself into the water, hissing as she did so. She hadn't realized how much her muscles needed the release, but the decadent heat teased out pains she'd forgotten about. She snapped her mouth shut halfway through a moan of pleasure.Sure, it felt divine, but moaning felt obscene, all things considered.

Through the partition, she could hear the scrape of Aegir's shoes against the floor, the rumple of his clothing as he removed his coat, the open and close of the door as he accepted the food, and him settling down to eat. Several times, she opened her mouth to say something and decided against it. Speaking while in the bath felt unbelievably awkward, but so did staying silent and ignoring the fact that he was sharing the space with her. Instead of either, she settled on rushing through her ablutions as quickly as possible. Her hands flew over her body and hair with the soap, cleansing away the dirt of the road, and the salt of the sea.

It was odd then, when she stood up and toweled herself off, to feel the texture of her skin without it. At home, even when they'd bathed, they'd always done a salt water rinse. Without it, her skin felt dry and itchy. After patting herself dry, she donned her shift and scurried out, carrying her mass of clothing.

"All done!" she squeaked, barely able to meet Aegir's eyes. Perhaps it would have been easier if his gaze had felt less intense. But no, she could feel Aegir's eyes devour her as she folded her clothing and placed it on a chair. Every inch of her skin felt like it was on fire, and the anxious buzzing began again. Biting her lips, she turned on her heel to facehim. She had no reason to be afraid of him, he'd given her none, and truly, he had every reason to protect her, didn't he?

"Well, I suppose I'll be about my business then," he said, hopping up and flashing her his winning smile.

Elspeth smiled back awkwardly, fleeing to the bed, where she could at least have another layer of protection from him.

Tears stung at the corner of her eyes when she noticed that he'd laid out her art supplies on the bed in careful arrangement. Scrambling onto the large bed, she wrapped herself in her pelt and pulled over the plate of finger food he’d left out for her, her sketch book, and a pencil. She'd never had a pencil for drawing before, but it seemed much tidier for use in bed than the charcoal or pastels.

With long, languid motions, she allowed her mind to drift and spill onto the page. She almost never planned out what she'd draw but she wasn't surprised when Aegir's form started taking shape on the page between bites. He was beautifully made and she'd be a fool not to have noticed and appreciated it. With her tongue tucked between her teeth, she focused in, ensuring she captured his strong, broad shoulders. Heat creeping into her face,she shaded in the vee where his stomach transitioned to his pelvis.

As if to provide the accompaniment to her drawing, Aegir moaned on the other side of the partition. Her hand skidded to a stop as the sound shot through her, strumming her core and igniting within her. It seemed he was also enjoying the heat of the bath.

She sketched frantically, hand flying across the page, hoping her thoughts would drown out the delicious sounds of him in the bath.2 Mere minutes after he'd gone behind the partition, a sucking sound startled her from her drawing.

"What is that?" Elspeth asked.

"Oh, it's the tub draining, not to worry." Aegir stepped from behind the partition, toweling his hair dry. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and perhapsthiswas worse than the sounds of him bathing. His skin was the mottled black and white of his orca, with corresponding streaks of white at his temples and the elongated ears she now associated with this form, this version of him. He wore a pair of loose gray trousers, tied hastily at his waist. While he was still muscled, Elspeth noticed he seemed softer. His muscles were less pronounced now, with a softly rounded tummy instead of chiseled abs. While his muscles had been alluring, and he'd always been gorgeous,thisAegir was delectable. Instead of pristine like a statue, unobtainable and aloof, this Aegir was comfortable in his beauty, inviting.

The trousers he wore were still shockingly indecent, bulging out in the front obscenely. Otherwise, she'd have been inviting him to curl up with her before she'd even have realized.

"Comfy?" he asked, settling into an arm chair she now noticed he'd arranged with a foot stool and blanket. He pulled the blanket over top of himself and smiled across to her.

"I am, thank you," she hedged. Was he trying to make her feel bad about barring him from the bed? But no, he smiled and nodded his head. Closing his eyes and resting against the plush chair back, he sighed contentedly.

"I see you got some drawing done, how are the supplies? I don't know if I even bought anything that was usable."

"They're very nice. Thank you."

"Good." He nodded. "So, I suppose I should give you some sort of idea of what to expect. In Berggeheimnis, we'll get in contact with some of my friends from back home. They should have more updated information on where the company keeping yourbrother is. We can send word back to my superiors about our intent, and see if anyone has any ideas as to what to do about this bond situation."

Elspeth blinked, it was certainly a lot to take in. "I take it these friends are more than friends—as in, you work together—not like, Trina more than friends..." The heat of a blush crept up her face.

Aegir chuckled. "Yes, they are from Sanctuary, like me, and we are working toward the same goals."

"And those are..."

"The downfall of the Empire."

He said it so casually, as if such a thing was even fathomable, let alone possible.3 She raised an eyebrow in question and he continued.

"So, where we are going is the center of that effort. It's a multicultural hub, which is why I’m hoping that someone might have some information that could help us. Last I checked, we didn't have any selkies in the alliance, but there may be others that have similar bonds. Now that many of the cultures are interacting, they are finding they often share similarities."