Page 33 of The Rake OR The Orca Who Met His Match in a Selkie Desiring Revenge
With a deep breath, she placed her hand in his, waiting for the sick panic to set in. She brushed against the warm pad of his palm and felt… calm. He raised his brows in question and she pressed her hand into his, allowing him to pull her to standing. He led her to the dance floor between tables, and held out his other hand for hers.
The small trio started up a lively tune and Elspeth placed her hand in his. He led gently, allowing her to find the rhythm of the song and follow the motions of the other dancers. She swayed with the music and beamed. For days, perhaps months, Elspeth had been tense. Her shoulders had ached when she woke each morning from how tight she’d held them the day before. But for the first time in months, Elspeth felt loose. She felt happy.
More importantly perhaps, she felt safe and excited. Aegir led them around the dance floor, and never once did she feel the clawing panic grasp for her. He spun her and they smiled and laughed. Was this what it was like to be free? She was still bonded to him, but as she spun, the room behind them blurring, Elspeth felt as if she could fly.
The tempo of the song picked up, and suddenly she was whisked around in a dance that involved hopping. When he spun her intohim again, Elspeth stole a kiss and then danced away laughing. They made a game of it, stealing kisses when they were close, and making eyes at one another when they were apart.
They danced and danced, laughing and enjoying each other until Elspeth pleaded to stop. While they danced, their food had arrived, so they sat down to eat. After eating, Aegir hopped up to invite her to dance some more and by the end of the night, she was thoroughly tired.
“You’ll have to carry me,” she joked. “I’m too tired.”
“But of course!” He swept her off her feet, and she giggled, kicking gleefully.
“I didn’t mean youactuallyhad to carry me!”
“I know,” he said. “I just wanted to.”
Aegir practically ran up the stairs to their room, and he kicked the door shut with his foot behind them. He set her down, but Elspeth stayed pressed close to him, breathing heavily, though now her breathing had nothing to do with exertion and everything to do with how he overwhelmed her. A flush of heat, a tingle between her legs, a flipping, frantic buzzing in her stomach. More powerful than anything she’d ever felt, if nothing else, it made her feel blissfully alive.
"Aegir, about that attraction we bothfeel..."
"Yes?" he breathed, his tongue flicking out to lick his lip.
She pressed her hands flat to his chest. "Do you think we might—"
"Anything."
Elspeth couldn't help the smile that bloomed on her face. "You haven't even heard what I was going to say yet."
"I already know I want whatever it is you're about to suggest."
Elspeth blushed and looked down, hoping he'd somehow assume she was just permanently that color, with as much time as she was spending pink in the face.
"But please, go on. What were you going to ask?"
"Do—do you think we might explore that attraction... just a bit? It seems silly to ignore it. We're both adults... after all." Eyes drawn to the bed, Elspeth could see the cheeky grin that spread across his face out of the corner of her eye, though he wiped it away when she turned back to him. She crossed to sit on the edge of the bed.
"I thought," he said, drawing a finger along the edge of her chin to turn her face fully back to him. "That I wasn't sleeping in the bed..."
Elspeth's mouth dropped open. "What makes you think that you are?" she shot back.
"Oho!" He swept her off her feet, whisking her across the room and deposited her carefully on the bed. "Fair point, a murúch. Struck true!" He mimed being struck in the heart, lowering himself to his knees.
Once she was on the bed, though, she grew nervous. It was an entirely new level of experimentation, and she had no idea if she was truly ready for it, though she wanted it.
Aegir frowned. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“It’s all just so complicated. This bond—how much of what we feel is real? How much is just rationalization so we aren’t miserable?”
“Does it feel good? Most of the time, I mean?”
“I suppose, but—”
“Then does it matter why it’s happening? When we break the bond we’ll know what’s real. Until then, I’m inclined to enjoy it, while it’s here.”
“I suppose. It’s just so odd, I keep thinking, is this how my parents felt? This desperate pounding need?”
“Desperate.” Aegir smiled, the corner of his mouth ticking up at the side in that cocky way she’d seen. “Pounding.” He paused. "Need. Yes, I think that’s an incredibly apt description. I think you could make me do whatever you wanted, a murúch. No song required.”