Page 49 of The Rake OR The Orca Who Met His Match in a Selkie Desiring Revenge

"We're headed to bed then as well," Cat said, shifting her gaze to Elspeth. "We're so glad you're here."

Torsten came over and picked up his wife, swinging her from side to side. "We sure are, but we are also tired as hell." He set Cat on the ground, tucking his arm around her and leading her to the door. "We'll see you in the morning."

Story time gave Elspethsome time to sketch what she'd seen in Berggeheimnis. With her pastels, she did a sweeping impressionist landscape of the city as viewed from the descent.3 Next, she sketched Aegir. He had such a demonstrative face, but since she usually drew landscapes, she found she often needed to draw expression studies to get someone right.

Her tongue was between her teeth as she shaded a flop of hair over her forehead when he opened the door. Snapping her sketchbook shut, she smiled at him and set it on the bedside table. "How wasstory time?"

"Pretty good. I think the kids stayed up later than usual, because all three were passing out by the time we finished." He peeled off his clothing and stood at the edge of the bed. "Is it alright if I—I don't usually sleep with clothes on..."

"Oh! Of course!" Elspeth said. "Honestly, I don't usually either, nor with legs, for that matter."

"What?" Aegir pulled the covers back and peeked underneath before climbing in. "Well, look at that. Do you expect me to warm my feet on your flippers?" He considered for a moment. "Then again, theyarefurry, so they might even warm them better. Lookout, incoming icicles!"

Cold feet wiggled under her flippers. She shrieked at the icy touch, and Aegir hummed happily, tucking his hands behind his head. "What an eventful day, eh?"

"To say the least." Elspeth moved down to lay her head on his chest. "I feel as if too many memories have tried to squeeze themselves into my head at once."

"Ah, yes," Aegir nodded sagely. "I can have that effect on people."

"Oh hush, you goose! You were the anchoring presence for me."

"I was?" he rubbed his nose in her hair, and gingerly settledhis hand on her back, carefully placed overtop her chemise.

"Yes." She snuggled into his chest, loving the tickle of his hair on her face. She was greedy for him, wanting to soak up all of his smells and sensations to keep forever.

"What will we do tomorrow?" she asked.

"Calida should arrive, so we'll get a better idea about where we’re headed, and you can meet the old bat. Then, we'll visit the library, see what research there might be on selkie bonds, and I figure we'll round out the day with a trip to the arts district before coming back here for supper. Jokith should be here with the boat by then as well, so I imagine we'll be off again the day after."

"And then, we'll get Feann."

"Yes, love, then we will get him." His voice took on a hard edge, and Elspeth knew she wasn't the only one thinking about what Feann might be going through.

Tilting her head, Elspeth looked up at Aegir's face. "Thank you," she said.

He bent his head to kiss her. "For what?"

"Being you, I suppose. I keep thinking about how lucky I got. You could be truly terrible, but you're anything but."

"Well, I do try to strive for it, but I've only gotten to 'moderately terrible' as of yet." He tickled her side, making Elspeth squealand spasm.

"You are 'mildly terrible' at best," she said, rolling atop him so she could tickle his sides back. He writhed underneath her, growling between laughs. In retaliation, he flipped her onto her back and nipped at her neck.

"Ah!" she laughed. "That tickles!"

In seconds, though, the feeling of being trapped smothered her. Her heart leapt to action and she felt the blood drain from her face as the reality of their positions crashed down on her.

Luckily, Aegir noticed and rolled away immediately. Though her heart was still racing, the feeling of danger subsided nearly as quickly as it had come on. She steadied her breathing, blowing out slowly.

“Did we avoid that one?” he asked, the fear evident in his voice.

“I think we did…” She could hardly believe it herself. Perhaps, together, they might find a way through this. They might somehow… actually make their bonding a happy one.

“Good, how would you feel about a kiss?”

Elspeth tilted her head, yes a kiss still sounded lovely. “That sounds nice.”

They were both on their side, facing one another, so it waseasy to lean in. His soft lips brought her only comfort and when they pulled away from the relatively chaste kiss, he was smiling.