Page 27 of Knot Letting Go

Surely I wouldn’t need any aid through my heat, but… could I if I needed to?

“Aubrielle!” Lillianna sang from the hallway and knocked on my door.

I stuffed the note into my bedside table drawer and hurried to greet her. Never did she need to know her uncle triggered her nanny’s heat and that her father offered to help her nanny through it. Lillianna deserved a perfect world, and I would make certain that happened for her.

Thinking of mermaid tails all day would chase away any thoughts of knots.

Hopefully.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Aubrielle

The entire playroom looked like it was a castle under the sea. We had mermaid toast for breakfast, crab and tuna starfish sandwiches for lunch, and colorful ‘treasure’ pasta for dinner. Enid even made clamshell cookies that were adorable.

Lillianna kept my mind off everything else in the world with her mermaid fantasies. With my shower head moment and her imagination, I wasn’t bothered by any naughty thoughts of Quill or Konstantin all day. I had begun to think I wasn’t going into heat, and that my reaction was only due to the fact I was compatible with the brothers.

That had to be it. Had to be.

“What do you think mermaids dream about?” I set down the brush I’d been using on Lillianna’s thick black hair and began to loosely braid it before she settled down for bed. “Do you think they all dream what it would be like to live on land and walk like humans do?”

Lillianna shook her head before remembering to sit still. “No way. If I was a mermaid and I could swim anywhere and see all the pretty things under water, I’d never want to leave. I’d never want to be the Little Mermaid and give up my tail for legs. That’s just silly.”

“Did you know that there is more water on Earth than land, so there’s much more room under the sea than not?” I finished her braid and fastened the end with a pink band.

“Really?” Lillianna shifted around her bed and slipped her legs under her blankets. I nodded as I helped her settle in. “Being a mermaid is totally the best then.”

“Would you give up cookies and ice cream to be a mermaid?” I had to be the one to ask the difficult questions.It would only deepen the fantasy, and I was glad for the distraction.

Lillianna pursed her lips and then nodded. “Yeah. If I could be a mermaid, I would even give up chocolate.” That’s big, and I put on the appropriate shocked expression. She laid back and laid her small hand on her drawing of her tail. The paper crinkled as she ran her fingers slowly over it. “I think that Mama, Nonna, Zia Roma, and Zia Sofia are mermaids, and they got lost in the big, big ocean, and that’s why they never came back.”

My chest clenched and my throat tightened. Oh, poor sweet girl. I didn’t know what happened to her mother and the other women in her family, but she’d been a toddler when she lost them. I was nineteen when I lost my mom, and while we both had fathers that loved us, I felt a kinship with Lillianna in this aspect. It wasn’t my place to talk about her loss with her, especially with my lack of knowledge about it, but I would give her all the comfort I could give.

I bent toward her and gave her a hug. “That’s a wonderful thought. Imagine the adventures they’d have. You know.” I sat up and tapped my chin. “We could study the oceans and learn more about the creatures that live there to find out where the mermaids live and if any of the sea creatures have seen them.”

Lillianna cocked her head and stared up at me with her big dark eyes. “You can learn about that?”

“If you grow up and become a marine biologist, you will learn all about the oceans and everything in them. That includes mermaids. Of course, mermaids don’t reveal themselves to just anyone. You’d have to be very special and a great friend to the sea.”

“I will.” She clasped her hands together on her chest. “I will be the best friend the sea has ever had.”

“Who is going to be the best friend the sea ever had?” Konstantin’s voice startled me, and I abruptly stood. My heart hammered in my chest.

I wasn’t ready to see him yet. His letter flashed through my mind. I hadn’t made certain if I was reacting to our compatibility or…

What happened to his eye? It was swollen; a little deep purple and yellowish in the light from the bedroom lamp. Was that a hint of a bruise on his jaw too?

I immediately want to rush over and nurse him. I couldn’t stand to see him injured. I had to make everything better.

His oakmoss and vanilla scent slammed into me and rekindled the fire between my legs. Hot and wanting, I needed this Alpha to wrap his arms around me again. I had to step away from where he stood and pressed my hands together behind my back to keep them from reaching toward him.

“Me, Daddy.” Lillianna sat, a brilliant light shining from her whole being. “I’m going to be a marine biologist when I grow up. I’m going to learn about the oceans and everything in them.”

Konstantin smiled, soft and tender. “I would be very proud if you grew up to be a marine biologist.” He walked over to the opposite side of the bed and glanced at me. There was a question in his gaze, one that flared hot for a few seconds as he studied me. He drew his attention back to his daughter and his gaze turned back to adoring. “You would have to do very well at school and work hard.”

“I will.” Lillianna bobbed her head and leaned in to hug him, scooting up on his lap to snuggle. “I will learn everything about the fish and the dolphins and the sharks and the crabs and the lobsters and the seaweed…”

She kept going, and thankfully my legs had enough strength to take me around the bed, giving it a wide berth, and to the door. I managed a little wave. “Have a good night, Lillianna.”

“Oh! Aubrielle, can we go get some fabric for our tails tomorrow?” Lillianna peered hopefully at me from over her father’s shoulder.

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