Page 18 of Deep Sea Kiss
His lopsided grin was visible in the light coming off Mrs. Enstad’s porch. “You fell asleep.”
“Yeah.” Lottie rubbed her eyes, trying to get her bearings. “Thanks for bringing me home.”
She looked at him, and the reality of the past hours came crashing down on her.
He offered her a sad smile. “You’ll be fine.”
Suddenly, she was so, so tired. Here was a man she thought might share her life with her, but it turned out he was actually a mythological creature. Inside the house were her beloved children, and she knew nothing about a significant part of their heritage. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she swiped her hand over them, angry at herself.
“Ah, no, don’t cry.”
Eiric leaned over and wrapped her in his arms. He was warm, his skin fever-hot, though she now suspected this was a dragon thing rather than an illness. Maybe that was why Elise was running a fever earlier. Lottie didn’t move her arms to hold him but didn’t shake him off either, refusing to admit that she liked his embrace and, at the same time, unwilling to reject him.
“I’ll give you some time to think,” he said at last and released her. “I’ll come by in a couple of days.”
Lottie pursed her lips and studied him for a moment. “Or you could finally tell me where you’re staying.”
His lips turned up at the corners. “Do you have a boat?”
“No.”
“Then knowing where our island is won’t do you much good.”
Lottie blinked at that. “You have an island?”
He shrugged. “It’s just a small one. Drageøy, our clan’s home.”
Lottie found she wasn’t even surprised. They were sea dragons, for god’s sake. It wasn’t such a stretch that they also owned an island.
“I’d like to take you there someday,” he told her. “When you’re ready.”
She unwrapped the blanket from around her shoulders.When she was ready. She wondered whether she ever would be. There were folk tales as old as time about dragons carrying off princesses to their lairs, and she couldn’t help but see some similarities. She snorted on a laugh. She hardly thought a knight in shining armor would come and save her.
Ironically, she’d thought until today that Eiric might be that knight for her.
Not that she needed saving. But it had been wonderful having him around.
She glanced up at him. “I’m glad the dragon didn’t eat you.”
He chuckled. “Eh, we don’t eat people. Just fish.”
Of course they did. Lottie shook her head and opened the car door. Then she paused. “I’ll see you soon, then?”
Eiric’s gaze was kind. “For sure.”
Lottie slipped into her apartment and relieved a sleepy Mrs. Enstad of her duty. She thought of interrogating her landlady about Eiric’s family, but it was late. She was exhausted, and the older woman needed rest as well.
She changed into her shorts and t-shirt for the night, then stopped beside the twins’ cots. They both slept peacefully, their quiet snuffling breaths the only sound in the darkness. She couldn’t see them well and only made out the vague outlines of their smooth, soft cheeks, their tiny noses, their pudgy hands.
They were halfdragons.
It seemed incredible, but she’d seen Eiric’s transformation with her own eyes. She was terrified of what would come next, but looking down at Aksel and Elise, she knew one thing for certain: she loved them even more for what she’d discovered.
She held her hair back and kissed first Elise, then Aksel—lightly, so she didn’t wake them. Her last conscious thought was of Eiric, and of his incredible eyes that seemed to follow her wherever she went.
With him by her side, she didn’t fear for her babies’ future.
Seven
