Page 22 of Deep Sea Kiss
A baby on her hip, she turned back to him. “I want to take them to the beach today.”
It was one of her free mornings, and she didn’t have to be at the clinic until later.
Eiric glanced out the window. “We might meet other people.”
“Yeah, I thought about that. But if we go to that hidden cove in the morning on a weekday, chances are we won’t meet anyone. People are at work, kids are still in school.” She chewed on her lip, considering her options again. “Besides, I don’t want to take them swimming at night. What if we lose them?”
Eiric put a hand on her arm. “We won’t lose them, I promise. I can smell them in my human form, and my senses are even sharper when I’m a dragon. And they won’t be very fast at first. But if you’d rather do it in daylight, we can go today.”
She considered this. “You don’t have other work to do?”
He shook his head, and that was it. They packed snacks and nappies, towels and sunscreen, and all the things Lottie thought they might need at the beach. Eiric watched her, bemused, and she flushed again, then removed the umbrella from the diaper bag. The day was beautiful, and the only clouds on the deep blue sky were white, cottony wisps.
Then they were on the road, Elise and Aksel chattering in their car seats, and Lottie suddenly felt as though this was the point of no return. There would be no more doubt about their nature after this excursion, and their lives would change forever.
But she needed to know, needed to do this—both for herself and for her kids. If they were really,reallydragons, she would do her best to raise them to be proud of their heritage.
Eiric parked in the same spot as that night, and Lottie stared out toward the sea. The cove was beautiful, secluded and invisible from the road, which suited their needs perfectly. Each carrying a baby, they descended the rocks, which was much easier in the light of day. At the beach, she took care to spread the towels over the pebbles, arranging everything just so, until she was aware that she was putting off the moment of truth.
All this time, Eiric didn’t complain. He patiently kept the babies occupied, though both twins were drawn to the water and tried to crawl there in their summer clothes. Eiric had told her that the sea called to him, and she wished she could experience that, just once, to feel what they all did.
“Okay,” she said at last. “I’m ready.”
Eiric studied her for a moment. “Are you scared?”
Lottie bit her lip and nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak because she didn’t want to freak out the kiddos. Eiric stepped up to her and wrapped her in a bear hug, his arms offering all the support she needed.
She sniffed and groaned into his t-shirt. “Yeah. I’m fine. Let’s do this.”
He released her and shed his clothes until he was standing in front of her in just his boxer briefs. He looked down at himself. “I didn’t know we’d be going to the beach today. And I don’t own swimming trunks.”
Lottie snorted. “Of course you don’t.”
She tugged her summer dress over her head. Eiric’s sharp inhale had her glancing up at him. He was staring at her with rapt attention, his golden eyes blazing. Lottie squirmed but didn’t cover herself; this was the first time since the twins’ birth that anyone had seen her in her swimsuit. She was proud of her body, of how it had changed since her pregnancy. She’d put on weight, and there were stretch marks on her stomach, thin silvery lines that were barely visible but still there. She’d carried two little babies to term, and she thought her body was pretty badass for having done that.
“Lottie,” Eiric rasped.
Heat surged through her—she blushed, and a hot coil of anticipation sank in her belly, warming her from the inside.
A happy gurgle came from behind Eiric, and they both turned to see Aksel triumphantly plunge his hand in the sea.
The change was instantaneous. His tiny clothes ripped to shreds, and spiky, scaly skin erupted in their place. The movement cost Aksel his balance, and he tipped head-first into the next wave that lapped up the shore.
Lottie exclaimed and rushed forward to pick him up—dragon or no, he surely couldn’t breathe underwater. But before she reached him, the baby sea dragon rolled to his back and gave a little growl, his four legs wriggling in the air. He floated on the next wave and turned back to his stomach, flapping his small, leathery wings.
Eiric waded into the shallows and put himself between Aksel and the deep sea. He splashed some water at the baby and was rewarded by a joyous yip.
Lottie stood very still, her throat working. She watched her son play with the waves and knew her life would never be the same.
Something nudged her bare foot. She bent down and scooped up Elise, then removed her clothes and diaper. She walked to the water’s edge and gently placed her daughter into the sea.
The second Elise’s limbs touched the waves, she, too, changed into a sea dragon. She was so beautiful, with iridescent green scales. Her brother’s were a deeper blue, almost black on his tummy. The spikes on their backs were barely noticeable, and their horns were just short stumps, much like a baby goat’s.
The twins played in the shallows, tumbling over each other and trying their baby fangs on everything from floating pieces of wood to Eiric’s fingers. Lottie sat on the shore, lost for words. The water was too cold for her to stay in there for too long, so she retreated several steps and watched Eiric play with his niece and nephew.
It was surreal and wonderful. She wanted to learn everything she could about sea dragons, and at the same time she was mortally afraid of what would happen if anyone ever discovered their secret.
The twins grew tired eventually and curled up to sleep in the shallows where waves gently lulled them to sleep. Eiric brought them ashore, swaddling them in towels, and as they dried, they turned back to sleeping babies. Lottie stared down at them, her heart heavy and bursting with love.
