Page 47 of Pregnant With Their Babes

Oz snickered. “Seeing is believing, hmm, Dag?”

Dagr seemed guilty. He should. He’d put up such a fight. “If the monsters are real… How can I say it’s all a delusion now? Unless we’reallsuffering the same hallucinations.”

“I somehow doubt that,” Oz murmured, his mind going to Brandt. Had Dagr seen his brother in the melee?

“I know that was no hallucination, no matter how much I wish it had been. Those things were as terrible as you’d claimed they were.” Dagr turned to face Llyr. “I’m sorry. Can youeverforgive me?”

Llyr took Dagr’s hand in his. He pressed it against his chest. “Had I been in your place, I would’ve likely been equally disbelieving. There’snothingto forgive.”

“I haven’t been very sympathetic,” Dagr whispered. “I pushed you away… because I struggled to reconcile the attraction I felt for you with the possibility you were mad. You haveeveryright to hate me.”

Oz appreciated how hard Dagr’s admission and apology was to give. Dagr sometimes struggled to admit when he was. The fact he did so openly and with humility was a good sign. It showed how much Llyr had impacted him.

Llyr brought Dagr’s hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss on the palm. “I don’t hate you. I couldn’t.” He smiled. “But youcanmake it up to me.”

“Anything,” Dagr whispered, desperate to assuage his guilt.

“We can stop wasting time,” Llyr replied with a soft smile. He cast a glance toward Oz, who nodded slightly, returning Llyr’s grin. When he faced Dagr, there was heat growing in his eyes. He doubted Dagr could ignore that desire—no more than he could.

“I only have a few more days above the surface,” Llyr said. “And you both only have a few before you arrive home. I realize you have a ship to run… and wounded men to check on. But in the hours in between, let’s make the most of them, hmm? I want to be in your arms as much as I can until I have to depart.”

“What of the Draugar?” Oz asked.

Llyr clasped the pendant. “I sense this will hold them at bay. As long as it resides around my neck.”

Dagr took his hand from Llyr’s grip and cupped their merman’s cheek. “What of this heat of yours? Do you have any needs of us that we need to know about?”

Llyr grasped the pendant again. He shook his head. “The witch said this masked my omeganess—maybe it’s continuing to conceal it. Back on, I sense it, but not as strongly. Truly, I think I’ve always sensed it—that bond went hand in hand with this need. Now it’s more powerful than before the pendant was lost.”

“You can’t put the cork back in the bottle,” Dagr said.

Llyr blushed, and Oz fought to withhold the groan rising up his throat.

Dagr took a step closer to Llyr. “That’s not a bad thing.”

“It’s not?” Llyr asked, cocking a brow.

“I wasn’t myself,” Dagr whispered hoarsely. “I lost control. Your need—it was such a visceral thing. So thick, and heady.” He leaned in to press his lips against Llyr’s. “I was drunk with pleasure. The craving was like none I’ve ever experienced.” Dagr turned to gaze at Oz, who sat back and watched the pair of them together.

“Did you feel the same?” Dagr asked him.

“I did,” Oz murmured, hunger gnawing at his belly. “And I would love to feel more.”

“The only way we could have full, unbridled lust, I would have to take this off,” Llyr answered. “And as much as I yearn to have you like that again—it’s impossible.”

“No, no… we can’t,” Dagr parroted.

Llyr whispered. “But wecanenjoy one another just the same.”

“Of course.” Oz took a small bow.“Your Highness.”

Llyr chuckled. “Please no. I much prefer being a no one.”

“You’ll never be a no one,” Oz whispered before pressing a kiss to Llyr’s shoulder. “You’reone of a kind.”

* * *

Oz’s kiss warmed him—but he frowned when the captain spun and walked away from him. His gaze flickered to Dagr’s. The commander scrutinized him. Desire seemed to make the flecks of gold in Dagr’s brown eyes brighter, but maybe it was simply the illumination coming off the lanterns. The light shimmered on the wooden walls of the cabin, the fire seeming to almost dance.

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