Page 57 of Pregnant With Their Babes

Llyr broke the gaze and looked where Dagr pointed.

“Oh my,” Llyr whispered. “I can see the stars much better.” He cast a glance over his shoulder at Dagr. “How do you use them to guide you?”

Dagr stepped behind Llyr, so close they were almost touching. The sea breeze washed over the merman, sending his scent tickling up Dagr’s nose. His desire was already in overdrive. He didn’t need anything to push him over the edge. “Depending on the season, the stars are fixed in the sky—using one of the moons or a specific star and the horizon, I can determine where we are and if we’re on course.”

“Amazing,” Llyr whispered. “I’ve only been to the surface once before now… and the stars… they wereso beautiful. I thought they were magic.”

Dagr heard the reverence in Llyr’s tone, and it reminded him of the moment they met. How Llyr had called him beautiful. He cringed as he thought of how he’d all but dismissed Llyr’s words, thinking the man was delusional. He had much to atone for.

“One moment.” After taking the sextant from Llyr and returning it to his cabin to place it on his desk, Dagr reached into his coat and drew out his collapsible telescope. Once back at Llyr’s side, he lifted it to his eye and searched the heavens—so their merman could get an idea how it was used—and then handed it to Llyr. “Do as I did. The small end to one eye and the other toward the heavens.”

Llyr did as instructed—and soon gasped in awe. “Dagr… oh my…” Another gasp came. “Amazing…”

As the water splashed gently against the side of the ship, the brilliance of the heavenly bodies sparkled in a sky of black velvet. They somehow seemed so much more radiant in that moment with Llyr. The constellations had been his roadmap, one he’d used most of his life to navigate the world. Along the way, perhaps he’d lost the wonder that was found staring at the heavens. Hearing and seeing Llyr’s awe helped him to see the sky anew—and feel a little of that wonder again.

What a gift that was.

Dagr stared up at them, reveling in their glory. He leaned in to peek at the joy on Llyr’s face, and it made it hard to breathe. Contentment so pure washed over him. He moved in closer behind Llyr and inhaled that warm, fresh scent that seemed to linger around their merman. Dagr yearned to be closer. Perhaps it was the impending loss of Oz, he wasn’t sure. Not that one could ever replace the other—but some part of him sought solace in the copper-headed merman.

Llyr shivered. Dagr was uncertain if it was the dropping temperatureorhis nearness. Lifting his hands to the man’s shoulders, he massaged them. “Cold?”

“A little,” Llyr whispered under his breath. “It’s odd… I never sensed coldness under the waves. Not like this.”

Dagr slid his coat down his shoulders. Once in hand, he placed it around Llyr, warming the merman. “Better?”

Llyr brought the collar of the coat closer and took an inhale. The smile that came to Llyr’s lips sent shockwaves through Dagr. The merman glanced over one shoulder, heat in his eyes. Heat like what Dagr already had burning within.

“Yes… thank you,”Llyr murmured breathlessly before he returned his focus back to the telescope, searching the sky—but Dagr was sure he saw a tremble to Llyr’s hand.

Dagr’s body reacted to the thick thread of need in Llyr’s voice. There was no denying the hunger he heard in those three simple words. He moved closer, plastering himself along Llyr’s back. Pressing his hard staff against the softness of the merman’s ass. Dagr placed his lips against Llyr’s ear and their merman shivered in response.

He rested his hand on the bottom of the telescope and adjusted where Llyr gazed. “Do you see the cluster of four bright stars around the two small bright orbs?”

“I do… the orbs are not stars as well?”

“No… those are other worlds. Perhaps like ours,” Dagr whispered.

Llyr gasped, lowering the telescope to spin to face Dagr. “There areotherworlds like ours?”

“Planets, yes. We’ve yet to comprehend how much like our world they might be—and we are incapable until we determine a way to journey through the stars.”

Llyr’s eyes widened far, lips forming an ‘O’. “Journey through the stars? How wonderful would that be?”

Dagr smiled. “I doubt I’ll still be alive when they determine how to do that… but I can envision a distant future when there are mariners much like the ones on our ship, sailing through the heavens in search of other worlds.”

“Do you think there are other beings living out there among the stars?”

“Perhaps. Our descendants might one day meet them. Maybe trade with them, like we do amongst our neighboring realms.”

“I can imagine the excitement… and the fear they’d experience attempting such a journey for the first time. I was terrified to leave the world I knew behind.”

Dagr frowned. “You’re an explorer yourself, I suppose. I hadn’t taken a moment to consider how brave you were to leave.”

“Brave?I doubt anyone would call me brave. I ran away to evade an unwelcome marriage. That sounds more like a coward’s act to me.”

“Not to me,” Dagr murmured. “You had no idea what you were going to face. You could’ve been stepping into danger, but you did it because you had to. That takes bravery.”

“Or foolishness,” Llyr said before he spun in Dagr’s arms. A wan smile stretched his lips. “Whichever it was, I’m glad for it.Otherwise, I’d never have met you and Oz.” He wrapped his arms around Dagr’s waist. “Thatwould’ve been a tragedy.”

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