Page 37 of Pregnant With Their Babes

“Llyr can bring us together. I sense he can. If you can open yourself to the possibility.”

“Or we lose ourselves to his madness.”

“You really are unable to yield—precisely as Llyr says.”

Dagr stiffened.

Oz narrowed his stare. “What happens if he’s telling us the truth? Will that inability to bend cause you to break?”

“Luckily I have you there to piece me back together.”

“For how much longer?” Oz whispered.

Dagr’s heart clenched painfully. He hated the reminder that the end was nigh.

Oz stood up straighter, pulling away. “I’m barely able to fight this attraction, my love. I’m a weak man.” He leaned in close. “I believehebelieves… and that’s enough for me in this moment. I want to lose myself in him and forget the past. Forget the future. All I have isright now.”

Dagr searched Oz’s face, seeing how desperate Oz was.

Sadness crept into Oz’s eyes. “But I need you there to anchor me, Dag. You are the calm in my storm.”

Dagr was unaccustomed to dealing in fiction and fantasy—but if it was what Oz needed, how could he deny the man he loved? “If it’s what you wish.”

Oz leaned closer, enough that he could hide the hand sliding up Dagr’s side. They’d gotten so accustomed to hiding their feelings, it was second nature. “Don’t force yourself to do something on my account. You desire him, too. Let go, Dag. Just let go and let your walls down a little.”

Dagr wasn’t sure he could. “I love you. You know that, don’t you?”

Oz grinned. “I do. And I love you, too.”

Dagr was uncertain what he would do once their life together was over. After their homecoming, maybe he’d be able to return to the sea and forget his pain. Yet he’d gotten the letters, too. His grandparents had made similar demands on him, so he’d likely not be able to sail away immediately.

He was commanded home to learn how to run the family estates. Estates that would never be his. He could only see a potential future where he’d die from the tedium of a life he didn’t wish for. Dagr could always go back out to sea—but with a part of his heart left with Oz, he was unsure how far he could sail away before being drawn back.

“He thinks you dislike him,” Oz said, cocking his head toward Llyr. “Turn on the charm I know you have inside you.”

Dagr took a deep breath before he headed for the stairs. Once on the lower deck, he sidled up beside Llyr—who still watched the ship being loaded. “Enjoying our ship?”

The wonder in Llyr’s eyes did strange things to his heart. It skipped a beat and struggled with a stutter as it restarted.

“It’s all so… strange and wonderful. They move like they’re dancing, all in tune with each other. It’s beautiful to watch.”

Dagr focused his gaze toward the crew, seeing them for the first time through Llyr’s eyes. They worked the riggings, loaded their cargo, and readied for their voyage as they had hundreds of times before, and only now did he see the dance-like gambol of his men. They worked in tandem, all in concert with another, along with the gentle sway of the water rocking the boat this way and that. “I never thought about it like that… they’re all well-trained and understand what they must do.”

“Whoever trained them did a magnificent job it would seem,” Llyr stated.

Llyr’s words forced him smile, no matter how much he attempted to hide it. Pride flowed through him. His chin rose, his chest expanding. He had been the one to lead the crew in their duties. He’d trained the men in the ways of Oz’s ship. Pride was a sin, he knew—but hewasproud of his men and how well they worked as a unit.

For Llyr to notice it… mattered in some small way.

“Not that I have much experience on sailing ships,” Llyr added. “I’ve seen a couple in passing, with their sails full of blustering winds, but I’ve never been aboard one.”

“You must live close to the sea where you’re from then?”

Llyr smiled, but also looked a bit sad. “Soon you will grasp the truth.”

Dagr eyed the man. “I believe thatyoubelieve your stories.”

Llyr searched his face a moment before turning his gaze. “I suppose it’s a place to start.” He regarded Dagr, a question in his eyes. “You said ‘our’ ship.”

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