Page 95 of Pregnant With Their Babes

They squeezed him tight. His heart was so full, he could scarcely contain it. Running a palm down his stomach, he closed his eyes. He was brimming with happiness. They would be a family. One of both sea and land.

“So when can we go for a swim?” Oz asked excitedly. “How far is it to find the Enchantress? I need to see Dagr in a tail.”

Llyr chuckled. “How about we go for a morning swim at the beach?Latemorning, though. BecauseIplan to keep my mates up late into the night. We have time to make up for.”

“Indeed,” Dagr murmured before stealing a kiss.

“I suppose I can wait… if that’s what I get in its place,” Oz replied before stealing two kisses of his own.

“How about we move this to the bed?” Dagr asked after Llyr and Oz got their fins entangled. “Until Ozzy learns how to use that thing better?”

Llyr laughed. “Agreed.”

* * *

Oz ran toward the seashore, feeling like a child on Yuletide morning. In fact, it was a gift he’d be getting, in some ways. The sun was barely over the horizon, the sky ablaze with pinks and purples. And it was cold. Too cold for a swim, but he didn’t care.

Llyr and Dagr soon caught up with him and stopped at the edge of the surf.

“Ididsay late morning, did I not? It’s just past the crack of dawn, Ozzy,” Llyr muttered.

“You expect me to waste a glorious morning waiting to use my tail? We can sleep later!”

Since they had snuck through the old tunnels, they’d come out to the more private cove where he and Dagr had once played when they’d been lads. Oz stripped off the soft linen shirt he’d tugged on haphazardly before shoving his breeches down and over his bare feet.

“Come on! Get naked,” he commanded joyfully.

“I’m not swimming in that frigid water,” Dagr said, crossing his arms over his chest and hitching his chin up dismissively.

“Scared your peter will shrink into your body?” Oz asked with a laugh.

“Oh, come in with us. It’ll be invigorating,” Llyr said.

“I’m not a merman. Nor cold-blooded,” Dagr said, shaking his head.

“Spoilsport,” Oz sputtered before running for the waves. The first blast of icy water nearly took his breath away. As he waded in, his body grew more accustomed to the temperature. Llyr waded in, too. Oz spun and waved at Dagr—who’d at least moved closer to the surf—and he felt the shifting of his legs.

They pulled together, and he lost balance. He splashed into the water fully and struggled to pull himself out. The waves pounded him back under—and without his feet to help him rise, his lungs burned for air. His mouth opened, sucking in water. Pushing, he tried to come up for air.

But suddenly realized… hewasbreathing.

He experienced an odd flowing sensation behind his ears. Reaching back, he felt something akin to gills. The water flowed through them and he was able to breathe as they did.

Llyr was suddenly right before him. “Are you okay?”

But, Llyr’s lips never moved.

How did he do that?

“We talk telepathically underwater,” Llyr replied. “Think of something you wish to ask and I’ll hear you.”

What if I think something I prefer you not to hear?

Llyr smiled. “Then don’t project the thought. You’ll get the hang of it. In time.”

This was amazing. They swam out a little distance, under the waves crashing above. Oz was shocked with how naturally the swimming came to him, after those initial frightening moments. He tensed his tail and propelled himself forward, at a speed that shocked him. As he slowed, Llyr swam, spinning around him gracefully.

Showoff.

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