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His gaze flicks over me and he goes back to wiping my skin, this time taking a clean corner of the lacy material and mopping my cheek and chin with it. He’s quiet for a long moment and I worry he’s going to ignore my request, but he finally speaks. “Tell me what you wish to know.”
“Well…is this where we’re going to live? Here in this grotto?” I gesture at our cluttered surroundings. It’s not the most ideal house, but I’m already thinking of ways I can make it more like a home. A makeshift hearth of some kind. A bed. An area that I can set up a loom in…
“Here?” He huffs, as if the idea is ridiculous. “No.”
“Oh.” I’m disappointed, strangely. Sure, it’s a cave, but it’s cozy enough and I feel safe, especially given that the only way in and out is through the tu
“It’s too isolated,” he adds.
“I don’t mind isolated. Not after ru
Ranan’s expression darkens and he shakes his head. He takes the fabric he used to clean me and drags it over his cocks, cleaning himself off, and I watch him discreetly, eyeing the still-solidly enormous lengths of him. “We’re going to the flotilla once you’ve recovered.”
I look up at his face in surprise. “We are?”
He nods. “We are going to visit my parents once you can swim again.” He eyes me as he finishes cleaning himself off and then tosses the priceless lace aside, adding, “Once you can swim properly.”
That might take a little time. No rush, then. I relax a bit. “So I’m to meet your family? Will they like that you have a human bride instead of a sea-ogre bride?”
“We call ourselves the seakind, not ogres. That’s a human term.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.” Gods, I’m glad I didn’t say that in front of his family. “A seakind bride, then.”
He reaches out and touches my ear again, stroking my earlobe as if to comfort me. His face remains stony, but that small touch reassures me. “My uncle has a human partner.”
“And they like him? Your family?”
Ranan just keeps stroking my ear.
As the moments creep past and he doesn’t reassure me, I grow worried. I put my hand over his to stop his caresses and repeat my concerns. “Your family likes your uncle’s partner? They won’t mind that you have a human bride?”
“It is what I want.”
I study his face. “Is it?”
Ranan scowls and tugs his hand from mine. He gets to his feet, pacing away. “You ask too many questions.”
“I do,” I admit, keeping my voice light. “It’s gotten me slapped in the mouth a lot.”
That makes him stop in his tracks. He turns around, scowling. “I would not hit you.”
“Didn’t say you would. Just said it’s happened a lot in the past.”
“I don’t want you scared around me.”
I arch a brow at him, tossing my hair. “Then don’t act scary.”
His hands go to his hips and he shakes his head. I can’t decide if he’s a
That’s fine, I’m a champion at carrying a conversation away from an awkward spot. “Once my menses are done, you’ll teach me how to swim, then?”
Ranan’s posture relaxes a bit. “Aye. So you can get Vor a fish. I haven’t forgotten.”
I beam at him. Honestly, a man that doesn’t beat me and remembers the small things I tell him? Lady Dywan never had it so good.