Page 18 of Kraken the Seal

“It is,” he agreed. I looked up to see that he wasn’t watching the dolphins. His gaze was on me.

I felt my face grow hot. I grinned and nudged him with my shoulder. “Stop that.”

He grinned. “I can't help it. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.”

I gave him a kiss on his dimpled cheek, then went back to watching the dolphins. I felt strangely content and relaxed. Conquering my fear of the ocean made me feel the same way as when I'd completed a six-mile obstacle course a few years ago. I'd trained for a year and felt exhausted but euphoric when I'd finished.

My seal side was quiet and happy, content to snuggle next to our mate while we traveled surrounded by the ocean she loved.

Mate. The word bubbled up from her without hesitation.

Was I falling hard for Delmar because I liked him or because of my newly acquired seal?

I didn't like the question, and my seal was only confused by it. To her it didn't matter. Delmar was our mate, and he was strong and would keep all predators away. That's all that mattered to her.

“When your seal needs the water, I can find us another beach,” he said.

“Okay,” I said, my thoughts still occupied by the concept of Delmar as my mate. If I were human, would I have a fated mate? Wouldn't it be better for Delmar to be with a fellow magical creature?

I was a selkie right now, but not for long. Would Delmar's affection for me disappear if I didn't have a seal inside me?

A sharp feeling of annoyance hit me. It was my seal. She hated my questions and doubts. To her everything was perfectly clear: Delmar was ours, and she had no plans of disappearing.

I wished life could be as simple as my seal saw it.

“I just thought of something,” Delmar said.

“What?” I asked, snuggling a little closer to him.

“Tomorrow is Monday, do you need to call in sick to your job or anything?”

“It’s sweet of you to think of that,” I said. “But I finished my contract last week. My next one doesn't start until next month.”

“Contracts?”

“I’m a corporate accountant,” I said. “Companies hire me to audit and check compliance.”

“That sounds, um, complicated,” he said.

“It can be, but so can anything if you're not familiar with it,” I said. “The hard part was setting up my own business and building a reputation. It’s gotten easier the last few years, and now I even turn clients away.”

He grimaced. “That sounds like you're successful. I’m, um, I’m not.”

I was a little confused for a moment, but my seal pushed me to comfort our mate. Oh, he felt insecure. That was easy to address.

“I make a comfortable living, but I do this because I like my job. Numbers make sense to be me, and I like the challenge of an audit. Making sure all the numbers match and everyone’s following the rules gives me a sense of achievement. I don’t care what you do as long as you’re happy.”

One of his tentacles wrapped around my waist to give me a hug.

“That’s good,” he murmured, leaning his head over to press his lips to my forehead.

“What about you? How do you keep yourself in coffee and sardines?” I asked.

He chuckled. “I hunt for shipwrecks and collect things to sell.”

I was suddenly fascinated. “Really? That's intriguing! I guess having a kraken form would make that a natural profession.”

“It does,” he agreed with a grin. “It involves two things I like: diving deep in my kraken form and looking for shiny things.”