Page 40 of Kraken the Seal

His cock-tacle was still inside me but had gone still. Happy to make him my bed, I stretched out on top of him.

About five minutes later, his cock-tacle slipped from my body. As much as I wanted to keep snuggling, thirst drove me from the bed. I carefully climbed off Delmar to get some water.

On my way to the little refrigerator, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror on the bathroom door.

My jaw dropped.

I was covered in little round hickeys! From under my chin all the way to my thighs, there wasn’t an inch of skin that wasn't marked by Delmar's suckers.

Snickering, I grabbed a bottle of water. Once I was finished with that, I moved back to the bed. Delmar was still out cold, so I arranged his tentacles so I wouldn't accidentally crush one. Once I was snuggled up to his side, I pulled up the blanket and drifted off into a light sleep.

Chapter 14

Delmar

If I had my way, we would’ve spent the night out at sea, snuggling in postcoital bliss. Instead, we had to get up, motor back to the marina and get dressed for dinner with Abby.

All of that for me to experience the most uncomfortable night of my life.

It started the moment we walked into the restaurant. The place was crowded, which I thought was a good thing. Crowds usually meant anonymity.

Not there. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at us when we walked in.

Falling back on my innate friendliness that had gotten me out of a lot of tense situations, I smiled big and waved cheerfully, as if walking into a party.

“Hello!”

Instead of smiling back, a bunch of people flinched, and others ducked their heads and looked away. If that wasn’t a blow to a guy's ego, I didn’t know what was.

Nina grabbed my hand and ignored everyone as we walked to the only empty table in the place. I was a little shocked that no one got up to leave as we sat down.

The moment we were seated, a server came over with menus. He tossed them on the table before rushing away. Conversation around us had started up again, but it was quiet and everyone kept looking over at us without trying to be obvious.

Nina glanced at the list of food before pushing it aside. I examined the menu, having a hard time deciding between several items.

“I'm going to get the salmon,” she said, then rolled her eyes. “Assuming someone is brave enough to take our order.”

“Maybe we should leave,” I said. I'd had other shifters and magical creatures tread carefully around me, but they usually relaxed after talking to me. I’d never been treated like a monster.

Nina didn't like it any more than I did because the moment those words were out of my mouth, she stood up. “Sure, let's go.”

“Sure,” I said, standing up.

She smiled for real. “Can we make fish stew again?”

“Nina?”

We looked over to find a stranger making his way through the restaurant, pulling Abby behind him by her wrist. Like when we'd been outside the grocery store, she kept her eyes down, but she looked paler than before.

“It's nice to meet you,” the stranger said, his smile a little too excited. The way this guy was treating Abby made meimmediately dislike him. I stepped sideways so I was partially in front of Nina. The stranger gave me a quick look of distaste before focusing back on Nina.

“Uh, it’s nice to meet you too?” Nina said, the statement sounded more like a question.

Archer stepped out from behind them. “Nina, Delmar, this is Frank, Abby’s father. You already met Abby.”

“It's my right to accompany my daughter when interacting with outsiders,” Frank said, never once looking at me. His entire focus was on Nina. “But it's my privilege to have dinner with such a beautiful selkie.”

“Hello Frank,” Nina gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. I bet it was the one she used for professional meetings. Her smile turned real as she spoke to Abby. “It’s nice to see you again, Abby. Please join us.”