Chapter 39 #2
Alvara gulped down the air, but her lungs pleaded for more.
She flung her arms forward and drove her legs behind her despite her exhaustion until she came close enough to the ship that a sailor could reach her.
He gripped her by the arms and hoisted her onto the deck, where she collapsed in a pile of salt and sweat.
Boden lay a few paces from her. One of the men pushed rhythmically on his chest, but he didn’t move.
Breathe. Please.
Alvara pushed to her hands and knees and crawled toward him, even as her muscles shook from the effort. A violent spasm racked his body, and he doubled over and retched an ungodsly amount of water at the feet of the nearest sailor. She had never been so relieved to hear such a disgusting sound.
But instead of resting like any sane person would, he staggered to his feet and moved toward the ship’s railing. Godsdamned this male. Alvara lurched toward him and snagged his hand, but he still struggled against her, all the while spewing some language she had never heard before. Selkie.
She found her footing, placed her hand on his dripping face, and shot a line of ice up his skin. His eyes remained glazed, even as he fought off multiple sailors who tried to restrain him.
Maybe if she could convince him she was the selkie, he would stop trying to kill himself. And maybe a little part of her wanted to wipe that creature’s kiss off his lips.
This was just to save his skin. Alvara grabbed his neck and pressed her mouth to his.
His eyes snapped to her face, and he dug his hand into her hair, crushing his lips harder against hers.
Her body ignited with waves of delicious heat, and she sank into his touch, teasing her teeth over his bottom lip and tasting every drop of seawater.
Tasting him. His other hand roamed down her body, lingering like he wanted to memorize every curve, every dip, and uncoiling desire within her for more, she needed more—
Until she remembered he thought she was a stinking seal.
She shoved him away, panting between words. “I’m not the damn selkie, Boden! Snap out of it.”
He swallowed, his own chest heaving just as much as hers. “Selkie?”
“Yes, you idiot. She was about to drag you out to sea.” The image of the two locked in a kiss was forever seared into Alvara’s mind, and she squeezed the water out of her hair with so much force her scalp stung.
The sailors’ eyes darted between them.
“I was just trying to convince him I was the selkie so he wouldn’t jump to his damn fading.
This”—she motioned between her and Boden—“is not a thing.” She shouldn’t have been explaining this at all, let alone to humans who didn’t understand a word she said.
Gods, she needed to pull herself together.
If she had to stand on the ship for one more second without something to do, she would lose her mind. She stalked toward the other end of the ship where one of the sailors took buckets of water from the men below deck and emptied them into the sea.
She ripped the next full bucket from his hands. “Me,” she said in his language.
He raised his voice, but she coated the bucket in a thin layer of ice, infusing her stare with the rage she wanted to direct at Boden.
“Thank you,” Boden said over her shoulder. “I’m not sure what came over me.”
“I hope she was at least pretty,” Alvara muttered as she sloshed some of the water over the railing.
“Oh, I think anyone with a head on their shoulders would think so. I hope you don’t believe I would jump overboard for just anyone.”
His words only soured her mood, and she launched the bucket with such force on the next swing that the whole thing went flying overboard. One of the sailors hollered at her, and she cringed, lifting her hand in apology.
“Is something bothering you?”
She slowly pivoted to face Boden, whose mouth was stretched into a subtle grin. The mouth she could still taste, still feel pressed against hers with such desperation her blood simmered at just the thought.
Of course she wasn’t bothered. Not by the image of him locked in a kiss with that…thing. Or the memory of his touch exploring her skin like he wanted to claim all of her for himself.
“I’m perfectly fine. If you’re done trying to drown, I’m going to find a change of clothes.”
His own tunic and pants were soaked, hugging the muscles of his body—
Alvara forced her gaze to the sky, tracking a seagull in its search for land.
“I’ll do my best,” Boden said. “I have a feeling you might not be willing to jump in after me a second time.”
If only that were the truth.
At the end of a long day spent avoiding Boden, which was essentially impossible on such a small vessel, Alvara glared at the sleeping hide they had to share if they both wanted to survive the frigid night.
For whatever reason, the humans stored bigger versions on their ships, requiring two people per sack to fend off the cold. It hadn’t bothered her the first night, seeing as her only other option would have been to share with a complete stranger.
But now, freezing to her fading didn’t sound so bad. She could give it a try, just for tonight.
“Second guessing the sleeping arrangements, are we?” Boden opened the hide and settled himself inside.
After the kiss—no, she shouldn’t even call it that, because he had been out of his mind and she had only done it to save his ass—Alvara wasn’t sure how she would feel sidled up to his body all night.
“Not at all,” she said with an air of confidence that she in no way felt. She slipped in next to him, pushing her body against the outer seam to put as much space between them as possible.
“I have every faith in you. We all do, Alvara. Tomorrow will be successful, I’m sure of it.”
Oh. He thought she was acting like a lunatic because she was nervous about meeting with the dwarves. That would make much more sense than her real predicament, which involved trying and failing to ignore the spark along her skin when his leg brushed against hers.
What was wrong with her? They were friends. She wouldn’t lose Boden to some romantic spat, and they couldn’t afford to focus on anything but the impending ela season, which meant the battle loomed near. He had only kissed her because he thought she was the selkie.
She didn’t lie to him, not completely. “It could, or it could go poorly and change everything for the worse. That’s what scares me the most.”
“It can’t hurt to try. You would be upset with yourself for not giving it a chance, knowing the outcome could change everything for the better.”
She wished he wasn’t only talking about the dwarves.