Chapter 12
Delmar
After telling an anxious Dale that we were going to sail for a while and we’d be back in plenty of time for dinner, we headed out.
We didn’t even make it out of the small harbor before two other boats were following us. One was a small sailboat, and the other was a large fishing boat with a sturdy inflatable Zodiac Nautic strapped to the back.
“They better not get close,” Nina grumbled as I worked the sails.
“If they bother us, I can give their boats the same treatment I gave Zak’s,” I said. The wind was perfect, and it was easy to travel southwest until we were in a nice spot of open ocean.
“Are you saying that you’re the reason Zak’s boat sank?
” Nina asked with a fake gasp. One of my tentacles slipped free and waved, as if taking responsibility.
Nina grinned and grabbed the tentacle with one hand and petted it with the other.
“You did so good making that bad man’s boat sink. Yes you did!”
Pleasure at her touch zinged up my tentacle and punched me in the gut.
“Uh, Nina, please let go,” I said, trying hard to keep my voice steady.
She pulled her hands back. “Sorry, that was probably distracting. You sail, I’ll sit here and look pretty.”
I grinned. “You do that very well.”
We lapsed into silence for a little while, then she tapped the rail of the boat. “I should probably learn how to sail.”
I loved the idea of teaching her. “That’s a great suggestion. Let’s start with the basics.” I pointed. “This boat is considered a sloop because we only have one mast.”
“A mast is the sail?” Nina asked.
“No, it’s the pole, that sail is called the mainsail,” I said.
She shook her head. "There's a lot of ropes and pulleys going on here. I can’t imagine how much more complicated it would be if there were more masts.”
“It’s really not as complicated as it seems,” I said. “And I don’t give tests, so there’s no pressure.”
“I don’t know about the no-test part,” she said. “I thrive under deadlines.”
“In that case, if you don’t remember everything I taught you today when I quiz you, I’ll…” Hmm, what would I do? “No more kisses.”
Wait, no, that was the worst consequence ever! Before I could backtrack, Nina chuckled.
“In that case, I'm going to do so well that I’ll get kisses all over my body.”
Was that her inquiring about sex? My body went hot, and my tentacles ached inside my body to touch her.
“Even if you forget every question, you can have kisses all over your body,” I said.
She nodded. “I like these odds.”
When I felt like we were far enough from the coast to be comfortable, I furled the sails and dropped the anchor. The sailboat and fishing boat moved a little further south of us and then also dropped anchor. They were far enough away that they'd have to use binoculars to see us clearly.
“That's an acceptable distance,” Nina said, voicing my thoughts.
I nodded and pulled off my shirt and tossed it on a bench, then my shorts. Nina hesitated so that by the time I was naked, all she'd done was take off her shoes.
I didn't care if the other boats decided to spy on me and saw my bare ass or swinging dick. Let them be jealous. But I didn't like that my mate was uncomfortable.
I grabbed my shirt and held it out to her.
“You could go downstairs and change into this and wear it into the ocean. I don't care if it gets ruined or lost.”
She took the shirt and gave me a hug. “Thanks, that would be better. Now that I'm not scared of the water, I should look into getting some bathing suits.”
I shook my head. “Or you could keep borrowing my shirts. I like you in my clothes.”
She gave me a flirtatious smile before disappearing into the cabin. It wasn't long before she returned wearing only my shirt.
“You look adorable in my clothes. I think you should only wear my stuff from now on,” I said, several of my tentacles waving in agreement.
A pleased smile spread across her face. “Thanks, but I'm not giving up my jeans.”
Taking her hand, I led her to the stern of the boat and helped her step down onto the swim deck. She stood there for a moment, staring at the water.
“That's deep, right?”
“Not as deep as the ocean can get, but much deeper than the beach. I should've thought of that. Shallow beach water was one thing, this was another.” I headed for the anchor. “You don't have to get in. I’ll find us a secluded beach.”
She grabbed my shirt to stop me. “No, I can do this. My seal is confident, and she really wants to get into the water. I don't think I could hold her back long enough to go anywhere else.”
“I'll get in first,” I said. “Then I'll be there to help if you struggle at all.”
“Good idea,” she said, staring at the water.
I jumped in and let my tentacles come out, but didn't shift past that. My kraken only put up with it because we were finally fully in the water, and our mate needed to be able to see our human face.
Nina sat down and dangled her legs in the water, then slid the rest of the way in. I could tell the moment she panicked and my tentacles moved before I could think to grab her.
They wrapped around her, and she stopped thrashing. One moment I was holding human Nina and then a barking seal was demanding I let her swim.
“I'm going to shift and stay with you,” I said as I let go. I’m not sure she heard or understood me. The moment I wasn't holding her back, Nina dove into the water.
I shifted and followed her. For a moment, I was worried that my kraken form might scare her. She zoomed up to me, grabbed one of my tentacles with her front flipper and booped my head with her nose.
My god she was cute!
Thankfully, unlike the rest of the colony, her seal saw me as her mate, so she wasn't terrified of me.
Letting go of my appendage with her flipper, she moved up to inspect me. Her little nose booping me all over as she explored my fully shifted body.
It was delightful.
I petted and touched her with only the very tips of my appendages.
I didn’t want to accidentally make her feel trapped.
Far from being bothered by my touching, she burrowed into several of my tentacles.
It took me a moment for me to realize she was treating me like a kelp bed and playing.
I made my appendages extra-long, and she zoomed through them like a seal obstacle course.
We played for about twenty minutes until she had to go up for air. I bobbed on the surface while she poked her head up to breathe and look around. The other boats were keeping their distance, and there wasn’t any other traffic in the area. The shoreline was within sight, and the sea was calm.
I knew my mate was taking this all in, even in her seal form. She slapped the water a few times with a flipper, as if testing her movements. She did a few high bobs, coming half out of the water a little like a whale breaching.
Once she was done with that game, she flipped over and dived back down. I followed her, staying close as she explored.
A school of mackerel caught her attention, and she jetted off toward them. Predictably, the school moved so that there was a gap everywhere she swam. Wanting to hunt was instinctual, knowing how to hunt effectively wasn’t.
I could tell she was getting frustrated, so I snapped out a tentacle and stunned a few fish. She rushed up and swallowed them whole. She looked pleased with herself for a full second before her human brain must’ve registered that she’d eaten raw fish right from the sea, bones and all.
I was quick to catch another fish and eat it while she watched. I pointed at my beak and ate another one. I was trying to show her that it wasn’t a big deal.
She blinked, then moved to press close to me. I wrapped my appendages around her, petting her back to help comfort her. I couldn’t know what it was like to suddenly have all new instincts, but it had to be strange and discomforting at best. It had to be downright frightening at worst.
I was filled with pride all over again. If I had to face what she was dealing with, I’d be mentally devastated.
We stayed like that for a while, then she wiggled free of my gentle grasp and swam off.
It seemed she was ready to explore again.
We found the school of mackerel, but she only played at trying to catch them.
I watched as she darted in and out of the school, making them twist and turn as a group.
Her little harbor seal face was so joyful that my tentacles wiggled with happiness.
Because the sea was a dangerous place, I was constantly scanning for threats to Nina.
I spotted a good-sized leopard shark coming straight at us, probably attracted by all the movement.
I made myself big and fanned out all my appendages.
That was all it took, and the shark turned and left.
I wasn’t something it wanted to tangle with.
Nina never noticed, she was much too busy finding out how fast she could turn as she played with the school of fish.
When a rockfish swam below us, she dove deeper to investigate. I followed her, shrinking down to my previous size. She found everything so fascinating that I thought about how much she’d enjoy witnessing the whale migration.
I was making all kinds of plans when I remembered that this wasn’t Nina’s natural state. She’d be returning to fully human soon. It made me a little sad to think of losing my little harbor seal, but reversing the spell would make her happy. That made me happy.
She went up for air two more times before she decided she was done playing in the water. I followed her to the stern of the boat, but then watched her bobbing in the water, looking confused.
I shifted and treaded water next to her. “Is your seal refusing to shift?”
She bumped clumsily against me. I took that as a yes. Several of my tentacles emerged to wrap around her, doing their part to soothe her with petting.
“We will return to the water,” I said, talking to her seal. “Even when we’re on land, we’ll never be far from the sea. We'll never ignore your needs or deny you the water. It's important that you're patient with your human side. She’s new to all of this.”
I could feel the seal relaxing as I spoke. It took a little while, but eventually the seal released her hold. The moment Nina’s human eyes looked up at me, I lifted her up into the boat.
“Are you okay?” I asked, heaving myself up. Several appendages were still out, and they grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Nina. They left me dripping wet and cold.
“I think so,” she said. “It was a lot of fun until the very end. I was tired, and I could tell we needed to rest, but she didn’t want to stop. When I tried to picture my human body, she would push at me and disrupt my thoughts. It was a little scary.”
I opened my arms, and she came to me to press against my chest. My arms and several appendages wrapped around her.
“Your seal was tired too,” I said. “She has the instincts of a true harbor seal, but she’s basically newly born and out of shape.
She was scared that you wouldn’t let her back in the water.
If this happens again, keep telling her that you’ll be coming back.
Picture the next swim and remind her that we have to rest.”
“Your words are making both of us feel better,” Nina murmured. She started shaking, and I thought it was a combination of cold and exhaustion. I picked her up and walked her into the cabin. I put her on the bed and tucked blankets around her. When I tried to stand up, she made a protesting sound.
“I want to make you some tea,” I said. “A warm drink will make you feel better.”
“I’ll come with you,” she said. “I need to keep touching you.”
I could understand that. Mates thrived on touch.
I picked her up, blankets and all, and carried her to the kitchenette. While I held her in my arms, my appendages got to work heating water for tea.
After it was brewed, I added a generous amount of honey. With the tea finished, I carried her and the mug to the bench seat. Sitting down, I handed the tea to her. She gripped it with both hands and took a sip.
“Perfect,” she murmured.
“Good, I’m glad,” I said. We snuggled in comfortable silence. By the time she finished the tea, she wasn’t shaking any longer and her color was back. I let out a happy sigh.
“This is nice,” I murmured.
Nina opened her mouth to say something, then let out an impressive belch. Slapping a hand over her mouth, she looked at me with wide eyes.
“I can’t believe I just did that!” Her voice was muffled by her hand. “Oh God, I can taste the mackerel!”
That made me laugh until my eyes watered. She started laughing also, even when she tried to pretend to be annoyed by my amusement.
“If it makes you feel any better, I think your mackerel burp is adorable,” I said.
“Liar,” she accused.
“Never!” I said with a fake gasp. “Mackerel is one of my favorites, and I'll prove it.”
I leaned in close and put my lips close to hers.