Page 51 of Bride of the Sea King

That shouldn’t have been cute, but it was.

The redhead handed her baby over without hesitation, and Eloise snuggled him close. When he babbled at her and pulled her hair, she beamed at him.

I had all of five seconds to consider sneaking away before Eloise waved me over, “Heidi, this is Aria, she’s Triton’s mate. Aria, this is Heidi. She got here a few months after I did, and this is her third little one.”

Heidi gave me a quick smile. “Nice to meet you. For your sake, I hope your cycle starts soon. Everyone is dying for the king to have a baby. It’s all people can talk about.”

My stomach tightened.

My throat did too.

“Here, want to hold him?” Eloise held the baby out toward me.

“Oh, I’ve never really held a baby before,” I said, staring down at his little face instead of reaching for him.

Hewasadorable.

Those clear, hazel eyes and cute little gummy grin made my heart melt about the breeding thing, just a little bit.

“You don’t come from a big family?” Heidi asked.

“No, it was just me. He’s cute, though,” I said.

“Just think how cute a mini Triton will be.” Heidi nudged Eloise.

Eloise snorted. “Shush. We all know you and every other turned human in this castle is attracted to him. The last thing we need isfor one of our mates to threaten the king. Especially yours. He’s the scariest one.”

My eyebrows lifted.

All of the turned human women were attracted to Triton?

I mean, yeah, he was gorgeous.

But that thought still wasn’t comfortable to me. Was he attracted to them too?

“My mate may be scary to some of you, but he is well aware that Triton is the prettiest of all of us. Except maybe our new queen.” She winked at me, and my face heated.

I wasn’t sure whether I was jealous that everyone found Triton so hot, or embarrassed that they were talking about me behind my back.

Thankfully, my stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, declaring to everyone that I was hungry.

“The dining hall is through those doors,” Eloise said with a smile, gesturing to a pair of double doors to her left. “We can come in with you so you don’t have to sit alone, if you want. The pureblooded merrae keep to themselves most of the time, so it’s usually awkward if there aren’t any turned humans to eat with.”

“I actually think I’m just going to grab some food and take it back to Triton’s room with me,” I said quickly. “Thanks, though.”

“Any time. Come find us if you need anything,” she offered, gesturing to herself, her mate, and Heidi.

I wouldn’t know how to find them, but I thanked her anyway before crossing the hallway. When the doors closed behind me, I let out a breath of relief.

Until I noticed ten sets of eyes on me.

Everyone in the room was staring.

The blue hair made it impossible to hide.

A woman glared at me.

Guess I’d found someone who voted with Joa.

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