18 This is nice

Maeve found herself preparing for a wedding while the whole while she plotted either her soon to be husbands' death or her escape.

Whichever came first.

And then she would take Narfi and Vali and run far away from here and stay far away from the water, never learning to swim and not caring she'd be better off.

But as she thought about killing Lugh, one thing came to her mind and that was what he said to the guard who tried to punish her and that was that he aught to not treat her poorly and that made her feel a bit bad for wanting to run away.

The way the people in the castle worried about his wellbeing since she had tried to harm him, while knowing he was invulnerable made her wonder if he really was so bad. Or just lonely.

He was probably bad, all bad.

His auburn hair was like fire, in that case he was probably satanic. That was right.

"Are you going to sleep on the floor?" He asked.

She realized that Lugh had come back, and was watching her sitting there huffing, and puffing on the floor and she hadn't noticed.

"Huh?" She asked, a bit confused as she hadn't heard what he had asked.

"Would you like to join me?" He asked. He held out his hand like a gentleman and offered to lift her to her feet to sleep in the bed.

"She hesitated but in the end, sleep over came her so she stood up rejecting his hand and climbed next to him.

"Just don't touch me, I have difnity." She said.

To this Lugh gave a chuckle which illicited her to glare at him.

"I mean it!" She exclaimed.

"Sure you do, Miss 'naked woman in my bed, who tried to stab me earlier today'"

He laughed, feigning a seductive position on the bed which she found offensive but why was he so cute?

She got mad. "I wasn't really naked." She said folding her arms angrily, "I just said that to get you to open the door."

"I can open your—"

SMACK!

Lugh sat stunned as he had playfully leaned towards her to pretend tease nip her neck, even though he wasn't going to do it, but she had smacked him across the face before he could crack the joke.

He pulled away as her face flushed red and exhibited a moment of fear.

Then he asked a serious question on his mind that her behavior looked like post traumatic stress and not just simply her reaction to his joke.

"You haven't been with a man before have you?" He asked suddenly.

She turned away from him. "As a matter of fact, no." She said. Though Sirius had tried to bite her, the idea frightened her that what kinds of things could Lugh do to frighten her like this, what can a selkie do that is inhuman like a vampire?

"Have you ever…..drowned someone in the sea?" She asked, "you know, like sirens do?"

Lugh shook his head, "it's best not to ask about my past." He said, "goodnight my princess." And he turned out the light.

Maeve lay there in the dark, wondering what kind of a man this was. He seemed more complicated than just a jerk, but more gentle than he trusted others do know.

I bet he's a killer. She thought and went to sleep next to him anyways. He's definitely drowned thousands. And especially girls.

———————-

As Maeve resumed her desire for freedom she once again had found herself on this bed with this man sleeping as if he trusted her not to strangle him in his sleep.

She could use a pillow.

But he was so darn handsome with his short, yet flowy hair draped over his eyes in such a way she could picture him as a kid, and yet he was all alone.

I wonder what happened to his family. She thought.

No. Don't have feelings for you; he tricked you literally today. Or was it yesterday? She couldn't quite tell, the whole experience had been a blur.

He opened one eye and caught her staring. "Do you want to snuggle me, is that why you're looking so long?" He asked suddenly.

"You mean I can?" She found herself saying. She'd never been snuggled before.

He rolled over to his side and lifted his arm in the air and offered her to find a spot in his warm embrace.

Cautiously she wiggled into a position next to him, afraid he would recoil at her touch, but he took her fingers into his and smiled warmly.

"Now isn't this better than fighting." He asked. His body next to hers and sending warmth and fireworks through her spine. She shivered like a wild cat who wasn't used to being petted, only to find that she did indeed like it afterall.

"It's not horrible." She said. "But you still kidnapped me."

"Fair enough." He said warmly and returned to sleep.

She held still and felt his heart beating behind her. His kiss had been nice too. He just brought me here so I could get to see him from his perspective right? She thought. And to get away from Vali.

I wonder why. She thought, what's so bad about Vali?

She leaned into his embrace and admitted that it was better than being with Sirius who denied her this kind of closeness.

If only Lugh could be like this, instead of the jerk he was earlier today, that too would be nice. She thought.