Castor raised a brow. "And he never asked?"
"No. He had no interest in my family at all. Never asked about them, never brought up the topic."
Castor let out an incredulous snort. "I don't like to speak badly of people, but…"
I turned to him with a smile. "Don't worry, I don't care what you say about him. I know now he wasn't good for me." I sidled closer to Castor, pressing against his chest. "But you are."
Castor gazed warmly down at me and planted a kissed on my forehead.
"We are almost home," he said. "And when we get there, I intend to spend alotof quality time with you."
The way he said it while centrally stroking my face made me shiver and made my cock twitch to life.
"Hey, I recognize this place," I said when we reached a broad section of the river. There was a grand shape in the middle of the water. Even in the darkness, I recognized it as Castor's lodge. "This is where you dropped a tree on me."
He chuckled. "Ialmostdropped a tree on you."
"No, youdiddrop the tree, it just missed hitting me."
"Well, it led to us meeting, so I don't regret it," he replied with a grin. "Come on, let me show you inside."
I blinked at the structure. It resembled a huge wooden lump. "Inside?"
Castor looked amused. "How much do you know about beaver dams?"
"Apparently not as much as I thought," I said.
Castor took my hand and led me into the water. We both shifted—him into his beaver form, and me into my mer form—and I followed him underwater. I was happy that my fated mate was born to the water, just like me. When we were beneath the surface together, it felt like we were the only two people in the world.
To my surprise, the log structure extended further underwater than I thought it did. I watched Castor dip below the furthest shell, then disappear. When I followed him, I ended up with a mouthful of air instead of water. I blinked in confusion. Then my jaw dropped.
"Whoa..."
The inside of Castor's lodge was massive. Through the magic of beaver architecture and engineering, the inside space was completely dry. I slowly crawled up the centre platform and shifted so I could walk further in. There was just enough height that both he and I could walk around in our human forms without our heads hitting the ceiling.
Castor had shifted back as well. He grinned at me, puffing out his chest. This place was clearly his pride and joy. "Well? Do you like it?"
I craned my neck to look around. "Castor, this place is amazing. Did you really build this all by yourself?"
"Sure did. Never underestimate the power of a beaver."
The craftsmanship was stunning, and so were the technical details. The more I looked around, the more impressed I became.
"You did all this… just to find your fated mate?" I asked.
Castor smiled shyly. "Yes. It's the natural instinct of every beaver shifter. In the end, all the blood, sweat and tears we put into building our lodge is worth it if our fated mate likes the end product."
"Well, I don't just like it, I love it."
Castor took my hands. "If there's anything at all you want to tweak or change, just let me know and I'll do it. This isn't just my home anymore. It's ours."
Warmth spread over my cheeks. This man was so sweet it was unbearable. He felt like a walking dream. I hugged him, inhaling him deeply, just wanting more and more of him.
My cock twitched again.
I let out a shaky breath. "We're inournew home... and we're finally alone."
Castor's brow rose in coy satisfaction, already knowing what I was going to say before I said it.
