Rainlashed (15 page)

Maya felt his come like fire, the heat bringing her to the edge and pushing her over. Together they cried out in mutual pleasure, their bodies collapsing together onto the bed.

His cock slowly lost its hardness while buried in her tight cunt as they lay together, sated with pleasure. He gently kissed Maya on the forehead, then reached up and released the straps that secured her to the bed. Outside the wind dropped, the rain ceased and the night became still, with only the drip of the water falling from the eaves to show it had ever arrived.

He wanted to keep this feeling of peace between them forever, but he had to speak before he lost his courage. “You are right, we are one. It is wrong for me to hold you here. I would prefer that you stay, but the choice is yours.”

She hardly seemed to have heard him. “The storm,” she breathed, in a voice of wonder. “I felt it. I made it happen.”

He looked at her with puzzlement in his eyes.

“I am a storm-selkie after all. A real storm-selkie, with power over the wind and the waves. I can raise the wind, I can cause the sea to whip into white horses. All I could ever manage before was a gentle breeze to ripple the water. You have awakened in me the power that I thought I could never wield. Our love must have wakened it.”

He rose up and looked at Maya, and was surprised at the strength of the love he felt toward her. She was right, he did love her, like he had loved no other.

Looking at her beautiful form he was suddenly struck with how fragile she looked now. She had been a sturdy creature when first he had captured her—her hair glossy and sleek and her body firm and hard.

What a difference a few days had made to her, the changes creeping up on him unnoticed until now. Her hair had lost some of its sheen and drooped lifeless about her thin shoulders. Her eyes were ringed with distress, lacking the life they showed moments ago during their lovemaking. Even her body looked somehow diminished, as if the life force inside her was waning by the day.

He could escape the truth no longer. She was so heartsick for the loss of her skin that she had made herself ill.

He tucked her under the blankets, knowing what he had to do next. No one would ever be able to call him murderer. However much he desired her, however much he wished he could keep her by his side for the rest of her days, he would not have her death on his conscience.

Feeling as though his own heart was being ripped out of his body, he strode out to the stables to find the head groom and give him the order that would save Maya’s heart, and break his own.

He would say nothing of this to her until he could make good his promise. She did not trust him, and rightly so. His actions were the only things that could win back her trust, and he could only hope they would not come too late to save her.

* * * * *

She must have heard him come into the bedchamber but she did not move, not even to greet him.

Sick at heart, he came over to her and stood by her side, looking down at her where she lay. “Come on out of the bath,” he said, extending his hand out to help her up. “The water has long grown cold.”

She did not answer him. She lay in the bath, her eyes closed, nothing to tell that she still lived but the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed softly in and out.

She had been lying in the bath since the servants had first drawn it for her at dawn, and the evening shadows were already lengthening. Surely it could not be good for her. He reached down to pick her up and shuddered to feel that her skin was as cold as ice.

She tried to shrug off his hands. “Leave me be,” she whispered.

“I cannot let you lie in cold water all night.” He plucked her out of the water and wrapped her in a towel to dry. “You will catch a chill and take sick.”

“I am dying anyway,” she murmured.

Despite her weak protests, he rubbed her dry and carried her over to the bed.

He tucked her under the blankets, knowing that he could delay the moment no longer. Tomms had returned from Edinburgh and brought with him the ending of his foolish dream.

“Maya.”

Her eyes and she looked weakly up at him, before closing them once more. She no longer had the energy to speak or even to smile.

“Maya, my love, look at me.”

The urgency in his voice propelled her into keeping her eyes open this time.

“I have a gift for you.”

She shook her head almost imperceptibly, her gaze fixed on his face. Was he so blind as that? Could he not see that she was past gifts? Their lovemaking the night before had tired her out, even to death. Still she could not regret it. He had shown her a piece of his soul and she would treasure his gift of himself.

“You will like this gift, I promise you.”

She sank back against the pillows again, exhausted by her brief effort. She needed no other gift than what he had given her last night.

“I suppose I can hardly call it a gift,” he continued, “seeing as I stole it from you at the start. I am merely returning to you what I should never have taken.” He stopped for a moment. “Maya, I am giving you back your skin.”

“Do not tease me,” she whispered between cracked lips. “It is not kind of you.”

“This is no jest.” His voice held all the sadness she felt in her heart. “Come, take hold of it. It is yours again.”

She felt a familiar warmth envelop her arms as he thrust her living breathing skin into her lap. How she had missed it. Until this moment arrived, she had not realized just how much. She drew it to her face, taking in deep breaths of the familiar salty smell, the smell of her life.

Her heart was so full of happiness it felt like she was about to burst with joy. She found herself crying, fat tears running down her face as she hugged the precious garment tightly to her chest. “You have given me my freedom,” she sobbed, over and over again.

Chapter Ten

“You have given me my freedom.”

“I have.” His voice was somber but she could not care. Not now, when she had her skin back again.

Her skin clasped to her chest, she tried to rise but her legs were too weak to hold her.

He caught her as she collapsed back on to the bed. “You are too sick to move. Wait until you are better.”

“I will be better as soon as I see the ocean again. Please, will you take me there? My skin longs for the salt air and the feel of the ocean waves.”

She was in his arms in an instant.

With every step he took towards the beach where first he met her, the scent of the sea grew stronger, and the roar of the waves became louder. With every step he took, she felt her heart beat more strongly in her chest and her limbs strengthen.

“Put me down. I can walk now,” she said, as he stopped briefly by the stile to catch his breath. He was breathing heavily with the effort of carrying her.

“You are not strong enough,” he grunted in reply, as he started to move on.

She wriggled out of his arms, surprising even herself with her newfound strength. “We will go faster now if I walk.” Her legs scarcely wobbled at all as she started off down the track.

His face grim, he took her free arm and helped her along the rough track, steadying her when she stumbled.

At the top of the cliff she stopped for a moment to look out over the ocean. It was just as she had remembered it, only more beautiful. A fresh breeze was blowing off the sea, rippling the surface of the water out as far as the horizon. Streaks of white broke along the water’s edge where the ripples foamed and broke in waves against the rocks.

She sighed with pure joy as she looked out over the water. At last she was nearly home.

“Watch your footing. The track is steep and slippery from the rain,” he warned her, as they started down the path to the beach.

She hardly heard his warning, let alone paid it any heed. Anticipation was growing in her with the force of a tidal wave. She was so close to the ocean she could almost taste it.

As soon as the path reached the beach, she broke free of his touch and ran down to the water’s edge. A wave slithered up over the sand toward her, the water cool and fresh on her toes.

Her precious skin was in her arms, where it had been ever since he had returned it to her. With a sigh of utter relief, she clambered into it, feeling the familiar softness and warmth of her seal being steal over her. On her belly, she slid down into the welcoming water and swam off into the deep.

He watched her transform herself back into a seal and slide off into the water without a backward glance.

How eager she had been to leave him, he thought sadly as he watched her slip away from him. How quickly she had dismissed him from her mind, as if he had never made love to her a thousand ways and made her scream in pleasure each time, as if he had never existed for her at all.

Her tracks in the sand were all that was left of her now. His eyes searched the ocean for as far as he could see, but there was no sign of her. She was gone back to her ocean home. Truly gone.

He would not grieve for her. What was the use when she would not grieve for him?

With one last backward look at the sea, he turned his feet towards his home, climbing the steep path up the cliff and plodding his way back over the fields with leaden feet.

In his arrogance, he had captured a selkie against her will, and for a brief and glorious time she had been his.

His pride had been his punishment in the end.

His selkie, his darling Maya, had turned the tables on him. She had captured his heart—forever.

A cloud of gleaming mackerel engulfed her. Though she was not desperately hungry, she chased them just for the thrill of it, snapping at them as they darted hither and thither until she grabbed one silvery morsel and swallowed it whole. Ah, how good it felt to eat fresh fish again, fish that she had caught for herself. Human food was tasteless and dull in comparison.

The fish in her belly made her feel more alive than ever. Now that she was free once more, she had already forgiven the human for capturing her and for making her fall in love with him.

After all he had been good to her and he had loved her in his way. She felt her loins tingle at the thought of just how good he had been to her. She had enjoyed it too, until he had made it clear that he intended to keep her as a human for always. She had too much seal in her to be a human forever.

Then she had wanted to not enjoy his touch any longer but she had not been able to turn off her feelings. He had made her feel so good, even against her will, that she had not been able to resist him. He had given her more pleasure than she had ever experienced in her life before. If for nothing else, she at least owed him her thanks for that.

Her swimming slowed. In her eagerness to return to the water, she had not so much as thanked him for her freedom or even bid him farewell. Her conscience pricked her for her rude haste.

With a flick of her tail she headed for the surface. A quick breath of air, and she headed for the beach. Maybe he would still be there, watching out for her.

The beach was already deserted. He was not watching out for her or waiting for her. He had gone.

She felt the prick of a tear in her eye and shook her head hastily, sending droplets of spray out in every direction. Why should she fret over his absence? In her selfish haste she had left him without looking back. Why would he do otherwise?

Still, she could not shake the feeling of abandonment that came over her. For so many days he had watched over her, barely letting her out of his sight for a moment. And then, in a heartbeat, he had forgotten her.

* * * * *

He could not keep away from the shore. No matter how he sternly he forbade himself to feel such weakness, or how passionately he vowed to himself each night that he would conquer the absurd longing he still felt for the sea creature, his need for her was too great. Every morning, come warm sunshine or fierce biting wind and driving rain, he strode down to the shore and sat on the rocks, hoping against hope that Maya would come back to him.

She did not appear. The shore was deserted except for the mournful gulls, keeping watch with him in his vigil. Not even a full seal was to be seen, let alone a selkie. All seal folk had vanished from the beach.

Day after day he spent by the water, neglecting his business, oblivious to all but the desire that still beat strongly in his heart. When the sun shone warmly enough, he threw off his clothes and swam naked in the bitingly cold ocean. The salt waves on his skin made him feel closer to Maya. The same waves that washed against his human body would also be washing against hers. The thought gave him comfort in his despair.

* * * * *

“The human took Maya captive and refused to let her go. He must be punished.”

There were murmurs of agreement from every side, and several selkies in their seal form clapped their flippers together as a sign of approval.

Maya looked desperately around the huge cave where the elders of her selkie colony had gathered, searching for a friendly face, a face of pity rather than revenge.

There was no such face before her. The elders, seated apart from the others at one end of the cavern, were all dour and grim.