Selkie's Revenge Read online

  Mack blinked and his gaze grew foggy with remembrance. “There was a woman I loved, many years ago. Her name was Anne. The same finman killed her.”

  Although it was warm in the circle of his arms, she felt chilled, as if a wind had whipped up. “Did he do the things Eddie described? Did he take her away to Hildaland?”

  Mack shook his head. “He tried, the bastard. I didn’t realize she’d gone down to the sea for a stroll. By the time I made it to the beach, I could see her on the water, suspended the way you were, walking toward a dark shape on the horizon. I recognized him as a finman, realized foul magic was at play. I called out to Anne, but I was at a distance and she didn’t hear me. I ran and ran to the shore, desperate to reach her. She was already so far out, almost with the finman. The water was deep and dark under her. As I entered the water, I shouted again. The finman turned to me, enraged that I would interrupt his progress. Rather than snatch her away, he used his powers to douse her in the water and hold her there. Even as I shifted, even as I swam to her, I saw her drown. She couldn’t swim, and the wizardry forced her under. It only seemed to take seconds for her to succumb. She was dead before I got to her.” Mack returned his gaze to her face, clear guilt etched into each crease around his eyes and mouth. “He drowned her just to spite me. Just so I wouldn’t have her. I wanted to chase him, to swim after him and not stop until my hands were around his ugly throat. But I couldn’t leave Anne floating there in the sea. I carried her to shore and brought her home. When she was buried in St. Magnus churchyard, I couldn’t leave the spot for a week. I felt dead inside. I’ve hunted finmen ever since, determined they won’t take another woman.”

  Beth’s eyes overflowed upon hearing his story. She didn’t even try to brush away the tears, just let them fall. Mack leaned in and kissed a few of her tears away, moaning softly as he did so. The feel of his tongue on her skin made her want to bare herself to him, but she was too saddened by his history. He’d lost his lover, just as she’d lost her family, and Beth couldn’t help but feel the pull of the invisible chain that held them together. Their tragic pasts linked them, but something else entirely was binding them fast.

  “I’m so sorry about Anne,” she whispered. “I’m sorry you lost your mate.”

  Mack looked up, his eyes wide. “As much as I loved Anne, she wasn’t my mate, Beth. I’ve not felt that connection with anyone but you. I know it’s early days, and I swear I’m not mentally unstable. But I know in my heart that you are my reason for living. I’ll do anything to protect you.”

  As a torrent of emotion coiled up through her core, Beth kissed him. She barely understood his words, barely comprehended her own thoughts, but she knew she needed Mack’s mouth upon hers. She smashed her lips against his, and his tongue penetrated the warmth of her mouth, finding its home there. He slid his hands down her back to her bottom, and he groaned, digging into the soft flesh of her behind.

  Desire and common sense raged a war inside her head. Common sense told her to pack a bag, purchase a ticket to New Smyrna, and leave Mack Kirk far behind. Desire told her to submit, and it was winning out by a mile. “I don’t know what to do. I need you to tell me what to do.”

  He leaned in, smelling so sweet, like an exotic fruit she just needed to peel and gobble up. “Just let go, Beth. Just feel.”

  She dared to look him in the eye. “I’m afraid to feel.”

  “I know. For years I was too.” He brushed his lips against hers, and his tongue slipped out to caress between them, making her ache with such yearning. “But I’ll help you.”

  Jamie and Edan arrived with beers. Edan gave Jamie a look as if knowing they’d interrupted something. “I’m heading back to the bar to try my luck with the luscious bartender.”

  Jamie grimaced. “The old one with the beard?”

  “Not him, you eejit,” Edan said with a grunt. “The female bartender. The one with the big…” He paused, looking at Beth. “Uh, bottle of vodka. Right, that one.” He dashed off.

  Jamie winked at Beth. “I’ll get to her first.” With a smile, he was after his brother.

  She leaned against Mack’s wall of a chest, wanting to lose herself in him. “Show me how to feel again.”

  “With pleasure,” he growled into her ear. He nibbled her earlobe and then proceeded to slide back out of the booth.

  “Where are you going?” she asked, already needy for his touch again.

  “Just to the jukebox,” he replied, grinning. “You are going to dance with me. And feel.”

  She watched, glued to her seat as Mack inserted a couple of coins into the jukebox and selected a song. He turned to her, his lips curled in a grin. As the first rolling guitar chords of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” washed over her, making her want to move, Mack beckoned to her with a finger.

  Beth’s body moved toward him, responding like a homing pigeon diving toward its destination. He pulled her into his arms and they swayed. Beth had never danced so closely with a man to anything but a romantic ballad, but Mack wouldn’t break contact with her. He moved his hard body against hers, his hands on her hips, and his erection was a thick temptation grinding against her stomach. She had to fight the need to drop to her knees, rip down his jeans, and take his cock deep in her throat. The urge, and the depth of emotion accompanying it, made her light-headed. He turned her away from the bar area toward the nearest wall and slid his hands over the curve of her bottom. His fingers dug into her ass, and Beth had to remind herself they were in public. She wanted him to nail her right to the wall. Through the damn wall. She needed him inside her at all costs.

  He felt so good.

  My mate. Could it be?

  He lowered his head so he could whisper against her ear. “Do you feel me, Beth? Do you feel my desire throbbing against you? My need to be joined to you again?”

  The song reached its crescendo, and his hips rolled against hers in a heady foreshadowing of what he would do to her the next time they were alone. Beth closed her eyes. The way he moved was sinful. She imagined devils from the most depraved circles of hell might dance in such a fashion. All of a sudden, even her soft leggings felt tight and restrictive. She wanted them off. She wanted no barrier between their bodies. As if sensing her need, Mack reached a discreet hand toward her breast and located her distended nipple through her tunic. He tugged and she had to bite her lip not to cry out.

  “Take me home, Mack,” she begged in an unfamiliar, wanton voice. “I want to feel more.”

  * * * *

  As Mack locked the door behind them, Beth stood shivering in the living room, unsure of where to look. Her gaze wanted to remain on his sculpted form, a body that seemed touched by God and whose perfect lines seemed to speak to her. But she felt like a smitten teenage girl every time she gave into the temptation to gaze at him in adoration.

  He said she was his mate. After less than a week’s acquaintance. Most men in his situation would have run if she’d dared to utter such words.

  And yet he’d been there when she’d finally expressed her grief for her family and hadn’t turned tail when he saw what a snotty, sniveling mess she was. He’d held her. He’d saved her from an aquatic monster, whose powers still stymied her. And when Mack had loved her with his body, he’d taken her out of her own body.

  Her feelings for him seemed ludicrous but were bordering on the sublime.

  He turned away from the door and gazed at her from his spot a few feet away. There was a twitch in his jaw muscle that made her heart skip a beat. He walked toward her, his face set with determination, and pulled her to him. Even as they stood together, she wrapped her left leg about his leg. She was having trouble being with him and not winding her body about his. Something inside her was demanding to be joined to him at all costs, at all times.

  Mack picked her up, and she put both legs about his waist. He held her bottom, one hand smoothing under her shirt to feel the bare skin underneath. “No cold tables for you this time, lass. I want y
ou laid out on a bed. Soft and warm, like that pretty place between your legs.”

  Beth let go of the breath she was holding. “How is it you manage to talk dirty and make it sound romantic at the same time?”

  He grinned as they ascended the final steps and headed to her bedroom. “There’s nothing unromantic about expressing how much I want you. There’s nothing unseemly about wanting to bury my face in your pussy and make you scream.”

  He kicked in the bedroom door as moisture flooded her panties. Again. She wanted to listen to him say those raunchy things forever. Frank had never been so upfront about his desires. He’d been sweet and considerate, very enthusiastic, but had never talked about her nether regions or wanting to make her scream. To hear Mack express himself with such crude language just heightened the need between them and made her want him more.

  He laid her on the bed and sat beside her. He reached over her body and grabbed his selkie skin from where it had lain for days, like her security blanket. He looked at the pelt, smoothing it with his hand.

  “Beth,” he whispered. “This is my most cherished possession. I can’t return to the sea without it. But I admit I quite like seeing it on your bed. I love watching you sleep, curled up in it. It’s a part of me, and I feel so happy seeing it warm your body, bringing you peace.” He sighed and ran his fingers through her hair. “I’m beginning to think my pelt should stay with you.”

  “I’m beginning to think you should stay with me too,” she murmured, her entire body charged and aching for his touch.

  She’d never said anything so bold. And Mack seemed to understand because he paled at her admission. His eyelids fluttered a couple of times as he absorbed what she said. “I meant what I said when I called you my mate,” he said, his deep voice guttural and laced with need. “You’re mine, woman, and mine alone. And I will gladly tear the hands off any man who touches you.”

  His possessive tone thrilled her as much as it scared her. The thought of Mack getting hurt because of her was terrifying. And right now all she wanted was to lose herself in touching him and tasting him and being with him.

  Loving him? It was a scary thought too. She’d loved and lost too much already.

  No. Don’t analyze this. Just do it. She could label it later.

  Just feel.

  Whereas their first time had been frantic and needy, this time Machar took his time with her. Slowly, all the while feasting on her with his eyes, he removed her clothing. His hands slid up her shirt with infinite languor, setting off a chain reaction of shivers all over her flesh. He stroked her belly with his thumbs while his fingers caressed each rib. His hands moving ever higher, inflaming each inch of her skin as he eased her tunic over her head. His mouth came down upon hers as he made short work of her best black lace bra. The dainty scrap of fabric flew off her body, and Mack’s agile fingers found her swollen nipples. He stroked her there, and Beth’s pulse quickened. He tugged and there was an answering tug in her womb. He tweaked, doling out gentle twists on her pink nubs, and Beth’s body was reduced to a riot of feeling so intense it smacked of blasphemy.

  Did anyone else ever get to feel this good? Or was it the selkie magic making him seem more potent than Casanova? She didn’t care. She just wanted more.

  He lowered his head and kissed between her breasts as he smoothed his thumbs over her deliciously sore nipples. Just as she was sure his mouth would claim her breast, he glanced at her, his mouth set with feral determination. “Oh, the things I’m going to do to you, Beth.”

  She reached up and dug her fingers into his thick mass of hair. “Do them. Every last one. I’ll do whatever you want.”

  His eyes lit with passion, Mack rose off the bed and stripped out of his clothes. Beth thanked her stars it wasn’t winter and he wasn’t wearing more layers. He removed his shirt and jeans, and his enormous cock sprang free of its confines, every last glorious inch of it saluting her. Beth gawked, amazed she could make such an impressive organ dance.

  Mack stroked his cock with a slow hand, his predatory gaze focused on her as he stood at the edge of the bed. “Want a taste, lass?”

  She did. More than anything. She moved toward him.

  He shook his head. “Take those sexy leggings off first.”

  Obeying him, she swiftly removed her leggings and satin panties. Then Beth got on her knees on the bed and crawled back to him. He held his cock out to her. “Put me in your mouth, beautiful one.”

  She licked him, spreading her moisture along his length. And then she swallowed him, taking him as far as she could, letting him tickle the back of her throat. Mack let out a protracted groan, his thighs tensing. She gripped his legs, moved lower on him, and licked a slow figure eight around his balls. As she feasted on him, he reached out a shaky hand over her back toward her bottom. He toyed with her wet pussy, making her jolt, and smeared her moisture up to her tight asshole. Using gentle force, Mack prodded her puckered opening and she jumped, unaccustomed to such touches. He laid a firm hand on her back, rubbing, and she was reassured by its weight.

  “I won’t hurt you. Has no one ever touched you here?”

  She released his cock from her mouth and shook her head, overwhelmed and nervous but also so tempted.

  “Good,” he said, grinning. “It’s all mine, then. Relax, Beth. I want to love every part of you.”

  She resumed licking his sex, and he eased his finger toward her asshole once more. Beth snatched at a breath as Mack manipulated his digit around and into the tight opening with the confidence of one who understood her body better than she did herself.

  “There you go, love,” he said on a moan, seemingly just as taken with the sensation. “Feel good?”

  She had no words; the pleasure was so foreign and so intense. She closed her eyes and submitted to the feeling. She removed her mouth and gasped, “Oh, Mack.”

  “Beth,” he grunted, sliding his finger in and out of her arse, branding her, “you’re mine. Say the words.”

  “I’m yours,” she whispered, meaning each word as if taking a vow. She wasn’t sure how things had escalated between them, but they had, and she wanted Machar Kirk more than life.

  “Would you like me to fuck you here?” he asked, his voice a low, fractured rumble.

  “Yes.”

  He removed his finger from her bottom, and she sucked in a breath. “All in good time, love.” He walked into the bathroom. She flopped onto the bed, listening to the water run in the sink. Mack returned, nude and hard and grinning like a fiend. “First, I need your lovely pussy in my mouth.”

  He kneeled at the side of the bed and dragged her body close to him. He ran a finger along her seam, making her quiver. “Like a work of art,” he murmured as if in a trance.

  Mack spread her inner lips with his thumbs and lowered his mouth to her heat. He plunged his tongue into her cleft, and everything in her line of sight went black. It took Beth a moment to realize she’d squeezed her eyes shut, grappling with the seismic delight rolling through her core. Rapture claimed her as effectively as his lips claimed her clit, and her body tensed and thrilled. Her legs jerked, but Mack pinned them down, all the while flicking his tongue all around her clit. A shooting star flew through Beth, or so it seemed because her entire frame seized and felt scorched. He’d lit a fire in her and allowed it to spread and rage and incinerate her.

  She felt born again in the flames of her orgasm.

  As the ripples of pleasure waned in a luscious, slow-moving fan, Beth came to a realization. For twelve long months she’d been a ghost. Sad and torn and, yes, in her darkest moments, eager to die. Mack, with his kindness and patience, had made her want to live and love again. She could admit it to herself. She wanted to love him. Was sure she might love him already.

  He said she was his mate. That meant they had a chance, right? And yet she still had no idea what being the mate of a selkie meant. She’d have to ask.

  Just not now. She was too busy being flipped onto her belly.

  As he
eased her onto her stomach, Mack let out a deep, rolling laugh. “Where did your bones go?”

  Her lips spread in a lazy smile of total satisfaction as he massaged her bottom. “You made them disappear. It’s your fault.”

  “No matter,” he teased, prodding her entrance with his cock. “You won’t need them for some time.”

  Beth sighed and grabbed at the sheets as he entered her from behind. He stretched her, and she closed her eyes, concentrating on the luscious feel of his girth inside her. Almost too big. Her channel constricted around him, stretched to its limits. A dizzying sting of pain shot through her and then … warm bliss.

  For a moment, Beth was sure someone had dowsed her in a hot tub. She was floating in a heated bath as Mack explored her body. She closed her eyes and got the sensation he was propelling her through a tropical sea. Hot waves coursed over them, making them slip and slide all over each other. The warm sun bathed them, its rays penetrating the leagues of water surrounding them.

  So hot and wet. Perfect.

  She opened her eyes, sure she’d find herself in a puddle. But no, they were tangled in her sheets and Mack was filling her with his love.

  She could have sworn God had made Mack just for her, her body accommodated his so well. They were meant to fit together.

  As Mack began to move, his thrusts building in intensity and speed, Beth marveled as her body tightened with the need to come again. Mack played with her, pounding mercilessly at her and then slowed to the point of near stillness. And each time he began to move again, he seemed to slide deeper inside her. She heard his breathing hitch. Her own did too. And as the wave of bliss threatened to flatten her, Mack drove her over the edge by rubbing her clit. When a marauding finger from his free hand eased its way into her ass, Beth cried out, shattered. Upon hearing her ecstasy, Mack let go and spilled himself inside her with a long, low grunt.

  Beth wasn’t sure when he pulled out. She felt so full, so at one with him, even as he slid away. Her eyes still closed, her body humming with bliss, she listened to him walk toward the bathroom. The familiar creak of the shower tap as he turned it on made her open her eyes. After a few moments, she sighed as Mack walked back into the bedroom. Within seconds, she was sighing as he caressed her ass again with his large hands.