The Selkie's Song

by Nancy M Bell

  “Vear?” she whispered.

  “What is it, Bella?” Breath stirred the hair curling at her temple.

  “When did you shift back?”

  Her fingers were released and the warmth left her as he sat up. “I’m not sure … I must be feeling well enough … and your nearness must have triggered it.”

  Bella got to her knees and threw her arms around him. Tears choked her. “I’m just so glad you’re here. I was so scared you were going to die and leave me. I couldn’t stand it….” She broke off to bury her face in his neck. “I couldn’t live without you, I just couldn’t….”

  “Hush, my heart. Don’t speak such nonsense. Of course, you can live without me, and you will have to do so once you leave here.” Strong arms came around her and his lips caressed the top of her head.

  For a moment the words didn’t register. As their meaning sank in, she stiffened and pulled back. “What do you mean? I have no intention of doing without you in my life. Even if I go back to Da’s house I will find a way to be with you,” she declared.

  His chest heaved with a great sigh. “Bella, dear heart, listen to reason. We can never be together the way you wish. Even if I were willing, the Council would ever allow it—”

  “Oh, bother the Council.” Bella waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “We’ll find a way. How can anything that feels this right be so wrong?”

  The selkie disengaged her hands and pushed himself to his feet. “Don’t talk such nonsense. It wakes a spark of hope in me that I dare not let grow into a flame.” He strode to the far side of the cave. “Where is Mistress Sarie, and Gwin, for that matter?” Vear raked his long brown fingers through his tangled hair.

  “Sarie had to go home and help her mother. Gwin took her.”

  “When do you expect them back?”

  “I don’t know. Sarie wasn’t sure when she’d be able to come again. Gwin assured me we’d be safe from the mermen and he wouldn’t return until he brought Sarie back. He said if I needed him to just call out his name.”

  The selkie didn’t answer but scrubbed his hands roughly over his face.

  “Vear?”

  He turned toward her, a tortured expression twisting his features. “Bella, what am I to do?”

  “Love me.” She crossed the sandy floor, slipped her arms around his waist and buried her face in the curly hair of his chest. “Just love me and forget about everything else.”

  “Oh, Bella.” He pulled her tighter to him and rested his chin on the top of her head. “This is wrong, you know this is wrong, dear heart. It is unfair to you, how will you find a suitable mate if we carry this through to its conclusion. How will I live without you when you leave me?”

  Bella snorted against his chest. “My reputation is ruined already. Daniel is larking around the village telling anyone who will listen that he’s already had me. I can’t prove he’s lying and even if I could, the damage is done. No one would believe me, there’d always be that suspicion lurking over me. It’s you I want, you I love. Don’t make it complicated, you silly selkie man.”

  “If only it were that simple.” He put a finger under her chin and raised her head. Leaning down he rested his forehead against hers.

  “It is that simple, foolish git. There is only us here, no one will ever have to know what takes place between us. No one….” Her voice trailed off to a whisper. She pulled his face down and brushed her lips across his, letting the tip of her tongue wet his lower lip. Hope blossomed in her breast at his sharp intake of breath. He wasn’t as immune to her as he’d like her to believe, not so convinced that there could never be anything more than unrequited love between them. “Vear,” she breathed the words against his mouth. Love me, please. If you love me, I’ll go back to Da, I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you want. Please give me blessed memories to sustain me when I leave you….”

  With a smothered oath his lips came down hard and demanding on hers. Bella answered him with a fierceness of her own. This was what she longed for. She pressed herself closer to him, thrilling at the evidence of his desire. Her breath caught in her throat when he swept her into his arms and carried her to the blankets by the fire. Bella’s head fell back and he rained kisses down the arched column of throat. The muscles of his shoulders tensed and bulged under her hands. She kneaded his shoulders and pulled him closer.

  “Bella,” his voice was ragged. “Bella, we have to stop. You know we must.” He closed his eyes and swayed above her.

  Instinct made her splay her hands across his chest and caress the nubs hiding in the mat of hair. The selkie’s body bucked and surged against her and he sucked in a deep breath. “Vear, come to me,” she whispered. One hand slid along the hard plane of his ribs, over the curve of his waist and lower. His buttocks clenched under her fingers, he groaned and buried his face in her neck.

  “My little human love.” The words came out strangled.

  Bella arched her back when his urgent fingers pulled her blouse aside and he nipped her collar bone. Thrills rolled over her and pooled in her belly. His lips moved lower, insistent and exciting. A button popped off. His hand brushed her shoulder and trailed down over the swell of her breast. Bella thought she might faint with the intensity of the sensations rippling through her. She never guessed her breasts could ache with a pleasure that was almost pain. Her flesh yearned for his touch. Bella’s nipple reacted to the rush of cool air that washed over her as the material of her bra fell away. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and squirmed against the hard body pressing her into the sand.

  “Oh, my God! Vear, I want … I don’t know what I want, but don’t stop. Touch me, love me,” she gasped.

  Heat closed over her heated flesh and teeth grazed the sensitive nub. Bella grasped the selkie’s long hair and arched her chest toward him. “Bella, Bella.” He rubbed the stubble of his bearded cheek against her and she purred like a cat being stroked.

  How could anything feel this incredible? This was nothing like the hackneyed descriptions in the romance novels her and Sarie poured over. This was so much more, so much…. Her thoughts were lost in the rush of sensation rocketing through her. Vear’s tongue traced circles over her exposed skin, more buttons were lost; his hands spanned her waist and lifted her to sit on his lap, her legs straddling her.

  Nothing existed outside of the two of them. There was no reality except the touch of him and his body quivering under her hands. Tension gripped her belly and washed over her in waves. Hot mouth and insistent hands drove her deeper into the sensations, mewling sounds escaped her mouth until the selkie claimed her lips and swallowed her cries of passion. She startled when his tongue thrust into her mouth, but she forgot her surprise as his hands caressed her naked chest and one dipped lower inside the back of her trousers.

  ”Vear….”

  “What the bloody hell are you doing,” Sarie’s voice penetrated the heat of her desires.

  Vear cursed under his breath and pulled the front of her blouse closed. He rested his forehead on hers and fought to regain his breathing, which gave Bella time to readjust her clothing and become decent. Nothing could disguise what they’d been up to and Bella saw no reason to hide it. It would be useless to deny it at any rate. Sarie was no fool, and she knew Bella far too well for her to get away with a lie.

  Vear scrambled to his feet and stalked to the cave entrance. Bella got to her feet as well.

  “What do you think we were doing?” she demanded of Sarie.

  “Bella, for God’s sake, have you no common sense? No good can come of this. You know that. What are you thinking?” Sarie fisted her hands on her hips and glared at Bella.

  “I know what I want and I’m going to get it. Whatever issues there are, we’ll work it out. I know we can,” she declared.

  Sarie rounded on Vear who was still leaning in the entrance. “And what about you? You have to be the sensible one in all this, because clearly Bella hasn’t a brain in her head. How could you….”

  “Peace
, Sarie. You are correct, the fault is mine. I should never have given in to the temptation. Common sense had nothing to do with what just occurred.”

  “What did happen?” Sarie frowned and glanced at Bella. “You didn’t, did you?” She was aghast and her face pale.

  Bella leaped to her feet and met her nose to nose. “No, we didn’t. But only because you have the world’s worst timing. Why did you have to pick right now to come back? Couldn’t you have waited another half hour?”

  “Gwin showed up to see if I was ready to return. He seemed to think it would be a good idea to get back and check on you. I thought he was worried about the mermen. I never imagined you’d be so stupid as to compromise yourself.”

  Unexpected fury filled Bella, she rounded on the little piskie who was staring round eyed at Vear and Bella. “Why don’t you mind your own business instead of meddling where you’re not wanted?”

  “Not wanted, is it? ‘Tis me who has the big one’s best interests at heart. Me, Gwin Scawen, who seeks to save him from himself. Who are you, a mere mortal, to question my motives? Better you should look to your own actions and consider the consequences.” The little man advanced on Bella, sparks of anger flying from his eyes.

  “Why you insolent little—”

  “Arabella Angarrick,” Sarie shouted. “Stop this nonsense right this minute. Think beyond your own selfish needs for a second.”

  Bella turned her frustration on Sarie but stopped as she caught the expression on Vear’s face from the edge of her vision. She dropped her gaze and stared at her hands.

  “I believe you owe Gwin Scawen a heartfelt apology, Arabella,” Vear’s tone was stern and unyielding.

  “But—”

  “No excuses. It’s thanking him we should be for saving us from ourselves. It was madness, sheer madness, and I am very ashamed of myself.”

  “I didn’t want to be saved,” she muttered.

  “Regardless, it was well done to show up when they did. Apologize to Gwin and quit acting like a spoiled child,” Vear chastised her.

  “Fine!” She scuffed her toe in the sand. “I’m sorry I lost my temper, Gwin Scawen. I do hope you will accept my apology.”

  He regarded her for a moment before sketching a shallow bow. “If your apology is sincere, then yes, of course I accept.”

  Bella had the grace to blush, the heat flaring up her cheeks. “I’m going down to the cove for a swim. Is that alright with everyone? I promise to stay out of trouble.” Embarrassment overwhelmed her and she only wished to escape somewhere alone and lick her wounds. So close, she’d been so close to heart’s desire. A grain of common sense reared its head: would making love with the selkie really have changed anything? It might well have made things even more complicated, rather than simpler as she steadfastly claimed.

  “Go along, dear heart. You should be perfectly safe and we will keep an eye on you from here. Please don’t dally if we should call you. I promise I won’t disturb you unless it is necessary,” Vear replied.

  Bella scrambled down the steep descent and gained the shallow beach. Finding a sheltered spot she stripped down to her underthings and waded into the turquoise waters. The sea rolled in low swells, caressing her limbs. She settled herself cross-legged in the shallow water and let the sand run through her fingers as she contemplated the situation. She glanced upward to the dark smudge of the cave mouth but couldn’t discern if anyone was watching. Sighing she lay back and floated just above the sea bed, her hair swirling around her rocked by the waves.

  “Good day, Mistress Bella.”

  Bella floundered and got a mouthful of salt water for her efforts. Struggling upright she stared at the tatterdemalion figure regarding her from deeper water. The man was tall and thin, his face long and full of sharp angles.

  “How do you know my name? Who are you?” Bella was suddenly aware of her state of undress and the fact her small clothes were almost transparent in their wet state.

  He smiled, but something lurked behind the gesture that sent shivers up her spine. His gaze raked over her and settled where the material clung to her bosom.

  “Jan Tregeagle at your service. Everyone knows of the selkie’s obsession with his little mortal. I can see why he is attracted to your charms.” An eyebrow lifted and his lip curled in a leer. “If it’s relations with an immortal you are after, you’d do better to offer yerself to me. I’d not turn you down, like yon mazed selkie up yonder.” He drifted closer, allowing a swell to pick him up and bring him within a few feet of where she sat huddled.

  Bella crossed her arms across her chest and debated whether she should try and get up or stay where she was and hope someone came to her rescue.

  “I’m not interested in your offer, Mister Tregeagle.”

  “Come now, Arabella. Considering your current position and lack of clothing, surely you can call me Jan.” He drifted close enough for the long tails of his coat to brush her knees.

  She shifted back as best she could. “Aren’t you supposed to be busy doing something? Some geas put on you a long time ago?”

  An odd look crossed the angular face and Bella swallowed. Where the bloody hell was Gwin or Vear when she needed them?

  “Aye, cursed I am. For eternity I am condemned to sweep the bloody sand form Porthcurno Cove around the headland of Tol-Pedn-Penwith into Nanjizal Bay. A fecking never ending task, so it is. There are some who call it Mill Bay, and so it, a bloody mill stone about me neck.”

  “Why aren’t you there now? What brought you here?” Bella struggled to her feet and backed toward the shore.

  “Why, ‘tis yerself who called me here. Or, rather your unbridled fling of passion with the selkie. Pity you were interrupted before you finished seducing him. Do him good, that would. Uptight prig that he is.” Tregeagle spat into the surf.

  “How can you know what happened or didn’t happen?” Bella demanded. She was feeling much braver now she was on firm footing.

  Jan chuckled, an undertone of disgust and perverted arousal sending more tremors of unease over her skin.

  “Neither of you were shielding your emotions. Yer lustful encounter was broadcast for anyone to hear. Quite the little whore, ye are. Yer thoughts came through loud and clear. Ye sure yer not willing to wile away some time with me? I can make you feel things the selkie has never even thought of.”

  “No, it’s Vear Du I love.”

  “The question, my dear little doxy, is does he return yer regard?”

  “Of course he does,” she declared.

  “And yet he refuses to avail himself of the charms you so freely offer.” He stroked his beard-stubbled chin with one hand while the other adjusted himself in his pants.

  Bella averted her gaze, heat sweeping up her cheeks.

  “Like what ye see? Want to see more? I’m much better equipped than yon selkie.” He pulled at the fastenings of his trousers.

  “Not on yer life. You’re a disgusting git.” She backed up a step and turned to leave.

  “What if I can give ye what yer lustful little heart desires,” he wheedled. “I can give you the power to overcome the selkie’s resistance.”

  Bella hesitated. She should keep walking and not listen to him. There was always a catch, always some hidden price to pay. The memory of Vear’s hot mouth on her body and the pulse of his body against hers filled her with longing. It was wrong, everyone said so. But it didn’t feel wrong, it felt wonderful amazing. I’ll just do it once, after we’ve made love if he doesn’t want me again, I’ll honour his wishes. But, oh to have him even once would be worth any risk….

  She turned back to the raggedy figure standing ankle deep in the surf. “What will it cost me? You have to promise it won’t hurt him, or me.”

  “Hmmmm, what cost? What cost? What does Jan Tregeagle want from Arabella Angarrick?” His gaze roamed over her body, resting on the nipples pushing against the wet material of her bra. “Ye could entice me with yer body, little whore. A quick slap and tickle and anything you desire coul
d be yers. I’d love to bite those jugs, make ye squeal.”

  “Not interested, you cabbage. It’s never going to happen.” She turned to leave once more.

  “Don’t be so hasty. Ye can’t blame a bloke fer trying. I could just cop an ickle feel of yer fanny. Real polite like.”

  “You really are a scut, aren’t you? I wouldn’t let Daniel Treliving touch me, why would you think I’d let the likes of you?”

  “Because I can give ye what ye want and he can’t. I can give ye the selkie, in yer power under yer hand. Think on it, but be quick. I gots to git back to me cursed work.” He glanced at the sky where the sun was shrinking into the sea. “I’ll make it easy fer ye. Snog me, just once, and I’ll give ye what ye want.” He edged back toward the deeper water. “Make up yer mind, little slut. The geas is calling me.”

  Bella hesitated a long moment before making up her mind. “Fine, come here then and I’ll kiss you.”

  “Ye’ll have ter come ter me. I can’t leave the water.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” she said in exasperation. Without pausing to consider the consequences, she strode into the shallows. The apparition met her halfway, latching on to her and dragging her into deeper water. Bella struggled, but Tregeagle claimed her mouth, shoving his tongue down her throat while his hands made free with her body. She recoiled at his touch on her thighs but some strange magic held her fast. Bella fought to breathe as he sucked on her lips, pulling her tongue into his mouth where he nipped at it. He released her and she opened her mouth to screech at him but found she had no voice. Terror ripped through her as her body refused to obey her. Bloody hell, what had she gotten herself into?

  “Be still, woman,” he hissed. “Luscious ye are. Yon selkie is a horse’s arse not to have taken ye before the now. Now, be still and let me work me spell.”

  Long fingers wiped the spittle from her lips and drew glowing sigils on her breasts. Then he slid his hand down her belly, leaving a trail of phosphorescence in his wake. Bella cringed as he caressed the inside of her thighs and drew more symbols in the hair at the apex of her thighs.