here today. Colwyn, don’t you need to open up your place today?”
“No I’m fine. I hired a high school student to work over the holidays. So I have all day to help out if you need me. Do you want us to stick around and help?”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
“How about I make dinner for the two of you tonight?”
“You are a doll, Colwyn.” She opened her arms and he bent over for a hug. “Thank you for coming over, I’ve missed you.”
Warmth radiated from her hug. Brand was an idiot, and so was he, for staying away from this loving woman.
* * * *
Holly’s heart pounded against her chest as she looked out the window and watched the world go by. She wasn’t entirely certain what the cause was. Finding out that this man was a relation to the man she cursed was a shock. Feeling her own intense attraction to him made it doubly so. She felt alive in a way that she never knew before. The arrogant lord she cursed never made her body react the way this one did. She wanted to feel everything. Sitting in his lap felt like she truly belonged somewhere. If not for the shock of his ancestry, she might never have moved. It felt so wonderful being held again. The way the cold morning had chilled her skin, and yet the moment he touched her, she flushed warm. There were evidently a few twists and turns in his family tree, because she distinctly remembered that the man she cursed was human, and this man was a magical being.
“Where are we going?” Holly asked.
“Someplace where you can show me yours.”
It wasn’t the words that caused Holly’s heart to race and her body to tingle. His tone was seductive and playful, and she suspected that he would be a very caring lover.
Colwyn lived up to the Selkie reputation of being a beautiful man, much better looking than the men from court she grew up around. The men of the fey court were almost feminine in appearance. Colwyn was as handsome as them, but there was a sincerity to his soul, a rugged edge to his beauty that took her breath away.
“Are you certain you are warm enough?”
“Yes, absolutely.” She smiled at him and hoped that he wouldn’t catch her lie. While she wasn’t as affected by the cold as a human, her garments were still only glamour, and her magic wasn’t as strong as it once was. Still, she wasn’t going to miss this for the world.
He pushed a couple buttons and warm air blew from small holes in the barrier in front of her. She couldn’t help but move her fingers through the airstream and then jiggle the little levers on the shutters that caused the air to move in different directions.
“Oh, fantastic!” She heard one of the actors say that on the show she watched with Aniela every day. Her favorite character was the ugliest woman she ever saw, but Holly loved the colors she dressed herself in.
Colwyn reached behind her seat and pulled out a large blanket for her to lay over her legs. She ran her fingers over the short bristles, which she thought felt very much like his face. This was no simple blanket. It felt like she would imagine a seal skin to be. “This is yours?”
He nodded. His expression looked guarded, but she was certain he watched her from the corner of his eye. She ran her hand in the same direction as the fur and it felt like silk under her fingertips. “It’s beautiful. May I see you in it?”
Holly’s fascination with the sealskin draped over her lap distracted her, and before she knew it they pulled up to the edge of a large, snow-covered lake. She understood what an honor he offered her. Selkies were notorious for being incredibly private beings, and here she was about to be shown something few ever saw.
No one had ever offered to share such a personal aspect of their life with her. She’d been good enough to be in their bed but not enough to share their secrets. Colwyn was offering her a much more intimate moment than a simple physical act. “Does it hurt?” Because if it hurt, she didn’t want him to suffer
Yvette Hines, Monique Lamont