Children of the Sea 01 - Sea Witch

not even Conn or Llyr himself, knew.
     
    She watched their leaping passage, her throat closing with gladness and a terrible despair. They had come to her and comforted her. But she could not follow them into the green coolness of the sea, into the rolling waves, into the gold-veined darkness.
     
    Her loss dragged at her like waterlogged clothing. With heavy steps, she turned to make her way to shore.
     
    Caleb stood at the water’s edge. The sight of him, solid and still, lifted her spirits so that for a moment she forgot both caution and sorrow.
     
    He shook his head. “I never saw anything like that.”
     
    Caution returned in a rush. She tilted her head. “Have I made so little impression, then, you do not remember me naked?”
     
    He smiled, as she intended. But he was a hard man to distract. “I meant the dolphins.”
     
    “You must have seen dolphins before.”
     
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    “Not come into shore like that, so close to a swimmer. Once, when I was a kid, my mother . . .” He stopped.
     
    His mother ? Margred felt a spurt of excitement. His mother was selkie. If he knew, if he remembered, perhaps she could confide in him.
     
    “When you were a child . . .” she prompted.
     
    He hesitated; shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I was four. Five, maybe. She brought me to the beach. She didn’t very often. Dylan, sometimes, but— Anyway, she was swimming in the deep water, where I wasn’t allowed to go, when the dolphins came.” His sea green eyes were deep and lost. “All these years, I thought I’d made it up. You know, the way kids do, when they’re bored or lonely.”
     
    Her childhood was shrouded in time. She could not remember feeling bored. But she understood lonely.
     
    She touched his arm. “Tell me about your mother.”
     
    He looked away, a muscle bunching in his jaw. “Nothing much to tell. She left us when I was ten. You should put some clothes on.”
     
    Who is distracting whom now ? she wondered, amused and a little put out. “Why?”
     
    A glint appeared in his eyes. “Public indecency in the state of Maine carries a maximum penalty of six months or five hundred dollars. You don’t want me to arrest you.”
     
    She tossed her head. “You might as well. You locked me up in a house all morning.”
     
    “I left you with my sister. Who was worried about you, by the way.
    Why the hell didn’t you tell her where you were going?”
     
    “She was not there.”
     
    “You could have left a note.”
     
    She had never thought of it. “I am not used to accounting for my comings and goings.”
     
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    “Better get used to it.”
     
    Startled, she met his gaze. The glint had deepened. Become hotter.
    More personal.
     
    Her breath caught. Well .
     
    She sauntered past him, aware his eyes followed her. Whatever other powers she had lost, she could still compel a man’s gaze. She bent, giving him another eyeful, and retrieved her dress, crumpled on the sand.
     
    Behind her, Caleb cleared his throat. “What were you doing?”
     
    For one mad moment, she actually considered telling him. But he was half human, with no apparent awareness of his selkie side. Humans could not encounter anything strange without attempting to understand it.
    Master it. Control it.
     
    “Swimming,” she said.
     
    “Naked.” His tone made it not-quite-a-question.
     
    “Your sister does not like me to get her dress wet.”
     
    “You shouldn’t get your stitches wet.”
     
    “Sea water heals.” She eased the dress over her head, pulling and patting the material over her damp skin before she turned to face him.
    “What do you think of the dress?”
     
    “It’s a little tight on you.”
     
    She glared.
     
    His eyes crinkled. “You shouldn’t have come down here alone.”
     
    “I was tired of waiting.”
     
    “Which doesn’t explain why you were on the beach in the first place.”
     
    Dangerous waters , she thought. “I told you last night. I was looking for you.”
     
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    His gaze sharpened. “So you remember some things.”
     
    She touched her finger to his cheek and trailed it down his throat. “I could hardly forget you.”
     
    He caught her hand in a hard grip, imprisoning it against his chest.
    “No games, Maggie. What else do you remember? ”
     
    So serious.
     
    And so sincere in his concern, in his desire to help her. The sincerity moved her more than threats could have.
     
    “What more do you need to know?”
     
    “Why don’t we start with your