Page 12 of Song of Lorelei
Her pulse quickened. “You do?”
“I really do.” He pushed off from the wall, a hulking mass before her. This large man who enjoyed relinquishing control. He slid her hairband from the end of her braid and onto his wrist. “I’d like you to use it on me some time,” Killian remarked, unraveling the plaits of her braid. “When you’re in the mood. But for right now, let me take care of you.”
Lorelei tilted her head up, peeling her silken blouse from damp skin. “I could use a little pampering.”
He chucked her under the chin. “You’re overdue. Now let’s get you out of these pants.” Kneeling, Killian unzipped her grey dress slacks and tugged them over her hips. The first time they’d ever done this, he’d looked away—she the sole survivor of a maritime tragedy, and he her handsome rescuer. She trailed her hand up the side of his arm and across his shoulder to cup his cheek, the gold engagement ring on her finger glinting in the candlelight. He pressed a kiss between her breasts.
Once divested of all her clothes, Lorelei dipped a toe in the water to test the temperature, then eased herself in, moaning as she submerged. It was heavenly. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, and then across her neck, the motion chasing away the pesky itch that had become a constant. Under the bath’s watery caress, Lorelei’s skin tingled from waist to foot, the once familiar sensation now uncomfortable. It had been far too long. “I’m going to shift.”
Killian brushed hair away from her face. She leaned back and closed her eyes, letting the transformation overtake her. The tingling intensified as her skin knitted itself together and her scales emerged. Ah. That was better.
A choked cry escaped Killian’s lips.
Lorelei’s eyes shot wide open, her attention on the anguished expression he now wore. He pressed his lips into a thin, grim line. “What is it? What’s wrong?” He’d never reacted negatively to her transformation before…
Covering his mouth with his hand, he nodded to her tail. Were… were those tears in his eyes? Cold dread washed over Lorelei. It must be bad to garner a reaction like that from him, the most loving and accepting person in her life.
Chapter Four
KILLIAN
“Does it hurt?” Killian asked, watching Lorelei visibly swallow. God, it was bad. If he had known, if he had suspected...
Several scales pulled loose as she brushed her hands along the sides of her tail. “No,” she whispered, and tears slipped down her cheeks. One after the other each watery drop fell into the bath, rippling the surface. Her once vibrant scales had faded and so had the dull yellows, greens, and blues in her fins. Patches of scales were gone, and the skin beneath was blistered and red. A milky puss leaked out from her gills. “The water actually feels quite nice.”
Guilt yanked him up by the heartstrings. He took her dry skin condition at face-value and hadn’t stopped to question that it might be a symptom of a much larger problem. “You’ve been away from the ocean too long,” he said hoarsely. “You have to go back. At least just for a little bit. You can just swim around the cove, and I can stand watch to make sure no one comes along to see.”
Hope shimmered in Lorelei’s eyes before her expression hardened. Not in anger at him but in stubborn resolve—he’d come to know the difference. “I can’t. It’s too risky,” she bit out. “What if Carrie comes back? She’s not exactly the type of person you can just shoo away real quick. Or what about the tourists who drove up the driveway last week, because they thought it was an access road to a public beach?”
Killian swiped his palm over his face. That had only happened once this summer. Lorelei was being too paranoid, too stubborn, but he squashed his rising irritation right along with the urge to sling her over his shoulder and dump her in the ocean. She also had the most to lose. “Not even to even to dip your feet in?”
Uncertainty cracked her resolve. She glanced out the window, rubbing her arms. A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I’ve been away from it for so long. I don’t know if I’ll be able to control myself.”
To think he, a mere man, was striving to tempt a seductress of the sea with his words. “What if I take you out? Somewhere far from shore, where people can’t see you?”
A sad smile arrested her lips as her eyes locked onto his, but there was a firm tone to her voice that brooked no argument. It grated against his nerves. “I would love that, but I don’t have time to go on a boat trip like that. I have so much work I have to do.”
Why couldn’t she just agree to take care of herself? And look for solutions, not problems? Killian didn’t bother suggesting she bring her work along for the ride. He could bring that up another time. This evening was about her self-care, not picking apart her words and logic until an argument broke out.
Locating his e-book reader, Killian bought the book Lorelei had been dying to read but never had the time to. Smoothing back her wet hair, Killian bent to kiss her forehead and slipped the e-reader into her hands. “Let’s focus on what we can control then—a nice relaxing bath.”
Lorelei smiled up at him, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes. She cupped his cheek with one clawed hand. The nail beds were red, almost raw, and her nails were chipped. He placed his hand over hers and leaned into her touch, blinking back the pricking tears that threatened to fall from his own eyes.
Glancing at the book on screen, Lorelei’s smile broadened. “Thank you so much, Killian. You always know just what I need. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
This outpouring of gratitude over so small a gesture pierced his heart. This evening, just a brief snapshot of happiness, would only carry her so far. It was little more than a band-aid over a festering wound. She needed so much more.
Killian wanted to give her the ocean, but all she would accept was a measly e-book and an overpriced bath bomb.
He rose to leave, but she grabbed his wrist and begged him to stay with her. He wouldn’t deny her anything, much less his company. They didn’t really spend much quality time together anymore. Work always conspired to keep them apart.
As Lorelei read, he settled onto the bathroom floor beside her and leaned against the wall. Lorelei laid within, and he sat without, separated only by a short wall of porcelain. He draped his arm over the edge, dipping his fingers into the water, and watched her sink down into the tub with a grin on her face. She laughed and gasped at regular intervals, her fins swishing above the surface, grazing against tile, as she lost herself in the story.
Killian browsed fencing company websites on his phone, occasionally brushing Lorelei’s healthier scales with his fingertips. If the fear of trespassers was all that kept Lorelei from swimming in their little private cove, Killian would happily shell out for a privacy fence along the perimeter of his remote property, and for a security gate at the bottom of his driveway. He didn’t care if it made him look like one of those rich, uppity Maine transplants who built their summer mansions along the coast.
* * *
Lorelei stayed in the bath long after the water had cooled. But when she pulled the drain stopper and shifted back into human form, they retreated to the bedroom so Killian could apply medicated lotion to her skin. It looked better after the bath but was still dry in areas.