Page 41 of Taming the Highland Beauty

“Talk quickly.” He turned onto his back and lifted her on top of him, sliding inside her. His hips moved upward, and she gasped at the fullness and the pleasure.

His face was flushed, his eyes glazing with an expression of primitive pleasure.

She could not talk, she could not think as he thrust deep, quickening the rhythm. This joining was incredible, basic, elemental. In only moments, wave after wave of pleasure washed over her.

An instant later she could feel Callum spasm again and again within her, shuddering helplessly as he poured his seed into her body.

She collapsed on top of him. His hips still moved yearningly, as if he could not stop even though he had reached his satisfaction again. A moment later he lay still, breathing heavily, his hot flesh nestled against her own. Satiated, she settled beside the man she loved. She had not said the words, and neither had he, but she hoped tomorrow there would be time for that and so much more.

Tomorrow.

Chapter Seventeen

Mist hung low over the water, obscuring the view, as Gille, Callum, the MacLeods, and Pearl approached the loch the next morning. The entire family, including Lady Janet, had been waiting for her and Callum in the rear courtyard. They heard birds twittering in the trees. Gulls soared over the water’s edge, their high-pitched mews a welcoming sound, as the sea animals searched for their morning meal.

Despite the serene setting, Gille’s heart pounded in her chest. This was it. The moment they had worked towards for the past six days. They needed Minerva’s help to break Gille’s curse, and now with the moonstone in their possession, they might accomplish that task.

As they reached the shore, they spotted several seals on the rocky outcropping in the distance. Gille searched among the seals sunning themselves on the rocks. “There,” Gille said as she noticed Lottie’s familiar pelt. She was a beautiful creature, her fur glistening in the morning light. But when her gaze turned to Callum and Gille, her eyes narrowed, and she slid into the water.

“Lottie,” Callum called out, but the woman-turned-seal-once-more ignored him. Sadness lingered in his eyes for a moment before he turned his gaze to the distance. “It matters not. Minerva is the only seal we should concern ourselves with today.”

Gille touched Callum’s arm. “It is well enough to feel sad that the woman who helped raise you may no longer remember you.”

“But I do.” The sound of Lottie’s voice, slightly more guttural than in the past, came to Gille as a silvery head bobbed to the surface closer to shore. She turned to see if Callum had heard.

The joy on his face told her he had. Perhaps touching the moonstone had given him the ability to hear the seals speak. “How is your return? How are your children? Is it strange being in the water again?” He paused and added, “Where were you all yesterday?”

Lottie laughed, the sound more bark-like than the trill it used to be. “Same Callum. Full of questions. Aye, it is strange swimming and not walking. My children remembered me, for which I am grateful.” She hesitated. “Minerva kept us all away from shore yesterday until she could think the situation through. She wants the moonstone, but she is still angry at the MacLeods for taking me from her.”

“We finally righted that wrong,” Callum said.

Lottie bobbed her head. “Minerva is pleased I am back in the pod, but not happy that I keep asking her to help you without any conditions.”

“Conditions?”

Lottie’s gaze narrowed. “She wants more from you both to grant you the words you need from the song of the selkies.”

As they were talking, a large, dark shape emerged from the depths of the loch. It was Minerva, the selkie queen, in her seal form, surrounded by four other seals. She was a fearsome sight, her eyes glinting with malice. “Well, well, well,” Minerva said, her voice a deep, guttural growl. “Lottie tells me you found a moonstone.”

“Not just a moonstone,” Gille challenged, palming the iridescent stone in her hand. “A special moonstone. One that should satisfy your requirements.”

Minerva narrowed her gaze and leaned forward. “Let me see it.”

Gille held up the moonstone, allowing it to catch the early morning light. Its surface shimmered with a soft, iridescent blue glow. As it caught the sunlight on its curved surface, the colours seemed to shift and change, from the lightest blue to an almost inky black, like the ebb and flow of the tides, as if the moon itself were trapped within the stone, casting its ethereal light upon the world. The stone thrummed, its magic reaching out to both Gille and the selkies.

Minerva’s eyes widened, anticipation flaring in their depths. “I did not truly believe you could retrieve a stone, any stone. But that one? It is magnificent.”

“Then it should serve as payment for the words to the song of the selkies,” Callum replied.

Minerva’s eyes narrowed again. “You think I will just give them to you? No, you must earn them.”

A knot of fear tightened Gille’s stomach. Only hours remained before she would cease to exist. Minerva knew how desperate she was, and the selkie queen was exacting everything she could from the situation.

“Nay. No more games. We did what you asked.” Callum balled his fists at his sides. His brothers came to stand beside him.

“Then we shall say goodbye.” Minerva turned around, preparing to dive under the waves.

“Wait!” Gille called, resigned to accepting whatever new challenge would be put before them in the waning hours of her curse. It was then that she saw it, a flash of relief in Minerva’s dark gaze. The selkie queen might bluster, and demand, but it was clear to Gille that she also needed their help, though she would never ask for it. “What do you require of us? We will do one last thing but no more.”