Ship to Shore

Praise for the writing of Jules Jones

Buildup: Mindscan

Jules Jones writes in an unusual style I admire and is one of the few who can write a sex scene that is gracious yet close to hard core at the same time. The interesting storyline, the endearing characters, and really great sex make Mindscan my new favorite by Mr. Jones and one I openly recommend. -- Anya Khan, Just Erotic Romance Reviews Jules Jones really captures the mood of her characters, making their emotions almost come off the page at readers. The author explores the extent of Frampton’s submissiveness, the varied kinky scenes that set him off, and Reeve’s sexuality in a very erotic and poignant way… Buildup: Mindscan is a sensual and fantasy-filled peek into the healing that friendship and compassion can bring. --Michelle, Fallen Angel Reviews Jules Jones writes a story of two men who help each other come to terms with the demons that torment them… I enjoyed the book because it grips the reader and does not let go until the last page. I hope to read more books by this author. -- Candy, Coffee Time Romance The sex scenes are smoking hot and left me needing a cold shower. The emotional bond that develops between the two men is heartwarming… Buildup: Mindscan is a wonderful book that is most definitely a keeper! -- Susan White, Just Erotic Romance Reviews

Buildup: Mindscan is now available from Loose Id.

SPINDRIFT 2: SHIP TO SHORE

Jules Jones

www.loose-id.com

Warning This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Loose Id e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

***** This book is rated:

For substantial explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable (homoerotic sex).

Spindrift 2: Ship to Shore Jules Jones This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by Loose Id LLC 1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-29 Carson City NV 89701-1215 www.loose-id.com

Copyright © November 2005 by Jules Jones Excerpt of Forgotten Song copyright July 2005 by Ally Blue All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing, photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

ISBN 1-59632-178-4 Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

Printed in the United States of America

Editor: Raven McKnight Cover Artist: April Martinez

www.loose-id.com

Chapter One

All villages have secrets, but some secrets are more important than others. Sometimes there really is something to be kept hidden from outsiders at all costs. And sometimes the secret slips out anyway. I should know; I was the outsider for one such secret. So there’ll be no real names or locations in this story, because it’s an oral history for the people it concerns. And if none of them are left to hear it, well, then there’ll be none left to be harmed by its telling elsewhere. Now, this tale concerns what happened some time after I learnt the secret, but it has its roots in how I learnt it. When I discovered that legends sometimes have truth at their core. I stumbled into a secret on the beach one night and was asked to look after it, and him, for a bit. And when he didn’t need looking after anymore, he stayed on with me for other reasons. Though he kept on with the work he’d always done, casual labour on the fishing boats that had once been the lifeblood of this small coastal village. So that’s why I was waiting at the harbour on the fine spring evening when this story begins, waiting for his boat to come in after an overnight trip. I’d had a ship’s radio installed at home, to pick up the gossip amongst the boats, and so I’d know when Niall’s boat was due

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in. I work at home, so it’s easy enough to check the radio traffic every so often and make sure I’m down at the harbour in time to greet him. There are places I wouldn’t openly wait to greet my lover, but this village has its own notions of what counts as odd, and a gay couple doesn’t rate very highly for novelty value, not when one half is who he is. It’s not perfect, mind -- there were certainly those who didn’t approve of me, because I was an outsider, or because I was gay, or both. Some of them didn’t mind making their opinions known about it, either, but it was easy enough to ignore them, when I had the ready support of the friends I’d made amongst some of the fishermen. I wasn’t too happy to see one such person arrive on the dock while I was waiting for Niall that day. I could ignore most of them, but William was different. If it hadn’t been for William, I’d never have met Niall, and there was a tangle of emotions there that none of us cared to look at too closely. Not when William couldn’t forgive us for being happy together while William ached for the woman he’d driven away. Not when William’s reckless pursuit of Niall’s sister had put Niall in my path, and my bed. So I was pleased enough when William only gave me a sour look, then settled himself down on a bench far enough away that we could each pretend the other wasn’t there. He wasn’t someone I wanted to talk to, and the feeling was mutual, so it was better if we didn’t try. Only, after a bit, William said, “Is she all right?” There was only one ‘she’ William could be talking about. “Ailsa’s fine.” “I haven’t seen her since ...” He paused for a moment, then went on, “They won’t even tell me if she’s all right.” “Niall would tell you if anything happened to her. And I thought they were talking to you again.” William, refusing to accept that the woman he loved didn’t love him, had committed an act that had become a shunning offence in this village, one that could not readily be

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punished in any other way because in the outside world it wasn’t reality but the stuff of legend. He’d stolen a silkie’s skin. “Aye, they’re talking to me. I gave it back unharmed, so they’re talking to me, and Kenneth and Brian are working with me on the boat again, though they’re careful about where they change. But they’ll tell me nothing about her. They’ll never stop punishing me for it.” I resisted the temptation to tell him he’d brought it on himself. He knew that all too well. I’d overheard his silkie friends telling him what they thought of him, when they’d finally started talking to him again. And they’d only done that because he’d returned the skin of his own free will in the end. “Talk to her for me, would you?” he said. “It’s not as if you didn’t get something out of it.” I’d got something out of it, all right. I’d got love, and the pain of watching Niall terrified that he’d be trapped on land for ever, and the heartbreak of thinking I’d lost him when William finally returned his sealskin. The skin William had stolen in the belief it was Ailsa’s and had refused to return when he’d realised his mistake. Without that theft, I would never have found Niall, so maybe William thought I owed him something. I owed him nothing, not after what he’d put Niall through, but I could understand what had driven him to do it. So in that complex tangle of emotions, it was pity that predominated as I said, “She doesn’t want you, William.” “I know that. I’ve been told it enough.” Then the despair broke through as he said, “But I still care about whether she’s safe!” That I could well understand. The silkies didn’t officially exist, and if they died in seal form, their deaths wouldn’t be recorded. Even in human form, they’d be ‘Unidentified Body’. Only those who’d acquired a human identity, like Niall, could be looked up in official

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records. If anything happened to Ailsa and nobody chose to tell William, he’d never know for certain what had happened to her. He might have finally accepted that he’d destroyed their friendship, but he hadn’t stopped loving her. And so he was talking to me, in the hope that I might be persuaded to talk to her for him. And if he was talking to me, he was desperate. “She’s all right,” I repeated, trying to reassure him. “And if anything happened to her, Niall would tell you, even if the others wouldn’t.” I’d have said more, but I heard a car. I looked towards the parking area. “Enough, William. Tourists.” William shut up. One of the reasons he’d been more or less forgiven by the silkies was that in all that time he’d had Niall’s skin hidden, in all the time he’d been too proud and angry and desperate to think about the consequences of his actions, he’d protected the secret. The closest he’d ever got to giving it away was when he’d slammed Niall’s skin down on a pub table, too angry and hurt to check if there were strangers in the bar. And of course, the night he’d stolen the skin thinking it was Ailsa’s, when I’d stumbled into the row about it before any of them had realised I was there. As far as I knew, I was the only outsider in generations to have found out about the silkies, and I was as keen as the villagers were on keeping it that way. It was one of the few things that William and I agreed on. A group of four men had got out of the car and were walking towards us. I’d not seen them before, but it was late spring and the tourist season had started. They were probably in for the weekend, looking for the good fishing or the pretty scenery. The village was well out of the way, but we got enough tourists looking for one or the other that they formed an important part of the village economy nowadays. The fishermen did a good trade taking tourists out, for a day’s fishing or just to look at the scenery, and some had gone over completely to that side of things. And of course some people were attracted to the area

because it was well out of the way. I’d come here for a few months for just that reason, and ended up moving in permanently.

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The strangers were talking amongst themselves as they walked onto the quayside, but the leader of the group hailed us as they got near. “We heard there were boats for hire by the day. You chaps know anything about it?” “Aye.” William got to his feet. “Mine’s available this week.” William loathed tourists, but money was short and not to be turned down. “What did you have in mind?” “What about your friend there?” the leader asked. “I know you’ve probably got a cartel going, but you won’t mind if we ask for one or two more prices, I’m sure.” There wasn’t the open threat of starting a bidding war, but the implication was definitely there. Young, wearing blatantly rather than discreetly expensive clothes, English accents. The leader was lower middle class trying to sound like upper middle class, and failing. Flash boys from the south out to spend their new money on conspicuous consumption, but as little of it actually spent as possible. Not just tourists, but yuppie tourists, and probably not the good kind. “Him?” William said. “He’s no fisherman; he’s just got a boyfriend on one of the boats.” There wasn’t as much of the usual nastiness in it, perhaps because William had decided that however much he disliked me, he disliked this bunch of English townies even more. “The boat’s just coming in, if you want to get a price from someone else.” “Don’t think we want a boat with a bloody fairy on board,” one of the others said. “Wouldn’t want to be worried about whether it was safe to bend over.” He sniggered and stared at me, waiting for a reaction, as his friends joined in. I’ve had plenty of practice at not giving morons like that what they wanted. I ignored them and looked out to sea. William was right; the boat had come around the point while we’d been talking. Only a few minutes now, and Niall would be home. “You needn’t worry about that on my boat,” I heard William say to them. “I don’t put up with it.” “Then why were you talking to him?”

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“Because it’s a small village and it’s difficult to completely avoid people you don’t like,” I said, deciding to interrupt this before it affected William’s chance at a day’s income. “We don’t like each other, but we’ve got friends in common, so we put up with each other when we have to. Rest assured, neither Niall nor I will set foot on William’s boat.” I turned around and looked them up and down. “And even if we would, you’d be safe enough. You’re not that appealing, boys.” One of them started forward, but William said, “Don’t. Even if it’s four to one now, he’s got friends, and some of them are on that boat looking right at you.” One of the group at least had picked up the significance of the odds William had used. He looked thoughtfully at William and then at me and then at the leader of their group, but said nothing. Another of them said, “Oh, leave it, it’s not worth it. If this chap’s all right and has a boat available for tomorrow, we might as well stop here for the night. Let’s sort things out and then go and tell the bed-and-breakfast lady we’re definitely taking the rooms.” It apparently provided a good enough excuse for them to forget about me insulting them. They started haggling with William about the state of his boat and the number of days and the price. I kept one ear on it, in case there was any further interest in me, and marvelled at William’s patience with them. Perhaps the last few months had finally taught him the value of controlling his impulses. I wondered if he had been listening to the radio as well, and had come down to the harbour with the intention of talking to me when I was on my own and in a good mood. But what really interested me was rapidly approaching the quayside. Niall was on deck, waving to me as the boat pulled in. He was first off the boat, coming to hug me, then holding off at the last second. “I could do with a shower first.” “Never mind the shower, come here.” I grabbed him and hugged him, not caring about the evidence that he’d spent the last couple of days cooped up on a small fishing boat with plenty of exercise and not much in the way of washing facilities. He’d spent that last couple of days away from me, and I’d missed him, and I wanted to hold him.

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He laughed. “All right, then,” he said and hugged me back while kissing me thoroughly. Oh, it felt good to have him in my arms again, and it felt very good to feel his tongue thrusting into my mouth. Much more of that and I’d have been tempted to drag his clothes off on the spot, something his captain obviously recognised. “When you’ve quite finished with my crewman, Richard, I’ll have him back for the unloading,” Malcolm said in a dry tone. “Sorry,” I said, letting go of Niall. “I’d have thought the novelty would have worn off by now.” Malcolm was thoroughly amused and not bothering to hide it. He was the grandson of Adam, one of the gang of old fishermen who’d decided that my house would make the perfect refuge for a silkie in sudden need of a home. Whatever Adam said was law for Malcolm, so when his grandfather and his grandfather’s friends had decided that I’d make a nice pet, Malcolm had gone along with it. I was an incomer from the city, and upper middle class with inherited money, and a writer rather than a man who earned his living by hard labour; but they’d seen something in me that they’d liked, and not cared about all that. They hadn’t much cared when they’d discovered I was gay, and decided it was an asset when they found themselves with a homeless silkie. Malcolm had appreciated my giving Niall somewhere to stay while his skin was found. Now that I was his friend’s partner, I could do no wrong in Malcolm’s eyes. But still, Niall had a job to do, and I was keeping him from the last part of the work for the day. Niall gave me one last kiss. “I won’t be long.” Then he went back to the boat to help with the unloading. I certainly didn’t mind the opportunity to watch him at work, especially as today he was stripped down to jeans and tee-shirt and displaying muscles that owed nothing to a gym. I’d often stood here, cheerfully ogling Niall’s superb body in action, and now that the weather was mild the view was even better. Of course, I didn’t usually have a hostile audience.

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“Bloody disgusting, it is,” one of the English tourists said, loudly enough to ensure that I heard. “Don’t know why that captain puts up with it.” I turned to look him up and down. “I told you you weren’t very appealing. Why would I want you when I’ve got him?” That jibe went home, all right. Not that the man was ugly, but he wasn’t likely to win any competitions. And he clearly got most of his exercise sitting down. I’m interested in more than appearances, but judging just by appearances, well ... Niall was tall and dark and very, very handsome. He had the hard, fit, well-shaped body I’d been so obviously enjoying watching. He also had a wonderfully sexy voice, the sort of voice you’d happily listen to even if it was only reading the telephone directory. Oh, and if we were going to look at the things that weren’t obvious at first glance, he was also intelligent and had a good sense of humour and all the other things you see as acronyms in the ads. He was magical, in a very real sense. No competition whatsoever. The man looked disgusted and turned away. Malcolm hadn’t missed this little bit of by-play. “Friends of yours?” “Tourists looking for a boat to hire. I’m afraid they don’t want yours, not with Niall on board.” He looked the men over and shrugged. “William’s welcome to them. Ones like that are more trouble than they’re worth.” “It’ll be entertaining seeing how long William can keep his temper.” They hadn’t said much as yet, but they’d managed to leave me with an impression of their attitude with that comment about a cartel. “I think they’re the type inclined to sneer at the local yokels.” Malcolm pursed his lips and looked over at William. “Well, he’d better keep it to day trips, not an overnighter. Less chance of him dumping them overboard if he doesn’t have to put up with it for more than a few hours at a time.” He grinned at me. “At least if they’re

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allergic to queers, you don’t have to worry about them cosying up to you, thinking you must be suitable company since you’re a city man, too.” “Thank god.” It happened occasionally, with tourists who didn’t stop to think that if I’d chosen to live here half the year, I might see more in the place than they did. I waited and chatted with whoever was within earshot, until they’d finished unloading the boat, and Malcolm said to me, “Take him on home.” No sooner said than done. Niall grabbed a pack from a locker and came to me. A very secure locker. The pack held his sealskin, the key to his ability to change shape. He slung the pack over his shoulder and slung an arm around my waist. It wasn’t that far to our cottage, but there was plenty of time on the way to tell him about my encounter with William. “I’d tell him if there was need,” Niall said. “I told him that.” The two of them had been friends once. They’d drifted apart long before last year, but Niall couldn’t help regretting that loss even after what William had done to him. “I think he wants to believe it, but he’s afraid to,” I said. “None of the others will tell him how she is, not even his own friends.” “He could have asked me. He knows where I am.” This was hurting Niall, dragging up more than the recent past. I changed the subject. “At least you’re home at a reasonable hour. I’ve supper waiting, but it’s a casserole; it’ll keep while you have a shower.” “Good.” He ran a hand through his hair, grimacing a little. “I could do with getting clean.” If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought he only loved me for my very large hot water tank and indifference to the bills. “Get on with you, then.” I opened our front door, then held out a hand to him. “Do you want me to lay your skin out to air?”

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“Thanks.” He handed me the pack and went straight up the stairs to the bathroom. I locked the door behind us, then followed him. He was in the shower by the time I’d got up the stairs, so I went to the spare room and pulled out the clothes horse. Then I pulled the skin out of its pack and shook it out over the horse, carefully arranging it, smoothing the folds, savouring the texture of the short fur against my hand. This told me how much Niall loved me, how much he trusted me, that he would hand me his skin without hesitation. Without this skin he could not change shape, could not shift between two worlds. Would be trapped on land forever. To let any human handle it, after it had been stolen once ... Oh, yes, his fishermen friends had been thinking about his future when they’d asked me to take him in; they’d seen the advantages a wealthy lover might bring a stranded silkie. But they’d also been thinking that we would suit one another, that it would be no bad thing to indulge in a little matchmaking for both our sakes, and they’d been right. We’d both been lonely and despairing of ever finding the right person, and then we’d found each other, and so some good had come out of William’s deed in the end. I made certain that there were no creases left in the skin, and left it there. I’d already laid out clean clothes for Niall before I’d gone down to the harbour, and the dinner would look after itself, so there was nothing left to do but wait for him to finish his shower. I knocked on the bathroom door and went in. He’d already finished washing his hair, by the looks of it; now he was having a nice, relaxing soak, simply enjoying the hot water cascading down his body. “Glad to be back in civilisation?” I asked. He grinned at me through the steam. “Lovely hot water? Oh, yes.” God, but he was gorgeous. A handsome face, with a ready and sweet smile. Slim body, but powerful muscles. Part of the time he was a fisherman, doing heavy labour on the boats; part of the time he was a wild animal, to a casual glance at least, swimming in the open sea. Though he did less of that these days when he wasn’t working with Malcolm, driving the

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fish into the nets. He preferred to spend most of his free time with me nowadays. And glad I was of it, not just for the sex, but for the companionship. It was good to have him around the house, someone else of erratic working hours and an understanding that the work happened when it must, someone who allowed me the space to do my work without interruption, but gave me the comfort of company. Mind, the sex certainly wasn’t bad either. In fact, sex was what I wanted right now. I rather regretted not dragging him straight into the bedroom, but I knew the shower wasn’t just to get clean. It was to ease muscles that might be a little stiff after a long day’s work, and to relax his mind as well, mark the division between work and home. One part of him was getting more rather than less stiff under my scrutiny, and the grin was getting rather more lecherous. “Should I have saved the shower for later?” he asked. “I was just thinking that myself.” He switched off the water and stepped out of the shower. I was ready and waiting with a big fluffy towel held out for him, another of the little luxuries he appreciated about a landside life. As soon as he’d wrapped himself up in it, I went for the cupboard and the packet of condoms. “Right this second, or can it wait until I’m dry?” “I’ll dry the most important bit.” I grabbed a handful of towel and wrapped it around his cock, squeezing and then rubbing the cloth up and down. It was an odd sensation against my palm, the thick, soft cloth against my skin and then his hard cock underneath the softness. “Ah!” He grabbed me and kissed me. It didn’t do much for my concentration, but I kept rubbing him with the towel. It was a very fluffy towel, so I wasn’t worried about doing him some damage. If anything, it probably wasn’t quite enough stimulation for him. Of course, there was one way to fix that. I wriggled free of his hug and went down on my knees in front of him. Carefully, because the bath mat wasn’t that thick and I didn’t want

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to bruise my knees even if I was in a hurry. I pulled away the towel and tore open the condom packet. His cock was dry now, and no wonder, so it was easy enough to roll the condom neatly onto him. Then I leaned forward and took a good, hot, hard mouthful. I’d missed him, even with it being a short overnight trip. I’d mostly missed the warm body in bed next to mine and the companionship and him just being there, but I’d missed this as well. Him being hard and hot for me, wanting me, wanting my mouth on his cock. I could feel his hands on the back of my head, could tell that he was straining, holding back the urge to just grab and shove. I wanted him wanting me that badly. And I wanted him. He was fresh and clean from the shower, but the heat of the water meant I could smell his skin anyway, a good, masculine smell overriding the taste of the condom. I clutched at his thighs, his arse, filling my hands with him. I wanted to feel that smooth skin over hard muscle, run my hands over him. I wanted as much of him as I could grab hold of with hands and mouth. I sucked hard, and he did grab at my head then, pulling me right onto his cock, as far as I could go. Then he muttered, “Sorry,” and let go, giving me a chance to breathe. I slid off all the way, just long enough to ask, “Finish it?” “Yes,” and it was more a groan than a word, so I took him in my mouth again. Now I groped for his balls, though it was an awkward position for it, feeling them heavy in my hand. I’d finish him now; I’d no worries about whether he’d reciprocate as soon as he’d recovered. Two or three quick sharp sucks, sucking hard and then relaxing, just the way I knew he liked it, as I squeezed gently on his balls. Not too hard, just the right amount of pressure for it to feel good rather than painful. Then a quick gasp for breath because he was getting close now, I could feel it. Off his cock just a little, then back on, as much of him as I could take, and I sucked hard, and he was gone. His hands twisted in my hair, and he was calling my name, and his cock jumped in my mouth.

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I held him in my mouth until he’d quite, quite done, and then I held him in my arms as he sank to his knees in front of me. Held him and stroked him and told him how much I enjoyed having him come in my mouth. He still wasn’t used to hearing that, not even now, and his breath sobbed with more than just the physical aftermath. He buried himself against my chest, let me rock him in my arms as he slowly recovered. It had been quick and dirty, it had been no foreplay at all, and it had still been bloody good sex. After a few minutes, he roused himself and sat upright. He stroked my face tenderly and said, “Your turn.” “Bedroom’s more comfortable, I think.” It was warm in here, but still, it was on a floor with only the cushion vinyl for softness, and the harshness of the bright white overhead light, and nowhere comfortable to sprawl afterwards. And not that much room, either. He smiled at me in reminiscence. “We did want it rather badly, didn’t we?” We staggered to our feet, using each other for support, and made our way to the bedroom. Much better than the bathroom, with only the sunset lighting the room, making it look warm and cosy, with a nice thick carpet to kneel on and a nice big bed to lie in afterwards. Niall had brought his towel with him. He finished drying himself off while I pulled my clothes off. Then I sat on the bed, and he found a condom and knelt in front of me to put it on me. If sucking him off hadn’t been enough foreplay, watching him, feeling him unroll the condom onto my cock, would have done it. Strong, competent hands handling me just right, knowing exactly what he was doing. My balls ached; I wanted him right now, and then he leaned forward just enough and closed his lips around my cockhead. That was almost enough in itself, but not quite, and I sighed with relief as he took more of me in. Not sucking, not yet, just letting me feel his mouth around me.

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“More,” I said, stroking his hair, holding back from trying to make him. And he gave me more, easing himself down onto my cock, not all the way to the root but far enough. And only then did he suck me, making my mind spin in pleasure. Not just sucking, but using his tongue, and that was all I needed. I felt my come rising and didn’t care that it was so short, only a few seconds really. I needed it now, and I got it now, and that was all I cared about. He held me in his mouth until I was done, and then slid off, moving fast to ease me to lie down on the bed. Then he climbed over and lay next to me, holding tight. I recovered enough to push him onto his back and climb on top of him. No more sex for us for a bit, but I could certainly do with more cuddling. I settled myself down contentedly, enjoying the contact with him. I only shifted when the condom started to slip, and that only long enough to peel it off and dispose of it. Then we held each other a little longer, enjoying the afterglow. It felt so good to feel his body under me, his arms around me. “Dinner?” he eventually said. “Whenever you want.” “What I want is to lie here with you, but I’m getting hungry.” I reluctantly eased myself off him and got up. A minute or two to get dressed, and we were on our way downstairs to dinner. I left it until after dinner to raise the subject of William again. “I can understand why Ailsa doesn’t want to see him, but why will none of them tell him how she is?” Niall chewed on his lip for a minute before answering. “I haven’t asked. But I think they’re making an example of him. It’s not even punishment, really, even if he sees it that way. It’s to show others that if you try to take without asking, you lose what you already had. If you try and fail, you don’t get to go back to the way it was before. It’s not a risk-free gamble.”

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It made sense, although it was hard on William. I could guess why Niall hadn’t asked. “And I suppose you don’t want to be told you’ve got to join in with it, so you’ve avoided giving them an excuse to explicitly tell you that you should.” He gave me a rather grim smile. “He’s punished quite enough by seeing us together when he’s lost all, even if it’s not an obvious warning to others who might try stealing skins. He loves her and he needs to know she’s safe, and I’ve no wish to make things harder for him on that score.” “You’re more forgiving than I would be.” His smile was gentler now. “Oh, I don’t know. You’re sorry for him as well, aren’t you?” What William had done was very, very wrong. But, yes, I felt sorry for him. We had each other, and he had nothing at all.

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Chapter Two

It took two days for William’s newly found patience to run out. He stormed into the pub before sunset, and the mood he was in, Keith took one look at him and clearly considered throwing him out. But William’s first words were, “Fucking townies!” and all the locals in the pub knew by then that the bed and breakfast weren’t happy with the group of tourists who’d hired William’s boat, so William was probably in a bad mood for a good reason. Or a bad reason, looking at it another way. Keith simply said, “Your usual?” and William nodded, waited for Keith to pull his pint, and then went to sit in the corner to stew by himself. Everyone politely ignored him for a few minutes so he could calm himself down if he so chose. Then Keith asked, “Particularly stupid townies, are they?” “They should stay at home and play their stupid computer shoot-’em-up games!” William snarled. He wasn’t angry with Keith, or with any of us; Keith had simply provided permission for him to let out whatever was bothering him. “They don’t want to fish for the sport; they don’t want to fish for the eating; they don’t even want to fish for the trophy to stuff and hang on the wall. They just want to have me do it all for them except the actual killing. They like that part. They want to have an easy kill on something that can’t fight

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back, and then tell themselves what fine hunters they are.” He paused, and then he quite obviously had to force himself to self-control before he said, “And they tried to bribe me to take them to the seal haul-out. I don’t think it was photos they wanted, not after the way they behaved with the fish.” A ripple of reaction ran around the room. It got louder as William’s pair of silkie friends walked in. They looked to be in an even fouler temper than William, if that was possible. “He told us,” Keith said. “You’ve told your mates?” “We’ve warned them.” Keith didn’t even bother asking them if they wanted their usual. He simply served it to them and told them to go and sit down. After a bit, he asked, “Have you told the police?” “Aye, but there’s not much they can do,” William said. “There’s no proof; they didn’t even say anything definite to us. But I’m certain of it. They’re not getting on my boat again.” “You’d best warn others about them,” Keith said. “Use the phone here, if you want.” William nodded, but said, “Give me a minute.” He was still so angry he could hardly talk. So it was a good thing that the objects of the conversation had gone home to change first and thus didn’t come into the pub until after William and his mates had gone into the pub office to phone around the fishermen who weren’t in the pub. The tourists might have been yobs, but they weren’t stupid, and they felt the hostile atmosphere when they walked in. The leader of the gang, and by now I was thinking of them as a gang, picked it up at once. “Something wrong, people?” “Killing seals is illegal,” Keith said bluntly. “My customers don’t particularly want the law down here, thank you.” “Who’s to know, if nobody tells? And I’d have thought that fishermen would appreciate a bit less competition for the fish.”

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“Killing seals is unlucky,” someone said from the depths of the room. “Superstitious nonsense,” another of the tourists said. The one who’d insulted me at the harbour. “Don’t tell me you people actually believe that crap.” “Whether they believe it or not, I don’t think you’ll find any of them willing to take you out tomorrow, gentlemen,” Keith said. “So perhaps you need not trouble Mrs Donaldson for lodgings after tonight.” “Bloody dump this is,” the leader said. “Everyone knows everyone else. Everyone’s bloody well related to everyone else.” He looked at me. “Well, I suppose he isn’t, but god knows what he’s doing living in a hole like this when he can afford to keep on a posh flat in the centre of Edinburgh.” Apparently he’d picked up on my accent or had been listening to Mrs Donaldson gossiping or both. I said, as mildly as I could, “I like it here.” His gaze slid over to Niall. “And you aren’t even giving them some new blood. They could do with it, inbred bastards.” “Out,” Keith said, judging the temper of the room. “You don’t need my beer, not with what Mrs Donaldson says you’ve got in the boot of your car.” The leader puffed himself up. “How dare you! We haven’t caused any trouble; you’ve no right!” Two of the other men were clearly willing to make a fuss about it along with their leader, although the one who’d noticed William’s attitude on the quayside seemed troubled. Then William and his friends came through to the bar, attracted by the noise. The three of them said nothing when they saw the tourists, but their body language spoke for them. “Thanks for the use of your phone, Keith,” was all William said out loud. The one sensible one in the group of tourists said quietly, “Look, those three are as pissed off as hell, even if you didn’t realise it, and they’ve told all their friends. The landlord’s

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right; we won’t get a boat tomorrow. It’s easier just to go and get an early night, and go somewhere else first thing in the morning.” There was some muttering at first, but to everyone else’s relief, the other three actually followed his advice. As soon as they’d gone, Keith asked, “You’ve warned people?” “As well as I could,” William said. “But they’ll be able to find a boat if they try; I’ve just made it a bit harder for them.” “You did your best, man,” Keith said. “Go and sit down and forget about it for now. There’s no point in worrying about it tonight.” William and his friends sat down, and Niall got up and went over to them. So did another man and a woman; both silkies, I thought. The conversation at other tables resumed, voices too low for anyone not at a table to catch what was said, but the tone clearly urgent. Malcolm and I looked at each other. Malcolm said quietly, “We’ll have to do something about them; they’re not the type to be put off easily.” There were a few outsiders in the pub, other early season visitors, who looked uneasy at what was going on around them. Hardly surprising, given the sudden hostility the locals had just shown to a group of tourists. Keith came out from behind the bar and wandered around, visiting each table that held people who didn’t understand what was going on. Reassuring them that we weren’t all mad, I thought. Easy enough to explain the anger over the threat to the seals; just tell people that the village valued the income from tourists and the seals were one of the attractions. Who would think of the real reason? That a few, terribly few of them now, weren’t just seals. The little discussion at William’s table broke up, and they started moving around, talking to the other fishermen. Niall came back to our table and said, “There’s going to be a watch, Malcolm. A boat where someone can keep an eye on things, but a different one every day, and a different position, so they can’t find it just by following us.” “When are we up?” Malcolm asked.

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“Not for a few days. And not quite decided yet. Those three would have liked to go out first, but they think someone else had better do it, because it’ll look suspicious if it’s them.” Niall sighed and took a swig from his glass. “I think I’d like an early night, Richard.” “Finish your drink and we’ll go home.” He did, and we did, and I could feel the tension radiating from him all the way. The silkies lived on a knife edge, barely enough of them for a viable population. Natural hazards were bad enough, without yobs using them for sport. Though at least if the yobs tried to get up close and personal about it, and there weren’t any witnesses, they might just get a nasty shock. With any luck, they’d even drop dead of fright. When we got home I made him go stand under a hot shower for a bit, trying to get him to relax. Even then, he was still tense when he came back downstairs, pacing around the room rather than sitting down with me on the sofa. I’d had enough after ten minutes of watching him pick up things, stare at them, and then put them down before striding across the room to harass some other innocent object. I got up from the sofa and stood in front of him, forcing him to stop for a few seconds. “Right, you -- bed,” I said. “I know one infallible way of getting you to calm down.” He couldn’t help grinning at that. “You know me far too well.” I put my arms around him and kissed him. “I’ve had ample opportunity to get to know you.” Then I groped inside his dressing gown. He was half hard already, though I wasn’t sure how much of that was just adrenaline. “At least it will help you sleep.” He thrust into my hand, getting harder by the second. “All right.” I let go of him and headed for the bedroom. The idea was to get him relaxed enough to sleep, so in bed was a better option than on the sofa. He followed me up the stairs and was on me before I’d barely had time to get undressed. Pushing me onto the bed, licking and sucking at whatever bits of me he could reach. I’d been right; he’d needed something to release that excess of energy. His expression was almost savage as he kissed me frantically.

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Now he was hard, no doubting it. His cock was bumping against mine, and he wasn’t even deliberately thrusting against me, just trying to get as much skin in contact with me as possible. Then he pulled away from me just long enough to grab a condom from the bedside cabinet. He cursed as the packet slipped away from him when he tried to tear it open. “Let me,” I said and took it from him. I wasn’t as far gone as he was, so I could still manage the task of tearing the foil without tearing the condom inside. I shoved at him, and he sat up for long enough that I could roll it onto his cock. I didn’t bother asking; it was pretty bloody obvious who was going on top tonight. I gave him one good squeeze as I settled the condom into place, then took hold of my own cock, stroking myself as he grabbed for the K-Y. I was taking fire from his arousal, but I was still behind him, and I wanted to catch up. I spread my legs so he could reach to lube me. He was careful in spite of his haste, making sure I was comfortable. I kept wanking myself, watching him watching me, watching his arousal grow as he greedily eyed my hand and my cock. We were stroking in time, his finger inside me and my hand outside, and he kept it like that until I was bucking and thrashing on the bed. Then he pulled out his finger and flung himself on top of me, shoving against me. Not getting it quite right at first, he then found the right angle as I managed to wrap my legs around him. One short, hard thrust, filling me up, almost too fast for me to handle. But we were well practised together and well aroused, and he slid right in. Then he hammered into me, driven by anger and fear and urgent need, and the reassurance that I was here for him. He needed this, and I was more than willing to give it, urging him on, telling him how much I wanted him. I’d done it for him more than for my own desire, because he needed it, and I was startled by how fast I responded. Being taken hard and fast like this, seeing his need for me -I was already almost there. Maybe Niall hadn’t been the only one with adrenaline to burn. I gasped and clung to him and hung on for the ride, because I certainly wasn’t in control, nor by the looks of it, was he.

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And then I knew I was there, before I even wanted it, and I could see in his face he’d realised it. He gave me a savage grin and pulled almost all the way out and then shoved back in as fast as he could. It was enough to tip me over the edge, and I could do nothing but cling to him as I came. He’d had the self-control to hold still for me, but then it all got too much for him. He started thrusting again before I’d finished coming, and with a yelp of triumph he came, too. He collapsed on top of me, and we held each other for a bit. Then he slid off me and said, “Thanks. It did help.” So much so that he was almost asleep already. I’d have liked an after-sex nap myself, but I forced myself to stay awake long enough to manhandle him under the covers, clean us both up, and dispose of the condom. He was still just conscious enough to put an arm around me and drag me close to him when I got in beside him, but was asleep seconds afterwards. I might have got up when I remembered that I still hadn’t brushed my teeth, but he needed to hold me, so I stayed where I was. I soon fell asleep myself.

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Chapter Three

Things were quiet in the village the next day, but the peace didn’t last. The louts had gone off somewhere, but they’d held their rooms at the bed and breakfast for later in the week. They were back two days later, with a speedboat. It seemed that the first four were an advance party who’d decided to come up a few days earlier than the pair with the boat. It wasn’t a big boat, just big enough to show off in. Which was what they were doing in the harbour before setting off for the day. I’d wandered down to the harbour for my morning walk, so I got to see most of the performance. I joined my friends who were standing on the quayside, watching the bad driving with looks of disgust. “What the hell is going on?” “The English idiots,” Adam said. “Who else?” Jock looked at them turning high-speed figures of eight in the bay and muttered, “They’re going to have an accident if they keep that up. I hope the lot of them drown.” Adam stared disapprovingly at the boat now disappearing towards the horizon. “At least the bloody thing’s smaller than any of our boats; if they run into something, they’ll lose the argument.” “Best radio the boats and warn them that’s coming,” Jock said and went inside to do so.

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Adam stirred himself. “I’ll go and tell Malcolm he might want to be ready to go out today. Just in case. You might ask Niall to come down to the harbour. He can always put in a bit of work on the nets if nothing happens.” So I strolled back to the house and told Niall what was going on. “I’ll bring the laptop and come down with you, if you want.” “Take a packed lunch, as well,” he said. “It’s a nice day; you might as well work outside.” We took the packed lunch, and I settled myself down on a bench with the laptop while Niall worked with his friends. I got less work done than I would have at home, but it certainly didn’t hurt me to have a bit of company. They didn’t talk to me unless I talked to them, so it was easy to tune them out when I wanted to. It was another beautiful spring morning, not a cloud in the sky and the air perfectly still. This early in the year, it was warm enough to sit outside in comfort without the sun being strong enough to worry about sunburn. We had a relatively early lunch, sitting on the quay and swearing at the seagulls, which had never yet learned that we were not interested in sharing our sandwiches with them. By the time we’d finished, the wind had started to rise, so we all went inside the shed, but it was still nice enough as long as you were out of the breeze. I’d done enough work for the day by then, so I just enjoyed the company, listening to the chatter around me. After a while, the wind got up a fair bit, but we were cosy enough. It was a very pleasant day, until the radio squawked. Adam went to answer the call and came back with a very grim look on his face. “There’s been an accident. Ailsa’s hurt, badly. William’s bringing her in. He says if we see those English bastards, we’re to stop them.” There was instant uproar. Niall was white with shock. I went to him, held him. “She’ll be all right, Niall, she’ll be all right.” I could feel him trembling, and I hung on to him, trying

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to give him comfort. Trying to give him hope. Bad enough that any of the silkies had been hurt, but Niall and his sister were very close. “Have you phoned the police, Adam?” Jock asked. “Not yet. It’ll be their word against William’s, and there’s the problem of his crew. He only had Kenneth and Brian with him today. We’ll have to think about how to handle it.” The two silkies would need to vanish; they couldn’t give evidence in court if it came to that. Bringing the police in at all would be risky, with Ailsa involved. But if they weren’t stopped, it might not be just Ailsa. Jock asked, “How long before they get here?” “Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, William said.” Adam sighed heavily. “They weren’t that far away, but he’s got to decide between getting her here quickly and keeping the boat as steady as possible in this wind.” “What about an ambulance?” I asked. “If they’re nearby, it’ll be faster to take her to hospital in a car rather than waiting for the ambulance to get here, as long as she doesn’t

need an ambulance.” Sometimes living in an out-of-the-way place has its drawbacks. “I told the ambulance station that,” Adam said. “They’re sending one, and we’re to call back if we think it’s better to take her ourselves.” “I’ll take her,” I said. “Easier for me to deal with awkward questions.” I got up and ran for the house. A few minutes after I’d got the car down to the quayside, William’s boat was pulling round the point into the bay. The boat chugged its slow way to the quay. I’m sure William could have gone faster, but he was controlling his fear for Ailsa, controlling the boat with a steady hand and minimising the risk of a bad bump as he pulled in alongside the quay. Ailsa was lying on the deck, wrapped in a blanket, with Kenneth and Brian holding her steady against the movement of the boat. She was a pitiful sight, badly bruised and gashed, and unconscious. And in human form.

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Kenneth lifted her onto shore. “What the hell happened?” Niall demanded, kneeling beside her. “Those bastards ran her down,” Kenneth spat. “They couldn’t find the haul-out, but when they spotted a seal in the water ...” “She was on lookout, so she didn’t dive,” Brian said. “By the time she realised what they were up to, they’d cut her off in shallow water. They ran her down for fun.” I knelt down to check her breathing and pulse. I had to unwrap the blanket and found that she’d been stripped to her underwear. “Was she like this?” I asked. If she’d been in seal form, she’d normally have had her human form’s clothing on under the sealskin. The silkies didn’t have much of a nudity taboo, but respected the fact that their human friends did. Kenneth said, “We had to get her clothes off to check; some of the injuries were deep and we couldn’t see what we were doing.” “And you don’t want to be explaining what she was doing swimming in her clothes,” Adam said, kneeling down beside me. I checked the worst of the wounds. Some had already been bandaged, but there were still a lot of deep gashes. Maybe a broken bone or two, I wasn’t sure. They’d had to handle her under the worst of circumstances, a shifting boat, and god knew what the internal injuries were. “I don’t like this. She has to go to hospital.” At least the worst of the bleeding could be controlled by steady pressure, and there were enough of us to do that. “Can we risk it?” Brian said, looking worried. The ever-present fear of exposure. “Niall’s legal; she’s his sister. Less risk than for some of you,” I said. I wasn’t just leaving her like this, not without a fight. Adam must have thought the same thing, if he’d phoned for the ambulance rather than keeping it in the village. “Or we lie and say we don’t know who she is. She’s an emergency case; they’re not going to ask too many questions.”

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“She’s going to hospital, not the vet,” William said flatly. “The vet would have taken one look at those injuries and told us to put her down.” Kenneth looked at Niall. “He made us take her skin off. He said the same thing on the boat. We couldn’t risk the vet, he said. And your man’s right; at least you can tell them stories and be believed.” “Her skin’s in the boat,” William said, looking straight at Niall. “I’m coming with you to the hospital. Someone else can put it away.” For a moment I thought Niall would refuse him. Then he nodded. “I think it’s better to wait for the ambulance,” I said. “We need to control the bleeding, but she’s breathing. Better here than in the car.” They’d put pressure bandages on the worst of it in the boat, and the quayside first aid kit was already open, with people using it. We could keep her stable until the ambulance arrived, and they’d be better equipped to deal with anything that went wrong on the way to hospital. “Niall, give Kenneth your keys. He can take Ailsa’s skin to the house.” Niall fumbled in his pocket and handed over his keys without a word. I’d have told him to take the skin himself, but there was no way on earth he was going to leave his sister’s side. She was still unconscious when the ambulance finally arrived. It must have been dispatched as soon as Adam had called, but the wait had seemed endless. They checked her over, reassured us, and loaded her in. Then they took some details and asked if anyone needed to ride with them. “We’ll need someone to come in if possible. And did anyone actually see the accident?” “I saw what happened,” William said, “She’s my sister. I’ll come in with you,” Niall said. It made sense for both of them to go in. “I’ll take you two in the car,” I said. “You’ll need someone to bring you back, and neither of you’s in a fit state to drive.” And I didn’t

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want either of them answering more questions from outsiders until they’d had a chance to recover from their shock a little. So we followed the ambulance in the car, and when we got to the hospital William gave a description of what he’d seen, a boat running down a seal and a woman swimming in the water, not mentioning that the seal and the woman were one and the same. Niall and I filled in paperwork, giving my address for Ailsa. And then we waited, and I fetched cups of tea, and Niall and William stared at each other in silent misery, all their quarrel forgotten. I’d given Niall a brief hug as I’d led him to the chair, but the seats weren’t made for cuddling, and I didn’t like to anyway. Not in front of anyone else in the waiting room who might add to Niall’s distress by kicking up a row about it. And not in front of William. I’d have given William a brief hug, too, if I’d thought it would have done more good than harm, but all I could do for him was fetch him another cup of tea when he’d drained the first. We sat in that waiting room for what seemed like hours. It wasn’t so bad a place, in retrospect. It was clean and well lit and had been redecorated recently. They had done it up in pleasant pastel colours that had yet to go through the fading to stereotypical institutional dreariness. There were magazines to read, and a corner with a toy box for children. The chairs were comfortable, proper upholstered ones and not the cheap plastic stacking kind that make your bum ache after five minutes sitting on them. Just along the corridor there was a tea bar run by the Friends of the Hospital, with tea and biscuits and light snacks to keep your spirits up. But it was still a room to sit and wait to hear what had happened to a loved one, and we were afraid for Ailsa, all three of us. Finally the doctor came to us and told us that Ailsa would be all right. Or as all right as was possible under the circumstances. “The injuries looked a lot worse than they really were, although they’d have been very serious indeed if you hadn’t dealt with them so promptly.” He nodded at William. “Scalp wounds in particular bleed far more than you’d ever think possible. But they’re bad enough, and she’ll have to stay in for a few days. The head injury

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means we need to keep her under observation. She’s conscious now, so you can have a few minutes with her. One at a time.” Niall went first. He came out a few minutes later, looking both relieved and upset. I didn’t care what anyone except William thought. I went to Niall and held him, and he stood shaking in the circle of my arms. “She’s going to be all right,” he whispered before putting his arms around me and resting his head briefly on my shoulder. I cradled him against me, stroking his head, and for once I regretted how short I was compared to Niall. It made it awkward for him, when he needed the comfort of being able to hide against me. We stood like that for a few seconds, before he let go of me and straightened up. He had control of himself again, but I watched as he went back to sit in the waiting room. Then it was my turn. Ailsa was in a four-bed bay, but it must have been a quiet day, for she was the only one in there. The bay was brightly lit, presumably so the staff could see what they were doing. The bright light was harsh and uncomfortable for me, and I hated to think what it was like for Ailsa. It made the minor cuts and grazes stand out stark against her skin, even though they’d been cleaned up and the bleeding stopped. No wonder Niall had looked distressed. But she was alive, and awake, and the cuts would heal. “Hello, Ailsa,” I said, keeping my voice down in case noise hurt her. She tried to smile, and winced. “Hello, Richard. Ironic, isn’t it? I end up in here with a real head injury.” Niall’s cover story when we’d thought he might have lost his skin forever was amnesia after a possible accident. I smiled back at her. “Could have done without having you do it for real, love.” I sat down on the edge of her bed, so that she wouldn’t have to move her head to see me. “Niall told me that those bastards ran me down with their boat.” “You don’t remember?”

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She almost shook her head, then realised just in time. “No. Last thing I remember is seeing the speedboat and keeping an eye on it.” “William and his friends saw it all, but couldn’t get there in time to stop them. All they could do was chase them off and get you on board before you drowned.” I paused, then went on, “He’s out there now. Will you see him?” “No.” She closed her eyes. “It’s not just ... I’m too tired. I can’t face him right now. Maybe tomorrow.” “All right.” I leaned over and smoothed her hair away from her face. “They said only a few minutes, so I’ll take Niall and William home now. We’ll come back this evening if the doctor says it’s all right; otherwise I’ll bring them back tomorrow.” She whispered, “Thanks,” but didn’t open her eyes. I didn’t think being too tired was just an excuse to avoid seeing William; she’d have had no qualms about saying she didn’t want him coming back, if that was what she wanted. If nothing else, she wasn’t cruel enough to give him empty hope. I went back to the waiting room. William looked up at me, not even asking. “I’m sorry, William. She’s tired and she’s asleep again. Maybe tomorrow.” He hadn’t even had the hope to be dashed, I realised. There was only dull acceptance in his face. “Come back in with us tonight. Or tomorrow,” I said. I wouldn’t offer him the suggestion that she would see him, but at least he should have the option of being here if she

was willing to see him. “Not tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll need every boat we have, if those bastards are still out on the water.” “Well, there’s no more to be done now. Come away home, the pair of you.” Niall looked as if he might protest, but followed me back to the car without saying anything. It was a long drive back to the village, but not so long a drive as it had been on the

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way in. We went straight down to the harbour to report in, assuming that people would be there if anywhere. There was a crowd waiting for us. I’d phoned from the hospital while Niall was in with Ailsa, but I’d only spoken to Adam long enough to let him know that Ailsa would be all right, and it wasn’t the same thing as getting all the details in person. They were on the three of us as soon as we got out of the car. “She’ll be all right,” I reassured everyone. “But it was a near thing. If they hadn’t pulled her out of the water when they did, she’d have drowned.” “Have those bastards come back in yet?” Niall asked. “No. There’s a lookout for them, and Kenneth and Brian went away off to warn folk,” Jock said. “But they haven’t been seen, and my guess is they’ve taken themselves off further down the coast for a bit. They weren’t expecting witnesses.” “Their things are still at the bed and breakfast,” William said. “They’ll be back.” More people arrived, the silkies and the fishermen coming in from the sea as the news spread. So there was quite a crowd waiting when the speedboat finally returned at sunset. It roared into the bay, through the water lit blood-red by the setting sun, and that was no good omen for those on board. Not when it underlined what they had done. I’d swear they were frightened when they saw the reception party, and nearly headed off again to berth elsewhere. It would have been better for them if they had. But they chose to brazen it out. Perhaps if they’d realised that they’d injured more than a seal ... But they didn’t make the connection, didn’t realise that this was over more than a seal, until William planted himself in their path and demanded to know what the hell they thought they were playing at. William was a big man, with a violent streak, and a dangerous air even when he didn’t have good cause to be angry. He didn’t look as if he was going to move out of their way anytime soon.

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“What do you mean?” the leader of the group asked. He’d seen William’s boat out there on the sea, had run away when he’d realised he had witnesses, and yet he tried to pretend that nothing had happened. “You --” William poked him in the chest with a big, blunt finger. “-- and your fucking games out there today.” “We didn’t do anything.” “I bloody well saw you and your ‘didn’t do anything’. I’d have come after you, only I had to stop and fish her out before she drowned, you bastard. And don’t tell me it was an accident; I saw you go straight at her.” “It was only a stupid bloody seal,” one of the men said. “Who the hell cares about them?” “You nearly killed a woman,” William snarled. “Jesus Christ, they’re more inbred than we thought,” the leader said. “No wonder they like the seals -- they’re fucking them.” William nearly laid him flat on the ground for that, but managed to hold his temper. I think he only managed it through having grown up never talking about the silkies in front of strangers. Adam stepped forward out of the ring that was forming around the group of tourists. “You ran a woman down, boy, not just a seal,” he growled. “He fished her out of the water while you were playing your macho games, and she’s in the hospital right now. Lucky for you he got to her in time, or you’d be facing a manslaughter charge. If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe the police when they come looking for your statement.” They were starting to look worried now. Maybe it was the threat of the police that finally drove it home to them; maybe it was the realisation that there were a lot of people surrounding them, a lot of people who were very angry about something. Not just the anger they’d already encountered over the threat to the seals, but something more.

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They chose bluster. “I never saw a woman in the water.” And if he’d left it at that, he would have been safe, because it was true enough, and the silkies accepted the casualties of being thought seals. But he went on, “So it was her own stupid fault, if she was swimming well away from the beach. She shouldn’t have been there.” At the rising murmur from the crowd, one of his followers said, “Look, if some stupid hippy cunt wants to go swimming with seals, we can’t be expected to look out for her. It’s not our problem if people don’t have the sense to keep out of the way; it’s her own bloody fault.” Jock and I grabbed hold of Niall, and Adam and Malcolm grabbed hold of William. “Well, at least some of you have a bit of sense,” the stupid bastard said. He looked at me, appealing to me as a fellow city man. “Come on, you know how things work. They touch us, and they’ll be in trouble. There were no witnesses, it was an accident, and I know one or two senior policemen who won’t be happy about us being roughed up.” I let go of Niall and walked over to look up at him. I might have been shorter, but he still recoiled. “Aye. I know how it works. Better than you do.” I’d been careful in the village never to make a point of my social position, but I used it now. “That’s my sister-in-law you’ve put in hospital. And the only reason I’m stopping my partner from taking you apart is because I don’t want to see him locked up for the couple of hours it’ll take me to hunt down my friend the chief constable and explain the situation to him.” He turned white. “You’re lying.” “Stupid, stupid bastard.” I deliberately sharpened my accent. Perhaps he couldn’t even hear what I was; he could only recognise the English form of the class accent he so miserably failed to imitate. “You’re new money. You’re such new money you don’t even recognise old money when you see it. I don’t need to treat these people like dirt just to reassure myself I’m better than them.”

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I almost thought I had him, but he couldn’t bear to lose face. Not to me, not in front of his gang. He raised a fist. I bared my teeth at him. “Go on. In front of all these witnesses. And even if you can swing things, get your friends there to lie through their teeth for you -- what does it say about you that you didn’t want a fight with William there, who’s the size you are, but you’re keen enough when it comes to someone smaller and weaker than you? No wonder you don’t care about nearly killing a woman. You’re just the type to kick his girlfriend around because it makes him feel more of a man.” I hadn’t intended that for William, not at all, and I regretted it as soon as the words were out of my mouth. William was violent, and that was why Ailsa had refused him, and he didn’t need reminding of that right now. But the words were said, and they did have their intended effect. The man lowered his fist and said, “You’re not worth it.” Then he strode forward. “Get out of my way!” The crowd parted silently in front of him. His friends followed him, only one hanging back. The one who’d tried to be a peacemaker in the pub, who’d done his best to smooth things over. He came over to me as he passed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “We really didn’t see anyone. We’d have helped if we’d known. Will she be all right?” “They think so. But I’m not sure your friend there would have helped. Who the hell does he think he is?” “The managing director.” He dropped his voice. “And you’re right; he’s an insecure prick who can’t forget he came up through the ranks, and he needs to push other people around to help himself feel better about it.” How could I warn this man? I didn’t like the mood of the crowd, and there was only so far the silkies could be pushed. He’d at least tried to stop his boss; he didn’t deserve to be caught up in whatever happened next. “Look. If this is a company outing, it’s going to be difficult, but get yourself away from them. There’s trouble brewing, and if you fly with

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crows ...” The people standing right here could see that he’d distanced himself from his colleagues’ actions, but not everyone was here. He shook his head. “I can’t. This week’s supposed to be an official team-bonding thing. Look, I’m sorry, I have to go ...” And he was away off after his mates before they could notice he was lagging behind. The crowd made no move to interfere with him. “He’s all right, but the others will have to be dealt with,” one of the older silkies said. “If they go out again, they’ll be stopped.” I didn’t know him well, but I’d met him before. He’d ordered the guards to let me pass when I’d accompanied Niall to an important silkie occasion. If he said that the men would be stopped, they would be. “Enough for now,” I said. “Look, I’m taking Niall home, before he drops. He needs a meal and a rest. Someone take William home and make him eat something; he’s no better.” “And who’ll make you sit and eat and rest, Richard?” the silkie said more gently. “The only thing keeping you going is trying to take care of Niall.” Adam came over to me. “Phone the hospital, Richard, and see if there’s any point in going over tonight. Someone else will drive you; you’re both done in.” He looked round at William. “We’ll take him and his friends home, don’t worry. Kenneth and Brian can stay with him tonight; they’ve all three of them had a bad day, and I don’t want those two wandering around loose.” So I took Niall home and followed Adam’s advice. The hospital said there was no point in coming in all the way from the village; Ailsa was in no danger, but she was sleeping and wasn’t expected to wake up until morning. I passed the message on to Niall and added, “You can still go in if you want to, Niall.” “I ...” I put my arms around him, trying to give him the comfort of touch. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. The hospital said they’d phone if she woke up and asked for us.”

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Once again, he laid his head on my shoulder and clung to me. “I want to be there, but I’m scared of hospitals. I don’t want to be there by myself, if Ailsa’s asleep and it wouldn’t do her any good anyway.” “Worried about being asked who you are?” The silkies got nervous in situations that could mean exposure. Niall had paperwork now, officially recorded as an amnesia victim and issued with new identification, but he still didn’t like having to deal with questions from strangers about his identity. “I’ll be there as well, remember.” “Mm. I know it’s stupid. I’d go if Ailsa needed me, but ...” He’d had a very bad day, and it would do no harm to give him a decent night’s rest at home if Ailsa had no real need of him. “I’ll ask Adam if someone else can go and sit with her, just in case she does wake up and wants someone familiar there. They can tell the hospital that you’re trying to contact family to let them know what’s happened, if anyone asks why you aren’t there.” He held me a little longer, then let go of me. “Can we go in tomorrow?” “As soon as normal visiting hours start. It’ll let you get a night’s rest first,” I said. “Besides, it’ll let her get a night’s rest.” I phoned Adam, and he said Malcolm would go in. As Niall’s skipper, it was only natural that he’d act as Niall’s proxy. Adam suggested packing a bag with some things for Ailsa that Malcolm could take in for her. We pulled out some things from the spare clothes Ailsa kept at our cottage, and packed them. Malcolm came by a few minutes later to pick up the bag and promised to phone us if anything happened, no matter what time it was. Then I got Niall fed and put him in front of the TV so that he could try to switch off for a bit. It must have helped, because he managed to keep his tension under control for most of the evening. There was none of the pacing about the room he’d done the night before; he was content to sit next to me on the sofa and let me cuddle him as we watched TV. I could

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feel him shaking, just a little, every so often, and then I would hold him a little tighter and make soothing noises. Then the TV would distract him again, and he’d settle against me, letting the TV take him to somewhere where he could forget things for a little while. Finally it was late enough that it was worth going to bed and trying to get some sleep, though how much sleep either of us would manage, I wasn’t sure. “Come to bed, love. You need to get some sleep. Do you want a bite of supper first?” “I think so.” Not hungry, I thought, but hoping that some hot milk might help him sleep. I took him through to the kitchen and made hot milk for us both, while he toasted and buttered some raisin bread. We ate in the kitchen, with him focusing his attention on his toast. It was comfort food, something hot and enticing-smelling that he could eat without having to choke it down. We washed the dishes and left them to drain, and went upstairs to bed. The nightly ritual of supper and tooth-brushing and all of the rest of it seemed to be helping Niall, but he still wanted to hold me close when we got into bed. “She’ll be all right, Niall,” I reassured him. “I know. But when I first saw her, when William brought her in ...” He’d thought she was dying. She would have died, if William and Kenneth and Brian had not been there to pull her from the sea and bring her home to us. That knowledge had left its mark on Niall; on Niall, on William, and, yes, on me. I cared about Ailsa, both in her own right as my friend, and as the beloved sister of my beloved partner. I held him and stroked my hand down his back, trying to soothe him. He snuggled even closer to me. “I’m glad I’ve got you,” he said. “Someone would have held me for this night, but it’s not the same. It’s not the same as having a partner.”

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If he’d been on his own, he could have gone to his people, and they would have made sure he didn’t have to sleep alone. But it would have been only the comfort of friends around him, friends making certain that he wasn’t alone. He’d had no partner, no lover for more than a night, until he’d met me. I wasn’t sure if he’d want it, but there was something else I could do for him. I slid my hand round and down to take hold of his cock. “It might help you sleep.” “I can’t. Not when ...” “I don’t think Ailsa would mind, Niall. It’s not because you don’t care about her. It’s because you do care about her, and you can’t sleep, and you need to. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” His face said no, but his body said yes, with his cock already stiffening in my hand. “It’s only the adrenaline, love,” I reassured him. “Your body’s all stirred up after today, and this is one way to let it out.” Two nights in a row, though his mood was very different this night. He sighed and relaxed against me, letting me do what I liked with him. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t do you.” “I can do without. I’m older than you, remember. My body’s learnt a bit of sense by now. It knows that fight or flight doesn’t have to include fuck as one of the options.” He actually laughed a little at that. “You’re not that much older than me.” “And I can do myself, if need be. I’ve had years of practice.” I stroked him firmly. “See?” He smiled for a second. “Aye. You’re very good at it.” So I wanked him, no fancy stuff, just hard and fast to get him off as quickly as possible. It was the only thing I could do for him for the moment, and it worked. He came quickly, not holding back, and then sighed in relief. “Feel a bit better now,” he mumbled. “Good.” I kissed him gently, then reached over him for some tissues. I didn’t fancy trying to sleep when it turned cold and clammy in the bed. When I was done wiping us

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clean, I wadded the tissues and threw them in the general direction of the wastepaper basket. I wasn’t getting out of bed now; I wasn’t leaving him even for the few seconds it would have taken me to go over to the basket. It had done some good. He held me very tightly afterwards, but went to sleep without much tossing and turning.

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Chapter Four

The weather had turned in the night, as it had been threatening to, and it was cold and windy when we woke up early the next morning. Maybe the tourists would stay in their nice comfy rooms at the bed and breakfast. And maybe they wouldn’t. We made a hasty breakfast and went down to the harbour to see what was happening. So had everyone else, human and silkie, although it wasn’t obvious until you looked around. They were scattered around, some in the buildings, some on the boats, looking casual -- but waiting. And not long after Niall and I got there, they had what they’d been waiting for. The little group of visitors came down to the harbour, bags over their shoulders, obviously ready for a day’s outing. Two of them carried cases of beer. Two more of them each carried a long, thin plastic case, obviously protecting some sort of equipment. They looked around as they walked down the road and onto the quayside, but didn’t notice until too late how many people were there, how many silently drifted out behind them as they passed. Jock and the senior silkie stepped out in front of them. They were an odd-looking pair, Jock small and old and wizened, the silkie tall and handsome as most of them were, though

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he was middle-aged or more. Alisdair, I thought his name was, though I’d had little to do with him. An odd-looking pair, but clearly of one mind. “Were you planning on hunting seals today, then?” Jock asked, very politely. “What business is it of yours?” “Well, you see, you’ve already hurt one of our folk,” the silkie said, “so we think it is our business what you might be planning on doing with that expensive toy of yours.” “We’ll do what we damn well please, and you’d better not get in our way,” the leader, the managing director, said. One of his sycophants added, “We’ve paid good money for these, and we intend to get our money’s worth out of them.” He opened the case he held, so that everyone could see the speargun. “You’ve no diving gear,” Jock said. “What do you want that for?” “Oh, I’m sure we’ll find something,” the man said with a sly grin. “We’ll just cruise up and down the coast until we find something suitable.” “Not the right species around here for a good fur for the ladies, but a nice fur rug always impresses anyway,” the leader said. “It’ll cost a bob or two to get it tanned properly, but it’ll look good on the floor of my office.” His group laughed. All but one. That man just looked disgusted. He was obviously near the end of his tether, repelled by his manager’s behaviour but afraid to say anything. “I really think you should reconsider your plans,” the silkie said with a toothy grin. The crowd was closing in now, blocking off the route back to the main road. The group looked around them, finally realising that it wasn’t just Jock and Alisdair and a few of their friends to deal with. There was some nervousness then, but they still followed their leader. His response was belligerent. “Are you threatening us?” “Not at all,” Alisdair said smoothly. “It’s just not a good day to go fishing. And we are the experts.”

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“Get out of my way!” I could see that the one halfway decent man among them was hesitating. I was willing to put in an effort to save him. “Listen to them. There’s a storm brewing. It’s dangerous out there if you don’t know what you’re doing. You could be killed.” “I know what I’m doing!” the leader snapped. He pushed past Jock and the silkie and turned to look at his followers. “Come on!” All of them followed but one. He hung back, and didn’t try to hide it this time. His boss glared at him. “Get in the boat.” “No.” “Your promotion depends on my appraisal rating, and this is part of your training.” “And these people have tried to warn you that it’s not safe. Look at the weather. It’s not part of my job description to put myself at unnecessary risk to feed your ego, and I’ll tell HR that. I’ve had enough of this.” He hesitated, then said, “And I don’t want my job so badly I’ll kill seals for kicks.” He turned and walked away, the crowd parting silently to give him a free path, then closing behind him again. William watched him intently as he left. “Fuck you!” his boss, probably his ex-boss, shouted after him, but he never came back. Finally his boss turned away in disgust and started the boat. As it pulled away from the dock, the crowd started to disperse. As Jock and the silkie walked past me, I ran over to grab hold of them. “Listen, Jock, do you know if there’s anyone in the village who uses drugs? Marijuana’s probably best; it needs to be something that that lot might use, but I don’t think cocaine would work for this.” Jock looked hard at me, then pulled me to one side, looking around to check if anyone else could hear. “Maybe. Why?” “Well, if they do run into trouble out there, and they call the Coast Guard for help and say that the seals are turning into people -- obviously you shouldn’t mix drink and drugs and driving a boat. It leads to accidents.”

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The silkie obviously liked that idea, liked that very much indeed. “Oh, I think we’ll keep that in mind, in case it becomes necessary. But your first idea’s probably better, if not as satisfying. With that we wouldn’t need to go near the boat, so no need to plant anything.” “My first idea?” His expression turned distant. “The magic’s rising. There’s enough for a storm.” A chill ran down my spine as I remembered the legends I’d pored through. The silkies had had the power to raise a storm against fishermen who’d gone too far. Even now, with the magic nearly gone, they’d be able to push the bad weather enough to make real the storm I’d offered as an excuse. His gaze focused on me again. “If they see sense, if they go off for a bit of harmless fishing now they’ve had their display to soothe their pride, well, they’re safe enough. They did not know Ailsa was more than she looked; we cannot raise hand to them for the one act of thoughtless cruelty. But if they will not learn ...” Jock’s voice was harsh as he said, “You’re too soft, Alisdair.” Alisdair raised a hand to shush Jock. “If we kill them without sufficient cause, and more than sufficient cause, we are no better than them.” He looked back to me. “Take Niall to the hospital. And take that man with you if he needs a lift to town; he should be somewhere else with witnesses. And take William out of here, as well.” I’d already been thinking that myself. Take Niall and William and, yes, the man who’d had the courage to walk away from it, and put them where they couldn’t be accused of having any hand in the disappearance of a boat. “Give me time to make sure I’ve got those three at the hospital in front of witnesses before you do anything.” Alisdair nodded. “Don’t worry. It will take time to be certain they’re going to misbehave themselves.” He looked past me to where I’d left Niall. “Get them out of here as soon as possible.”

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As I turned away, Alisdair said, “And thank you, Richard. I couldn’t have asked for a better son-in-law than you have been to me.” I swung back to stare at him, but he’d already turned to walk away and look out to sea. Jock shot me a look and said, “If William argues about it, tell him we want him at the hospital, he’ll do Ailsa more good there than here.” Then he turned away, too, and fell into discussion with Alisdair about how long it was likely to take for the storm to build. Conversation closed. I looked round for Niall and William. As it happened, Niall was walking over to where William stood. “William!” William jumped at my shout and turned to look at me. “I’m taking Niall in to the hospital now. Do you want a lift?” He was obviously about to say no, but he stopped and thought for a second or two. Then he said, “Better if we take two cars; then someone can stay with her if we need to come back. I’ll get the van.” I caught up with Niall and dragged him over to William so that we could speak without everyone hearing. “And we should see if that man wants a lift. I want to get him out of here before anything happens, and Alisdair was thinking the same.” William looked away up the road from the harbour. “Your man that left them? I’ll ask him if he wants to come in the van. There’ll be more room for his things.” He walked away, heading the direction of the bed and breakfast. “Come on, Niall,” I said gently. “Leave them to it. We’ll go in the car.” “I should be here ...” “You should be with Ailsa, and they want you out of it. They want you and William where nobody can point a finger if questions are asked about who might have had a motive to sink a boat.”

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He sighed and turned for home. “And we were only saying about making sure William was told if anything happened to her ...” “I know, love, I know.” I put my arm around him and hugged him hard. “At least it wasn’t you had to fish her out, wondering if it was already too late. But it’s awfully hard on him. And his two mates nearly didn’t trust him enough to let him help her, and he knows it’s because of what he’s done.” As we walked up the road to our cottage, Niall asked, “What were you talking to Jock about?” Even now, he didn’t mention Alisdair by name. “Suggesting that they plant drugs on the boat. It’ll cover anything those men say about seeing strange things, and it’ll suggest that they had an accident because they were stoned.” I glanced out to sea myself, looking at the storm clouds building. “But Alisdair said they’re going to bring the storm.” Niall stopped to look, assessing the weather with his fisherman’s feel for whether a boat would be safe. “They should be able to manage it. It won’t need much of a push.” He looked curiously at me. “It doesn’t bother you?” “What other choice is there? Alisdair said they wouldn’t be touched if they behave themselves once they’re out of sight.” Alisdair had said more than that. “Niall ... is he your father?” Niall hesitated. “He told me that he couldn’t have asked for a better son-in-law.” His expression went from wondering what to say to a direct question about another silkie, to shock, to joy. He looked back down the road, towards the harbour. “He said he was pleased I’d found someone, but I wasn’t sure if he was just accepting something he knew he couldn’t change. But if he’d tell an outsider that he was kin ... he really is glad to see you as my husband.”

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I’d just been formally accepted into the whole silkie kinship network, at least as formally as they did such things. Niall and I were married, as far as the silkies were concerned, and Alisdair had gone out of his way to reassure me of that. I sat down on the nearest garden wall for a minute to recover. “They don’t talk about who’s related to who, do they? It’s all part of the not talking about any of it in front of strangers, and they’ve never quite decided whether I still count as a stranger.” Niall sat down next to me and put an arm around my waist. “You’re not a stranger. Not any more. And you know how to keep secrets. But you didn’t grow up never talking about certain things, so it’s easier for you to keep secrets if you don’t know them in the first place.” He smiled at me. “We did notice that you’re always pestering for stories, but you’re careful not to ask about things that could be dangerous if you chanced to repeat them in the wrong place. I think that’s been appreciated.” And I’d just given Alisdair a demonstration that I accepted how the silkies had to live, the measures they had to take to protect themselves in extremis. No wonder he’d chosen that moment to openly acknowledge me as kin. “I’m glad your family like me.” “Well, at least we’ve got some good news to tell Ailsa this morning.” Ailsa had approved of me from the start. She’d be pleased to hear about this. “We’d better get a move on and get to the hospital.”

I made sure to drive past the bed and breakfast on the way out of the village. William was just helping the Englishman to put his suitcase in the van. We stopped to ask William what they were going to do. “I’ve said we’ll go to the hospital first, just to see how she is; then I’ll take him to the station,” William said. “I’ll come back to the hospital after.” “I’d like to see her and say sorry for what happened, if that’s all right,” the man said to Niall.

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Chapter Five

She was awake, and up to having visitors. We all went in and saw her, and the man stammered through his apologies, and William took him away. William hadn’t said a word the entire time he’d been there, though he’d turned white when he got a good look at Ailsa’s injuries. After a bit, Ailsa wanted to sleep again, so I left Niall sitting with her and went to the waiting room. I found William there, looking at a poster on the notice board. It was a zero tolerance campaign poster, one of the ones about how violence against NHS staff wouldn’t be tolerated. William looked at me, and turned away. Then he turned back and walked closer to me, close enough for a private conversation in this public room. “Look, there’s notices for saying not to hit people, and notices for where to get help if you’ve been hit. But nothing for where to go if you want to learn not to.” I couldn’t say anything for a moment, I was so surprised. William glowered at me. “I know what you’re thinking. Once violent, always violent.” “No. I was thinking that very few have the guts to look at what they’re doing and decide that they want to stop.”

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“I can’t do it on my own.” “William, if it’s just a way to get Ailsa back ...” He shook his head. “I know pretty words won’t mean anything. Even if I could be who she wants me to be -- it’s too late now. But she could have died yesterday, because they wouldn’t trust me.” I still wasn’t sure I believed it. “Why, William?” He looked around to check if anyone could hear us. “Because my mates from the next village came round last night after Kenneth and Brian got in, and they wanted us to go to the pub with them. And when we told them as much of it as we could, they said the same sort of things those bastards said. And I don’t want any more part of them than Michael did of his workmates.” Michael presumably being the one man of the group who’d walked away from the speedboat and the speargun and the wanton cruelty, who’d ignored the jeers and the loss of status in his group because he had his limits. He and William had had all the ride into town to talk together without an audience. William had made sure of that. “It’s going to be hard, William. It’s going to be bloody hard, and you might not succeed,” I warned. “You don’t break the habits of a lifetime just like that. And you’re probably going to have to fight for a place on a counselling course. They’re not that well funded.” “But they do exist?” “They do.” I went over to scan the notice board. He was right; there was nothing offering direct help for what he wanted, but there was something that might still give him a way to at least get started. “Look. There’s a number for the Samaritans. They might know who to contact. I’ll phone them for you, if you like.”

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“No. It’s my problem; I have to sort it out.” He took the card off the notice board and looked around for a public phone. The only one was right on the wall of the waiting room, no cubicle, no privacy. “Can I borrow your mobile?” I handed it to him without a word, along with a pen and a piece of paper, and he went outside. When he came back, he handed me back my phone and pen, then carefully pinned the card back on the board. “Someone else might need it.” “William.” He looked at me. “You’re a brave man to even try. I hope you manage it.” He took himself off to sit in a chair at the other end of the room. We didn’t like each other; we never had, and we probably never would. But there were things that were more important than that, and we both knew it. After a while I went in to check how things were going. Ailsa was awake again. “Will you see William?” I asked. “If he promises to leave when I ask.” I was sure he would, so I went out to fetch him. He nodded when I told him what she’d said, and followed me in. Niall had been sitting in the chair beside the bed, holding Ailsa’s hand, but stood up and moved away as we came in, leaving the chair empty for William. William sat down in the chair, but made no move to touch Ailsa. “I’m sorry, love,” he said simply. “If I hadn’t fucked things up, I might have been able to get you safe to shore quicker. I had to fight with them to let me take you.” “Aye, William, and you’re always fighting.” “I’m going to try to stop.” “Trying’s not good enough, William.”

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“I know,” he said. “But I know that even if I try, I might not be able to, and I’m not going to make a promise I don’t know I can keep. But I’m going to get help. Maybe I’ve a better chance at it if I go on one of these anger management courses.” She stared at him in astonishment. “You’ve always said they were for nancies.” “And I was wrong.” He nodded at me. “Yon nancy over there was willing to take on a bigger man than himself. Only he was willing to use his head as well as his fists, so he did a better job of it than I did. He’s a vicious little bastard when he’s got reason to be.” Ailsa grinned, then winced. “Taken you this long to notice?” “I’ve lost too much because of my temper, and I thought it was bad losing you because of it, and then I found it wasn’t as bad as nearly losing you altogether,” he said. “And I don’t mean the ... well ...” He hesitated, then went on. “You were my friend. And a better friend than some. And I want that back even more than I want you as my wife, and until I can control my anger and use it, as he does, I’m not someone you can trust. You or Niall or Kenneth or Brian. So I’ll go on the course, and if it helps, and it’s still working more than a few months after, maybe you can think about whether you’re willing to trust me again. All of you. It’s my problem; it shouldn’t be yours.” Niall moved closer and put his hand on William’s shoulder, and William didn’t shy away. “I’m glad you want to try, William.” “I’m sorry, Niall. About ... well, what happened years ago. You scared me, so I lashed out.” “It’ll be all right,” Niall soothed him. “It was years ago. We’re different people now.” I saw Niall look at Ailsa. He was standing behind William; William couldn’t see his expression. He was asking Ailsa’s permission for something. “I’ll come back to the village, William,” she said. “When you’ve done the course, Niall can tell you when I’m visiting. More than that, we’ll have to see.”

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He reached out to lay his hand gently over hers. “Thank you.” Then he stood up. “I’ll go now.” He stood tall as he walked out, as if some burden had fallen away from him. When he’d gone, Niall asked, “Are you sure, Ailsa? Don’t do it because of me.” “You heard him, Niall. He’s taken responsibility for it. Even if he can’t manage to control his temper, it’s his fault, and he’s willing to say so and to accept the consequences.” She smiled rather sadly. “At least he always was willing to take the consequences; he never blamed others for his own behaviour -- when he was sober, at any rate. Now he’s decided he doesn’t like the consequences, doesn’t like them enough that he’s willing to change if he can.” Niall sighed. “Aye. I always hoped he’d take a good look at himself one day and decide he didn’t like what he saw. Pity it had to be this that made him.” They sat in silence for a good long while, and eventually a nurse came and chased us out until the afternoon visiting hours started. I took Niall out for lunch, then back to the hospital, and then back home to the village. Once again we went straight down to the harbour rather than going home first, assuming we’d find people there who’d want news of Ailsa. Our village policeman, Jim Stuart, was there, taking witness statements from the fishermen. It seemed that there’d been complaints about the reckless use of a speedboat, and he’d come down to investigate it. Only, when they’d tried to contact the boat owner by radio to get his side of the story, there was no answer. A storm had blown up out of nowhere in the area the group was thought to have gone to, so the Coast Guard had gone out to look for them and found only an upturned boat. The search was on, and would continue, but there wasn’t much official hope of finding them alive. Not when the complaints had included mention of the large quantity of alcohol seen being taken on board this morning. I felt no pity for them. They had been given a second chance, and a third. I had even warned them in utterly plain language, and they had still gone out to maim and kill for

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pleasure, not caring whether it was an animal or a person in their way, so long as they didn’t get caught. Perhaps some were less guilty than others, going along with it because they were afraid for their jobs, but any of them who’d wanted to could have walked away. They’d even had an example to follow, if they’d chosen. One man amongst them had put conscience before peer pressure in the end. William, of all people, had chosen to follow that example, and it was a harder choice for him than it might have been for them. He had to go on living here, with the people who knew him and what he’d done. So maybe it would all turn out well, and maybe it wouldn’t, and Ailsa and William had both paid a high price for a chance to repair their friendship. But the chance was there, and William had had the courage to seize it. And whatever happened, one good thing had come out of the whole sorry mess that had started all this months before. We told the people who needed to know what had happened at the hospital, and then Niall and I went home, to our home, the home we’d made together on the border between land and sea.

Jules Jones Jules Jones is a materials scientist, whose publishing credentials include such gems as European Union research reports. Thrilling though these might be to at least three readers, Jules believes that variety is the spice of life. Writing erotic sf provides an adequate amount of variety. Recent publications include The Syndicate series (with writing partner Alex Woolgrave), published by Loose Id, and short stories in Fishnet Magazine and the 2005 Ultimate Gay Erotica anthology. Jules can be found on the Web at www.julesjones.com.

***** Read on for a tantalizing glimpse of

Forgotten Song by Ally Blue Available Now from Loose Id

Forgotten Song He didn't try to stop me when I knelt down again and pressed the cloth gently to the raw wound. He kept perfectly still and silent while I washed the dirt and blood off. After I'd rinsed out the washcloth twice, the wound finally looked clean. It was still pulsing blood though, so I fished around in my bathroom cabinet until I found some gauze pads and medical tape, and put a bandage on it. Eric reached up and touched the gauze gingerly. “That's gonna be ugly tomorrow.” “It's already ugly.” He laughed. “Yeah, I guess it probably is.” I grinned at him, then went back into the bathroom, grabbed a clean cloth and towel, filled a plastic basin with warm water, and brought the whole business back into the bedroom. Eric gazed at me with apprehension in his eyes as I set the bucket on the floor and spread out the towel. “What are you doing now?” I glanced up at him and had a feeling he wasn't going to like this much. “I'm gonna wash your feet.” “What?” He sat up, went deathly pale and had to lean forward to keep from passing out again. “Why?” I sighed. This, I thought, is getting old. “They're filthy. I'm cleaning them before you go to bed, that's all.” He opened his mouth to argue, saw the determined look in my eyes, and closed it again. He nodded silently. “Finally, a little cooperation,” I teased. He glared at me but didn't say anything.

Ally Blue

I reached out to roll up the bottoms of his jeans. He let me, but he obviously wasn't very happy about it. When I guided his feet into the warm water, he let out a sigh of pleasure. “Damn, that does feel good.” He leaned back on his hands and wiggled his toes. “Those are gonna have to soak for a little while. You want something to eat?” He grimaced. “Not right now. Been too long, I think it'd just make me sick.” “How about a soda?” “Oh, man, that would be great, thanks!” I got up and went to get a can of cola out of the fridge. He drank half of it in one gulp. “Fuck, that's the best thing I ever tasted,” he gasped when he finally had to come up for air. He smiled at me and my stomach did flip-flops. Damn, he was hot. “Thanks, Ben. I mean it. I know I can be a pain in the ass, but I really do appreciate your taking care of me like this. I'll find a way to pay you back once I get on my feet again.” I shook my head. “Don't worry about it.” His gaze flicked down my body and I felt a surge of desire go through me. I couldn't keep what I was feeling out of my eyes, so I looked at the floor instead. “Okay, well, uh, I think, I think you've soaked enough, I'm gonna wash ‘em now.” My voice sounded shaky and breathless and I hated it. If he noticed, he didn't let on. Kneeling, I lifted one foot out of the water, picked up the washcloth, and started scrubbing the dirt away. He didn't make a sound, but judging by the tension in his leg, it made him uncomfortable. I tried to think of some way to distract him, and finally decided to just give in to my natural curiosity and see what I could find out about him. “You said you were from Alabama, right?” He nodded. “So how'd you end up in North Carolina?” He shrugged. “I needed to get away. Heard Asheville was the place to go if you're gay.”

Forgotten Song

I glanced up at him. “You're gay?” “Yeah, is that a problem?” His voice was calm, but I could hear the defensiveness. I understood that. Hell, I'd had my back against the wall a few times myself, and I was born and raised here. Asheville's a haven for gays, but sometimes the bastards get to you, even here. “Nope, I'm gay too. And you heard right, this is the place to be.” His face broke into a smile so beautiful that I had to stop myself from jumping up and shoving my tongue down his throat. It was the most relaxed I'd seen him look, and for a second I wondered if his whole problem was simply fear of gay-bashing. Then I remembered the terror in his eyes when Malcolm had grabbed his arm. His near panic at any unwanted contact, and I knew there had to be more to it than that. Someone, somewhere had damaged him badly. I wanted to know who, and how, and why. And I wanted to take the fear out of his eyes for good. “Ben?” His voice was wary again, and I realized I'd stopped washing his foot and was simply sitting there on my knees staring at him hard enough to burn holes in him. I shook myself. “Sorry, just zoned out there for a second. I don't mean to be nosy, but how the hell did you end up barefoot? Your feet are pretty cut up.” They were, too. Small cuts and bruises in various stages of healing covered both feet and ankles, and the soles were ragged. “I had to leave town in kind of a hurry. Didn't have time to do anything but run out the door.” Now I was dying to know what the hell that was all about. But I figured I'd pushed him enough for one night. He wasn't likely to tell me anything else just yet, and if I kept bugging him, he'd never trust me. And I realized with a shock that I wanted him to.

Ally Blue

A few minutes later his feet were clean and glowed pink from the scrubbing. After drying them off with the towel, I stood and stretched. “Okay, all done.” I grinned at him. “You're a good patient.” “And you're a good nurse.” He laughed. “I feel a thousand times better now. Thanks.” “My pleasure.” It was true, even his feet were sexy. Something went through his eyes. A heavy sort of look. My pulse sped up and I could feel myself getting hard. I bit my lip and fought it. Suddenly he let out a huge yawn and the moment passed. “You must be beat. Go on and get some sleep. You can take the bed; I'll sleep on the floor.” He looked horrified. “I can't do that.” “Yeah, you can.” I grabbed a pillow off the bed and a blanket off the shelf. “And you will. Get out of those dirty clothes, too; you can borrow something of mine if you want.” “Naw, it's okay.” He pulled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor, then stood on shaky legs and slid out of his jeans. I stared like an idiot. His body was lean and slender and drop dead gorgeous in nothing but a pair of black boxer-briefs. By the time my lust-addled brain noticed the scars, he'd slipped under the covers and his eyes were drifting closed. “Thanks, Ben,” he murmured drowsily. “'Night.” “'Night.” I turned off the light, stripped off my clothes and pulled on a pair of cutoff sweatpants. By the time I finished brushing my teeth, Eric was fast asleep. I walked over and stood looking down at him. Light from the street lamps outside bathed his face in a soft white glow. His full lips were parted just a little and his long lashes cast feathery shadows on his cheeks. He had a quiet, otherworldly sort of beauty, the sort that gets under your skin before you notice what's happening. My insides did a funny little

Forgotten Song

twist. I'd only known him for an hour or so, but I already wanted to hold him in my arms and protect him from the world. I traced a finger down his cheek. His skin was smooth and silky, softer than anything I'd ever felt. His mouth looked so sweet and ripe. The urge to bend down and kiss those lips was nearly irresistible.

***** What people are saying about

Forgotten Song The plotline is very intriguing and kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. Ms. Blue has written a wonderful story of a same sex relationship that I know I will reread repeatedly. Forgotten Song is a keeper! -- Susan White, Coffee Time Romance This story was far from all about sex, this story touches the heart and soul of the reader. I came to care for these two men for all they went through and conquered together. I place Ally Blue on my list of authors to watch for in the future. -- Tracey, Road to Romance This book is about love, redemption and learning to let go…[V]ery powerful and a tearjerker of a story. This is my first male-male love story and definitely won't be my last. -- Anita, Enchanted in Romance