Quinn bit her bottom lip shyly as she waited for Ronan to make a move. He took her hand gently and said, “I need to know that you really want this, darling Quinn. I’ll not touch you that way until I hear you ask me to bed you.”

“I’ve already agreed to spread my legs for you, Ronan. But still, you’d have me beg? Fine then. I’m begging. I want—no, I need you to touch me everywhere; I need to feel you inside me. Make me scream your name while you do things to me that a man should only do with his wife. Make me yours for one night and breed me.”

Hot shame washed over her as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“I can’t believe I’m sayin’ this, as I want you more than the air I’m breathin’, but I won’t take you to bed if it brings you to tears. If you come to me, it’s because you want me, not just the babe I can plant in your womb. Goodnight, darlin’ Quinn. Perhaps we can try again tomorrow.”

With that, he turned away and headed for his room. Quinn felt fury rise up inside her.

“Oh, no, you don’t! You don’t get to make me feel things and say things and then walk away from me, leaving me…”

“Leaving you what?”

“Frustrated! There! I said it. I need you to be with me because I crave your touch.”

Ronan smirked. There it was; she was almost there. “Say it, Quinn. Tell me in plain words what you want.”

Her cheeks were no longer wet with tears, but flushed with fury. “I want you to fuck me, Ronan. I want you to fuck me and fill me with your seed. But I also want your hands and lips everywhere!” She clasped her hands over her mouth as if her words had set her own tongue on fire.

“Then lead me to your bed, darlin’ Quinn. Then you can be truthful when you tell your husband that you conceived your son in your marriage bed.”

She thought to protest at first. But it made sense, and it irked her that he was right. Without another word, she grabbed his hand, led him to her room, and stripped her clothing off for him while he drank in the sight of her. She blushed when she noticed his lust, made evident by the bulge in his pants. She wondered why he stayed fully clothed while she trembled in her nakedness.

“Do you mean to breed me with your dungarees on? Surely it will work better without them,” she sniped, her chin in the air, trying hard to conceal her vulnerability.

“If it pleases me, I will,” he shot back more gruffly than intended. “But I’ll be getting naked with you, darlin’ Quinn, as I wish to feel your skin against mine. Show me that you want me—undress me.”

Pushing all thoughts of her pending infidelity out of her mind, she inhaled sharply. She fumbled with the buttons on his shirt as she trembled with what could only be described as a mix of nervousness and anticipation. She slipped the garment off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Then, trying not to fumble, she unzipped his pants and slid them down over his hips, and continued by tugging his boxers down as well.

His beautiful manhood stood tall and majestic. Without a word, she instinctively dropped to her knees, took it into her hands, and guided it to her mouth.

Ronan moaned as he watched his stiff shaft disappear between her lips. He gathered her red locks into a ponytail with his hand and held it aside so he could see her face as she devoured him. She was well-practiced in the art of cock sucking, it appeared, and he knew he’d need to be careful not to waste his seed in her mouth. But fuck, it felt good to have a woman who knew what she was doing to please him this way. Not every woman he’d been with had been so orally inclined.

“Your husband is a lucky man,” Ronan said in a low growl.

She pulled back, letting him spring out of her mouth. “Don’t talk about my husband; don’t mention him again, or this cannot happen between us.”

Respecting her need to put Sean out of her mind so she could allow herself to be touched by another man, he apologized. “Let me take you to bed.”

“I’m not ready yet,” she said, her lips quivering.

“Then let me taste you and make you wet and ready. I’ve a keen hunger for you, darlin’ Quinn; a deep-seated need to drink in your nectar like the sweetest honey.”

She swooned. His voice was lilting and lyrical with romantic words that did their job to mesmerize her, causing her own words to sound like a desperate plea. “Oh, God, yes! Touch me, taste me, fill me!”

“Lie down, Quinn, and let your legs fall open for me. Offer yourself to me, and I will give you what you desire—what you need.”

She did as he commanded, only making her more appealing to him. He joined her on her bed, the bed she shared with her husband, and kissed his way up each leg. Each time that he hovered close to her drenched sex, her hips rose as if trying to will his lips to feast upon her. It was pure erotic torture, and she’d never felt so alive!

When his tongue finally lapped at her needy pussy, she bucked like an animal. Her orgasm was instantaneous and intense.

“Relax, I want to enjoy you for a while before I mate with you. Your scent is intoxicating, and your taste is unlike any other woman I’ve bedded before. I say that not to boast about the others who came before you, but to make you understand how special you are.”

Because she had specifically said not to mention Sean, he didn’t add that it was only his respect for her husband that prevented him from stealing her away and making her his own. But he wasn’t sure that one night would be enough. How odd that he should be the Selkie, but she seemed to hold magical power over him. It was as if the universe had finally offered him his heart’s desire, only to snatch it away from him again. Fuck his bloody conscience!

And yet, a flame that burned this brightly couldn’t be sustained, could it? Best not to wonder or worry about that for now, best to enjoy this woman who finally made him feel he’d met his match while he could.

His mouth brought her pleasure a multitude of times before she was begging him to enter her. The lust in his loins wanted to plunge into her and take her savagely. But his heart said a slow and tender start would bring her more joy. Why did he care about this?

It mattered not why, only that he did care about making this experience with him one that she would remember forever, for all the right reasons. So, he rubbed the head of his manhood along her sopping wet, swollen labia and eased himself in as if he were trying not to break precious crystal.

He watched her eyes as he entered her and was delighted by the way her eyes glazed over with desire. He moved in slow, deliberate moves, marveling at the tightness of her silky walls as they gripped his cock. Her pussy was perfection; she would ruin him for other women, but he found it hard to care about that in this moment. He simply enjoyed the unhurried lovemaking; the generous gift she was giving him tonight—her body and soul.

Her hips rocked under him as she moved in rhythm with his thrusts. It was as if their bodies were made for each other. He ached to tell her that he loved her, but he knew it would break the spell. Instead, as he quickened his pace, he said, “Mine.”

“Yes, Ronan, yours. Completely. God, yes!”

She nearly blurted out Always yours, only yours. But she couldn’t belong to two men, and she’d pledged her troth to Sean in front of the Christian God, the Celtic gods, and man. It was a vow she intended to keep. But she would allow herself to enjoy this one night, telling herself that this would enable her to give Sean a son.

Ronan felt his sac begin to tighten and knew that holding off much longer would be impossible. Though he was usually a man who could last for hours, the friction of her tightness was making that challenging.

Still, he did his best to prolong their mating to ensure her pleasure. It was unique, this feeling of putting another’s gratification before his own. But he discovered that he quite liked it.

“Yes, God, yes! Fuck me, Ronan! Fuck me hard and fast and deep!” Quinn begged as she met him thrust for thrust. “Fill me with your seed! Breed your slutty bitch!”

He felt her quake beneath him in waves of orgasm as his own climax drew near. “Yes, take my cock, my darling slut! Take my seed! Oh, fuckkk!”

He finished with a frenzied pace, pounding into her as if their very lives depended on it, and felt her cum again as he emptied himself deep inside her.

It was all he could do not to collapse on top of her, nor to pull out and roll over. Carefully, he dropped to his elbows and lay his head on her breasts and listened to the rapid beating of her heart. He wished to stay inside her to give his sperm the chance it needed to do its deed. And he was nearly moved to tears when she very tenderly wrapped her arms around his head and whispered, “Thank you.”

Moments later, she allowed him to hold her as she rested her head against his chest and snuggled close to him. They said nothing; they simply enjoyed the intimate closeness as their post-coital euphoria made them feel dreamy and drowsy.

“I should leave you before we fall asleep here,” Ronan said quietly. “On the outside chance your… Well, I wouldn’t want to be discovered in your bed, tis all.”

Quinn nodded sadly. She hadn’t intended to feel more than lust for this seductive Selkie. He was supposed to be a means to an end, nothing more. But what they had just done was so much more than copulating. They had given themselves to each other more selflessly than she’d imagined.

“I wish I could tell you to stay. I wish…”

“Shh. You’re a good lass, darlin’ Quinn. And truth be told, I’ve never been with anyone quite like you. But we both knew this was meant to be a bargain.”

She nodded.

Taking her chin in his hand, he tipped her face up toward his and kissed her softly. “I know you think you benefited more than I in this accord, but you’d be wrong. 'Tis I that never expected to feel what mating could be like when there is love involved. And though you cannot say the words, I know you felt it too. And that was a gift I thought I’d never receive. So, thank you. I’ll bid you goodnight. Sleep well, my lovely Quinn. You lie still and let my seed take hold. You’ll have your babe, and it would please me greatly if you’d call him Aengus.”

“The Celtic god of love?”

“Aye, he was conceived in love, was he not?”

“Aye, and it’s a good, strong name. You have my word.”

With that, he left her and returned to the guest chamber. Slipping some boxers and a T-shirt on before he climbed into his own bed, which seemed cold compared to the luscious, warm bed he had just left, he decided that he would labor hard the next day to finish the greenhouse and then be on his way. He couldn’t stay here and not touch her.

The next day, Quinn woke to the sound of hammering. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she looked at the clock. Jay-sus! It was 6:00 am, and Ronan was already out there working. She tried putting a pillow over her head to drown out the sound, but to no avail. So, reluctantly, she got up, showered, and got dressed and ready for the day.

She needed to go to the market anyway, so getting an earlier start than planned wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Still, after last night, she imagined she might get up at a reasonable hour and make breakfast for her Selkie lover. She admitted to being disappointed that they couldn’t enjoy that time together over tea. But, she supposed Ronan wanted to get a jump on the weather.

Grabbing her wallet and her basket, she slipped on her shoes and headed out the door. She walked over to where Ronan stood, taking a break to drink some water.

“I’m headed to town to the market. Is there anything you need?”

“No, thank you,” he replied, being intentionally cool.

She frowned, hurt by his change of demeanor from last night. He might as well be a stranger with how little heed he paid to her, rather than the man she shared a most intimate night with.

She looked at the greenhouse and noticed it was nearly finished. He must have been up working for hours! Then a panicky feeling hung heavy in her belly.

“Will you be here when I return?” she asked.

She was more clever than he’d given her credit for. He should lie and say yes. But his need to kiss her one last time overrode his sensibility.

“No, I’ll finish up here and be gone.”

“What if one night wasn’t enough?” she asked, almost pleading.

“It wasn’t,” he said honestly. “Not for you, nor for me. But for your son, it was more than enough.”

She nodded. “I see. And, do you travel about the countryside planting babes in wombs?”

“And if I did?”

“It’s none of my business,” she said, visibly hurt.

Fuck, he thought, running a hand through his hair. He didn’t need to be unkind. He moved to her, took her hands in his, and said, “No, I don’t. I’ve never been asked to grant this wish before. And I’ll never do so again. I thought that I could bed you, give you what you wanted, and be done. I was a fool. I love you, darlin’ Quinn. And though I know you can’t say it, I know you love me back. That’s why I know you’ll be a good mother to our son. To Sean’s son.”

He leaned down and kissed her tenderly and felt her melt into him. Allowing himself the guilty pleasure of holding her once more, he kissed her again—this time with passion and fury.

Her cheeks were flushed with lust and shame. “I don’t want you to go,” she whispered as tears streamed down her face.”

“It’s better this way. Eventually, the sea would beckon to me, and I’d be unable to resist its call. I’m a Selkie, Quinn. I need the water.”

“Still…”

“When Sean returns, you’ll feel differently. You have a bond with him, one that is fine and rare. He’s a good man. If I can’t have you, I can console myself with the fact that you’ll always be loved and cherished by that good man.”

She nodded. “You’re right. But I didn’t expect…”

“You didn’t expect to fall in love with a Selkie.”

“Must be your charms.”

He shook his head. “The initial seduction was my charms, but the rest? Last night? That was all real. Though it felt magical, I can assure you that no magic was used. Your feelings, and my feelings, were all very genuine.”

Quinn rested her head against him and held him tight. He kissed the top of her head and said softly, “Go now, and be safe.”

“What if I need to reach you?” she asked.

“You know what to do. Go to the water and shed seven tears.”

Sure enough, though she didn’t dawdle in the least, when she came back from town, Ronan was gone. The greenhouse that stood sturdy behind the house would be a lasting reminder of her time with him. As would the babe that grew inside her.

Several days later, Sean returned and was given a warm welcome by his wife.

“Let me wash the dirt and sweat of my travels off me, then I’ll let you treat me to a proper hello,” he mused.

They made love all afternoon and into the evening, and Quinn knew Ronan had been right to go. Sean was her love and her life. And the sea would always be Ronan’s true home.

Nearly two months had passed when Sean watched Quinn undressing one night. Her abdomen had the slightest hint of a swell. He felt misty-eyed when he asked, “Darling, are you…are we expecting?”

She smiled at him and threw her arms around him in joy. “Aye, we’re going to have a son!”

“How do you know it’s a boy?” he asked curiously.

“I just have a feeling. It’s what I’ve been praying to all the gods for. And since he was conceived in love, in our marriage bed, I’d like to call him Aengus after the god of love.”

“It’s a fine name. And if it’s a girl, we’ll call her Aine.”

Quinn smiled sweetly and said, “Of course.” But she knew. Even if Ronan had not specifically told her it was a boy, she knew.

When the babe was born, Quinn held him in her arms and wept with joy. But when it became apparent that there was slight webbing between his toes, she panicked. Ronan had not warned her about this! Surely Sean would know!

When Sean noticed that her tears had turned from joy to sorrow, he sat next to her and took his son from her. Holding him in his arms, he looked first at Aengus, then at Quinn.

Quinn felt shame wash over her, but was surprised when Sean examined the baby’s hands and feet.

“Ahh, we lucked out. The webbing is only between his toes, but there’s none to be found between his fingers. No one will be the wiser.”

When she looked at him quizzically, he smiled reassuringly. “My love, I heard you cry those seven tears and knew that a Selkie would come. When I saw him at our house that day, I knew he’d be able to grant your wish.”

“You knew?” she asked, dumbfounded.

“Aye, I knew. And though I can’t say I was keen on letting him bed my wife, seeing the babe grow in your belly and the joy it has brought to our lives, it was all worth it.”

“You knew?” she repeated, unsure whether to be angry or relieved.

“Don’t be mad, Quinn. Look at our son; isn’t he beautiful? I couldn’t give you a child in the conventional way, but I could allow it to happen by setting my pride aside. You seemed happy when I returned home, so I figured it couldn’t have been too much of a hardship to allow Ronan to plant his seed. I had hoped lying with him would be worth the price. If I’m mistaken, I’m sorry.”

The sincerity in his voice and eyes told Quinn that being angry at him was a waste of time. This man loved her beyond all reason. He’d sacrificed his pride for her. The least she could do was be gracious about it.

“You’re not mistaken; it was worth it. I love you, Sean, and I worried that I’d broken my vow to give you a son. It’s just a little unsettling to know that you arranged for it.”

“Not precisely arranged for it. He came to answer your call, and I wasn't having it. Then he convinced me that a wise man with a strong marriage would be foolish not to allow him to grant your wish, since it was my wish, too.”

Quinn began to weep again.

“Happy tears?” he asked

She nodded and scooted over to make room for Sean on the bed.

Together, they held their son and felt their bond of love grow stronger. Neither one of them realized that they were thinking the same thing. Perhaps, in time, she could beckon Ronan back to give them a daughter.