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She whinnied loudly and began to swim back and forth, occasionally jumping out of the water to enjoy the splash of tiny droplets against her smooth scales.
This was her element. Her home.
With a happy swirl of her tail, she extended her magic, letting it soak up the water's energy. She felt as if she hadn't been in water for years. As if she'd been dying of thirst. It was strange, but she didn't care, as long as she was able to stay in the pool. Maybe the guys could bring her waffles. Things tasted different when she was in her kelpie form, but waffles surely had to be good no matter what, right?
A change in the energy around her made her resurface and look around the room. Rónán was standing by the edge of the pool, looking at her with a smile.
"Can I join you?"
Did that mean that he was going to change into a seal? Macey didn't know much about selkies, except that they took off their seal skins when they came onto land. But where was his skin? Or was that all just a legend and he was a regular shifter like her? Selkies were strange.
She whinnied in agreement and he began to take off his clothes. Pointedly, she turned around, not wanting to see his selkie bits. She had her own three men, thank you very much. As sexy as he was... no, she didn't just think that. He wasn't sexy. Well, he was, but not in that way. Weren't three men enough? There was only so much testosterone a kelpie could cope with.
A splash alerted her to his presence in the pool. Curiously, she turned, expecting a seal swimming in the water. But no, he wasn't a seal at all. He was just as human as he'd been moments before, except that he was now naked.
The disadvantage of being the only kelpie here was that nobody could understand her. She tried looking at him questioningly, but her eyes kept wandering beneath the surface, and that was plain rude.
"Why aren't you a seal?" she asked in her kelpie click language, but he just looked at her in confusion.
She whinnied in frustration. Maybe they should have this conversation later on, when she was human again.
"Can I touch you?" he suddenly asked, stunning her. What was he on about? That wasn't really a polite question to ask a lady. She wasn't a horse to be stroked. He'd never ask that if she'd been human...
She flicked her tail and swam away from him, hoping he'd get the message.
"Sorry, that was impolite!" he called. "It's just that it's supposed to be good luck to touch a kelpie, and I think we could all use a bit of good luck at the moment."
She'd never heard that before. If it was true, kelpies themselves had to be the luckiest creatures ever. Definitely just a legend, but obviously, Rónán believed in it. Or he was just using it as an excuse. Either way, Macey was intrigued. Flattered, almost.
Forgoing her pride, she approached him again. When she was in touching distance, she stopped, using her tail and webbed hooves to stay in position. Kelpies may not be the prettiest beings, but they were adapted perfectly to life underwater.
Rónán stretched out a hand and gently touched her muzzle. No human - or selkie - had ever touched her there before. And not in the gently, admiring way Rónán was. When kelpies met, they rubbed their cheeks together, but this was different. His hand was small on her forehead, running over her smooth scales.
"You're beautiful," he muttered. "Thank you."
With one final stroke, he retracted his hand, leaving her bereft of his touch. Maybe she should ask her men to do the same to her the next time she was swimming. She'd never realised how good human touch could feel.
"We should go back, Cam was busy burning the kitchen when I left," Rónán said with a wink. "I'll let you change in peace."
He climbed out of the water, showing Macey his perfectly formed arse. Despite her reservations, she was more and more tempted to add him to her men. One more couldn't hurt, right? Even if he wasn't a Warden.
She shook her head with a whiny, appalled at her own thoughts. She'd only met him yesterday. This was her hormones overreacting for some reason. She wasn't thinking rationally.
Once he'd left the room, Macey shifted back. She wasn't really ready to be human again, but the magic word had made her change her mind. Waffles...
As soon as she left the pool, she wanted to jump back in. The urge was still there, not as strong as before she went for a swim, but still very noticeable. That had never happened before.
She shook off the water dripping from her hair, then put on the bathrobe hanging from a hook on the wall. The house was being very considerate once again.
Three
Thick smoke filled the corridor outside the pool room.
Wait...smoke? That wasn't right, where could it be coming from? Short of Flint accidentally setting fire to himself, there wasn't anything Macey could think of to explain what was going on.
Shouts and exclamations came along with the smoke and she picked up her pace, anxious to check her men were okay. Maybe they were under attack? But no, that couldn't be right. The house wasn't exactly easy to find for anyone. It seemed unlikely they were being attacked here.
Even so, she didn't want to risk it, and almost sprinted down the corridor towards the scene of the commotion.
