Page 12 of Selkie AU: Beyond the Storm

He passed me again, squeezing against the entrance to the room as much as possible so he wouldn’t have to touch me. He wouldn’t even look at me.

“Rowan.” I stomped my foot when he still wouldn’t pay attention to me.

He marched over to a storage area full of folded blankets, pulling one out and tossing it over my head. “Dry yourself off or you’ll catch a cold.”

Catch a cold? What did that even mean?

I frowned as I pulled the blanket off. This one wasn’t nearly as soft as the last one he’d given me.

“I’m going out,” he declared.

“Out where? I’ll come.”

“No,” he answered, a touch too quickly. “You need to stay here. No one else can see you. It’s very important that they don’t see you. Okay?”

I frowned, not liking that but not able to argue it. While my goddess had been fine with me connecting with this particular human, that didn’t mean all were safe. “Why do you have to go?”

“I have… human stuff to do.”

“Like what?”

“Just stuff, Milo. I’ll be back soon.” He walked into the shower room and the sound of the running water stopped. He still couldn’t look at me when he returned. “When I get back… we can be careful getting you back to my boat, then I’ll take you home, or wherever else you want to go.”

“Go?” I frowned, my chest aching suddenly. “But I just got here.”

His mouth opened and closed, as if he were trying to speak but couldn’t find the words. “Just… stay here. I won’t be long.” He grabbed another fabric thing from a shelf and pulled it over his head.

Then he left with no further explanation.

What the fuck?

I pouted, even though he wasn’t here to see it, and stomped my foot again in annoyance. When we were mates, he would definitely need to find a way to take me with him when he went to do his “human stuff.”

As I dropped the scratchy blanket to the floor and made my way over to the fire to dry off from the shower, I wondered who the goddess would choose to be the next leader after my grandmother, now that I was going to be staying here.

7

Rowan

It was too much, too fast. I’d gone days, sometimes weeks, without speaking to anyone at all, not to mention having someone in my personal space or eventouchingme. Milo had blown into my life just like the storm I’d found him in, and I was close to drowning.

“You want to mate with me.” His voice replayed in my mind and I could have shouted in frustration, confusion, excitement. I wasn’t even sure anymore. Too much. Fuck, I’d almost just gone along with it.

That would have been wrong. Right?

There was no way I could let myself do anything likethatwithhim. We weren’t even the same goddamn species. He was so… sweet. So naïve and trusting. I’d brought him home with me because he was injured, because there’d been no other option at the time. But he was awake now, and he was clearly fine. I couldn’t let him stay here, and I couldn’t let myself take advantage of his nature. No matter what my dick had to say about it.

It was just a moment of weakness, I told myself. I hadn’t been expecting it, and that was on me. But now I knew to keep my guard up around him.

It wouldn’t matter for long anyway. I was taking him back tonight. Then all would be how it should be. I’d be alone, and he’d be back with his friends and family, where he belonged. With the selkies. Not with a depressed, boring, human fisherman like me.

I’d lied to him.

I didn’t have anything to do or any place to go. Though I didn’t feel right leaving him alone either. He might have needed me, or more likely, gotten himself into some form of trouble. That’s why I was currently hiding away in the shed next to my small yellow house. So I could get to him quickly if I needed to.

For now, I just needed to breathe. To collect my thoughts, and to brace myself for the amount of energy I needed to deal with him without getting blown over by the hurricane he was.

Cleaning up the shed had been a project on my list I’d been avoiding for years, but it became very urgent that I do it today. I couldn’t possibly go back inside until I was done.