no memory of anything except crawling into Niall’s arms and pillowing her head on his broad, muscular chest. She felt so warm, and so safe, and so completely, utterly happy here. No worries, no cares… just a bed full of gorgeous man and nowhere to be. No job, she thought with a blissful smile, no work, no worries…
Aside from the Kelpies, she thought with a pang of reality creeping back into her pleasant daydream. And the villagers who didn’t believe in the Kelpies and thought that the Monster was responsible for their losses. And the losses, of course, and…
She sighed, sitting up in bed as the real world crept back into her pleasant little bubble. Niall uttered a groan of protest, reaching out blindly to grab her arm and pull her back down to him… she couldn’t help but giggle as she acquiesced, falling into his grasp happily and delighting in the warmth of his strong arms around her.
“You’re a delight to wake up to, Helen Washington,” he purred into her ear.
She grinned as she turned to kiss him, losing herself again in the scent of him, the feeling of his body against hers, the way even half-asleep still she was beginning to stir, to want him again… she was just wondering whether they’d have time for another round when the distant sound of shouting reached her. That was odd — that sounded for all the world like the fishermen. It was barely dawn — what would they have to shout about? And was that splashing? Was a boat damaged, perhaps? She remembered hearing similar shouts of alarm when two small crafts had almost collided with one another…
Niall could hear it too — she could see him frowning as he tried to make out what the fishermen were saying. Giving her a lingering look of great regret, he pulled himself out of the bed and started dressing. Grinning, she lay on the covers, still as naked as the day she was born and feeling an unusual but not unwelcome feeling in her body. What was this? It was the feeling of being… beautiful. Of being sexy, of being desired… and it got stronger as Niall turned to look at her, uttering a tragic little groan of misery as she rolled languorously onto her back, allowing him to see her in all her glory.
“Well, that’s just not fair,” he said in a low voice, clearly warring with himself as he laced up his tunic and searched for his boots. “Looking like that, when I have to leave…”
“Must be a hard life,” she said softly… but she got to her feet too and began to dress as he laced his boots up. The shouting hadn’t stopped, and neither had the splashing, and as eager as both of them clearly were to prolong their time together, it was obvious that they had to find out what was going on.
“We’ll be doing more of this, I hope,” she said archly as he headed for the door.
He stopped, turned on his heel, and strode directly back to her, swooping down to press a passionate kiss to her lips that left her tingling and gasping for breath.
“We will be doing a truly ridiculous amount of this, if I have my way,” he told her in a low, intense voice that made her melt. Then, with that roguish smile she’d fallen for so hard, so long ago, he turned and strode through the house. Eamon was still asleep, she realized, listening at his door for a moment to see if the little boy was stirring. That meant she could go and check on whatever was going on out there with Niall, and the fishermen. Thank God she’d been wearing her easy-to-dress-in clothes, she thought with amusement as she trotted through the house. Nothing felt real — she felt lighter than air after the passionate night they’d spent together, ready to take on the world. What could possibly go wrong in her life now that she had Niall by her side — now that she knew how he felt about her, and he knew how she felt about him?
But reality was determined to come crashing in to spoil their fun, it seemed. And when she reached the docks, a heavy, sinking feeling of dread began to displace the clouds she was walking on until she was flat on the earth again, full of worry at what she was seeing out here.
Ten men, holding spears — she realized with