The Siren and the Deep Blue Sea - Kerrelyn Sparks Page 0,31

attend the moonrise mass or midnight mass, since they all knew she had to shift into a seal on the night of the full moons. So none of them would think twice about her spending the entire night at the nearby beach.

Her heart raced as she carried the bundled blanket and basket of food to the secluded beach. Even though she’d frolicked with Brody before in the ocean and the Ebe River, she’d always been in seal form, and he had always been a seal or river otter. Naturally, there had been no talking. They’d simply taken turns chasing each other or catching fish. He didn’t even realize that she knew it was he.

But tonight would be different. Tonight, she would confront him as a human. And for the first time ever, she would be alone with the human Brody.

Chapter 6

The sun had set and the full moons were rising over the horizon by the time Brody winged his way to the Isle of Moon. He always arrived late whenever he came to play with Maeve, so she could have privacy while she shifted into a seal.

Of course, as far as she knew, he was just another seal or an otter, so she wouldn’t think twice about disrobing and shifting in front of him. But damn, he’d spent too much of his life as an animal. He couldn’t trust himself to turn away during those few seconds when she was naked. Not when he knew she would be beautiful. Not when he longed to touch her. Hold her. Kiss—

Stop! He put a screeching halt to those thoughts. She could never be his, not as long as he was cursed.

So tonight, he had to remain aloof. No matter what she said or did, he had to remember that his sole purpose for this visit was to convince her to go back to Ebton. And that meant he would have to talk to her. As a human.

Shit. She was going to know his secret now, that he had been the one coming to see her every month. And then she might rightly assume that he had feelings for her.

He would have to convince her otherwise. Hell, he might even have to be rude. He had to do whatever it took to make her leave. Even if he ended up hurting her feelings. Dammit.

He flew over the Isle of Moon, then began his descent toward the southern coast. The weathered stone buildings of the convent came into view. Beyond it, sharp cliffs gave way to a dark ocean dappled with silver sparkles from the rising twin moons. Just west of the convent lay Seal Cove and the secluded beach where Maeve had shifted for the first time at the age of sixteen.

It had been painful for her, that first time. In seal form, he had waited behind a rocky outcropping, out of sight but not out of hearing. Her cries had nearly broken his heart. Even her sisters, who had accompanied her, had started crying. Her seal friends, gathered on a flat rock in the small bay, had barked their encouragement to her.

Finally, the noise had faded away, and Brody had peeked around the rocks. Gwennore and Sorcha were alone on the beach, watching the ocean. With a splash, the seals dove into the water. Were they greeting Maeve? Had she completed her shift?

He had swum toward them, wending his way through the crowd of seals until he saw her, beautiful, black, and sleek. He’d known instantly it was Maeve. He had circled around her, and she’d joined in, gliding closer and closer to him until their slick skins had brushed against each other.

And with that one touch, he had known that his heart was lost. There could be no woman for him other than Maeve. But there could be no happy ending, either. Not with this curse. So he had resigned himself to the fate of enduring a lifelong unrequited love for her. At the same time, he couldn’t allow her to fall for him and suffer the same fate. So he had settled for seeing her once a month in disguise. That way, she would never know it was he. Never know how he truly felt.

The noise of barking seals jerked him back to the present, and as he flew over Seal Cove, he spotted her, already in seal form, lounging on the flat rock with her friends. It looked like a happy reunion, with all the seals trying to talk