Selkies and swan maidens… Everyone knows the European tales of these innocent changelings, captured by greedy humans. Now meet them Down Under.
Platypuses like Orkney: playful creatures, gentle water animals not known for their aggression. For a collector like Lia? The perfect target.
But once collected, platykies can’t remember their old identities. Orkney has a lingering sense of wrongness, of loss… and he can’t place it.
Let’s hope he can figure it out before Lia collects him for good.
If you believe in the power of love, don’t miss With This Ring.
With This Ring
Orkney slipped into the cool water with barely a splash. The evening afterglow had faded from the horizon, and the river was quiet and still. He shivered in anticipation. Perhaps tonight Faroe would accept him.
A rustle from the riverbank drew his attention upwards. He found himself staring into a pair of stunning blue eyes, the kind one could drown in…
Orkney shifted in the pre-dawn light and stretched into wakefulness. He blinked, disoriented by the room he found himself in. What was this place, with its smooth, even walls and the ceiling so high above his head? What was this softness he lay on, covered by layers and layers of warmth?
The room brightened and the first morning sunbeam shot over the horizon, straight through the clear pane in the wall and into his face. Orkney flinched, shying away from the heat on his fur.
His heart leapt. Not fur. Skin.
He glanced down and his eyes widened. How had he gotten into his human form? He didn’t remember Changing.
Orkney concentrated, taking deep, even breaths. He remembered waking yesterday evening—at least he hoped it was yesterday. He’d stretched, scratched, crawled out of his burrow, and slipped into the stream. He’d meant to swim over to Faroe’s, maybe ask what she was doing for a few hours. After all, it was June. She’d choose a mate any day now.
He remembered a noise, something distracting him. He’d looked up, right into a pair of beautiful, blue, human eyes.
Human.
The word tickled his consciousness, and he rolled over. Human.
He inhaled. Facing him, lashes curling on her sleep-softened cheeks, dark hair splaying on the pillow in waves and soft, tangled curls, lay the most exquisite woman.
The sun rose further and golden rays fell across her face, burnishing her skin and revealing copper highlights in her hair.
Who was this beauty?
She opened her eyes.
Orkney gasped, shocked by their intense blueness. The dream of burrows and fur fells away, and he remembered who she was.
A dimple sprang to life in Lia’s cheek. “Morning, sexy.”
He grinned. “Morning, gorgeous.” He reached out and drew her into his arms. The warmth reminded him of something—a burrow, perhaps?—but Lia pressed up against him and he could feel every curve and hollow, and nothing else mattered for the next few minutes.
By the time they’d finished he had decided that he must have dreamed of water and fur, and as they broke apart he sighed. “Lia?”
“Mm?” She lay with her eyes closed again, breasts rising and falling with her breaths.
“I love you.”
Her lashes parted. For a moment she stared up at him, then her lips curved into a soft smile. “I love you, too.”