Niall’s voice was a growl, a bear-like warning from deep in his throat as he pulled her out of el Teniente’s path. Stupidly, the lieutenant leaned forward as if to rush at Niall, who simply grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and the back of his pantaloons, lifting him overhead. ‘Let’s see how well ye can swim ye bastard,’ and, that said, tossed him over the rail into the sea.
The air rushed out of her lungs, to be filled once more with a sense of relief.
Celestina hurried to Niall’s side and saw her nemesis flailing in the water, attempting to swim fully clothed. Watching his efforts made her grateful she had thought to strip off her clothes before diving into the sea. Niall, obviously in a philosophical mood said, ‘As ye sow, so shall ye reap.’
‘Do ye think he will drown?’ she asked, without a flicker on conscience.
Niall smiled and put his arm around her shoulder. ‘I would say his fate is now in the hands of the gods, bonnie lass.’
It was hard to believe her eyes as el Teniente’s arms stopped flailing in the water, captured by four pair of hands and arms that came up from beneath the softly rolling waves, slowly pulling and tugging at the kicking and yelling el Teniente, pulling him under the water with them till they all disappeared from sight, just as the others came up and joined them from the lower deck.
‘What happened?’ Luis asked.
Like her own, Niall’s face gave nae hint of what they had witnessed. ‘The lieutenant fell over the rail and he couldn’t swim. Nae need to worry over him, Luis,’ she said. ‘It was his turn to drown.’
Niall’s men simply nodded and walked away. Hardly a surprise to men who made their living as warriors in a land that was not their own, and as the others left the stern, Niall and Celestina looked at each other and chuckled. ‘Selkies,’ they said in unison. Then he added, ‘Aye, but let’s not tell, Aileen.’ Without a care to who was watching Niall pulled her into his arms, pressed her breasts hard up against his chest as if claiming ownership. The kiss he gave her, covering her mouth with the heat of his, pulled the love from her heart into his, a celebration of all they felt for each other.
As if floating on air, Celestina accompanied him back to the captain’s cabin where Jamie was just coming around. ‘Up on deck with ye and get some fresh air. If ye feel well enough, ye can go back along the path and see if old Tam is on his way with the cart. By what we found in the hold, it will take a few trips and a few more men to empty the lot out.’
Alone again, she stood on tiptoe to kiss him, brief but intense and full of heat, until she had to force herself to pull back. Then she took his hand and said, ‘Come, I want to give ye my dowry. It’s through here.’
Niall dwarfed her little cabin. She pointed to the crib. ‘This was my bed.’ That news earned her a raised eyebrow. ‘Too wee for ye,’ she told him, breaking into a little bit of Scottish. Then bending down amongst the undergarments in the open drawer, she pulled it out of the opening again and said, ‘Reach in there, Niall. That is my dowry.’
The leather bags, full of doubloons held him in awe. ‘God blind me, Celi, it’s a fortune—almost too much to comprehend.’
‘And there is more: four drawers and the same behind each of them. Will we have enough to ransom Miguel?’
Without hesitation he said, ‘More than enough. He’ll need a share of all this as well.’
Niall had nay notion of the del Vargas family’s worth. ‘Do not worry, Niall. When he returns to Spain, there will be more than enough for him. Our town house, our business—he will have that when he gets home.’
Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed the heart of the open palm. ‘Are ye sure ye dinnae want to go back to Spain—to go home?’
Celestina shook her head in denial, and felt tears well up in her eyes. How could such a wonderful man think he was not good enough for her? ‘This is my home now. Niall McDonall is my man, and I am his bride.
‘Aye, that ye are. I love ye lass, and this is where ye belong for ye are Celestina, my Selkie bride.’
Epilogue
The worst of the strife was over, but Celestina had been thinking for a few days that it was not reasonable to keep Fiona’s secret to herself. That’s why she had asked Niall to meet her in the muniment room, the most private part of the Keep.
Taking Fiona’s hand she said, ‘Today ye have to be a brave lassie and share yer secret with yer Pa. Celi felt Fiona’s little hand tremble and grinned. ‘It will be fine. Yer Pa will not eat ye. He loves ye. The trouble is, I think that yer Pa believes Flora threw herself down the stairs because she hated him.’
Fiona looked up, all round mouth and wide eyes. ‘Really?’
‘Really. Telling yer Pa the secret will stop him feeling guilty.’ And make Celestina feel better for withholding another piece of information that would ease her lover’s mind.
Three days later, they were married, surrounded by friends and love and laughter, with the McDonall chieftain the only one of Niall’s family missing on their special day.
None of her lovely silk dresses had been too damaged by salt water, and Celestina wore one she had retrieved from her cabin—aquamarine to go with the chain Niall had given her. The Laird thought her the bonniest lass in all of Scotland, and his heart almost burst with pride as they stood hand in hand before the priest to make their vows.
As the years went by, Celestina grew more beautiful and Niall much wiser. Their children expanded from three to five, with two handsome lads that their sisters loved to spoil. Aileen continued to tell them tall tales of Selkies and the like, and neither Celestina nor Niall minded, because they both knew the truth.
Selkies did exist, and they had given Niall a gift, a bride from the sea.
Thanks for reading Bride from the Sea. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can visit my webpage http://www.franceshousden.com/, follow me on Twitter HousdenFwriter, or like my Facebook page Frances Housden Author.
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Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.
If you liked this book, here are my other books: The Chieftain’s Curse, Chieftain by Command and Chieftain’s Rebel.
This book was published by Escape Publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great books from my fellow Escape Artists, please turn the page.
BESTSELLING TITLES BY ESCAPE PUBLISHING…
The Chieftain’s Curse
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Nominated for the 2014 RITA Award for Best Historical Romance
Euan McArthur is a chieftain in need of an heir.
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Years ago, chance drew them together, and tangled their lives in ways they could never have imagined. This time their destiny lies in their own hands, but it will take courage and strong hearts to see it through to the end.
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Gavyn needs wealth to meet his king’s demands, and he knows of only one way to get it — with his sword. Leaving his prickly bride behind in the hands of trusted advisors, he makes his way to the battlegrounds of France and the money that can be made there.
Two years married and Kathryn is still a virgin. A resentful virgin, certain that, like her father before her, she is perfectly capable of leading the Comlyn clan. In her usurper husband’s absence, she meets the clan’s needs, advising and ruling as well as any man.
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ISBN: 9781489236166
Title: Bride from the Sea
Copyright © 2017 by Frances Housden
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2000.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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Bride From the Sea Page 19
