The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance

by Trisha Telep

  That’s when she’d been sent to the convent school, and the endless chores and lectures about hard work had started. She could hear her mother’s favourite advice: Forget your grandmother’s fanciful ideas. Work hard and you’ll get your reward in heaven.

  “You must have had an inkling that there was something here for you, or you wouldn’t have come,” Esras whispered.

  “I came to find out about the pearl.” Had she also hoped to recapture the sense of magic from Grandma’s stories?

  Esras’ fingers stroked circles on her back, managing to both soothe and stimulate in equal measure. “Do you trust me, Kate?”

  Her head said no because her mother would disapprove of Esras and everything he stood for. But even as the word “no” formed in her mind, from a level deeper than mind where instinct ruled the word “yes” rose to her lips.

  He withdrew slightly and cupped her face in his hands, staring down into her eyes. “If you trust me, really trust me, to keep you safe, I’ll give you unquestionable proof of who you are.” He leaned down and brushed his lips lightly across hers.

  A shock passed through her out of all proportion to the chaste kiss. The tight, hot ball of yearning in her stomach expanded, making it hard to breathe. She’d had boyfriends before, but she’d never felt this immediate, overwhelming need to touch and be touched.

  “Kate,” he prompted. “Do you want proof of who you are?” She sucked in a breath, held it a moment before she had the control to speak. “Yes,” she whispered. “Show me.”

  Six

  Esras took Kate down the spiral stairs to the sea cave beneath Knock House again. She didn’t ask him how he intended to prove that she belonged to a race of sea fairies. Just asking such a question validated the crazy idea.

  In the cave, Kate inhaled the salty sea air and paused to enjoy the rhythmic swish as the water hissed through the opening that led out to the vastness of the Celtic Sea.

  She glanced around but saw nothing other than the undulating water and the rocky shelves and nooks in the cave wall that she’d seen the first time they came down. “Where is this evidence?”

  “Patience, my love,” he said with a smile. “We need to get in the water.”

  “What? Swim?” Kate stared into the shadowy green depths. As a child, she’d adored swimming in the sea. After years of living in London, she’d almost forgotten the pleasure of sand beneath her toes and the power of the sea moving around her body.

  Kate looked down at the silky blue dress, which was the most impractical garment she’d ever worn and certainly unsuitable to swim in. “I haven’t got a bathing suit.”

  “You don’t need one. Just take off your dress.”

  Kate’s eyebrows shot up. He must have noticed she wasn’t wearing a bra. “If you think I’m skinny-dipping with you, you’ve got another think coming.”

  His eyes slid down her body, lingering on her barely covered breasts; he gave a wry grin. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

  After shedding his grey jacket, he unbuttoned his silky shirt before pulling it off, leaving himself bare-chested. He held out the shirt. “Put this on. It’s not ideal to wear for swimming, but it’s better than a long dress.”

  He turned his back. Kate quickly slipped out of her dress and draped it over a rock, before donning the shirt. At least she was wearing panties that could pass for bikini bottoms.

  Esras turned back and scanned her from head to foot appreciatively. Then he flicked open the button on his trousers and began to undress himself. A burst of shocking hot need arrowed through Kate. She should turn around while he undressed, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him as he slid the grey trousers down his thighs and stepped out of them. His underwear was plain white cotton. She stared for so long that by the time she managed to tear her gaze away her cheeks were flaming.

  Crouching, he scooped water over his head. Her eyes tracked the drips that trickled from his hair to his chest and snaked down his golden skin over the ridges and dips of his muscular torso to soak into his underwear.

  When she looked back at his face, his eyes sparkled and his lips curved in a wicked smile.

  “You tease,” she accused.

  He gave her a satisfied male grin and held out his hand.

  She hesitated. “We can’t be long. The director will go ballistic if we don’t go back soon.”

  Esras shrugged. “There’s plenty going on at the feast for him to film.” He held out his fingers. “Hold on to my hand until I tell you it’s safe to let go.”

  “But if we’re only going swimming . . .”

  Esras’ smile dropped away. The serious intensity she’d seen in his eyes earlier returned. “Trust me, my love. Hold my hand.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “All I can promise you is that you’ll enjoy it.” Clasping her hand firmly, he stepped into the water. Kate followed, the first shock of cold quickly passing as she went deeper.

  They swam towards the cave opening, Esras pulling her while she swam one-handed. Sunlight glinted off the ripples as they emerged from the shadows. The Celtic Sea spread out in front of them for as far as they could see.

  He pulled her closer, treading water. “Now, we go down.”

  She looked down through the water at the rays of sunlight painting wavering green-gold streaks across his body. He moved behind her and slid an arm around her waist, holding her loosely against his chest. She filled her lungs and they ducked beneath the surface.

  He angled them down, swimming surprisingly fast out to sea. She scanned the area, expecting to see whatever it was he wanted to show her before they had to return to the surface. Fish slid among fluttering fronds of kelp and seaweed, while even down here rays of sun pierced the water with golden warmth.

  Her lungs started to burn and panic quivered in her muscles. Esras was still descending. They were so deep now, she wasn’t sure she could hold her breath long enough to reach the surface again. She should have told him that she was out of practice. She hadn’t been swimming for years. She struggled in his grasp, but his arm only tightened around her waist. She tried to turn, see his face, signal her distress, but he kept going down so fast that the momentum prevented her from escaping his grip.

  When she was certain she couldn’t hold her breath a moment longer his voice slid into her mind. “Relax and stop fighting it, my love. Trust me.”

  The last air leaked from her lungs in a shower of tiny bubbles that raced away to the surface. In that moment, a strange calm came over her. She stopped struggling and closed her eyes. The water skimmed her breasts and legs, Esras’ warm chest pressed tightly to her back, his hard muscles rippling against her as he swam. She became aware of his heart beating, sure and steady.

  Water filled her mouth and nose. She waited . . . not for pain and death, because she knew they wouldn’t come.

  “Breathe.” Esras’ voice whispered into her head, soft as a caress. And she obeyed him.

  Strength and energy flooded into her with the water. Her nerves tingled, blood surged. She heard sounds she hadn’t noticed before, squeaks and clicks and deep rumbles and booms that echoed through the water.

  She tried to turn to smile at him but he held her tight.

  “We’re going to ride a current. Be ready.”

  Ahead the water plunged and churned, dragging at the seaweed and scattering debris like a storm. She tensed as they approached; then they were sucked into it, being tossed and buffeted by the current, moving so fast Kate couldn’t see anything but foaming water.

  Esras wrapped his other arm around her, hugging her tightly to his body. She felt as though she was white-water rafting without the raft.

  “When I tell you to, swim hard,” he said inside her head. “Now.”

  Kate kicked and pulled with her arms for all she was worth. Esras’ muscles flexed against her back as he swam with one arm, holding her with the other. After they broke away from the turmoil, the sudden peace of the still water came as a relief. He loos
ed his arms, releasing her, and let her float beside him. For the first time since they’d dived, she saw him. Her breath caught in her lungs. Everything about him had become more beautiful beneath the water. His hair gleamed with a patina of silver, his skin glowed pale gold and his green eyes shone like starlight through emeralds.

  “You’re gorgeous, Kate,” he said.

  She’d been so entranced with Esras, it hadn’t occurred to her that she might look different. The buttons on the silk shirt she was wearing had come unfastened, but she hardly registered that her breasts were bare. She was mesmerized by the subtle play of colours across her opalescent skin.

  Esras gathered a handful of her long hair and held it in front of her face so she saw the gleaming polished ebony strands. He stroked his fingertips across her cheek, traced her jaw. “I wish you could see your eyes as well. They put sapphires to shame,” he said.

  His fingers trailed down her neck and along her collarbone, drifting lower to the swell of her breasts.

  Kate wanted to tell Esras how luscious he looked, but she didn’t know how to speak underwater. Instead, she reached out and slid her palms over his shoulders and chest, revelling in the solid strength of his muscles.

  His arms closed around her. He drew her closer and kissed her forehead and her cheeks. Then his mouth covered hers. His lips were firm and cool, but his tongue was hot in contrast to the cool seawater as she opened her mouth and he deepened the kiss.

  Too soon, Esras pulled away. “You’re so distracting. You nearly made me forget why I brought you here.”

  Kate raised her eyebrows and pointed at herself. Hadn’t he wanted to prove to her that she was different? He’d certainly done that. Whatever decisions she made about her life when they returned to the air, she would never be the same person again.

  “Try to speak to me. Focus on your pearl as you think what you want to say,” he said.

  She put her fingers on the teardrop pearl against her chest and concentrated. “Hello, sexy.”

  He laughed, a rumble in the water as well as the sound in her head. “Hello, gorgeous. You learn fast.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose, his fingers grazing tantalizingly low across her belly. He stilled, staring into her eyes. A hot needy tension thrummed between them. “I really want to take you back to my bed, but before we leave I must show you your heritage.”

  Seven

  They swam side by side until they reached the edge of a cliff beneath the sea. Esras stopped and released Kate’s hand. “We’re going deeper now, so I need to make some lanterns.” He cupped his hands together as if modelling clay, then spread his palms to release a glowing ball. It floated beside them while he made four more in the same way.

  Esras took her hand, guiding her down vertically. The lanterns floated on ahead to light their way. Instead of the water getting colder as they went deeper, it became warmer. Finally, Esras stopped and pointed down at the valley floor.

  All Kate saw was the seabed below them. She frowned at him.

  “Touch your pearl, Kate.”

  She wrapped her fingers around her pearl and a veil lifted before her eyes. In the valley below, a city of glowing white houses appeared. She pulled her hand from his and swam on. Her heart thudded with excitement. This must be the underwater city from Grandma’s stories.

  Multicoloured mosaic floors gleamed, while bright murals decorated the walls – similar to the decorations inside Knock House.

  But where were the people?

  Kate reached the seabed and floated down between the buildings to street level. From higher up, she’d seen only colours and shapes. Down here, she noticed the buildings were falling down, the mosaic floors fractured. Heaps of sand and shells lay in the corners of empty rooms. Seaweed and sea creatures had moved in, growing between the rocks of the tumbledown walls and the cracks in the tiles.

  It was deserted.

  Her heart contracted painfully and her eyes pricked with tears that were lost in the sea. These had been her people. She knew it as surely as she knew the sun rose every morning and went down at night.

  Esras floated down at her side, an eddy of sand swirling about him.

  “What’s happened to them?” she cried.

  He touched her shoulder and gave a sad smile. “Manannan’s Kingdom was wiped out millennia ago by the Irish Tuatha Dé Danann. This ancient ruin has only survived because it’s still protected by the powerful magic of the sea god. The people of the rainbow are light through water; they spread peace and love. But the Tuatha Dé Danann walk a dark path, imposing their will with the sword.

  “We were no match for them. Most of the survivors were scattered to the four winds and, like you, their descendants have no idea who they are. Only a few of us still live together in our tiny demesne in County Cork.”

  Bereft and confused, Kate turned into Esras’ arms and rested her cheek against his chest. She felt as though she had found her people only to lose them again immediately. She relived the misery she’d felt as a child at being denied the magic of her grandmother’s stories. Why had her mother been so violently opposed to her finding out about her people? They must be her mother’s people as well.

  Esras stroked her hair back from her face. “There’s something I want you to see.”

  He took her into a massive building that resembled a Greek temple, except each of the supporting columns was a sculpture of a man and woman entwined in each other’s arms. “We do not worship a god, we worship couples as the Union of Opposites.”

  He stopped and let her find her feet before taking her in his arms. “The ceremony that joined us at the Feast of Beauty was the ancient Union of Opposites. In the eyes of the Rainbow People we’re now man and wife.”

  Kate tried to remember why she’d been so angry with him over the ceremony but couldn’t. Being with Esras now felt like the most natural thing in the world. “What do you normally do to celebrate the Union of Opposites?” she asked.

  A smile spread over his face, his eyes glittering. “Make love.”

  Anticipation quivered through her. She slipped her arms around his neck, moulding her body to his, wanting to forget her melancholy. “Let’s celebrate.”

  Esras cupped the back of her head, then leaned down and kissed her. The unusual sensation of the salty water mingling with their lips and tongues drove her wild. The overwhelming need to possess and be possessed beat in every cell of her body like an elemental force. The tumultuous sea ran through her veins, urging her to be wild and unrestrained.

  She pushed the silk shirt off her shoulders and it floated away. His hands cupped her breasts, stroking and teasing. She traced the shape of his muscles with her fingers, sliding her hand down the ridges of his abs. He made a needy sound as her fingers slid further.

  Esras pushed off his underwear and soon her panties floated away as well. “We usually make love topside,” he said. “It’s easier. But I can’t wait. Clamp you legs around me.”

  He gripped her thighs and pressed himself against her sensitive flesh, drawing groans from them both. She clung to him with her arms and legs, digging her heels into his buttocks as he thrust inside her. When they were as intimately linked as it was possible for a male and female to be, they stilled in unspoken assent. They floated together just above the soft sand in the temple beneath the towering statues of ancient lovers.

  She had never felt such a sense of peace in the middle of overwhelming desire. Did this mean she was in love?

  His fingers gripped her buttocks, then he started to move inside her, slowly, sensuously. His lips traced her throat and shoulder before teasing her nipples.

  The water held them in its embrace, playing over her skin like silky fingers as the pleasure built inside her. Waves of sensation flowed through her body. They floated to the ground and her back landed on the soft sand. His green eyes burned with the intensity of his need. Kate touched his finely carved lips, felt the hot touch of his tongue on her fingers. Ecstasy burst through her, sweeping her away f
rom reality to a place of pure sensation.

  They clung together as the flutters of pleasure faded, their heart rates steadied, and their bodies settled in sated lethargy. Kate unhooked her legs from around Esras’ hips; she felt relaxed and dreamy. Esras started to drift away from her. He held out a hand for her to lace her fingers with his. He closed his eyes and they glided together, letting the water take them where it would.

  When Kate recovered from her pleasure-soaked haze enough to open her eyes, Esras appeared to be asleep. With his hand still linked to hers, he floated above her. His lean muscular body glowed with a subtle gold light while his hair shimmered in a silver cloud around his head. A tremor passed through her, ending deep in her belly where it gathered in a tense knot. She wanted him again so badly she ached. But mixed in with the need was a hint of caution.

  He was incredibly beautiful and desirable. From what she knew of him, he was also kind and generous and he had a mischievous streak. Was it possible she’d fallen in love with him after only knowing him for twenty-four hours?

  Whatever she felt for him he’d only chosen her to become his queen because of her heritage, not because he loved her. A little chill passed through her. Suddenly she yearned to feel the sun on her skin.

  Esras had proved to her that she was one of Lir’s Rainbow People. She hadn’t decided yet if that meant she had an obligation to them. But she was sure of one thing: it didn’t matter whether she was human, or even Queen of the Rainbow People; she was not going to stay with Esras unless he actually loved her.

  Eight

  So much had changed for Kate while she’d been underwater. She felt as though she’d been away from Knock House for half a lifetime, not mere hours. Yet when they returned, the Feast of Beauty was still in full swing. A bonfire roared in a fire pit and the smell of roasting meat drifted on the air.

  Kate had changed into her jeans and a T-shirt when she and Esras got back. He had gone to speak with his people while Kate stood near the production company’s mobile office, watching the revellers celebrate. Gus the cameraman roved among the crowd, filming interesting people and events to include in the show.