He swam to the artificial rock, climbed out of the water, and sat back, reclining. He spread his arms, exposing to best advantage his broad chest, toned abdomen and … “genitalia” was too clinical a word for what he displayed. He was posing for her.
Next to him lay a bundle of gray, rubbery skin.
Robin stood at the bars of his cage, looking through them for an unobstructed view. She didn’t remember moving there. She took a deep, reflexive breath. Her heartbeat wouldn’t slow down.
Marina laughed uncontrollably, both hands over her mouth, tail flapping. Her voice was musical, piercing.
Robin fled the room.
Back in the main lab, she stood with her back against the wall, eyes closed, gasping.
“Let me guess. The selkie—male?” Rick’s tone was politely inquisitive.
The flush in Robin’s face became one of embarrassment. So much for the biologist and her professional demeanor. “Yes. Yes, he is.”
“They have a knack for that.”
“A knack for what?”
“Flustering young women out of their wits. I’m sure you know the stories.”
Since her posting to the center, Robin had had to question all the myths and ancient tales. They might be just stories; then again.… She went to the bookshelves to look up “selkie” in Brigg’s
“How do you do it?” Rick asked, moving to the end of his window.
“Do what?”
“Remain so clinical, when confronted with so many contradictions to your assumptions about the world.”
“I expand my assumptions,” she said.
“What about the magic? Your inability to control your reaction to the selkie. You are so careful, Lieutenant, not to look into my eyes.”
The impulse was, of course, to look at him. The voice hinted at rewards she would find when she did. Mystery. Power. She resisted, taking the book to her desk, passing Rick’s cell on the way. She looked at the collar of his shirt. “Why are you all so damn seductive?”
“It’s in the blood.” He grinned. The allure disappeared. He could turn it on and off like a light switch.
Brad laughed, a sound like a growl.
Robin almost wished for the seal back. It had been much less distracting. For the rest of the night, the skin remained folded on the rock, and the man watched her. She turned her back on him to check off her rounds on the charts, and when she looked again he was right there, pressed against the bars. Sometimes, their faces were only inches apart. Sometimes, she didn’t shy away, and she could feel his warm breath. He never said a word.
She was attracted to the selkie. That was a statement, an observation, something empirical with explanations having to do with the fact that she was a young woman and he was a young man. A very handsome young man. Hormones were identifiable. Controllable.
So why couldn’t she seem to control the way her body flushed every time she entered the aquatics lab? Rick had mentioned magic. But the center was here precisely because magic didn’t exist, only biology that had not yet been explained.
Biology. She needed a cold shower.
Wednesday night.
She turned around after setting down Marina’s supper and tripped on the catwalk. No, she didn’t trip—Marina had reached through the bars, grabbed her ankle, and tipped her over. The mermaid was stronger than she looked. Robin sprawled across the catwalk between the tanks, too surprised to move, lying with the meat of her palms digging into the steel treads.
The selkie was by the bars, right beside her, reaching through. He touched her hand. Even though his hand was damp and cool, Robin thought her skin would catch fire. He took her hand, brought it through the bars, and kissed it, touching each knuckle with his lips.
When she didn’t pull away, he grew bold, turning her hand, kissing the inside of her wrist, tracing her thumb with his tongue, sucking on the tip of a finger. She hadn’t imagined she could feel like this, all her nerves focused on what he was doing to her. She closed her eyes. Nothing existed in the world but her hand and his mouth.
She was on duty. This was not allowed. She should stand up and leave. Write a report about the cooperative behavior of the selkie and the mermaid. Marina was laughing, quietly now, from behind her rock.
Gradually, Robin slid forward so that her face was at the bars. She shouldn’t be doing this. The security cameras recorded everything. The selkie kissed her. His lips moved slowly, carefully tasting every part of her mouth, letting her taste him. His hands cupped her face. If it hadn’t been for the bars, she would have let him pull her into the water.
He drew away first. The bars kept her from reaching after him. He swam a few feet away, holding her gaze until he reached the door of the cage, where he lingered, waiting. The message: If she wanted to continue, she’d have to open the door.
Well then, that was it. She lay on the catwalk, her hand still thrust through the bars, dangling in the cool water.
She used the bars to pull herself to her feet. She trembled a little, her heart racing. Nerves, that was all. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. She could still feel his lips.
She planned to go straight to the next room. The control box to deactivate the electronic locks on the cages was at the top of the stairs. A single move. That’s all it would take. Marina made a sound, part sympathetic, part mocking.
She walked past the control box, into the next room. Her lips pursed, her blood rushed.
“Lieutenant?” Rick said.
Ignoring him, she continued to the side room that held the bank of a dozen TV monitors, showing the view from cameras focused on every enclosure in the center. Jones the dog was gnawing on a rawhide bone. The griffin was scratching the steel wall of its cell. The unicorn stood with a foot cocked, nose to the floor, sleeping. In the aquatics lab, Marina was basking on her rock, brushing her hair with her fingers, probably singing as well. The selkie, still in human form, swam back and forth in front of the door, like he was pacing. Like he was waiting.
She shut off the cameras, rewound the tapes, and erased the evening’s footage. All the monitors went to static. She left a note for the day shift complaining that the security system was on the fritz, that she’d tried to fix it and failed.
On her way back to the aquatics lab, Rick called, his voice harsh. “Lieutenant Green, this isn’t you. This is the magic. Selkie magic. Stop and think what you’re doing.”
She paused at the door. She was sure she knew what she was doing. But she’d read the stories, and Rick was right. Male selkies had a predilection for seducing women. This wasn’t her, it was the magic.
And she wanted it.
The hand that pressed the button for the lock to the north tank was not hers. Not really.
The door to the selkie’s cage opened with a small noise. She kept her back to it, her breath short, her eyes closed with the realization of what she was doing. She’d worked so hard, stayed in control her whole life, and now she did nothing but wait. She gripped the railing by the stairs.
She heard dripping, water rushing off a body climbing onto the catwalk. Still, the touch on her shoulders came as a shock and made her flinch. He must have sensed her anxiety, because he brushed her arm gently, stroking lightly with fingertips until she relaxed. Letting her grow accustomed to him, as if he were taming a wild animal. Then both his hands touched her, moved along her arms to her shoulders. Her shirt grew damp with his touch.
He kissed the back of her neck at her hairline, below the twist she kept her hair up in. His breath was hot on her skin. Her body melted, slumping into his touch. He pulled her back, away from the stairs, slipped his body in front of hers, and pressed her against the cage. She was limp, unseeing. She let him guide her.
He nuzzled her neck. Her nerves tingled with every touch. Overwhelmed, she moaned softly. His hands moved to the buttons of her dress shirt. He had them open before she realized it, and his hands were inside, cupping her breasts, fingers slipping under her bra.
