Free SelkiesSeduction by Anne Kane

the coffee and poured one
for himself. “I know you’re furious at me right now for binding you. I’d say I
was sorry, but I’d be lying. I’m not sorry that we’re bound, but I am sorry for
the way it happened. I honestly thought you knew what you were getting into.”
    Nikki lowered her gaze and picked up her fork, attacking the
stack of pancakes. Swallowing the first heady mouthful, she looked up at him. “We
have to talk about that. It won’t work. It has absolutely nothing to do with
you, but I simply can’t do long term.”
    She paused, not sure how to make him understand. “The pull
of the water is always with me, and I don’t want to settle down and have
children, and then desert them one day when the calling gets to be too much for
me to resist.” She felt the familiar tightening in her throat that she got
every time she let herself remember her own mother’s desertion. “I won’t do
that, to you or anyone else. It’s not fair.”
    “What makes you think you’d have to choose?” His brow
furrowed in confusion. “Selkies and their Cosantoirs have always bonded for
life. When you need to go to the water, I will protect you; make sure you are
safe. That’s what I’m here for.”
    Nikki wanted to believe him. His voice, his body language
all told her he believed in what he was saying, but the memory of her mother
walking away without looking back still haunted her, too painful to put into
words.
    She plastered a shaky smile on her face and changed the
subject. “So what’s the plan of attack?”
    He gave her a wry smile. “I think a little reconnaissance is
in order before we attack anybody. We need to find out who those guys are, how
much they actually know. We could be jumping to conclusions. Maybe they’re
poachers and they’re trying to capture Winston.”
    Nikki smiled. “Then they’re in for a fight. Winston has a
nasty temper, and he’s overly fond of using those claws of his.”
    “Well, here’s hoping they didn’t leave bloodstains all over
your cabin.” Wolfe leaned forward to snag one of the pancakes. “It’s hell to
get out of wood flooring.”
    “And how would you know that?”
    “I used to be a little boy.” He swallowed the pancake whole
and reached for a piece of bacon. “Scraped knees, cuts and bruises were daily
occurrences. Sometimes, when I’d done something really stupid, Mom would
bandage me up and then make me go back and scrub the bloodstains off the floor.”
    Nikki giggled. She could just picture him, bandages on his
knees and a mop of dark hair falling over his forehead, grumbling as he
scrubbed.
    “I can see where your sympathy lies.” His eyes twinkled with
mischief.
    “Sounds like you had a wonderful childhood.” Nikki couldn’t
keep the envy out of her voice. She wrapped her hands around the coffee mug and
took a sip of the dark liquid.
    He nodded. “My dad died when I was just a baby, but Mom did
her best to raise me. We didn’t have a lot, but I always felt loved.” He
snagged another pancake and popped it in his mouth. “What was your mother like?”
    Nikki’s head jerked up and the hot coffee sloshed
dangerously close to the edge of the mug. No way was she ready to discuss her
mother, with him or anyone else.
    “She left when I was little and I’d rather not talk about
her. My father raised us alone. I miss him sometimes.”
    “He died?”
    She shook her head. “No, but after my sister and I left
home, he remarried and started another family. They keep him busy, and I don’t
get to see him all that much.”
    “That’s a shame.” He watched as she took the last bit of
bacon. “I’m going downstairs to get some things done. Come on down when you’re
ready and we can discuss what to do next.”
    “Okay.” She smiled, grateful that he hadn’t pushed for more
information on her family.
    She didn’t want to lie to him.
    * * * * *
    Wolfe lounged against the deck’s railing and studied Nikki’s
body language. The way she paced