‘Is your kilt made of seaweed?’ Rory asked faintly. He tore his eyes away, mortified with where he’d been staring. There was a large white clam shell in the space where a sporran would be.
‘Yes. The finest woven kelp.’ The merman untied an item from his chest strap and held it out. ‘This is for you. A gift.’
When Rory didn’t come forward to collect it, Fionn frowned and stepped inside the cabin again to wave it in front of Rory’s face. ‘It is a clam knife. I made this one myself.’
Rory tentatively held out his hand to receive the large pinkish-brown clam shell. Its curved edge had been honed to be brutally sharp. It looked very easy to slice a finger on.
‘I’ll just… put it down over here…’ Rory slid it onto a shelf under the console, away from the wheel. He considered trying to push past the merman to get out onto the deck, but Fionn more or less filled the entire opening.
Fionn seemed alarmed. ‘You don’t like it? I spent hours honing its edge. It will cut anything. It is a superb knife.’
‘Why did you give me it?’ Rory shot back. ‘You better not be like one of those penguins that gives stones to the lady penguin to make her like him.’
Oh, Christ,whydid he have to say something like that? Even acknowledging the idea of Fionn maybe being attracted to him felt like the declaration of a guilty secret. And had he just referred to himself as theladypenguin?
All Rory wanted was for this impossible man to get off his boat. So why wasn’t he manhandling Fionn onto the deck and throwing his tattooed blue arse overboard?
He does have a very sharp spear,his common sense reminded him.Also, maybe he’ll kiss me again.
Rory’s throat went dry at the prospect of clashing tongues with his nearly-naked companion once again.
Aside from his seaweed kilt and weird chest strap, the no-longer-blue merman appeared to be very naked indeed. Every inch of Fionn looked solid and unyielding, like he’d been sculpted by one of those Renaissance artists that was suspiciously fond of showing off the muscles in a male body. This comparison was what made Rory realise the merman was also unreasonably smooth.
Fear began to take a backseat as Rory’s curiosity piqued. Did Fionn wax everywhere, or did he just not grow hair on his body? His chest looked so glossy from the sheen of water—he was practically gleaming as the sun emerged again from behind a cloud.
Fascinated, Rory watched a droplet slide all the way from the merman’s collarbone to the blank space where a belly button ought to have been.
Meanwhile, Fionn was trying to plow through an answer to the confusing question Rory had just posed. ‘I am nothing like a penguin. I am not a bird. Why would I give you a stone? My knife is much better than a stone.’
Fionn’s deeply furrowed brow uncreased as he thought of something. ‘Oh, but are you asking if I am trying to win your favour as a mate? In that caseyes. Yes, that is what I’m doing.’
The merman trailed off, then cleared his throat, snapping Rory back to the reality in front of him. Was it his imagination, or was Fionn’s pompous composure suddenly ruffled? Rory considered where he’d been staring and flushed hot with embarrassment. The waves in his chest crashed hot and restless.
Why the fuck was he staring like a horny teenager? He needed to get a grip on himself.
‘What is that?’ Fionn asked, pointing past Rory to a photograph mounted next to the ignition.
The image showed Rory in black scuba gear giving a thumbs up to the camera through a crowd of colourful fish. A bank of pink coral poked into the right frame of the picture and the wings of a stingray could be glimpsed behind Rory’s head. It was a personal treasure, which was why it lived on theStarwhere Rory could appreciate it nearly every day.
‘It’s the Great Barrier Reef.’ Rory told himself that he answered only because he was thrown off by the intensity of Fionn’s attention. Fionn nodded, locking eyes in a way thatsuggested he was patiently waiting for more explanation, and Rory was compelled to provide it. ‘You know, the largest coral reef in the world?’
‘And where is it?’ Fionn cocked his head, sounding genuinely fascinated. ‘I do not recognise many of the fish in the picture.’
‘Um, off Australia. Other side of the world.’
Fionn’s eyebrows lifted as he glanced back at Rory. He pointed to the scuba gear. ‘And is this you?’
‘Yes.’
It seemed Fionn’s gaze lit up with a newfound respect. ‘You have travelled far, Rory Douglas. And you are not afraid of entering our world below the waves. I am impressed.’
Fucking hell. Rory’s cheeks set on fire. Perhaps it was because he got the sense that it was very hard to impress Fionn—but even so, his body had no business reacting this way to the man’s admiration.
‘It was only once,’ he muttered back. A little more of the truth slipped out. ‘I’d go back if I could.’
Fionn was still studying the image. ‘What prevents you?’
Was it the fact that they were all alone on a boat at sea with no one else around to judge, or was it simply the directness of Fionn’s tone that made Rory examine the question honestly?A lifetime of indecision,he ought to answer.My father’s disappointment.
