An Elemental Tail by Shona Husk

eternal life on
self-indulgent revelry and lust.
    It wasn’t lust that had made him sacrifice
his flesh for a woman. It was love. A surge of loss threatened to
crush the human heart in his chest. He closed his eyes and tried to
swallow the ache.
    As the sadness passed, his skin healed. The
missing pages of the book had been returned to the sea.
    Isla had let him go.
    He knew it would happen one day, but the open
wounds had never stung as sharply as being whole and forgotten. The
sorrow that made it hard to breathe was his own. He didn’t want
Isla to let him go. He should never have let her go. His body
melted back into water and he drowned in the tide that would take
him back to Isla.
    The woman he loved.
    ****
    With the pages gone, Isla felt emptier. She
stepped away from the river and gathered up her things. She didn’t
need a man. And she didn’t have time to pine over one. Rain
splashed her skin, washing away the aching malaise that had taken
over in Nik’s absence. She tipped her face to the clouds, a shadow
of a smile on her lips.
    “Isla.”
    Invisible ropes pulled her around to face the
owner of the voice before she could resist. Seeing Nik broke her
heart again. He hadn’t changed. His crimson hair whipped around his
face like kelp in a storm. She turned away, forcing her feet to
walk and her ears to ignore him. She was free.
    “Isla, please wait.”
    She shook her head but paused, allowing him
to catch up. “Why did you come back?”
    Why now?
    “I need you.” He took her hands and kissed
her like he’d been gone hours, not months.
    She opened her mouth to speak and found
herself kissing him back. Craving his touch like the earth needed
rain.
    He cupped her face with his hands. “You don’t
need me. You have no place for me in your life. But I want to be
there. I want to be with you.” Nik stepped back, his hands falling
to his side. “If you’ll have me.”
    Isla drank in the sight of him. Six months
ago she would have said no. Now…she didn’t need him, but she wanted
him with every cell in her body. “I don’t have time to date, and I
don’t know when we’d see each other. But I want you.” She threw her
arms around his neck.
    He swung her around, her feet never touching
the ground until she was dizzy and breathless.
    Nik set her down, still holding her close.
“We’ll make it work.” His eyes were dark, filled with a sincerity
she hadn’t seen before, or maybe she hadn’t wanted to see.
    She nodded. “We can make it work.”
    As she spoke, the clouds opened. Water poured
out of them like the gods were emptying buckets. One bright red
scale fell to the ground and melted in the rain as two humans ran
for shelter, holding hands and laughing.
     

 
Other titles by
Shona Husk
     
    Novels
    Dark Vow, Carina Press
    The Goblin King, Sourcebooks Casablanca
    Kiss of the Goblin Prince, Sourcebooks Casablanca
    For the Love of a Goblin Warrior, Sourcebooks
Casablanca
    The Outcast Prince, Sourcebooks Casablanca
     
     
    Novellas
    Boyfriend in a Bottle, Samhain Publishing
    Brightwater Blood Samhain Publishing
    How to Breathe Fire, Samhain Publishing
    Kissing Phoenix, Ellora’s Cave
    Tasting Thanatos, Ellora’s Cave
    Sharing Sirius, Ellora’s Cave
    Enchanting Absinthe, Ellora’s Cave
    Saved by the Trickster, Ellora’s Cave
    Dark Secrets, Carina Press
    Midsummer’s Eve, Momentum Books
     
     
    Free Reads
    Soul Song
    Dar-Otter, Pearl Otter, Can’t find me
     
     

About Shona
Husk
     
    Shona Husk lives in Western Australia at the
edge of the Indian Ocean. Blessed with a lively imagination she
spent most of her childhood making up stories. As an adult she
discovered romance novels and hasn’t looked back. Drawing on
history and myth, she writes about heroes who are armed and
dangerous but have a heart of gold—sometimes literally.
     
    With stories ranging from sensual to
scorching, she is published with Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave,
Samhain Publishing and Sourcebooks. You can find out more