Oldies music played on her satellite radio app as Islay pranced over the sand singing along. A trip to the tropical islands was the perfect alternative to the winter snowstorms up north.

As the current song ended, Islay sighed. What life must've been like back in the 1960's. So much wonderful music came out of that era, she thought to herself.

"Hello," a deep voice came from out of no where. "You have a beautiful voice. I heard you singing."

Startled, Islay dropped her cell phone into the wet sand. "Shoot!" She cried. "Dang it. The sand better not damage..." Her words trailed off.

The intruder's ocean blue eyes and jet black hair drew her in.

She hadn't even heard him approach.

Where had he come from?

"Hello," she said softly. "Who are-"

He didn't reply but gently touched her lips with his smooth finger.

In ordinary circumstances, Islay would've knocked this yahoo down a peg with a quickness. Just who did he think he was invading her space? Touching her even! She didn't know him from Adam. He'd no right to claim such familiarity with her person!

But...

But those eyes...they were...well, they were..."I-" Islay stammered. "Who? You-"

Stepping closer, the man whispered into her ear, "May I?"

She could feel his cold breath on her skin; could almost taste the salty mist surrounding their bodies. A tang of the sea teased her senses. It was like falling into a lovesick trance.

She'd hardly shaken her head, "Yes," before his lips crashed down upon her own. They didn't linger long.

As his fingers lead the way, his mouth followed after, suckling her ear, her neck and the bare skin of her breasts. The warm sand embraced her as they lowered to the ground.

With no idea where her tank top had gone, Islay closed her eyes and soaked up the man's caresses. He lingered over her nipples as the wind kissed the wetness left behind from his lips. Her peaks puckered at attention, eager for more stimulation.

He did not disappoint.

Oh. No. He. Did. Not.

Oh, Neptune, he was thorough.

As his mouth made passionate love to her breasts, his hands made their own magic, sliding between her legs to find her treasures.

She was slick with wanting and he pierced her folds easily, preparing her body for more.

Much more.

All too soon, but not soon enough, the stranger's mouth moved down her center and over her stomach. He stopped to trail tiny kisses over her navel and across her hips.

And then...

And then he was there.

Tasting her; savoring the sweet nectar she had to offer. The feel of his tongue inside her, his hands now nudging her nipples while he lost himself between her legs, drove her to the edge. Ready to lose her mind, Islay called out to him.

"Wait, wait, wait!" She groaned impatiently as she reached for his hands taking them into her own. As their heartbeats tripped on the sand, Islay reached up and brushed a stray hair from his eyes. "What's your name?"

"I can't tell you," he replied softly.

Islay blinked. Before she could utter a word, the man spoke into her ear. "Unless you agree to be my wife."

Surely, he was joking.

As Islay looked into his eyes, however, she could tell he wasn't.

This man was serious!

When he began to nibble on her naked clavicle, and his fingers moved once more towards her most sensitive heat Islay groaned reflexively. "Yes."

"My name is Knox," he whispered. "You are my wife and I am your husband." And then he was busy attending to her every need again. It all happened so quickly that Islay never pondered at this strange turn of events. All that she knew was what her body wanted, and who!

"Take me!" She begged. "Please!"

Knox obeyed.

His firm body, rippled with taut muscle moved quickly in the sand. He positioned himself between her legs. He was swollen, engorged with passion. "Are you sure?" He asked, seeking final permission.

"Now! Give yourself to me, now!" Was Islay's desperate response before he thrust forward sealing their fate. He was a beast, moving in quick thrusts which stretched her beyond measure. She could barely breathe she was in such a lather. Never before had a man taken her so.

She had been waiting for the right guy to come along but as of yet had only fooled around here and there.

Of course, Islay was quite familiar with her body and that of a man, but she'd never fully lain with one before.

And now...well.

There was definitely pain but sweet baby seals!...This!

As the initial pain of their coupling subsided, Islay felt a new wave of passion sweep over her. It was building like a tropical storm at her core.

He moved deeply inside her, grunting into her ear and making evidence of his own sexual pleasure.

It turned her on; knowing she was making him lose his own control.

Empowered, she found courage-enough to rise up underneath him to tug his ass further towards her, rubbing himself more swiftly upon her most sensitive spot.

"Oh!" She moaned loudly. "Do that again! More, please again!" She screamed as he complied, all the while grunting with naked abandon on top of her.

When they came, it was in unison, both of them crying out in ecstasy.

Afterwards, Islay assumed they would rest, but Knox had other ideas. His fingers were wandering with determination and before long Islay was brought to a second orgasm within seconds. Somewhere along the way she'd lost all sense of time and space.

Her mind knew that from this day forward sleeping with anyone else would be impossible to live up to.

When Islay finally came to, she blinked.

Knox was gone.

"What the hell?" She asked the thin air, sitting up quickly. Bewildered, Islay touched herself and found her fingers covered in first blood and their entwined essence.

"Knox?" She called out. When he didn't respond, Islay scrambled to her feet and yelled. "Knox!"

The seagulls' cry and the sound of the ocean lapping on the beach was the only response she received.

Islay returned to the shores of crashing waves for days. Before long, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months.

After nine of them Islay had become desperate, and swollen with child.

She'd never gone home, becoming a local resident and selling tourist trinkets at a nearby popsicle stand-type rig. She couldn't leave the memory of Knox behind.

"Please, Knox," she cried to the sea. "Come back to me. To us. We need you."

Islay knew what'd happened wasn't normal. What kind of woman sleeps with a random stranger and thinks it means anything? Here she was, a lovesick fool, heavy with child, chasing a ghost on the beach.

When a familiar song began to play on her cell phone radio, it was a welcome intrusion. She sang to herself in hopes of improving her dismal mood.

When the song ended, Islay plopped herself onto the sand in a whoosh of air. Her feet were as swollen as the high tide and the full moon above. She prayed she'd be able to get herself up again. Large and round as she was, Islay had her doubts. At this point she just needed to rest, everything else be damned. Her hips were sore with pending childbirth and her lower back'd been aching on and off all day. Rubbing a hand across her stomach Islay closed her eyes as another tune from her half-buried phone began to play.

"It's time," Knox' voice announced.

He bent over to pick Islay up, his strong arms lifting her effortlessly, as if the extra pounds of her pregnancy were nothing. "We'll be a family now; you, me and our son."

Islay was so shocked she forgot how to speak. It wasn't until they were ankle-deep in the water that she found her voice. "Wait!"

With gentle hands, Knox placed Islay on her feet. The current tugged at their shins, working in harmony with Knox' wishes. "You must chose, Wife."

Knox pointed out to sea, beyond the breakers. "To live among our people for all eternity, or to return to land as a human. Come with me. Raise our child. Or go back. You will never see me again. Our child will no longer concern you."

"Not concern me?" Islay asked, fearful of Knox' meaning. Out of maternal instinct, Islay stepped back and held her round belly protectively. "What do you mean?"

"I am Selkie. My child is Selkie. Come with us. You will be Selkie as well," Knox explained. "Or go ashore now. Return to your human life. Live as before."

Islay glanced around. The water was swiftly rising and the tide had pulled her further out to sea. They must be in some sort of rip current. A wave of fear washed over Islay and Knox reached out for her. "You are safe. The baby is safe. You must choose."

"Yes," Islay replied tentatively but then more strongly before laughing aloud. "Yes."

Knox smiled.