There was only one bed in the cabin - a huge country bed that could have comfortably slept five, and looked to have been carved out of a single tree trunk. But when it came time for bed, Declan made up the sofa.

When I woke the following morning, I found the living room empty. It struck me as a little odd, as there were not many places to go around here, but not necessarily worrying. I washed in water that I heated over the fire, brushed my teeth and got dressed, but there was still no sign of Declan.

The only real place to go was the lake by the waterfall where we had left our rented car, and I decided to stroll out there. If I didn’t find him there, I might start to worry. As I approached, I heard the sounds of splashing and smiled to myself. Of course, he was in the water.

He was a Selkie.

I hovered within the tree line and peered out at the lake, dappled by the morning light. At first, I saw the rippling surface of the water but nothing more, then the surface broke and a slim grey seal sprung out, twisting in mid-air before diving back. This was so clearly Declan, slim, smooth-skinned and beautiful, even the way he moved in the water was distinctively Declan.

He leaped again, but this time he was not alone, another seal jumped beside him.

A seal made entirely of water. My mouth dropped open as I watched Declan and Leanne together. Sometimes she was a seal, swimming and leaping with him, their bodies twisting around each other as seals do. Other times she was all or part human, but always connected to the water, moving with him as he darted around her. Then she would be just water, and I could only see where she was from the odd patterns the water made as she rolled around Declan, caressing his body with her watery form. When he sprang clear of the surface, she went with him, wrapped around him, liquid seething about his body.

Hot jealousy pierced me. Jealousy to which I had no right.

A seal and a water nymph? That was a perfect match. She could be with him in either form and match him in both, changing with him. God alone knew what the sex would be like, but certainly she could do things for him that I could not.

I dug my fingernails into my palms as I watched, unable to look away but hating what I saw.

Why did I feel this way? Did I want Declan more than the other two brothers? Absolutely not. But there was no question, I wanted him as much.

Selfishly, I wanted all three of them. But I couldn't help how I felt. A void seemed to open up in my tummy as I watched Declan and Leanne. I felt like the shade - a Declan-shaped emptiness within me that would never be filled.

Finally, the games were over and, as I watched, Declan rolled out of his seal skin and stood up. Despite the coldness of the water and the chill bite of the early morning mountain air, he remained an extremely impressive man and, though I chided myself for looking at something that wasn't mine, I couldn't help staring. Leanne grew from the water beside him, as naked as he was, and they walked back up to the shore together. As they reached dry land, Leanne stood up on tip toes, reaching up to kiss him.

I was just about to walk away and give them their privacy when he backed away with a shake of his head.

I felt my heart skip a beat as I stilled.

What I had so far seen was two magical creatures playing, in the same way that two humans might enjoy a game of cards or chess. However, intimate it had looked, it was not necessarily sexual. What I was seeing now suggested that it had, in fact, been one player of the game trying to make it sexual, and the other...

Maybe not so much?

I saw Declan saying something softly to Leanne, though I could not make out the words. He squeezed her hands and she gave him a wistful smile, before returning to the water. Declan slung his skin across his shoulder and began to walk back towards the cabin. In my direction. Quick as I could, and quietly as that speed would allow, I hurried back and threw myself into the chair so I could look as if I had been there for hours when Declan came in.

"You were out early," I said, as he entered.

He smiled. "Went for a swim with Leanne."

The fact that he told me about it had to mean something; didn't it?

The great thing about TV is that it required nothing of you. Its mindlessness enabled you to vegetate in front of it, putting all your worries to one side. I desperately needed that now, because anything I wanted to say to Declan felt ill-advised. I was either going to blurt something about my blooming feelings for him, or wax poetic about Saorise and how much I missed her. Neither were subjects he needed to be forced to think about as we waited for his brothers to arrive and get this plan moving forward.

But as the day wore on, he brought her up on his own. Maybe he needed to hear about her right now.

"I've always wondered," Declan said, "I mean, I know you two met as kids - Saorise used to pick up friends for fun - but why are you so attached to her."

"Because we were more than friends," I said. Had I been more insecure, then hearing how Saorise was always picking up friends might have made me wonder if that was true. But I knew it was - we both had other friends, but it was not the same. Sienna and Saorise, Saorise and Sienna, friends forever.

"Tell me about it."

For a moment, I held back. Partly because, she was still out there, still in captivity, still in danger, still going through who knew what, and talking about those happy times, knowing all of that, was hard. And if it was hard for me then I could only imagine how hard it was for Declan. But I also held back out of habit. It had been magical. For so many years, it had become a dream - that perfect vacation, when I had been happiest in my life, wonderfully replicated for a few days and then ripped from me again. To try to reduce it to mere words…vacation buddies…it seemed somehow disrespectful. It had been between us, our own little world.

And yet, for all that, I wanted to tell Declan about it. I wanted to share it with someone now more than ever before, because to speak it was to make it real. This happened. And this person with whom it happened was someone I would never let go. To say how much she meant to me, to explain it through the events themselves, was like a declaration of how much I cared, and a promise that I would never give up.

So I told him, and once I started, I found that I could not stop. The words spilled out of me as the events, still so vivid after all these years, played out before my eyes, so the light of an Irish sunset seemed to suffuse the little cabin.

But when I got to the account of my near drowning, I saw a frown cross Declan's face. At first, I thought he was worried for me - which seemed odd, as I had obviously survived or I wouldn't have been there to tell the tale.

"That was you?"

And with those three words, my whole world changed. How had I not seen it before? The face of the boy who had saved me, which had eluded my dreams for years, was now clear as crystal in front of me, and just as clearly was the face of Declan.

"You saved me."

And more. The memories came rushing back on a long-forgotten wave. As he lay me down on the beach, he had kissed me. My first kiss had been Declan. It was a realization as pure and wonderful as anything I had ever experienced.

"Declan."

The recognition was mutual, the moment it formed between us, undeniable and inexorable, drawing us into a bubble in which no one existed but us. All sound faded. Nothing was in my world but Declan, and by some quiet magic we drew closer and our lips touched. I tasted salt water and heard the lapping of waves and the sea birds in the skies above, I felt the sand on my back, and opened my eyes to look into the wide, boyish, green eyes that had not changed in all those years.

To kiss Declan now was exactly the same as it had been then. So pure, so innocent, so perfect.

Our lips parted but our hands remained in each other’s, and our eyes were locked. No words were said. We both knew what the other was thinking, we both knew what the other wanted because we could read it in the other's face and because we wanted it, too.

Together we stood and, hand in hand, walked into the bedroom.