Rainse E-Book

Skye MacKinnon

• Herausgeber: Peryton Press
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

A shipwrecked scientist. An alien who’s given up on love. A bond neither of them can deny.
Verity’s life ends the moment a whale capsizes her boat. Adrift in the endless ocean, she’s accepted her fate—until strong arms pull her from the waves. Her rescuer isn’t human—he’s an alien merman, covered in living kelp, breathing underwater, and looking at her like she’s a miracle.
Rainse has spent his life believing he doesn’t deserve a mate. Cast aside by his people and stranded on Earth, he’s watched his brothers find happiness while jealousy eats him alive. Then he hears Verity’s voice through the water, and everything changes. She’s his—the bond proves it. But the dating agency that brought him here has rules about humans, consent, and proof.
So Rainse breaks them all.
He takes her to a deserted island. Tends her wounds. Feeds her by firelight. And slowly, carefully, shows her what it means to be chosen by someone who would drown the world to keep her safe.
Verity should run. She should demand rescue. But the scientist in her wants to understand this impossible connection—this pull that defies biology. And the woman in her? She’s already falling for the alien who saved her life and asks for nothing but the chance to prove he’s worthy of hers.
Perfect for fans of Ruby Dixon and Tiffany Roberts, this spicy sci-fi romance features fated mates, forced proximity, a grumpy alien warrior with a soft heart, touch-her-and-die devotion, and slow-burn heat hot enough to make the ocean boil.
 

Leseprobe

RAINSE

STARLIGHT MERMEN

STARLIGHT ALIEN MAIL ORDER BRIDES

BOOK 9

SKYE MACKINNON

Copyright © 2025 by Skye MacKinnon

Peryton Press, Helensburgh.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-917585-25-5

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover by The Book Brander.

Published by Peryton Press.

skyemackinnon.com

perytonpress.com

CONTENTS

Glossary

Author’s Note

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Intergalactic Dating Agency

The Starlight Universe

About the Author

Also By

Buy direct

To Loki.

Welcome to the family.

RAINSE

A shipwrecked scientist. An alien who’s given up on love. A bond neither of them can deny.

Verity’s life ends the moment a whale capsizes her boat. Adrift in the endless ocean, she’s accepted her fate—until strong arms pull her from the waves. Her rescuer isn’t human—he’s an alien merman, covered in living kelp, breathing underwater, and looking at her like she’s a miracle.

Rainse has spent his life believing he doesn’t deserve a mate. Cast aside by his people and stranded on Earth, he’s watched his brothers find happiness while jealousy eats him alive. Then he hears Verity’s voice through the water, and everything changes. She’s his—the bond proves it. But the dating agency that brought him here has rules about humans, consent, and proof.

So Rainse breaks them all.

He takes her to a deserted island. Tends her wounds. Feeds her by firelight. And slowly, carefully, shows her what it means to be chosen by someone who would drown the world to keep her safe.

Verity should run. She should demand rescue. But the scientist in her wants to understand this impossible connection—this pull that defies biology. And the woman in her? She’s already falling for the alien who saved her life and asks for nothing but the chance to prove he’s worthy of hers.

GLOSSARY

Eynhallow – a city on Finfolkaheem

Finfolkaheem – planet of the finfolk

Intergalactic Authority (IA) – space police

Intergalactic University (IGU) – the best and biggest university in the galaxy

Mooncrossing – a year on Finfolkaheem

Roussay – a town on Finfolkaheem

Span – a week on Finfolkaheem

Sunpass – a day on Finfolkaheem

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This book has been written by a Scottish author and therefore uses British English (less Z, more S).

Subscribe to Skye's newsletter and get a free book as a thank you:

skyemackinnon.com/newsletter

PROLOGUE

Verity

I'd always loved whales. Until the day one tried to kill me.

Or maybe it didn't. Maybe it just wanted to play and didn't consider that it was so much bigger than the RIB. 

Either way, it hit us like a truck, slamming into the boat from the side. The impact tore through the inflatable’s hull with a sound like thunder. There was no time to radio for help. We were in the water before we could blink.

One moment, we were laughing about the playlist Hugo had put on – Under the Sea, of all things – and the next, the world flipped upside down. Cold swallowed me whole. The sea punched the air from my lungs, and I barely remembered to close my mouth before the saltwater rushed in. My life jacket yanked me upwards, forcing me to the surface just in time to see the whale’s tail fin rise like a mountain behind me, then crash down, sending a wave that rolled me over again.

When I surfaced a second time, coughing and choking, it was gone. Its work was done.

The sea around us was a chaos of foam and debris. The overturned RIB bobbed nearby, half-submerged. The engine hissed and spat before dying entirely.

“Hugo!” I gasped, throat raw from salt and panic.

He surfaced a few metres away, eyes wide, coughing up seawater. “I’m here! Jammie?”

A spluttered reply came from somewhere to my left. Relief, sharp and fleeting. All three of us. Alive. For now.

We tried to stay afloat as the sea rocked us like rag dolls. There was nothing around us but endless blue – no shore, no boats, no sign of rescue. The Minerva, our main vessel, had to be out there somewhere, but the swell made it impossible to spot her. The horizon was a jagged line between sea and sky.

I tilted my head back and stared at the sky. A single gull circled high above us, its cry thin and lonely. The world was too vast, too silent, too indifferent.

I’d always loved whales. Their songs, their grace, their impossible size. It’s why I had spent my adult life studying them. But floating there, tiny and breakable in the endless ocean, I realised love could be as dangerous as it was beautiful.

Now, we could only wait to be rescued.

Or to become part of the deep.

1

Rainse

Jealousy didn't suit me, and yet I wore it like a cloak. Hiding my envy became more difficult with every day.

The two people closest to me, my clutch-brothers, the finmen I'd grown up with, who I'd travelled all this way to another planet with - they had found their mates and were busy kissing, swooning, disappearing into quiet corners. 

But not me. 

I was still alone. Every sunpass - no, several times every sunpass, what humans called day - I checked my messages, just in case I'd overlooked a notification from the dating agency. Nothing. How could it be that my brothers had both found a female, yet I hadn't? 

It wasn't fair. I hated being alone more than ever. Until we'd come to this planet, at least the three of us had shared our pain, our loneliness. None of us had been given the honour to be allowed a mate. I had almost made my peace with that - until Fionn had heard about this planet, Earth, and we'd gone on the adventure of our lives. For Fionn and Cerban, the risk had paid off. I was still waiting. 

And there was no guarantee that I'd ever find a mate here. Out of the twenty-something finmen who'd travelled with us, half had been matched with a human female. Pam, the leader of the Hot Tatties dating agency, insisted that those odds were 'absolutely fabulous' and that she'd never worked with an alien species this compatible with humans.

I seemed to be an exception. While my brothers got to spend time with their mates, gallivanting around with huge grins on their faces, I was left to spend my days working hard to keep the peace between humans and finmen. The job had got easier over the last few spans, now that the two species had got to know each other. Everyone could see how well the matched couples got along - sickeningly so. It churned my stomach every time I saw a finman kiss a human female. Not because of the species difference, but because I craved to be in his position. I wanted a mate with every cell of my being. Jealousy was exhausting. 

I didn't have to work this sunpass, but I'd been hiding in my office until a few clicks ago, distracting myself by sorting virtual files and reading news reports from back home. I missed Finfolkaheem. The vast, endless oceans. The underwater cities twinkling like beacons at the bottom of the sea. The food, oh yes, the food. Fish on this planet lacked the flavour I was used to. I had tried other dishes, plants grown on land rather than in the water, but they weren't salty enough. My clutch-brothers embraced the exotic food Peritus offered, but I couldn't be like them. Maybe if I'd had a mate, it would all be easier. She could introduce me to this world, stroke by stroke, until I forgot Finfolkaheem and its delicacies, the taste of its ocean, the scent of its soul. I was sure that everything would be so much better with a female at my side. 

I stretched my shoulders, arched my back. I'd been sitting inside for too long. A swim in the sea would do me good and rip me from my maudlin thoughts. The good thing about living on an island was that the sea was never far away. Even if the sea didn't taste quite right.

When I got to the closest beach, I spotted Cerban and Maelis in the distance. She was wearing her diving equipment, he followed behind her like an enthusiastic catfish. I turned away from them, unwilling to see their happiness up close. 

I hated the male I'd become. Bitter. Jealous. Full of dark thoughts that I couldn't push out of my mind. 

Maybe I should never have come here. Maybe the Matriarchs were wiser than I'd thought. Their system had worked for generations, ever since climate change had increased the water temperatures, causing fewer females to be born. Now only select few males got to have a mate. It was sad for the rest of us - no, not sad, devastating - but now that I saw the male I was becoming, twisted by jealousy, I could understand their reasoning. I wasn't worthy. I didn't deserve a mate.

The cool water welcomed me like an old friend. I dove into the waves, swimming as fast as I could, away from the island, away from my brothers. I breathed in deep, my gills filtering the water, delivering fresh, cold oxygen into my lungs. My greenskin fluttered in the water, measuring the currents, keeping me steady. Schools of fish swam past me, ogling me curiously but without fear. I could sense larger animals swimming in the distance. Since we'd come to Peritus, I'd spent a lot of time in this ocean. I'd met huge beasts in its depths, but I lacked the knowledge of their names and species. The humans had told us about whales and sharks, but I was sure I'd seen other creatures down there, where sunlight didn't reach and the water grew icy cold. Creatures big enough to scare even a finman warrior who had been in the Finfolkaheem navy for a while. 

A short while. Until I'd refused an order and had been thrown out unceremoniously. 

I was tempted to dive down as far as I could. I was in the mood for a fight, even if it was with a sea creature ten times bigger than me. I no longer cared about my safety. I didn't care about anything. All I wanted was for the anguish in my chest to be extinguished. I wanted peace. But would I ever find it on this planet? I was starting to doubt it. 

The droning vibrations of a motor made me come to a halt. A ship, a big one. Not many vessels travelled in these waters - one of the reasons why the Hot Tatties dating agency had bought the island. They wanted privacy, no prying eyes, no alien hunters, no governments who might want to experiment on us. For all anyone knew, this was a billionaire's playground, where the rich stayed in fancy beach huts and had their every wish catered to. In reality, this was the only place on this planet where aliens and humans could live in harmony. And soon, there would be a second island, not far from here, for permanent settlements. There was only one small ferry between the agency's island and a bigger one a few hours by sea, with a hospital and larger airport and other amenities. 

But this ship sounded bigger than the ferry by quite a bit. What was it doing in these waters? Curiosity felt better than jealousy. I might as well spend this afternoon chasing a mystery.

I changed course, swimming with strong beats of my webbed feet while slowly approaching the surface again. I'd have to be careful not to be seen. My kind was the origin of humanity's legends of mermaid and mermen, but we hadn't swum in these oceans for centuries. By now, legends had become myths, fairy tales that only children believed in. I didn't want to be responsible for their revival. Humanity hadn't officially encountered other species yet. Most of them thought they were alone in the universe. I snorted, bubbles brushing against my lips. If only they knew. 

The vibrations shuddered against my greenskin. I was getting closer. The water here was murky, full of tiny particles rising from the deep. Green strands of plant material moved in the current like dancing curtains. I passed a turtle, swimming slowly but steadily, flippers moving in an ancient rhythm. It had been Elise, Fionn's mate, who'd taught me the animal's name. I waved at the turtle. It stared back at me from old, wise eyes. 

A dark shape appeared in the distance. The ship's hull. I slowed down a little, unsure of what instruments and scanners the humans would have on board. Would they be able to sense me beneath the surface? 

I realised I didn't care. This was distracting me from the mess of emotions wreaking havoc inside my mind. I was going to be selfish. 

I circled around the ship, approaching it from behind. Its huge propeller ploughed through the water, cutting it into pieces. I kept a safe distance from the metal guillotine. Beheading wasn't on my schedule for this sunpass. But I wouldn't glean information from down here. A few barnacles covered the hull, and there was a word painted on the side of the ship, but not in an alphabet I could read. If I wanted to know who this ship belonged to and what it was doing so close to the island, I'd have to surface. 

From below, I watched the movement of the waves above me until I'd learned the pattern. Then I rose, my head breaking through a wall of water. Warm air hit my skin. I stayed low, only my eyes above the water, and hidden behind the waves. The ship was sleek and shiny, looking like it hadn't done many journeys yet. That matched the small amount of barnacles on the hull. Humans were moving around on the decks, waving their arms, shouting. Even from a distance could I see that something unusual was going on. Some kind of emergency? 

I swam closer until I could hear their voices. 

"... it's been too long..."

"... they were supposed to be here..."

"... not answering..."

I was glad for my translator implant. While I'd done my best to learn one of their Earth languages, English, the implant amplified the voices and erased all interference. It was clear they were looking for someone. Part of their crew? Or someone else? 

One male lifted a strange apparatus to his eyes and slowly turned from side to side. When the device was pointed in my direction, he yelled something.

Time to disappear. 

I dived far beneath the vessel until I was sure they wouldn't be able to find me with their primitive sensors. Finfolkaheem technology was far advanced to what they had on this planet, even after the no-tech movement a generation ago. 

What to do now? I could swim back to the island. Or I could do something useful with my time and investigate the mystery of this vessel. They were searching for someone, or several someones. I would do the same. It would keep me out of trouble - and my thoughts from straying too close to yet more jealousy and self-pity. 

I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the ocean. First, the engines of the ship above me, the propeller cutting through water. Then, footsteps echoing on metal. Human voices. Birds screeching high above them. I expanded my senses beyond my immediate surroundings. Air bubbles. Fish moving in large shoals. The turtle from earlier. And then, deep beneath the oceanic orchestra, a slow, sad song. I'd heard it before, sung by a creature as large as a star-eel, moving elegantly through the depths. They were majestic beasts, with large flukes that could easily knock a finman unconscious, and eyes that spoke of intelligence and awareness. They were singing in the distance, but their song was not the same melodic beauty I'd heard the last time I'd encountered the creatures. They sounded distressed. 

I stayed in place for a moment longer, listening for anything else that could show me where to go, but my mind kept returning to that sad song. I didn't have any other leads. I didn't have to return to the island any time soon. So I swam, away from the ship, towards whatever awaited me in the deeps.

2

Verity

I was no longer scared. I no longer scanned the waves for the curved dorsal fins of sharks. I was spread out on my back, staring up into the cloudless sky, imagining I was floating in my bathtub back home. The lifejacket steadied me in the waves that pushed me from side to side. My ears were beneath the water's surface, erasing the sound of the gulls screeching high above. Float to live. I'd seen the sign on lifeboat stations back home in the UK. I'd never thought I'd have to use that advice myself. 

My lips were dry and cracked despite the water all around me. I was thirsty, so very thirsty. The urge to drink was even stronger than the desire to sleep. Exhaustion pulled at me, the desperate need to close my eyes and surrender to the darkness. But I kept my eyes open and watched the gulls. They meant there was land nearby. I hadn't been involved in charting today's course, so I was unaware of any islands that might mean my survival. 

Hugo would have known. But Hugo had swum away, unwilling to listen to me. I'd told him that they'd be looking for us at our last known location. If the Minerva came looking for us, they'd come in this direction. There was no point in wasting energy trying to swim to them. It was impossible. But Hugo hadn't listened. Now he was gone. At first, I'd watched his slow progress, his head bobbing between the waves. He'd turned and waved a few times, then he'd disappeared in the distance. I hoped he would make it. I liked the guy. He was funny, even if his humour was a little cringeworthy from time to time. His taste in music was atrocious. But he was clever, kind, a nice guy to be around. And he still owed me a round of poker. He better not die.

At least Jammie was still here with me, floating somewhere to my right. He was a PhD student from Birmingham. His thick Brummie accent made me laugh sometimes. He'd begged me to come along on the RIB today. I bet he regretted that now.

In the beginning, he'd asked questions. Would the Minerva find us. What if it didn't. What should we do. How could we survive in the middle of the ocean. At some point, he'd stopped asking questions. Whether he didn't like the answers or whether he wanted to conserve his strength, I didn't know. 

Despite the silence between us, I was glad I wasn't alone.