The Salmon

I moved closer to her, "Yes I know what it means."

It didn't go over the way I thought it would. Her face fell and tears started running down her face. "Oh Sean, this is so ... so ... I don't know. Sudden, unexpected. Oh Sean I can't leave here."

I dropped the fish and wrapped my arms around her. "Leah...Leah, I know you'd never leave this place. I'd never try to take you from here.

She looked at me and said, "But...but... Oh what do you mean?"

I looked into her eyes. "I have two questions I need for you to answer will you reserve judgment until I've asked both of them?"

She looked a little frightened but said, "Yes, I'll wait."

I took a step back and went down on one knee. "Leah over the last year I've learned how much I love you. Will you marry me?" I held out a ring box with a beautiful ring I'd purchased in Dublin.

She looked shocked and tears started leaking from her eyes. It was only about two minutes until she answered but to me it was an eternity. She nodded her head. "Sean, I love you too. It hurts to live without you. Yes I'll marry you."

She took a step toward me but I stopped her. "Leah my second question is, will you give me a job? I have all the papers needed to be a guest worker in Ireland. Now all I need is a job."

She burst into loud sobs and fell into my arms. "Yes you daft bugger of course I'll give you a job. Yes I'll marry you and be your wife. Oh by the Gods I love you."

I scooped her up and started to carry her into the house when she said, "Don't you go forgetting my fish now."

I laughed and set her down, picked up the fish and handed it to her. I picked them both up and carried them into her house.

When I set her back on her feet she took the fish and put it on the kitchen counter. She turned to me and wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss that started soft but left both of us panting before she stopped.

I said, "Wow," and knelt again. I took her hand and slid the ring on her finger. It had a Celtic motif that I really liked.

She looked at the ring carefully and looked up at me quizzically. "It's beautiful Sean. Do you know the story behind it?"

I shook my head and said, "No all I know is that it was the prettiest thing I know other than the girl who is wearing it."

Her eyes went wide, she smiled and said, "You could have been here a month ago if you hadn't spent so much time with the Blarney Stone. Sean it's lovely. ..."

She started to say something else but we were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Sarah. Leah practically dragged her into the house and they started chattering like magpies. I swear Leah's hand was filled with helium it seemed to float at about head height.

After a while Sarah turned to me and asked, "How did you know Sean?"

Totally at a loss I asked, "Know what Sarah? What Leah?"

They looked at each other with wide eyes. Finally, Leah asked me, "Sean, which church do you want to be married in?"

Puzzled I answered, "I sort of assumed that it would be Catholic, being in this part of Ireland. I really don't care. I haven't been to church in years. This may be a disappointment to you but I don't plan to start going after we marry, at least until we have children and I have to be a good example."

Leah and Sarah both laughed and hugged each other. Leah turned to me. "Sean this ring is a Celtic knot ring a symbol of the ancient Druids. This village has a deep dark secret. Maybe you've noticed that there is no church of any faith in the village?"

I said, "I haven't really looked. I just assumed that the village was too small to support a church and that you went somewhere else on Sunday to worship. Why?"

Leah came over and sat in my lap. "Sean I don't want to frighten you off but the village secret is that we are all druids. That is our religion. That's why we are usually so standoffish with strangers."

I drew back a bit. "Sooo...What kind rituals do I have to participate in? Can I become a druid or will I be an outsider? Do I have to dance naked under the full moon?"

Leah gave me a small kiss, "Yeah Sean, you'll be expected to dance naked under the full moon and then to make love to me on the grass by the river or up under the trees. That's as wild as our rituals get. The worst part is when you'll have to be stationed as a lookout." She gave me another kiss and watched my eyes.

I smiled at her. "By God I've always wanted to dance naked under the full moon. Howl at it too. What's with the lookouts? That doesn't seem like much fun."

Leah and Sarah looked at each other and Leah said, "The lookouts are to keep our secret from getting out. It's not much fun for them but no one gets it twice in a row and their wives make it up to them the next day. You see the dancing goes on for three or four days."

Suddenly it clicked why I didn't get any email from Leah those four days last June.

This time I kissed Leah. "In that case count me in. All the way in." I considered and asked, "What about the government? I can stay for a year at a time on a work visa but I'd sort of hoped that we could get married and I wouldn't have to fiddle with that every year."

Sarah said, "No problem. Just wait six months or so and go to Carndonagh and have a civil ceremony at the courthouse. That's what we all do. After all we don't want them snooping around because of all the children and no marriages. That's usually what the Protestants do so they think that's what we all are."

I smiled, "That's a load off my mind." I took Leah by the hand and pulled her into the kitchen. She and Sarah talked while she cleaned the salmon. Leah cut off two generous steaks and started marinating them for supper.

I turned to Sarah and hammed it up, "Could you be a darling girl, and take the rest of this off to be smoked like last time?"

She grinned and said, "Shur, I'd be proud to help."

I said, "Thanks, and you can spread the gossip around the village so we don't have anyone else disturbing our privacy."

She blushed bright red. I gave her a hug. "Thanks, Sarah I really need to be alone with Leah for a while. Oh, by the way. The boat anchored just off the mouth of the river is mine. I'll be down to fetch it sometime later today. Would you spread that around so no one disturbs her?"

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, I'll be glad to."

Leah said, "What did you name your boat Sean? Ya know, 'tis bad luck to have an un-named boat, right?"

I smiled at her, "I named her after you. She's 'The Irish Angel' but she isn't half as pretty as you."

Leah replied, "Blarney," but she grinned as she ushered Sarah out the door.

They talked for about five minutes before Leah came back in and locked the door. She turned to me with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes. "Now Sean what do we need privacy for?"

I gave her a kiss and started unbuttoning her blouse. "Well angel, since I'm going to be expected to dance naked under the moon I thought some practice would be in order. Especially at making love to you." I kissed her again as I finished with the last button and slipped the blouse off her shoulders. I was glad again that she didn't wearing a bra.

"Well now this isn't outside. I don't know how much practice it'll be," she teased.

Emulating her brogue a bit I said, "Tis just an excuse to get you naked don't cha know."

She started working on the buttons on my shirt. "You don't have to worry Sean. For you I'm a pushover, a shur thing. I'm crazy insane in love with you. Are you sure you didn't know we were druids? I mean you come here with a druid wedding proposal and a druid wedding ring. Tell me the truth now."

"Leah, you yourself told me that giving a woman a fish was an old, you said old not ancient or druid, marriage proposal. The ring I bought because I really liked the design. The jeweler in Dublin said it was a version of the Celtic knot he called it the Lovers knot. I swear I didn't have a clue. However, I'm very happy because I don't have much faith in the Christian religions. They all seem too corrupt."

She sighed, "I guess you're right. It just seems like too much of a coincidence sometimes. This fish is bigger than the one you caught last year."

I kissed her. "If you remember the fish last year caught me. Now that, to me, is a sign from the Gods that I should be here with you. I'm just sorry that it took almost a year for me to realize it. I never want to leave you again."

I looked up and there were tears running down her face. "Och I'd think it was more Blarney but the gods help me, I feel the same way. I haven't been whole since you've left and now I'm whole again. I feel so good when you're here I can barely stay in my skin."

I wiped some tears off her cheeks. "And a lovely skin it is." I wrapped my arms around her. "How about you give me a shower and we take a nap. I got up very early this morning and I really want to snuggle with you."

"Aye if that's what you want. I'd love to shower and snuggle with you. It's been so long. I want to feel you with every pore of my body." She unzipped her skirt and let it fall, holding her hand out to me.

She tenderly washed me and let me wash her then we dried each other and went to bed.

She spooned up to me and I whispered, "I'd forgotten how wonderful it feels to hold you. Every night I'd toss and turn thinking about you and missing you. I was so afraid you'd be taken when I came back."

She sniffed back a tear. "Oh I missed you too. So much I ached. I lived for your daily emails. They are the only things that kept me going. It feels so good to have you holding me again. You and your blarney make me feel so good. All is right now. You needn't have worried, I couldn't even think of another man since you showed up last year."

I nuzzled her ear and asked, "Can you tell me about a druid marriage ceremony? What's involved?"

She giggled and said, "Och you have a very good feel for it. You sent Sarah to tell everybody that we are going to be married."

"And?"

She turned in my arms. "Sean we are married as far as the druids are concerned. You offered me a fish, a great honking fish it was. I accepted. We're married. Sending Sarah to spread the word is just icing on the cake."

I was a little stunned. "That's it? I proposed, you accepted and we're married?"

She kissed me. "Yah that's it for us druids. Tisn't very complicated. We're officially on our honeymoon." She kissed me again and I felt my nether regions stir as blood was drained away from the big head.

Leah wrapped her top leg around me and pulled me into her pussy. "Welcome home my love," she said before she kissed me again.

I rolled her over and said, "Home, yes it feels like home when I'm here with you." I kissed her on her ear and inhaled her sweet fragrance.

She groaned softly, "Och that's so good. You remembered after the whole year. Ooooh, you haven't lost your touch."

I didn't say anything but continued kissing slowly down her neck while I softly stroked her hair.

Leah moaned softly into my mouth and started to stroke my sides and slid her hand between us and gently caressed my cock. "Och God Sean it's been so long"she whispered.

"Yes, it has Leah. Way too long." I moved my kisses and my hands to her breasts, being slow and soft.

Leah squirmed around until she could kiss my chest and lick my nipples. She started gently pulling herself down my body kissing and caressing as she went.

I tried to mirror her actions and then started leading. As I started caressing her inner thighs she started doing the same to me. When I started kissing her pussy and she started sucking my cock.

We made slow soft love until we peaked together. Then we fell asleep still entwined with each other.

Just before I drifted off I asked, "Leah, you all use 'God' and 'Jesus' when you're speaking. I thought there were many gods for the druids. Why do you do that?"

She murmured in my ear, "Tis protective coloration. We're taught from an early age to generalize to 'God' or 'Jesus' instead of using our god's names. Tis just protective coloration to fit in with the rest of the country."

The next morning we woke together and took a shower. Luckily or more realistically because Leah knew what was coming she made sure we were dressed. I was fat dumb and happy when we headed to the kitchen. As soon as we entered the living room we were jumped by the village. Mike, Ian and Ralph, in an act of deja vu, grabbed me as Sarah and two other married ladies grabbed Leah and hustled us out the house.

I was blindfolded and rushed around the village for what seemed like hours and finally out onto the verge of the river. When we turned to the right and up the hill into the kissing forest. We wandered around for a long while.

When we finally stopped, Mike said, "Now you need to find Leah. You can't talk to her and she can't call to you either. All the women of the village are out here. You can only touch Leah and she can't see you or talk either. Understand Yank?"

I nodded and whispered, "Yes" I don't know what I'm going to do but I'm going to give it my best shot.

Mike raises his voice, "Ok we're coming up." He takes one arm and someone else takes the other they run me a little ways and spin me around three or four times then stop. Mike says, "Forward and find your mate."

I take two steps forward and then stop and listen and breathe in the air. Sniffing like an animal I slowly start moving forward stopping to listen. Off slightly to the right I hear breathing so I move sideways and catch a faint smell of fish. I realize that this isn't Leah. We haven't had breakfast but we did brush our teeth before going to make breakfast. I move a little further to the right and hear another woman breathing. I can tell just from the sound that this isn't Leah either.

I move back to my left counting steps and then I encounter more breathing then I smell a slight scent. Suddenly I realize that this is Sarah. I smile and wave at her as I move back to the right and further in. I almost run into the next woman again alerted by her scent. It pops into my head that the women are lined up in a V shape and it hits me that Leah must be at the apex of the formation. Moving with more certainty, I move carefully encountering women more frequently until realize that Leah is directly ahead of me.

I can hear her breathing and smell the shampoo and soap we used this morning but under all that I smell Leah. She's been sweating a bit and that adds to my certainty. I reach for about where her face should be and slowly kiss her lips. There is no doubt this is Leah. "I whisper, "I love you girl" and start to wrap my arms around her when I run into the trunk of a large tree. Wondering why she isn't hugging me I start to explore and find she is tied around the tree with her arms held to her sides. I feel the rope and find a slip knot. I quickly untie it.

As soon as her arms are free she wraps them around me. "Oh God you are so wonderful. How did you find me so quickly? Oh Sean I love you too." She reached up and pulled the blindfold off my eyes. I did the same for her.

She is a glorious sight. We are standing in a ray of sunshine at the base of the tree and the sun is shining in her hair surrounding her face like a halo. I kissed her again before Mike pulled me away.

"Yeah Yank, how did you find her so fast? I stumbled around for nearly two bloody hours before I found my Sarah., Mike grumbled.

Leah hugged my arm and asked, "Sean how did you find me? How were you so sure it was me?"

I blushed and said, "Well I didn't know the consequences for grabbing the wrong woman so I was very careful to listen and I could smell them when I got close. Once I realized that the women were in a 'V', I knew you were at the apex. It got easier. All I had to do was avoid running into one of them. When I got close I could hear you breathing and it seemed like it was the right height. Then I smelled your shampoo and soap and I was sure."

Leah laughed and flung herself into my arms. "Wonderful, bloody amazing and wonderful."

I got a good long kiss. When I looked up Sarah was staring at me. I asked, "Did you wave back Sarah?"

She blushed bright red. "You know I did Sean. You must have a nose like a wolf hound on you." She turned to Leah and said, "I told you the first time I saw him that he was a goodn' but I didn't know how good."

The whole group, I noticed they were all married couples, escorted us back to the river bank where the fed us a huge breakfast. There was lots of talking and laughing. The unmarried youngsters were doing the serving.

One young man stared at me for a full minute and finally asked, "How did you do it Yank? How did you do it so fast? They won't tell us what the challenge is but you passed it in record time. We almost didn't have time to get it all cooked and ready for you."

I winked at Mike, who looked a little tense, "Well lad the only advice I can give you is to know your girl. Pay attention to the small things. The special things. Then you'll do well when it comes your turn."

He looked confused and looked around. Mike and the others laughed and Mike finally said, "Listen to him Patrick. Listen to every word. He's astounded all of us here today with how well he and Leah know each other."

The party went on until well after noon. I pulled Leah aside. "What was that all about? I thought we were already married in the Druid's eyes?"

"We are and we are. It's an old, old custom here. It's supposed to show the young couple that they have to pay close attention to their spouse." She grinned and gave me a huge kiss. "And I'm the luckiest woman in all of Ireland because my husband does pay close attention to me. I only hope I learn to pay that close attention to him because he deserves it."

The whole village escorted us back to Leah's house and waved goodbye as we disappeared inside and closed the door.

I shot the deadbolt on the door and turned around. Leah was naked and kneeling looking up at me. "Sean you know you totally freaked Sarah out when you waved at her. She was sure you could see something around the blindfold." Leah giggled. "Och I wish I could have seen her face then." She turned serious. "Ah, I'm so blessed that you found me."

I reached down and gently picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. "Leah I'm blessed to have found such an Irish angel. I don't know why or how but I can feel when you are near me. I get a sense of peace and a warm glow. All I have to do is listen to my senses and I know. Maybe it's because of the awful year I spend separated from you. I'd read your emails and close my eyes and pictured everything I could about you. How you looked, your laugh, your little Mona Lisa smile. How you felt in my arms. How you breathed and how you smelled after a shower with your soap and shampoo and how you smelled after an hour or two of work. I loved all of it but my memories pale in comparison to reality."

She was kneeling on the bed unbuttoning my shirt with tears running down her lovely face. "Jesus, I don't know how you get to the Blarney Stone but if you make me feel any better, any more special I think I might explode. That or cry myself into dehydration. Och, you make me feel so good. I want you to know how special I think you are."

I realized that I was naked and Leah was guiding me down onto the bed. "How do I make you feel special love?"

She looked at me with her mouth open. "How! How! My God you just literally sniffed me out of a pack of women in a strange forest. Blindfolded and spun around. My god how much more special can you make a girl feel. I mean I'm hot and sweaty blindfolded and tied to a tree and surrounded by other women. You find me in the quickest time anyone here has ever seen. How much more special can I feel. It's like there is a spiritual connection between us. You know before you got to me there were several men who came close but they never touched me. When you came to me it felt electric. My whole body sang ... You did it so fast. Sarah thinks you cheated and could see."