Page 36 of Siren in the Rain

“Awesome. I can’t wait to see it.” I clap my hands together once and then rub them excitedly. “Let’s go!”

Shae hesitates. “I don’t have any swim trunks.”

I wave a hand in the air. “Don’t need them. We can go naked.”

His eyes bulge. “Say what now?”

“Au naturel, baby. That’s the best way!”

He narrows his eyes at me. “So you’re a total perv, aren’t you?”

I laugh. “Well, I won’t deny that I look forward to seeing your beautiful body naked, but I always swim in the nude. Hell, half the time I surf in the nude too. Clothes are kind of restricting and annoying in my opinion. If I had my way, I wouldn’t wear them most of the time.”

I watch as Shae swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Right, well, I suppose that’s… okay. As long as you keep your hands and other body parts to yourself.”

I hold my hand over my heart. “I swear.” Then I flash him a grin. “Unless, of course, you need mouth-to-mouth, then all bets are off.”

He scoffs. “In your dreams, Wolf Boy.”

Oh, my sweet siren. You have no idea!

The rest of the house is still asleep except for Harper, who we discover

calmly sipping hot tea in the kitchen. As a vampire, he doesn’t need to sleep much, especially at his age, and because of his liquid diet, there aren’t many things he can ingest other than blood. But plain teas without anything added to them seem to be fine. He tends to favor many of the green and oolong varieties and has multiple tins in the cupboard.

“Good morning, friends,” he offers in his dulcet tones. His long hair is loosely pulled up into a ponytail and he’s wearing a beautiful silk robe in a dark crimson color with a black dragon embroidered on the back. His slim, graceful fingers cradle his teacup as he sips from it lightly.

“Morning, Harper,” I say, bouncing on my toes. “We’re going swimming.”

Harper arches a dark eyebrow at me. “What a lovely idea. Make sure to take some towels with you,” he scolds. “You know how you tend to forget. Please don’t be traipsing all kinds of sand into the mudroom again.”

I rub the hair on my head and give him a sheepish look. “Sorry, Harper. I just get so excited that I tend to forget the little things.”

He sighs fondly and gives me a gentle smile. “I know, Griff.” His dark eyes flit to Shae. “Perhaps Shae can help keep you in line a little bit more.”

Shae holds up his hands. “I’m not taking on that responsibility.”

Harper gives a deep, throaty chuckle. “Fair enough.”

I lead Shae into the mudroom and grab two beach towels and some flip-flops for both of us. We head out of the mudroom door to the connecting garage. From there, we use a side door that leads to a patio and a set of stairs that will take us all the way down to the beach.

Before I know it, Shae’s flying down the stairs in front of me as if he’s training for a sprinting competition, and I have to race to catch up to him.

For a moment, I’m concerned, but when I reach his side again, I get a good look at his profile and I’m thunderstruck.

Shae’s grinning, a look I haven’t seen on his normally scowling face.

He starts ripping off his clothes and flinging them in the sand, not caring where they fall as he barrels toward the ocean like it’s promising salvation.

For an all too brief instant, I get a front-row view of his perfect naked body and beautiful, supple backside before he dives into the water with a shout of pure joy. My heart starts pumping like mad in my chest and I find it hard to breathe. Seeing my mate this happy, all I can think is that I want him to be this way always. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he’s safe and protected.

By the time I regain my wits, Shae’s already out in deeper water, and I hasten to pull off my own clothes before diving into the waves after him.

I may not be a siren, but I’m still a pretty damn good swimmer, and an even better surfer. I’m hoping I’ll get to teach Shae my passion at some point, but for now, we glide through the icy waves of the Pacific Ocean.

It’s early fall here in California, and the Pacific is much too cold for the average human to swim in, at least without a wetsuit. But most Otherkind species run hotter than the average human, and my core temperature is not easily affected by the colder temperatures of the ocean. As a Wolfkin, I’m well equipped to handle even arctic climates. Those of my kind who live in more northern regions tend to also naturally grow a thick pelt of body hair in the winter.

I’m rather grateful that I live in a milder climate because otherwise I’d have to invest in Nair hair removal cream stock. Granted, I still have a bit more hair on certain parts of my body than the average human, but it’s fine and golden, so it doesn’t stand out quite as much as darker hair would. Also, I’ve been told it’s rather nice and very soft to pet.

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