Page 44 of Cursed By a Siren's Kiss

“I’ll break it.”

“It’s not that easy…” Proteus’ words trailed off as he shut his mouth. Footsteps approached, and a second later, Kipp walked through the large double doors that sat open at our backs.

“Trouble, Captain?” Proteus asked with a smirk.

Kipp stood in the open doors, his clothing marred with dirt and debris as if he’d walked through a wicked storm to make it here. “A few of my crew were a little wild. I had to restrain them and send them back to the ship. The rest, I forced to retire for the night.” He stepped under the glow of the flickering light, and I noticed the blooming bruise along his jaw. I touched my own, wondering why I hadn’t felt the injury through our binding.

Proteus looked to me. “The magic of this island, minnow.” Turning to Kipp, he gestured to a nearby lounger. “Captain, have a seat and join us.”

“We need to leave early in the morning and should get some rest,” Kipp said with a shake of his head. The darkness hovered just beneath his skin, deepening his tone as he spoke. I felt it slither across my skin like electricity, and I clenched my teeth again, denying the urge I felt to go to him.

“Fine,” Proteus said, an amused grin lifting his lips, “But then I must make my warning now. Vicious as this lovely creature is, I am fond of her. If any harm comes to her…” He let the pleasant kindness and good host melt from his demeanor. A cold hard look clouded his gaze, promising death and destruction as he said, “There is nowhere in this sea or on this earthly plane that I will not be able to find you. I will drag you to the worst partsof Tartarus and delight in your torture should even a hair on her head be plucked intentionally by your hand or actions.” A crack of thunder roared in the clear skies, a show of his godly power as he glared across the balcony to where Kipp stood. The power strong enough that I felt nauseated for a moment in the presence of it. “Do you understand me, boy?”

Kipp looked like he wanted to fight as he locked eyes with my friend, but as I watched the dark emotions weigh over his face and the inky shadows that showed what lurked just beneath his skin, he shocked me as he simply nodded. He pressed his lips together and dipped his head in agreement before he held a hand out for me.

I stood, placing my palm into his hold and letting him take me to the room Proteus had given him.

Chapter 27

The Intense Waves

The Pirate

Iwoke with a start, feeling as if something were amiss. A sudden lack of warmth at my side. I rolled over to find Talia’s spot in the bed we’d shared empty. My body jolted into action, and I jumped out of bed, searching for her the darkened room but knowing she was gone. Worry seized me, and the growing darkness coiling within me expanded, demanding I eviscerate any who had hurt her. Binding this siren to me had side effects I hadn’t expected, but my teeth set on edge as I tugged my shirt over my head before I set out to find her. She couldn’t be far; the binding saw to that.

Or did it? While I still had a wicked bruise healing along my jaw, nothing marred the smooth skin of hers. I didn’t trust Proteus, or any of the Olympian gods, such as Dionysus. Fear lanced through me. Fear that she had decided not to help me break this curse. Fear that she had led me here to have Proteus help her break the binding. Fear that she had led me into a trap. If she proved to be as clever as she was beautiful, I wouldn’t put it past her to have found a way to break it.

As I moved silently through the halls, Dionysus’ dryads still enjoyed the night in the distance. Their song and laughter ringing into the air around me as I left the palace and crossed into the woods. The worn path led me through the trees lifting high into the sky, the song of the evening bugs ever present as I hurried through the darkness toward the beach.

I stopped just inside the tree line, the sight of her catching my breath as I watched her. She sat with her back to me, naked, her head tilted to the moon as the waves lapped at her bare feet. Purple and silver scales formed along her skin, but her legs held their shape as she simply breathed in the salty scents of the sea.

“Trying to escape?” I asked with a cautious tone as I approached. My booted feet sank into the stone with every step as I closed the distance between us.

She turned toward me, surprise lifting her brows as she spotted me. “No, actually, I just needed to feel it, the ocean, on my skin.”

“Couldn’t you just use the pond in the gardens? Or the river even?”

She laughed, turning back toward the beach. “Probably. But nothing beats an open beach beneath the silver glow of the moon.” She sighed, leaning back on her elbows as the water continued brushing against her with the rhythmic flow and ebb of the dancing sea.

I tugged my boots off and dropped them into the sand before I let the cool kiss of the tide brush against my feet, lowering myself to sit alongside her. She turned to me, her eyes sparkling with mischief and excitement before she leapt from me, diving into the frothing waves. Her head broke the choppy surface several feet away, a playful smile stretching across her face as she beckoned me to follow. I hesitated for only a moment before I dove in after her, my clothes quickly becoming drenched, clinging to my body as I swam to where I’d seen her last.

She resurfaced inches from me, a glimmering dagger in her hand. Before I could react, she held the blade against the skin of my neck, her face inches from mine. Her gaze sparkled, not with violence or maliciousness, but with desire. Her body molded against mine, her tail swishing below the waves as she pressed herself into me. Through the thin fabric of my shirt, I could feel the press of her breasts against my chest, and I felt myself throb within her hold as I smirked down into her glittering gaze.

She wrapped herself around me, her scales melting away into her human form revealing her smooth skin and toned muscles. Her legs coiled around my waist, her bare core separated from my skin by the thinnest of fabrics. A raw, fiery passion ignited within me, warring with the darkness and stealing what little control I held.

A burning need hit me as I felt her body against mine, the cold blade of her dagger pinching at my neck as her lust-filled gaze held mine. Her hair draped down the sides of my face as she lowered her mouth to my ear, her breath warm on my tender flesh as she whispered, “I have a feeling you like being threatened.”

She bit the lobe of my ear and a growl erupted from my chest as I carried her toward the beach. I answered her statement with the growing hardness of my cock, and she chuckled, the dagger still firm at my throat. I turned with her in my arms, slamming our bodies down into the sand and dislodging the dagger from her hold.

I crawled over her body, dragging my lips, my tongue across her smooth, bare skin. My mouth took gentle care with her pale breasts that heaved with breath as my tongue tasted the pink rose bud nipples. They were bared beneath the moonlight, begging for my touch, my care, as her body arched into my tender kisses. I took one into my mouth, my eyes lifted to hers asI swirled my tongue around the puckered tip, sucking the tip of it and pulling a moan from her that sent my blood boiling.

Releasing my hold on her, I began the slow trail to her other nipple, but before I reached the peak, her hands gripped my head as her hips clamped around mine. A second later, I lay beneath her, her hair curtaining her face as she peered down at me, the blade back in her hand and the tip pressing into the fabric at my chest.

My cock throbbed as her lips split into a wicked grin, her aquamarine gaze glittering as she dragged the tip to the vee neck of my shirt. She tucked the blade beneath the hem and with a jerk of her wrist, the sound of ripping fabric fell into the night as the cool air hit my bared skin.

I swore beneath her, shifting my hips as want consumed me. This vicious beauty would be my end. She arched against me, the cool tip of her blade still against my chest as she lowered her lips to my neck, trailing kisses along the crook of my neck to the lobe of my ear. I groaned as my bulge pressed against my pants and my hands fisted in the length of her hair.

Unable to take the torture of her lips against my skin any longer, I twisted her head until her lips met mine. Her blade nicked my skin, drawing blood and a hiss from me as our tongues warred against each other. I flipped her over onto her back again, needing her beneath me as our kiss deepened. Her hips lifted beneath me, and my control shattered.

---