Page 50 of Cursed By a Siren's Kiss

“Grab the spears!” I bellowed to my men, and my ship clamored into motion at my back as waves of panic and dread spread through my veins like ice. A sharp, sudden pain ripped through my chest like a knife and my knees slammed into the deck as crimson blossomed from my chest. My heart felt like it was being torn apart as my breath heaved from my chest and my fingers curled around the rails of my ship to hold me steady.

A swirl of purple in the water spread like ink in the churning blue sea. It resembled blood, and my gut clenched in terror. What color did a siren bleed when they were in their true form? I had no idea, but Talia flayed within this monster’s tight hold and fear engulfed me at the thought of her being torn apart by this foul creature.

My heart hammered against my ribcage as I pulled myself up over the railing and leaned over it, debating whether or not I should jump into the unknown waters after her. My mind raced, and I struggled to take a deep breath. Talia was shoved beneath the surface again as an ear shattering roar tore through the silence, and I decided to hell with this and threw myself over the railing. I plunged into the cold waters, kicking out immediately as I pushed myself toward the beast. I couldn’t stand the thought of not knowing what had happened to her.

My head broke the surface and the waters had stilled. Both beast and siren gone. The only sign that either of them had been there a moment ago was the still churning waves. I pulled my curved sword from its scabbard at my side and dove deeper, searching the water for any sign of her or the creature but finding nothing. No Kraken. No siren. Just a trail of blood sinking deep into the waters, so far down that even the light couldn’t penetrate that far.

For a moment, I wondered if I should just let my air run out as I floated deep beneath the surface, the pain of my lungs already like a blade within my chest. I hovered there until movement beneath me approached fast, almost a blur of motion. I twisted in the water, preparing to swim toward the surface, to my ship, but a smooth hand pressed at the small of my back, stilling me.

Turning, I saw Talia, her magnificent tail swishing in the water as her eyes met mine. Her hair floated around her head and a severed tentacle still clenched around her waist, a trail ofdark blood leaking from it and down into the depths from which she’d just come.

Get on the ship and hang on. I will get us out of here. Drop the sails. Nod if you understand me.

Her lips didn’t move, but I heard her voice inside my head. My lungs were bursting with their lack of breath, but I nodded as her sharp grip wrapped around my arm. She gave a kick of her long tail, propelling us toward the surface and launching us both from the sea. The wind whistled past my ear as our bodies twisted around each other until we slammed into the deck of my ship with a brutal force that knocked the breath of air I’d just sucked in from my lungs.

I flipped over onto all fours, water heaving from my lungs as I gasped for air. Panic bloomed within me as I watched with widened eyes as she launched herself back into the water without hesitation. I didn’t even make it to my feet before I shouted at my crew to, “Pull down the sails!” I put my full trust in this siren who still wore one of the Kraken’s tentacles like a god damn belt.

My crew pulled at the ropes as they did my bidding, and as I climbed to my feet, I watched the ocean explode in front of us as a monster the size of six full ships burst from the surface. Its tentacles stretched toward our ship, but before it could reach us, it was pulled backward with such a force, a massive wave crested from the displaced water. The impact rocked us violently, nearly tipping us over, but Patton held the helm and guided the ship, keeping us afloat as the crew scrambled along the soaked deck.

Shouts lifted into the air all around me as my crew prayed to the gods to save them, their hands tying down ropes as they secured the ship. A line of my greatest warriors lined the railing, their hands gripping spears as they await their chance to aim true. I sprung into action, my hands wrapping around the ropes as my gaze kept a constant watch on the battle waging beneaththe waves. The water once again calmed but the tension hung heavy in the air.

“Great gods,” Camilla said as she clung to the mast, the wind whipping past us as my ship rocked in the churning sea.

Tentacles lifted and slammed into the water, cracking through the air and making my ears bleed from the force of the shock wave. My grip tightened on the netting lifting to the mast as water frothed across the deck of my ship, tidal waves cresting with every crash of the Kraken’s arms.

The monster’s bulbous head broke the surface of the water, its rows of sharpened teeth filled with the bones and skin of its previous victims as it set its beady gaze onto my ship. My chin tilted skyward as I watched it raise above the sea, its tentacled arms roiling beneath it, frothing the sea into a chaos that threatened to capsize us. My men stilled around me, their grips tightening on whatever they could hold onto as we all realized the same thing.

We had no hope of defeating such a creature.

Talia exploded out of the sea with a ferocity that defied all logic, her siren form launching through the air with a blade gripped within her palm. It winked in the sunlight as she came down onto its head, her empty hand clawing a hold onto its face as she plunged the sharpened tip of her weapon into the Kraken’s eye and directly into its brain. It shrieked, a sound that sent a chill down my spine as I watched with my jaw slackened as she pulled the blade free and slammed it back into place again and again.

“Watch out!” I screamed as one of its arms slammed toward her.

She moved at the last second, her tail coiling as she pushed herself around its face. Her dagger pierced into its skull elsewhere, and she wrapped both her hands around the hilt, swinging her body and dragging the blade in a long slice thatspilled inky blood into the sea. With every pull on her weapon, the Kracken’s tentacles slowed until it gave a dying shout and fell back into the sea, the water roiling as it sunk, bringing Talia along with it.

My heart raced as I watched the water that eventually calmed. No one moved at my back, my tension palpable as I waited for sign of my siren. “There!” I shouted, turning toward the men closest to me. “Lower the plank!”

They jolted into action, lowering the platform. Something was wrong. The vigor she’d showed as she single-handedly fought the creature no longer was present as she slowly moved through the sea, pulling herself atop the plank with arms that trembled. She lay back on the board, her naked chest heaving as she caught her breath while my men hoisted her back to the deck of our ship.

My mouth fell open in a mix of shock, disbelief, and relief as she toppled onto deck, her tail still and her hair splayed around her head. Her scales faded into smooth skin, and I couldn’t help but stare as she lifted herself onto her elbows, her chin tilting with defiance as she completed her transformation back into her human self. Her naked body lay sprawled on the deck at my feet, and I just stared down at her.

I was torn between fear and desire for this fierce and dangerous vixen before me. My body betrayed me as I shook my head, my cock hardening as my want and desire consumed me. In all the years I’d lived, I’d never wanted someone as badly as I wanted her right now. The blade at her side held the inky blood of the monster she’d just slain, and I was incredibly turned on by all that I’d just witnessed.

“What are you?” I asked, my words forming the words as I stepped closer. What I really wanted to say to her was I want to fuck your viciousness so hard, but I refrained. My crew stood all around us.

She stood, lifting the blade she’d used as she smirked at me. She placed the weapon into my hold, then turned from me, walking away and disappearing below deck. Her hips swayed, and I so enjoyed the sight of her ass as she moved across the deck. That darkness within me expanded as if it approved of this vicious creature tempting me, and as I adjusted myself again, my length throbbing uncomfortably, I had to agree. My long dead, dark heart beat as an emotion stirred within. Something I hadn’t felt in centuries.

Chapter 30

The Sweet Torture

The Siren

The Kraken had been my father’s favorite creation, and I’d killed it. If he hadn’t already planned to overthrow my claim to the throne, this act wouldn’t help my stance with him any. I’d felt the beast tracking us since we’d left Proteus’ Island, so I didn’t really have much choice. I’d dove into the water, letting it capture me to give it a false sense of victory, and then I’d infuriated it by cutting its tentacles from its body one-by-one. I couldn’t let it sink the ship, not with my life tied to Kipp’s the way that it was. Keeping the pirate alive in the middle of the ocean without a ship would be nearly impossible, especially with my father’s creatures searching for me.

I’d claimed my power weeks ago on that beach, but this had been the first time I’d used it. The first time I’d let it pulse through my veins, through my siren form as I lashed out at the beast beneath the sea. My body so much smaller than its monstrous size, and yet my power propelled me through the water like a bullet, my blade and claws slashing and hacking at ituntil I’d used my god given strength to shove that sword into its massive skull repeatedly.

The power I’d used, it made me deadly, and for the first time in my life, I feared myself and the darkness coiling around my heart. It made me a threat to everyone around me, including my father. Power like that, enough to single-handedly take down one of the god’s favorite monsters… I shook my head as I peered out the window of Kipp’s private cabin.

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