Page 138 of The Prince from a Cruel Summer
AIDAN
The siren’s kiss infuses me with a sense of peace I’ve only read about in legends. I don’t need anything but her, and my muscles relax as I entangle my hands in her hair, ravenous for another gulp of Beth.
I’d plunged into the sea to save her from the storm only to be swept away by the current. By the time I’d managed to tell left from right or top from bottom, my lungs had become tight and painful, but not anymore.
My Songbird’s magic tingles across my shoulders, arms, and down to my core. My fire lights the water around us. Her lips are cool. Smooth. Their touch eases the pressure in my chest.
I can’t believe I ever thought she was a common Fae.
Seth’s hideous cloak is gone, the shreds of the dress that still clung to her lost to the waves, leaving her bare to me but for the black lingerie covering her breasts.
Hundreds of teal and green scales transformed her legs into a striking mermaid tail, a glorious masterpiece woven from the ocean’s magic. Each flick of her fins sent ripples of light dancing through the depths. Her hair fans around her face, dark and alive, but it’s her eyes, bright and blue and bewitching, that hold the mysteries of the deep. She isn’t just beautiful, but otherworldly—a being forged from currents and tides, a force of nature. The water hums with her essence, a quiet melody that calls to every part of me, and I know that she is my destiny, my anchor in this boundless world beneath the waves—and above.
The whiplash of my memories returning lulls into a dull ache, and the urgency to recoup the last decades and somehow make up for all the time lost takes a backseat to this kiss.
There’s no need for air when you’ve found the love of your life, and I groan when she pulls away—I would have been content to stay there forever. She gives my lips one last peck before pointing to the surface.
The ship has steadied itself against the current, the black void above our heads now forming a silvery horizon.
Beth braces her arms under mine and swims us to the surface. The power that was protecting me from the cold water breaks like a bubble being popped as we emerge, and I wipe the water from my face with a gasp.
The sky is full of stars, with no trace of the storm.
“You look...”
She blushes as she looks down at her tail. “It’s jarring, isn’t it?”
“It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”
Seth throws me a long rope, interrupting our tête-à-tête, most likely on purpose. “That’s quite a rescue mission you’ve got going on there, Aidan.”
I reluctantly grab onto the rope. “Where’s your friend?”
“Out of service. We’ll just tie her up in the hold with the kid, and we’ll be golden.” Seth offers me his hand to help me over the railing, but I grab the wire rope and jump inside, spinning around to help Beth. In the blink of an eye, her mermaid tail vanishes, replaced by her long, incredible legs…and her bare ass.
Heat creeps up my ears as my body betrays me, blood pooling in my groin, low and sudden. I strip off my undershirt and hand it to her without a word.
Beth sighs softly, tying the sleeves around her waist to shield herself from our unrelenting stares. The spell she’s cast over me hasn’t faded—it’s maddening, an ache that makes it hard not to lunge at Seth for daring to look at her.
She taps my forehead with a teasing grin. “Still jealous, I see.” Her hand falls to my bare stomach, and I cover it with mine.
“Don’t scold me.” I offer her a sheepish grin. “If I listened to my instincts, I’d do a lot worse.”
I remember everything from her unraveled braid in the labyrinth and our reckless escapades to our bitter goodbye. I recall how lost I felt the night Ethan and my parents enchanted me to forget, but I also remember everything else. All the loneliness, the loss, the grief that plagued the years in between. All the emptiness suffered.
Seth motions us to the cabin. “Imogen managed to shatter all the mirrors before I knocked her unconscious. We’re stuck on this boat now.” A knowing grin stretches his lips. “Hope you two enjoyed your skinny dipping session, but we should set sail now if we ever hope of making it back to the Summerlands in time for your coronation.”
I clear my throat and wrap my arms around my chest. “Where are we?”
“I’d say fifty miles north of the Red Forest. Even with my wind at full speed, it’ll be almost a day before we reach the shores of the Summerlands.”
“How soon can we get to the Royal Academy?” Beth asks.
“I can get us there by tomorrow night.”
I chew on my bottom lip, my hands firmly wrapped around Beth’s waist. “Anything closer in between?”
Not that I don’t like the idea of being trapped with her on a boat for the next twenty-four hours, but I still have a crown to save.
