Page 31 of Blood of the Sirens
“You care for fish here?” I asked, disbelief raising the pitch of my voice. My father had always claimed humans did nothing but kill and destroy, pollute and eat. My mate cared for the fish and animals of the ocean! She didn’t stick them with sharp harpoons or dastardly hooks!
“Well, yeah. I used to be an intern, studying marine biology. I got kicked out of the program for something stupid. The aquarium offered to keep me on, since I already know what I’m doing and all of that.”
She glanced up at me as though waiting for a reaction. I tried to analyze her words and make sense of them. I failed, but understood she was upset and that it wasn’t her fault. Had someone yelled at her like the Mike man from the boat?
“Someone kicked you out? Who are they? I will findthem. We will fix this!” I vowed. The thought of anyone laying a hand (or foot) on my Jesse was upsetting.
Her hands flew to her mouth, covering a smile. “Well, it wasn’t like that. It was a stupid religious thing. Well, sort of. The school is religious, not me. That means they can kick you out for stupid shit that normal colleges wouldn’t be bothered by. Anyway … It doesn’t matter, because they’re all hypocrites, anyway. Follow me.”
Gladly.
Jesse took me down a hallway and into a back room with benches and tall metal boxes. I enjoyed how her wet clothing clung to her body, but I tried not to stare.
“Do you mind turning around for a moment? I’m going to change,” she asked.
My mouth went dry. Did that mean she was taking her clothes off? Was she going to mate with me? It was too fast!
I turned around quickly, sitting down on the bench and trying to breathe. My mind warred with my body, tearing me in two.
You can’t mate with her!
But I wanted to.
No you don’t!
Just breathe.
Behind me, I heard her tugging and pulling, and the sound of her clothing hitting the hard floor. I swallowed, imagining what my father or someone like Aris would do. They wouldn’t sit here like a minnow and wait. They would pounce and take what they viewed as theirs. I was sure of it.
But I was not like them. I would not force Jesse to do anything. I would never put her in a situation that would leave her upset and alone. I gripped the wooden edges of the bench. I was not them. Jesse wasn’t a vessel to be used and discarded.
“Can you help with the zipper?” she asked. “Usually, I just wait until I get to the boat and Javi does it, but you’re here and all.”
I turned around. Jesse wore the same black dress from the other night. I liked how it fell softly around her body, accenting her breasts and showing the strong muscles of her legs and calves. She turned and gestured toward her back, which was bare in front of me, the fabric gaping on both sides.
I figured out quickly what she wanted, gently pulling up on the ‘zipper’ since I recognized it from my jean leggings. I couldn’t help but lean in toward her neck as I pulled it up, covering each bit of creamy skin inch by inch. When I reached the top, my head was bent, my lips hovering just above the back of her neck.
She turned her head, and I moved with her, my nose nuzzling her throat. She quietly gasped, then relaxed and leaned into me. My hands drifted to her sides, running up and down the soft fabric. She felt like heaven, her body a comforting weight against mine.
I wondered how her breasts would feel. They looked so soft and different from mine. My hand inched upwards from her waist, not wanting to push her into something if she didn’t want it.
Apparently, I moved too slowly for her tastes because she seized my wrist and pushed my hand directly on her breast.
I chuckled darkly, the edge of my fang brushing against her skin on her throat. I couldn’t help it. The urge to bite and claim was so strong. I focused on her breast instead, feeling its weight in my hand. My fingers played with the little hardened nub at the tip, and her body went rigid against me. My other arm went across her pelvis, pulling her in tight against me. The scent of arousal filled the surroundingair.
“Do you like that?” I whispered, my voice unrecognizable as it purred darkly at her.
She nodded and I pinched that nub. She gasped, and her scent abruptly switched to fear.
I dropped her instantly, as though I’d been burned. “Jesse, what—”
“What have we here?” A human male strutted into the room from around the corner of metal boxes behind me. From the angle, Jesse had seen him first. That had been what scared her, and not anything I had done.
Oddly enough, this male seemed angry. Furious, even. I was just as angry at him for disrupting my time with Jesse and causing her alarm.
The terror rolled off Jesse in waves, her fear a thick stench in my nose. I instinctively stepped in front of her. The male was shorter than me and not very muscled. If we fought, he would lose.
The thought stretched a smirk across my face and I stood taller, assured of my victory.
