Siren Song (5 page)

Chloe had used her powers to make men want her before. She’d made men fawn over her, and cheer for her songs, and buy her drinks at the bar. She’d never tried anything like this.
Swim away,
she thought.
Get away from here now!

But Alex just bobbed up and down in the water beside her while Sophia cried, “Chloe!”

That break in Sophia’s siren song was the chance Chloe needed. She pressed her wet shivering lips against Alex’s mouth and felt him stop struggling. He was completely under her power now. Or so she hoped. Chloe tried again.
Swim away! Swim away!

Of course, she hadn’t thought he’d take her with him. The powerful propulsion of his body as he hastened to her command was like a rocket through the water. He dragged her, and for one thrilling moment, it was like riding atop a killer whale. Then his arms clasped around her and he pulled her under.

His grip was so strong she couldn’t break it. She kicked to pull free, already panicking that she didn’t have enough air in her lungs, and not sure if he was even conscious of his actions. She held her breath, praying that he’d break the surface again. Feeling the rush of water over her face, her arms, her legs. Ripples of water, scales of fish, scrape of silt. He only dived deeper.

He was going to kill her, she thought. She was going to drown in his arms. As she clawed at him to release her, she heard him say, “As long as you hold on to me, you can breathe the water.”

She hadn’t expected to be able to hear anything other than the rush of the ocean as it filled her ears, but his words were as clear as if they were standing next to one another on land. “Breathe, Chloe. Breathe.”

There was no way she was going to try that! The few times she’d inhaled pool water as a kid had been extremely unpleasant, but now her lungs were burning. She needed air! A moment later, she was thrashing again, her survival instinct to get away from him and break the surface stronger than anything else. Bubbles blew out her mouth and nose, but it was only a little relief. Her eyes were squeezed shut and now speckles danced against the blackness.

“Trust me, Chloe.”

She had no choice. Taking in that first big breath of water may have just been the hardest thing she’d ever done, but oh what sweet relief! Her lungs filled and she gasped, her breathing erratic. But she
was
breathing. Water!

“Open your eyes,” he said.

Chloe didn’t even like to open her eyes in a nice clean chlorinated pool, but she’d trusted Alex this far. A radiant halo of sunlight filtered through the clear water and she saw a huge, spiked exotic fish swim by. Behind him, a reef of fire coral glowed orange while lacy sea fans swayed with the current. It was all so lovely! The water felt different, more slippery against her skin. Warmer. “Where are we?”

“Bermuda.”

The drag of the water on her eyelashes as she blinked was a surreal, almost erotic sensation. “But—“

“I swim very fast. Faster than anything mortals know…”

“Wait, we’re—“

“Safe,” he said. “For now. Thanks to you.”

“That’s right.
Thanks to me.
” She supposed she should’ve been gracious, but she still remembered the way he’d looked at her just before he slammed out of his house and into Sophia’s trap. “You were
saved by a siren.
Bet that sticks in your craw, doesn’t it?”

“You didn’t know about Sophia?”

“Of course I didn’t know!” It hurt almost as much for him to have believed otherwise than it did to realize it was the plain truth. How she could have been so close to Sophia and never guessed what was happening?

“I suppose I have to believe you, because I’m still under your siren spell—and hers.”

Chloe glared. “I’d have thought I kissed away any thoughts you might have had of her.”

“She’s a very powerful siren,” he said. “You might have to try harder.”

Was he teasing her? In the water, some of the serious lines of his face had gone to something more predatory. Underwater, he was sexier than she could have ever imagined— “Oh, God.”

“What’s wrong?”

“If I look down…am I going to see your big…fishy tail?”

“Would that turn you on?”

“Um, I think that’s kind of an obscure fetish.” Then a worse thought occurred to her. “Please tell me you don’t have tentacles.”

“No tentacles. I only use the tail for swimming. Tritons have a panoply of disguises. I can have crab claws. Winged brows. I can even become a hippocamp.”

“A what?”

“A fish-tailed horse.”

“Okay,
that
I wanna see.”

“Maybe later. First, I want to show you something.”

Under the water, he turned her so that her back was against his chest and stretched her arms to the side. The ocean floor was covered with starfish. It was like snorkeling together—a whole foreign world of wonder opened up before her eyes. A rainbow of brightly colored fish fanned out beneath her feet. It was beautiful. So beautiful! Then she saw it. Something was off, unexpected, a strange inclusion in an otherwise undisturbed wild ocean frontier. “What are those blocks in the shallows? Is that an underwater road?”

“It’s the Bimini Road. It leads to my home.”

There was a haunting beauty to it, like the ruins of some ancient civilization that had been swallowed by the sea.

“I can’t see more than the road,” she confessed.

“Neither can I. It is all beyond the mortal veil now. I sense them, but I can’t see them, or hear them. This is as close as I can come to bringing you home with me.”

For him to share this with her tightened her belly with…want. He seemed to feel it, too. He caressed her, his body enfolding her like some exotic underwater dance. Moments later, she felt herself surfing through pink sand. They came to rest on a deserted beach, tangled together in seaweed and need. She felt his hardness against her, and rose up on her hands to push back against him. He only had to lift the wet shirt to enter her from behind, and she felt her hips cradled in his as he sank all the way into her.

Their first time had been gentle, tentative and filled with longing. This was something altogether different. He needed her…and she needed him to treat her not like a wounded girl, like something broken, tarnished, or fragile. But like a woman he could trust. She met him thrust for thrust, as if to convince him that his nature was safe with her. That he could be just who he was.

He was close now. Gasping. His erection pulsing inside her, and it felt so damned good. The waves pushed her forward in the surf, water hissing all around them as Alex’s hand tightened on her hip. The other one reached beneath her, stroking her most private places. He came first, jerking against her, the godlike muscles of his arms pinning her in place. But moments later, as she felt the heat of his orgasm fill her, her own pleasure overwhelmed her. She cried out and he made a fist of her hair, pulling her head back into a kiss. Salt and sweetness. Primal.
Hers.

Afterward, Alex cradled her in his arms beneath the shade of a palm tree.

“I take it I’ve broken Sophia’s spell?” she asked.

“Thoroughly,” he said, kissing her. He couldn’t seem to
stop
kissing her. “You’re the only siren for me.”

“We’re going to have to go back to Annapolis…”

Right now, Alex was feeling so content that he didn’t see why they ever had to go back. They could just stay here in Bermuda in a little shack on the beach, making love in the mornings, swimming in the afternoons, feasting upon fish and coconut milk in the evenings by a fire. But Chloe said, “I feel like, if I could just talk to Sophia…if I could get her to understand that she never had to carry this by herself all these years…I could get her some help. If I can’t get through to her, what are we going to do?”

It was a good question. Sophia was deadly and dangerous. Without Chloe’s song, he would have blown his brains out and the memory made him itch for vengeance. For Chloe’s sake, he swallowed it down. And with her in his arms, looking up at him, it was as if his entire worldview had changed. He
did
have a duty. He had his commission, his students, and even if he’d never see his home again, he was still a triton. Sirens
were
his concern. “I’m just going to have to find a way to stop her before she kills anybody else.”

“Well, you’re not going to do it alone,” Chloe said.

“Chloe, she’s a dangerous woman—“

“Yes. And now, because of me, you’re even more vulnerable to her than you were before. So, you may not have your triton brotherhood anymore but you have me, and we’ll deal with Sophia together.”

It was the word Alexandros had been missing for a very long time. “
Together
, then.”

“Don’t just say it,” she said. “I want you to mean it.”

“I do mean it. Remember the Bimini Road I showed you, under the water? When I look at that road, I remember the great spiraling coral towers. The pearled gates and the giant urns filled with pink sea anemones. I can’t see them anymore, and I can’t go back—“

“I’m so sorry—“

He put his hand up, stopping her. He didn’t want pity. He was trying to explain something, and having trouble finding the words. “I’m always going to miss the brotherhood. I’m never going to forget my family, my friends, or Poseidon. But being with you gives me something to look forward to. It’s like coming home again.”

She propped herself up on her elbow. “Don’t say things like that. I’m the kind of girl who would totally believe you. Heartbroken musicians write the best songs, but I already have enough angst to fill my creative well.”

“You’re going to be the heartbreaker, Chloe,” he said with a wry laugh. “You’re going to be a huge star. When that happens, you’re not going to want a starchy naval officer hanging around, scaring off your groupies.”

“Pfft. After all this, you think I’m going to just let you go? Besides, you could just be
nice
to my groupies.”

A little growl rumbled at the base of his throat. “No, I don’t think I can.”

“You could try.”

“I’ll try,” he said.

After all, for her, he’d do just about anything.