The Sheik and the Siren (Elemental Series) (2 page)

“Eb
ba! Ebba-Tyne,” called out Sir John from the shore, waving his left arm – his only arm, trying to gain her attention. “A ship is trying to make it through the straits. ’Tis our lucky day.”

Ebba didn’t feel so lucky. But
she knew what she had to do. In order to protect what little they had left, as well as the precious and magical crystal dolphin inside the coral cave, she had to distract the approaching ship. She had to be a part of this larcenous plan, like it or not. She couldn’t allow anyone to find the crystal, as it could be dangerous in the wrong hands. And while she didn’t like stealing, she had to help the men to survive. She was responsible for her father’s castle as well as his men now. It was up to her to protect them and provide for them after all their loyal years of service to her father, the late Lord Marcus.

“Sing, Ebba-Tyne. Distract them w
hile we approach the ship!” Sir John readied the misfit band of men, as they climbed into their small wooden boats, meaning to pillage the approaching trade-ship. Once again, Ebba found herself doing as the men asked. She had no choice. If she had to use her siren’s song in a deceitful manner to help them and protect the coral cave, then she would.

She
waited til her men had put wool in their ears in order not to be distracted by her song. The she opened her mouth and sang her haunting tune. The tune that her mother had taught her. She sang out, her voice drifting on the fog, echoing over the water. Once again, the treacherous act of deceit, luring and mesmerizing foolish sailors had begun.

Tied to the center mast, Ace’s heart beat quickly as the faint sound of the siren’s song floated across the water and to his ears. His men were thankfully safely in the hold, their own ears plugged by coarse wool. But he could hear every alluring beautiful, haunting note as a woman’s voice surrounded the air around him and about drove him from his mind.

She sang about
the water and of the life beneath the sea. She sang of a coral cave and something about a mystical, magical crystal dolphin. He took it all in and tried to remember every word. But he found it hard to concentrate, as the bulge beneath his tunic distracted him and all he could think of was that he had to get this siren of the seas into his bed. He needed to take her, and he needed her badly. On the deck. In the water. It didn’t matter where, but all he knew was that his body cried out to mate with her and he needed to go toward the sound of her singing. Nothing else mattered anymore but this – nay, nothing at all.

He pulled at the ropes that bound him
, unable to move, making him shout out in frustration.

“Arrrgggghhh!” If he didn’t have her soon, he swore he would burst. And if Boots hadn’t tied him to the mast, he’d have dove in
to the water by now and be swimming toward the rocky crags straight toward the sound of the siren and toward his death as well.

“Show yourself
!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. “Come to me, my siren of the sea. I hear your voice. I want you – I need you.” He looked toward the bulkhead of the ship but could see naught through the thick fog.

The
humid salt air weighed heavy on his lungs and he felt as if he could barely breathe. The winds had oddly diminished, and the ship barely moved now. All was silent – too silent around him and he felt as if he were in the eye of a very deadly storm. If he was to stay here, dead in the water and haunted by her alluring song much longer, he’d chew through the ropes just to get to her, he swore he would.

Then he saw the oddest thing.
A long line of dead fish, which the ship was about to cross over. And once the bow of the Paradigm crossed this line of death, a gale of wind blasted from nowhere, hitting the larboard – the loading side of the ship so hard, the masts and sails were nearly touching the water on the opposite starboard side. One more gust of wind and the ship shot forward, moving at a good clip straight through Death’s Door.

The plan was now in
motion and even if he wanted to, he could do naught to stop it. They were in Death’s Door now, with the song of the siren driving him mad. And he prayed he’d been accurate in plotting the course, because if not, he would have not only sentenced himself to death, but by his own hand he would have taken the lives of every man on his ship as well.

Rain now pelted him in the face, his long hair whipping, and stinging him in the eyes. His hands over his head, he could do naught to stop it. And that damned siren’s song still floated on the breeze and e
choed in his head, calling him closer . . . closer . . . to his death.

Then, when he thought he would burst with want from a nymph he had never even seen, the sound of grappling hooks hitting the starboard side of the ship caught his attention. Someone meant to board. He couldn’t even believe this.
How could it be true?

Then, the hands and dirtied
faces and bodies of a dozen broken men made their appearance as they hoisted themselves over the side rail and climbed aboard his ship. The men were scarred, obviously from a furious battle. Some were missing fingers, and one man was missing an entire arm. Several of them had eye patches and one was missing his leg from the knee down, a wooden peg tied to his stump in its place.

“What is this?” he called out. “Who are you and what do you want?”

They seemed surprise he was talking to them. Even more surprised he was tied to his own ship. That amused them and they laughed, taking wool from their ears as they scurried aboard.

“You can’t do anything to stop us, you
fool!” said one, picking up a skein of rope and ripping a canvas covering from over a barrel and tossing them over the side into one of their boats. They proceeded to take his fishing net. Next, they cut free and rolled a barrel of wine over the deck, obviously meaning to take that as well.

“Where’s your cargo
?” asked a man who was built like a retaining wall with a long scar across the side of his entire face. “You are a trade ship, are you not?”

“I’ll not tell you a thing, now leave my ship anon or I’ll . . .”

“You’ll what?” said the man with the peg leg, smiling and spitting at Ace’s feet. He had a dagger in his hand and held it up in front of Ace’s face. “We’ll take your provisions too as well as the clothes on your back.” He reached over with the dagger as if he meant to cut the clothes right off of Ace.

“Leave him be!” called a female voice from the side of the ship. “Get the goods and let’s be on our way. You are not to harm any of them, do you understand?
That is not our purpose here.”

Ace turned his head to see a
young woman with alabaster skin lifting her body over the side of the ship. She had large brown eyes and long black lashes, and light pink lips that looked like a little bow. Her hair was long and wavy, and a blue-black, mostly blue, that reminded him of the color of the sea. It hung in front of her body, covering her chest. With one brush of her hand to push it away, it was almost like she was tempting him purposely, as his eyes traveled quickly from her face scanning her entire being.

She stood there nearly
naked, just a small, thin linen shift covering her body. It hung only halfway down to her knees. It was white and wet, and left naught to the imagination, and he couldn’t help his eyes from settling on the two pink spots beneath the fabric just atop her large rounded swells. He also noticed a dark patch showing through her shift at the juncture of her thighs and would bet a bag of gold that it was blue as well.

“Who are you?” she asked curiously, gliding barefooted over the de
ck toward him, not at all affected by the ship rocking to and fro. A necklace made from shells was around her neck and clicked together as she walked toward him. Shells of many sizes and colors were interwoven in her long hair, as well as starfish and an occasional strand of seaweed. She looked like she was a part of the sea. He found himself drinking in her beauty as she stopped right in front of him and her eyes looked to the depths of his very soul.

The band of men were now ransacking his ship,
having found some of the provisions and throwing barrels of apples and nuts over the side of the ship and into their boats, eating as they pillaged his wares.

“I said . . . who are you?” she asked once again, coming even closer. When he didn’t answer, she started once again to sing
softly so only he could hear her, and though he didn’t think he could grow any harder, he was wrong. His arousal strained beneath his braies, making his tunic stick out like a sail filled with wind. She noticed it as well, and smiled.

“Stop,” he cried out, shaking his head back and forth, straining at the ropes. Damn, why’d he tell Boots to tie the knot
s so tight? “Stop and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

She stopped singing, he
r eyes still boring into him as she surveyed him as if she had never seen a man before, though a dozen of them just boarded at her side. “All right then,” she said with a slight nod of her head, “so speak.”

He wasn’t used to taking orders from anyone, and especially not a woman. But for some reason, he felt as if he would do anything she asked of him, no matter how farfetched at this moment and would never question her command.
“I am Ace, the Lion of the Sea,” he said. “And tell me siren, what is your name as well?”

“You don’t need to know that,” she said, leaning over seductively and letting her breath caress his ear as she spoke. “I see you were brave enough to not block your ears from my song. As well as smart enough to tie yourself to the mast so you wouldn’t be tempted to come after me and therefore drown.”

“I want you,” he blurted out, not able to keep his desire a secret any longer. “Take me, right here, right now,” he begged her, not able to control his insane lust for this alluring woman.

“Where’s the rest of your crew?” she asked, looking around.
“Did they already jump ship?”

“Nay,
” he answered, but gave her no more information. He didn’t need to. She looked deep into his eyes again, seeming to be probing his mind for the answer.

“His
crew is in the hold,” she called out to her thieves. “But don’t worry, they can’t hear us.”

Ace wished now he’d not given Boots the order to stay below no matter what happened.
Of course he didn’t know he’d be having so many visitors aboard the Paradigm today either, or mayhap he would have reconsidered.

“They’ve been told to stay below no matter what happens,” she relayed to her men.

“Stop it!” he said, angered that she was reading his mind, not knowing how she was doing it. He felt out of control and vulnerable under her perusal, of not only his body but his mind as well. He only hoped she wouldn’t find out about the precious cargo in his cabin of exotic spices and fine linens that he’d put there for safety. Nor about the bag of coins and gold.

“Don’t go
in the hold,” she told her men, “it could be too dangerous if they choose to fight. Instead, get to the captain’s quarters anon. There you’ll find gold coins, exotic spices and fine linens. Be careful with them, as these are the most valuable items. Now go! Collect them and let’s get out of here,” she told them. “Quickly!”

“How can you do that?” he asked her. “How can you read my mind?” His heart beat rapidly as she leaned forward, her body now pressing against his. He could feel t
he swell of her breasts and her taut nipples right through his tunic. And then she reached up and ran her hands down his arms that were extended above his head.

“You
have nice arms, as well as a sturdy chest.” She brushed her fingertips past his nipples, making him flinch and about driving him from his mind. Then her hands grazed his outer thighs and slipped around to his backside, as she gave him a playful squeeze. He lurched forward, only managing to thrust his erection right against her. Her eyes opened wide and she jumped back, looking down to his large desire to lay with her.

“You obviously want me, Sea Lion,” she said.

He released his breath and bit his bottom lip so hard he thought it would bleed.

“Lion of the Sea,” he corrected her
in a low voice, “not . . . sea lion.” By the gods, she knew how to roil him in more ways than one.

“Same thing,” she said with a half smile.

“’Tis not the same,” he told her. “I command the sea, I am not a damned seal.”

“
You
command the sea?” She started laughing then, finding him amusing for some reason.

“Damn,” he swore when he saw her men leaving with the goods from his cabin
, parading right in front of him. “God’s eyes! Not my sword too,” he cried out, seeing that pass by him as well. Now he wished he’d left it at his side instead of putting it in his cabin so he wouldn’t be able to free himself. And to make matters worse, the man with the peg leg walked by holding up Ace’s favorite tunic, measuring it against his chest. Right behind him, and the man with the eye patch had in his grip Ace’s lucky deck of cards.

“
I find you . . . interesting,” she said, reaching up and brushing her lips past his in a wisp of a tantalizing kiss. Vibrations ran rampantly through him, sending a delightful shiver all the way down his body.

He squeezed his eyes closed
and licked his lips, savoring the exotic flavor of the siren. She tasted salty like the sea yet sweet like a honeyed mead all at the same time. She smelled like fresh air and sunshine though it was dark and raining all around them. His hair hung wet and limp around his shoulders, dripping with cold, wet water. And though she was wet as well, she still looked beautiful, more beautiful than any girl he’d ever seen. She was a goddess of the sea, and he’d not only heard her siren’s song, but he’d also kissed her. Damn, if her men hadn’t just stolen his sword and cargo, this day would be perfect indeed.