The Sheik and the Siren (Elemental Series) (4 page)

“I don’t believe this absurdity,” she said, carefully putting the crystal dolphin back into her hiding place within the barrel sponge. There was no way this could be true. Mayhap her scrying ability was warped since this was the first time she’d ever done it, and wasn’t
even sure if she’d done it correctly.

She swam out of the cave and thr
ough the water, trying to get far away from the crystal dolphin and the visions she’d just seen. Part of her was repelled by the whole idea, but a tingling in her chest only reminded her she was fooling herself if she thought she never wanted to see the man named Ace again.

Chapter 3

Ace sat slumped over the table in the
Dragon’s Breath
Pub
on the coast of Lornoon. He’d been here drinking all night, not able to get the siren out of his mind. He’d been embarrassed and severely set back by the loss of almost half his wares, not to mention his sword and also the coin he needed to provide to the merchants, and to pay his port fee. Any profit he’d made had disappeared at the hands of the siren’s men as well. He hadn’t relayed that part of the story to the men in the pub, only the fact he’d not only heard the siren’s song, but seen and kissed her as well.

“Tell us again,” said a man deeper in his cups than Ace at the moment, wandering over and
settling himself across from him at the table he occupied. He threw down a coin and nodded to the alewife to bring another round of drinks. Men had been throwing coins at him all night wanting him to repeat the story, and for this he was glad as he hadn’t even a copper to buy himself a drink.

“
So, what was it like ta bed the siren?” asked the man, leaning over as if he didn’t want to miss a word.

“I didn’t bed her – not y
et,” Ace said staring into his wooden cup of wine. He preferred wine over ale, having drank it most his life growing up in Tamaris and in the house of Sheik Talib ibn Tamman.

“She was beautiful,” said Ace, reliving the moment. “She had alabaster skin and blue hair.”

“Blue hair?” asked the drunkard, looking at him with a sour expression. “You have had too much to drink,” he said, getting up and stumbling away, mumbling about the absurdity of blue hair.

“’Tis true,” he said into his drink. “She had blue hair and tasted like a goddess of the sea.”

“Asad?”

Ace turned to see Lord Drake standing there.

“’Tis Ace now, not Asad,” he told him and pointed to the chair. “Join me. What are you doing in Lornoon?”

Drake Pendragon settled himself on the chair across from Ace.
He was a feared and hated man in Lornoon at one time, as well as his wife. But now, since the slaying of the dragon, they were both admired and also accepted. “I was passing through and heard talk that you were here.”

If there was one man Ace could trust with his secrets, it was Drake – the man who’d saved his life and to whom he’d served as squire. Drake had also knighted Ace just over a year ago.

“Really.” Ace wondered what kind of tongue wagging was going on that even Lord Drake had already heard it. “And what exactly did you hear?”

“Well . . . Ace,” said Drake rubbing his chin and trying to hide the fact he was snickering behind his hand. “Tell me about this
siren who held you captive . . . Sea Lion.” He burst out laughing this time and Ace didn’t like it one bit.

He slammed his cup down on the table, wine flying in all directions. “’Tis not Sea Lion, it is Lion of the Sea!”

“Oh, calm down, you fool,” said Drake wiping the wine from the front of his tunic. An alewife came and placed a tankard of ale in front of him.

“For you, Lord Drake. We are hap
py to have you visiting Lornoon,” she said. “And where is your lovely wife if I may ask?”

“Many thanks,” he said, with a nod of his head. “And Brynn is back in Thorndale with the baby.
I am here today alone.”

“Bring me more wine,” said Ace, raising his hand in the air.

The alewife looked at the mess on the table and scooped up the overturned cup. “Looks to me like you’ve had enough wine . . . Sea Lion.”

Ace felt his anger rising, and was halfway to his feet when Drake grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

“Just bring him an ale,” Drake told the woman, dismissing her with a nod.

“I’ll kill
that fool Boots for telling everyone that siren’s silly name for me.”

“Asad – Ace, I mean, you need to control your temper.”

“I can’t. That siren has taken hold of my mind and I no longer have any control over how I feel. She’s got me growing beneath my braies constantly.”

The alewife laid the tankard on the table, overhearing his conversation. She shook her head in horror and hurried away.

“She’s a fae, is she not?” asked Drake.

“Aye,
how did you know?”

“I’m married to one, don’t forget. Men cannot control their sexual urges when they’re around fa
es. They bring out the best in us, so to say.”

“This one brings out the worst in me. And I hate her little name, calling me Sea Lion. ’Tis so embarrassing.”

“Tell me about her,” said Drake, raising the tankard to his mouth.

“She’s beautiful,” said Ace, staring into his tankard feeling like
an addlepated fool. “More beautiful and more exotic than any of the women from my homeland. She has alabaster skin and blue-black hair . . . mostly blue. And eyes that can look deep into my soul and know what I’m thinking.”

“Aye, that sounds like the powers of an elemental alright.”

“Exactly,” said Ace excitedly. “She can command the water with a mere flick of her wrist and she can communicate with dolphins by her mind alone.”

“What’s her name?”
he asked curiously.

“Ebba-Tyne.”
Her name sounded musical as rolled off his tongue.

Drake looked up suddenly and placed his mug on the table. “That’s Brynn’s friend. The last of the four elementals that Brynn and the dryad and the sylph have been looking for. She’ll be happy to know you’ve found her. You are planning on bringing her back to the mainland I am guessing.”

“I am planning on going to Dolphin Island and collecting what she and her thieves have stolen from my ship.”

“What?” asked
Drake. “Are you telling me she’s some sort of pirate?”

“She works with a band of maimed men who cannot fight so they decide to steal instead. They got nearly half my cargo from my last overseas trade.”

“And you couldn’t fight off a band of maimed men led by a woman? I’ve seen you go up against a dragon without flinching. You are a lion with that sword in your hand. There is no way they could have outfought you and your crew.”

“Well, they did,” he mumbled into his ale.

“What?” said Drake. “Are you telling me the Lion of the Sea lost a battle to . . .”

“Nay!” He looked around and then lowered his voice, hoping no one had heard them. “What I’m saying is – I didn’t have my sword.”

“You always have your sword at your side. I taught you that the day I brought you from Tamaris. Where the hell was it?”

“In my cabin – at first. Until they stole it.”

“Your sword was stolen?” he asked in amazement. “That is a knight’s most prized possession. Why the hell didn’t you go after them?”

“I couldn’t. My hands were . . . tied.”

“What are you saying? Someone stopped you?”

“Nay. My hands were tied – literally.” He quaffed down the ale and looked up to see Drake holding back a laugh and
raising his eyebrows.

“I cannot wait
to hear the rest of it. Please . . . keep me in suspense no longer.”

“I was tied to the
center mast, and I couldn’t do a damned thing to stop them.”

“She tied you up?” Drake asked quizzically. “She sounds feistier than my own little fae.”

“Nay,” he answered with a shake of the head. “Boots tied me up.”

“Now I really need to know the rest of the story,” said Drake, motioning for the alewife to bring another round of drinks. He pulled a coin from his pouch and handed it to her. “Wait,” he said as she started to walk aw
ay. He pulled another worth ten times the amount from his pouch next and held it up in front of her. Her eyes as well as her whole face lit up.

“Did ye want somethin’ else fer that milord?” she asked.

“Just for you to keep what you’ve heard about this good man to yourself, that’s all.”

She looked at Ace with a disgusted look
upon her face, then snatched the coin from Drake. Aye, thank ye milord,” she grumbled and headed across the room.

“Now, tell me why you were tied up. Please. I cannot wait to hear.”

“I wanted to be the first to hear the siren’s song and live to tell about it,” Ace admitted. “I had Boots tie me to the mast and they hid below deck with wool in their ears.”

“And they were obviously not aware
that above deck your ship was being pillaged.”

“Nay.
As well as I. The way that girl tempted me – even kissing me . . . I feel . . .”

“Ravished?” asked Drake with a chuckle. “Or perhaps violated or embarrassed?”

“Nay. Aroused. Very aroused. And now I can think of naught but going back. Even if she did threaten to kill me if I returned.”

“Aye,” said Drake nodding his head. “That sounds just like a fae. And like it or not, I’d say you’ve fallen in to the same trap as the rest of us.”

“Trap? What do you mean?”

“You can’t get away from her now for anything. You’ll drive yourself mad until you’ve
had the girl, and once you’ve had her, you’ll only find yourself wanting more. She’s got you under her power and there’s naught you can do about it now, just face it. What a fae wants . . . a fae gets.”

“That’s not true,” he said,
never wanting a woman to have power over him, though he knew she did. “She doesn’t control my actions at all. I am going back but only to collect my sword and the cargo they’ve stolen. After I retrieve it – I’ll want naught to do with the siren ever again.”

“That’s what you think,” mumbled Drake into his ale.

“What say you?” asked Ace, knowing what he said but challenging him to say it again.

“I said – have a good trip,” he said with a smile. “And tell me, who is going with you to s
ail the Paradigm back into Death’s Door?”

“Well, I’m sure my crew would
be there with me.”

“Really?” he asked. “Look around, Ace. Do you see any of them here with you now? You’re not going to get a single man t
o willingly sail back into Death’s Door. You’re just going to have to think up another plan if you want to retrieve your damned sword.”

Drake got to his feet and straightened his tunic.

“You wouldn’t happen to want . . .”

“Nay. I have a castle to run and a toddler and wife awaiting me at home. My days of recklessness are over, my good friend.”

“Somehow I don’t believe that in the least,” said Ace, standing as well.

“Mayhap not,” Drake agreed. “But when it comes to dealing with faes, I have my hands full with one. I don’t need to be part of a plan that sounds like you’ve
already angered her for some reason. You’re on your own this time. But I know the Lion of the Sea would have no trouble in taming the goddess of the sea now, would you?”

Ace suddenly questioned is own bravado, but he
knew he had to go back to Death’s Door no matter what the price he’d pay. He couldn’t live with the taunting he’d get from everyone at losing his sword to a woman. Nay, he’d go back just like he intended, and by himself if he couldn’t round up a crew. But after what he’d just been through, he had a sinking feeling in his gut. The Lion of the Sea was starting to feel like that damned Sea Lion after all.

Chapter 4

The Paradigm anchored just off the northeast side of Dolphin Island, and Ace already felt the knot twisting in his gut. He’d only man
aged to round up a crew of two, and even at that, the men refused to come if he’d insisted on entering Death’s Door. Boots was at the stern, feeling guilty for telling everyone in Lornoon about the siren’s little pet name for him. Ace told him he’d only redeem himself by coming with, and thankfully he’d talked his brother, Bear into joining them.

But this is as far as they’d go.
Now ’twas up to Ace to make it to the island and into the straits in his little skiff with two oars.

“Alright, lower the damned thing into the water and keep an eye on m
e,” he told Boots.

“Aye, Captain.” Boots and
his brother lowered the small boat over the side of the ship by means of ropes. Once it hit the water, Ace hoisted himself up to the sidewall of the ship. “Don’t forget this, Captain.” Boots held out two pieces of wool, but Ace just shook his head.

“I don’t want nor need them,” he said.

“But the song of the siren is mesmerizing,” Boots reminded him. “If you get under her spell you may not be able to break free.”

“That’s the chance I’ll take then,” said Ace. “But I assure you, no woman –
siren, fae, elemental or otherwise is ever going to control me. I would show her that the man is in control and I would put her in place anon. I’ve already heard the siren’s song and I believe I am immune to it now.” He hoisted himself over the edge and into the small boat, setting it free from the ropes that held it.

“Good luck . . . Sea Lion,” said Boots looki
ng over the edge of the ship. Ace could hear Bear and Boots laughing from up above.

“Call me that again but with my sword in my hand and you’ll be staring at your head on the ground next to you.” He picked up the oars and rowed furiously through the waters, angered just enough so that when he did find the damned girl he’d be able to think straight instead of falling under her spell.

* * *

E
bba swam naked through the sea, loving the way the warm water of the reef felt upon her skin. She was collecting seashells from the bottom, when a dolphin came up and nudged her. At first she just thought it wanted to play until she realized it had a message for her. She communicated with her mind, shocked to hear it say a man approached by a small boat, coming right up to the shore by the reef.

Her secret
garden was at the mouth of Death’s Door, on the north side of the island. No one ever came from that direction. By the time sea traders got to Lornoon and decided to return, they’d been warned of the dangers and always opted to go around the island instead of through the straits.

She made it to the surface and broke the water just as a man dove into the sea. She saw his small wooden boat pushed up to the shore and wasn’t sure why he’d be entering the waters. If he was lost at sea or even a fisherman, he’d either stay in the boat or go onto the island looking for help.

But then the waves whispered to her that that fool was back. Her heart jumped, realizing they meant the man named Ace. The same man, that is, that she’d seen approaching her coral reef when she looked into the crystal dolphin. And she couldn’t help herself from remembering the rest of it as well.

Get rid of him
, she said to the water and flicked her wrist to create a current to push him away. She watched from underneath the water as he kicked and struggled, trying to combat the waves. He was a fighter all right, and managed to keep swimming although she was doing all she could to keep him away.

All right, I need a better way to frighten him, I guess
. That’s when she called to the whitetip shark swimming in slow circles around the bottom of the ocean.
Just frighten
him, don’t harm him
, she told the shark. It took off at full speed and headed right toward him.

She laughed inwardly, thinking how surprised the Sea Lion would be to encounter her little pet. But when she noticed something bright reflecting off the sun and into the water, and the man going toward the shark instead of away from him, her heart skipped a beat.
She realized he’d pulled out a dagger and was meaning to kill her shark. The shark did not take kindly to this action and started to go after the daft man.

She called to the shark to send him away, but he was roiled and would not li
sten. She saw the dagger lifting up into the air, and she had to do something quickly. She sent a wave right toward them both, causing the shark to retreat, but the man named Ace fell back against a rock and hit his head upon it.

She saw blood in the water and the shiny object
falling slowly to the silt floor below. Then the man’s body sprawled out and floated with his long hair fanning out in tendrils around him. From directly below him now, she could see that he was face down and his eyes were closed. His arms were sprawled out in front of him and his legs drifted behind. He wore his tunic and braies only, his legs and feet bare. He didn’t look to be breathing. And her suspicions were confirmed as all of a sudden, he started to sink quickly to the sharp coral below him.

Instinctively, she swam forward, grabbing him under the arms and bringing him to the surface. But when she got there she saw her father’s men inspecting
the boat he’d left on the shore and his shoes and hose as well. She didn’t want to bring him to shore now. She couldn’t let them know about her secret cave, nor did she want to emerge in front of the men naked. And there was no telling what they’d want to do to Ace. Mayhap they’d keep him as prisoner or perhaps take whatever else he had on him. No, she thought, this would never do.

So instead, she called to her dolphins to help her. With the aid of a dolphin on either side, she had them escort her and the sailor to the secret coral cave. They left her and the man there, and she could see his face turning blue from lack of air. She pressed her lips against his mouth and gave him the air of life. However, he was unconscious and it slipped from him quickly. So she pulled him through her cave and deep within, not stopping until she’d laid him atop the ground inside that was breaking through the water, and into the air.

Then she hurriedly flipped him onto his stomach, crawling atop the man and straddling him with her bare legs, trying to push the water from his lungs. He seemed to release half the sea from his mouth, but still he did not breathe. So she flipped him over onto his back and straddled him that way instead. She leaned forward, the ends of her wet hair falling around him. Then she lowered her mouth to his and once again tried to force air into his lungs.

Ace felt soft curves against his chest and the grip of something tight around his groin. His eyelids flickered once, then twice, and he thought he saw that seductive siren atop him. Hell, he was having a dream about bedding her. Again. Thought he’d only slept an hour or two since yesterday, his dreams were filled with him making love to the girl with the blue hair.

And this dream was so real. She pressed her lips against h
is and her naked breasts smashed up against his chest as her thighs gripped his waist and she rode him like she was riding atop one of her dolphins.

He felt his body react and damn it to hell, even if it was only a dream, he was tired of being hot and bothered. He wrapped his arms around her and thrust his tongue into her mouth.
This was going to be one hell of a dream, and one he would never forget!

Ebba was surprised when the sailor who was not moving a moment ago, wrapped his arms around her and thrust his tongue into her mouth. She had half a mind to bite it off until she felt his hands sneak around the sides of her breasts and squeeze her. Then his nimble fingers started working magic quickly as he brought her nipples to peaks in a matter of seconds. She couldn’t protest as his tongue was in her mouth and neither could she pull away as the fae side of her was coming to life and she was feeling vibrations and feelings she’d never had before.

She heard the man moan from beneath her and she wondered it he was getting probed by a sharp piece of coral. She moved, trying to get off of him, and that’s when she felt the probing of his own as his huge arousal was banging at her own door
right through his braies, trying to get in. Though she was aroused and curious as to the act of coupling with a man, she wasn’t about to let this fool take her in her own sacred space.

She found it hard to get out of his tight grip and called to the water to help her. A wave washed over them, covering them completely, causing him to loosen his grip as he once again gasped for air.

She ducked under the water, feeling confused by what just happened. She wanted to kill the man yet at the same time she wanted to climb back atop him and straddle her legs around him and let him enter. She looked up from under the water, seeing him jump to his feet and hit his head on the cave ceiling above him. She was going to stay underneath and not come up, but when she saw the blood dripping from his head and his blood-covered palm as he pulled his hand away, she knew she had to help. She broke through the water silently, their gazes interlocking.

“You!” he said, pointing with his bloodied hand and
then wiping it against the front of his tunic. “You are not a dream.”

“Nay, I am not,” she said, emerging from the water, watching his eyes scan every inch of her body. She did naught to hide herself, n
or did she want to. Let him have his fill. The more he looked at her the more he’d be under her spell, and would do whatever she told him. She couldn’t let him stay, but she couldn’t leave him standing there bleeding either. ’Twas her fault he got hurt, and she’d see to his mending and then send him on his way.

“Ohhhh, my head,” he said, sitting back down atop the flat rock. He ripped the tunic from his body, tearing it into strips and wrapping it around his head. “You don’t have the power to heal me do you?”

“Nay. The power of the healing kiss belongs to the elemental of the air, not me.”

“Then get me the hell out of here so I can get stitched u
p before I drown in this cave.”

“You won’t drown as long as I’m with you. And besides, the tide is out so there is air in the cave right now.”

“Why are you naked, nymph?” he asked. “You had clothes on – tho barely – the last time I saw you.”

“I am not a nymph, but an elemental, Sea Lion. And I choose only to wear clothes around the men so as not to arouse them. Otherwise, I’d be naked all the time.”

“Do not call me Sea Lion again, Siren. And let’s get the hell out of here already.”

He slipped off the rock, treading water, then looked down into her barrel sponge, seeming to have spotted the crystal dolphin.

“What’s that?” he asked, ducking his head under the water and reaching forward for it.

“Nay,” she said, but it was too late. Too her horror, he’d picked up the precious piece and was now holding it up into the sunlight streaming into the cave from the overhead opening.

“’Tis a dolphin,” he said. “Looks to be made of crystal.”

“Put that down, right now,” she said, reaching for it, but he held it up over his head and out of her reach.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing at all, now put it back.”

“It seems to be of importance to you. And now that I think of it, the other day you were singing something about a crystal dolphin were you not?”

She cursed herself now for singing the song her mother had taught her. But though the siren’s song was a song of secrets, it usually didn’t matter. Because anyone who’d ever heard it ended up dead, and not able to repeat it
anyway. She could see this man was going to be a problem.

“Give it to me,” she said, still thinking about her mother and missing her so. Then she grabbed for it, her hands coming around his and the crystal dolphin clouded over and started to change colors.

“What’s happening?” he asked, eyes wide in amazement.

“You ca
n see that?” She thought only an elemental of the water was able to see the visions in the crystal.

“Of course I can,” he said, pulling it closer. “Oh my goodness, there is another blue-haired women inside the crystal.”

“No, there isn’t, don’t be ridiculous.” Then her eyes fell upon the vision, and she knew he was right. She pulled it from his hands, gazing into the crystal so only she could see it. There, in the past was the scene from the day the sheik brought his ship to her island and they found and took her mother with them. Also in the vision was the face of her father, fighting for her mother’s life. In the background were the waves crashing upon the shore that her mother had conjured up, trying to save them. And the sheik taking the hilt of his sword and hitting her mother over the head. She could barely watch, knowing what was about to happen. The face of her father haunted her mind as his eyes bulged and the sheik thrust his sword right through him.

Ebba
handed him the dolphin and looked away. Her body shook at the scene she’d just witnessed.

“This is a way to see the past,” Ace said
, looking into the crystal, “isn’t it?”