A Siren's Wish (9 page)

Pleasant dreams
. He forced his body to leave the cabin. Walking, he was acutely aware of how much he had enjoyed watching the beautiful woman sleep on the bed.

“Everything okay down there?” asked Darius, as Seth took the wheel.

“Yeah, no problem,” he replied, noticing the grin on his brother’s face.

“Took you awhile.”

Seth ignored his brother’s wink. He almost winced, thankful for once his brother couldn’t read his thoughts. “She almost woke up. I put her to sleep.” He glanced over to where Mercka lay, her long, sleek dolphin body now covered in a soaked white sheet. They had to keep her body wet and they had to quickly get her back into the deep sea.

“She’s okay. I’m amazed she’s lasted this long with this being her first transformation. The sedative’s wearing off, so we’ll have to hurry. I’m assuming you’ll do the honor of escorting her to a safe place,” said Darius.

Seth didn’t miss the emphasis on the word “honor”. He realized his brother still held a grudge. As it was, Seth’s honor had demanded he fulfill the harsh sea law forcing him, as a Titan and Prince of the North Seas, to kill his own brother instead of risking discovery of their race. Instead, Seth threw away his honor and freed his brother. Now Darius was paying the ultimate price and it was only going to get worse.

Again, that day over a decade ago came crashing into his thoughts. Over the years he had tried hard not to think about it but sometimes, like now, the events took on a life on their own. He shook himself back to reality and the work that needed to get done, as he absentmindedly ran his hands through his hair. “Yes. I’ll take her in.”

“You know I’d love to, but ever since Father banished me, seems I’ve lost the knack. Not that it bothers me. Life here has been good.”

Darius made the remark so quickly, Seth knew he was lying. He also realized now why his brother had been making comments about being cold. He really was a human. He had been stripped of all his powers. That knowledge left Seth feeling betrayed. Had he known a decade ago, he would have tried harder to bridge the gulf between them. Now it was too late.

Truth was, there was nothing he could say. He couldn’t imagine not being welcomed into the sea and he knew his brother was angry. Angry at how all this came to be and worse, envious of him.

“You’ll do me the honor?” he asked, bringing out two long ropes from his duffel bag.

“What…”

“It’s been over a decade for me. I don’t have the time to fight it. Now if you’ll just tie my arms and my feet and then weigh me down…it will be quicker. I’ll put the knife in my mouth just in case, but you know…”

“I know. By Zeus, I thought you did this regularly. I thought you were in Titan form last night,” said Darius.

“Not quite. We don’t have time. Come on. I’ll help you breech Mercka over the side and then if you help tie me, I’ll jump in.” Seth scanned the deck for a large enough weight to hold him down.

“Here, this will do,” said his brother, moving a side panel to reveal two large beach stones already sewn up tight in fish netting.

Seth didn’t want to look into his brother’s eyes. He knew what he would see—resignation. He wondered just how close his brother had come to going over the edge.

As if he actually did read his thoughts, Darius answered. “I tried a couple times. Thinking each time I could will my body to rapture…but nothing,” he sighed, turning his face away from Seth. “You’ll want to drop the knife from your mouth. Don’t. If it’s been over a decade, you know it’s going to hurt like hell.” His brother dragged the stones to the side of the yacht.

“We’re out far enough. Let’s put her in,” said Seth, choosing to ignore his brother’s remark. Grasping hold of one end of the stretcher, and Darius the other, they moved to the side of the vessel.

“Be safe,” said Darius.

And love life,
said Mercka, winking at Darius as her nose hit the water. In a second she was once again in the sea.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” said Darius, helping first to tie Seth’s feet and then his hands. Roping each stone around Seth’s legs, Darius helped his brother hop up onto the deck’s small ledge. With a nod, he jammed the blunt end of the knife into Seth’s mouth and pushed him overboard.

Jamie struggled to find her sea legs as she gingerly climbed the steps up to the deck of the boat only to witness her worst nightmare come to life. A man pushing another man into the water and both his feet and hands were tied. And weighted with stones. The scream tore itself raw and loud from her before she could stop to think.

The cold water that splashed directly into her face did it. It made her stop screaming and it made her mad.

“Stop that,” she said, wiping water off her face.

“That’s just what I want you to do,” said the man, who looked the spitting image of the marine specialist she had met earlier that day. The guy tossed a towel at her, which landed directly on her face, making her feel like a dimwit.

“Who the heck are you?” she asked, scrambling to wipe the water off her face. She watched as the man leaned over the boat’s railing like he was looking for something. There was an anxious look on his face that made her nervous.

“I’m Darius Fairbanks and you must be Jamie. Heard all about you from Seth,” he said, as he turned to look at her.

The resemblance of the two was uncanny. Then she remembered what had happened. “He just…he just… How can you…”

“He’s doing what he must, but it sure as hell is taking him a long time,” said Darius.

Once again he looked over the boat’s railing. As if he sensed her unease, she noticed the forced smile when he once again turned his attention to her.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. He always is. Nothing to worry about. We’ve been doing this since long before you were born,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders, as he turned his attention back to steering the boat.“

“But how…how do we…” Jamie tried again. “When does he… How can he…” It was no use. She could feel her heart accelerating and knew within seconds she’d be helpless and hyperventilating again.

“Calm down, will you? Like I said, he’ll be fine, or I’ll kill him myself,” muttered Darius, once again glancing to the sides of the boat. “Here, breathe into this. It will help.”

Great, another sad paper bag incident
. She took his offering.

Breathing into the bag did help. Now if I can just finish a coherent sentence like any other intelligent being.

“Seth just couldn’t resist showing off. We let the dolphin go and he likes to take a swim with them. They make him feel at home,” said Darius, grinning.

“Oh that’s what you did with the dolphin.”
Weird.
This entire episode doesn’t make any sense.
Swimming with a dolphin in the middle of the ocean, sure, why not. Why not? Because normal people don’t do things like that, okay?

“Yup. No sense letting your boss dissect a perfectly helpless, and do I need to mention harmless, sea creature. By the way, what are we going to do with you?”

“Keep her,” said the dripping wet hulk of a man who was pulling himself over the side of the yacht. His tanned, muscled leg graced the edge of the yacht’s railing, and his arm muscles bulged as he put more weight on his hands.

The rippling effect of large muscles gleaming in the sun did nothing to convince Jamie he wasn’t a god come to life. Only when the other leg swung over the railing did she know why he was forced to put all his weight on his arms. He was gloriously naked. She couldn’t help herself from looking.

Jamie realized she hadn’t blinked as he put both feet firmly down on the deck. Blushing she once again took hold of the paper bag for gulps of air. Every inch of his skin was bronzed to a polished sheen of copper.

His hair was long and she knew once it dried it would reveal a deep shade of black. She watched as he shook his head side to side much like a dog would or in this case one heck of a large wolf. Then he grabbed the ends of his hair, squeezing the excess water out, letting it drape over his muscular back. It was like looking at a picture of the Greek god, Apollo, come to life. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, not that he seemed to mind.

Over his right breast was a large tattoo which looked like some type of fork. The tattoo with deep green and blue ink was captivating, as was the man himself. She willed herself to look away. When he turned his piercing emerald green eyes her way, and gamely winked at her, she gulped. Heat slammed into her body. She felt for a moment she was having one of those déjà vu experiences.

“Skinny dipping your forte?” she replied sarcastically, wondering how he pulled off the Houdini act. There was no way she was going to let one Seth Cutter get to her.

Full sensual lips framed an angular face and the only flaw her eyes could detect was a jagged scar running down one side of his face from his forehead to his right cheek.

Funny thing is I don’t remember seeing that earlier.

Instead of making him look ugly it only added to his intrigue, giving him a very naughty-boy look, which he most certainly did not need. But there was nothing boyish about the man towering in front of her.

“You know we’re twins,” said Darius wickedly.

She felt her skin heat up and knew her cheeks had blossomed to bright pink. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Seth grabbed his clothes. He struggled to put on his faded blue jeans. Then it dawned on her what he had said as he climbed on board. There was no way she’d let that sexist remark go.

Realizing no one was paying any attention to her, she willed herself to stand, still clutching the paper bag, just in case. She hoped he was clothed now. Secretly, she knew that was a big fat lie. She had really enjoyed what she had seen. He could model for one of those girly magazines, thought Jamie, realizing what she had timidly peeked at in the stores was a lot better-looking in the flesh.

“You can’t just keep her. It’s not like in the old days. Men don’t do that sort of thing today,” whispered Darius, as his brother tied his long black hair back with a piece of leather.

“We’re not men. And what do you propose we do with her? We can’t just let her go. She saw us take the dolphin and she’ll report us to the police. I told you we’ve got bigger things to worry about,” said Seth. “Besides, I was told to keep her close, by you know who,” he said, gritting his teeth.

“No, well something’s up. She actually told you to keep the woman? That’s gotta be a first,” said Darius, almost laughing but not quite as he took in his brother’s agitated state.

“I won’t tell anyone,” blurted Jamie, grabbing the railing with both hands. Her legs felt like rubber, and her belly took a lurch as the boat crested another wave.

“You two been introduced?” asked Seth, moving closer to Jamie.

She nodded. Finally finding her voice, she let him have it. “Look, Seth. I know all about you and your kind. You’re one of those bleeding hearts that believes you’ve worked long enough in the field to know what’s right and wrong.”

Yeah, she’d met other macho male scientists like him who’d made it plain as day that marine biology wasn’t a place for women. Well, like before, she thought they could all go to hell. She’d prove them wrong. She forced herself to stand almost eye-level with him. Looking up at a man was such a novel concept that her heart lurched.

“Bleeding heart. That’s got a nice ring to it. So you’re a scientist. You believe you can justify all the things you do in the pursuit of what—facts and figures? Give me a break. You don’t know one thing about me, about marine life or the sea. And just so we’re clear on everything…you’re staying with me for a couple of days. The last thing I need right now is for you to go and report this incident to the police. Am I clear?” Seth sauntered forward, bracing his arms on either side of her. Almost but not quite touching.

She fumed. “No, you are not. I will not stay with you for a few days. I have work to do, something you probably are unfamiliar with—obligations. Let me off this boat now.” What she really wanted to do was slug him or push him away, but she could do neither.

When he did back up, giving her breathing space, she exhaled. Close proximity to a god come to life left her breathless. She dampened that desire down and put a halt on those raging hormones of hers that were trying once again to ignite by remembering his sexist comment, even while her eyes savored his physique.

Usually the grunge look didn’t do it for her, but somehow this guy pulled it off with a natural ease, making her yearn to reach out and touch his wet hair. Seth was the type of guy who probably slept in what he wore. The thought made her shiver as she took in the tight blue jeans hugging his thighs, and his shirtless well-muscled upper torso. The guy had an Olympic swimmer’s body—all lean and muscular in just the right places. She hated him for that.

Giving a slight nod of his head, he backed away even more. Arms folded across his sleek-looking chest, he lazily leaned into the railing while his muscles rippled in the sunlight.

“We’re keeping you,” he grunted, staring straight into her eyes. Not once breaking eye contact.

Moving farther away from the railing, she held his stare, placing both hands on her hips to make her point. “Oh no, you’re not. I demand you turn this thing around right now and take me back. I’ve got work to do and anyway, my…my…my boss will…ah…miss me,” she said, attempting to sound like she meant business.