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She did as he said, the many layers of her skirt being pushed to her thighs, revealing the fastenings and sheer lace of her underthings. To stop herself from falling, she was forced to grab hold of the back of his neck. His body felt not unlike the hot rocks of the shoals she sunned herself on during winter, when the water was particularly cold.

He lowered her onto the bed, him on top of her. He held his weight with his elbows, her legs falling apart to accommodate his large body. Although several layers of fabric separated her sex from his, those layers now felt very thin indeed.

“If they’re looking for a siren, we better hide your hair,” he murmured into her ear, sending shivers across her skin. “Your hair shimmers like moonlight.”

She writhed with discomfort, only to knock against his unrelenting body. The discomfort was not with his body, but rather, her own body’s reaction to being near him. How did humans get anything done, feeling attraction like this? No wonder they acted so deranged.

Jarin slid his fingers up the sides of her neck and into her scalp. With gentle tugs from the base of her skull, he pulled her hair until most was hidden, her head cradled in his large hands. In this position, with his face and body bearing down on her, she had no choice but to look into his eyes.

For the first time, she noticed the tiny bronze flecks in his irises, and his thick, jet-black eyelashes. The gold pendant on the chain around his neck rested heavy and cold on her bare, flaming sternum.

“By the way,” he said. “What’s your name? You still haven’t told me.”

“Riella.”

“Riella,” he repeated softly. “You know I vowed to kill you, Riella?”

She rolled her eyes. “So you keep saying. I think you’re all talk and no action.”

“That right?”

As his gaze drifted from her eyes to her mouth and back again, he absentmindedly licked his bottom lip. Her breathing became shallow and she lost purchase of her thoughts. She found herself running her hands over his smooth shoulders, the muscles bulging from holding his own weight.

His breath was on her neck, steady and warm. Never had Riella felt so vulnerable. And yet, it didn’t feel bad. How was that possible? She’d grown up being taught that vulnerability was always bad. Sirens were to avoid it at all costs.

“We better make it realistic, don’t you think?” he asked, his eyes penetrating hers deeply.

She exhaled. “Sure. Fine. I don’t care.”

“Good. Because if we were doing this for real, I’d be making you sing for me, siren. And not in the way you’re used to.”

“I doubt you could elicit such a response from me,” she said, praying her words sounded convincing.

Then, he started moving his body, rocking forward and back to mimic thrusting. To her horror, she let out a husky moan. The next time he pushed forward, his groin made brief but firm contact with hers. She felt the hot rigidity of his very large and very human cock.

The effect it had on her was quite out of her control, sending a frisson of heat directly into her core.

“Go on,” he muttered into her ear. “Lie to me. Tell me you don’t like it.”

She should’ve told him to stop. She should have fought the entire royal patrol before allowing herself to be rubbed against by a Dark Tide pirate. But she still didn’t say a word, because she was experiencing the most incredible sensation when his groin touched hers.

He moved in again, pressing his bulge into her sex for longer. Her body responded in kind, apparently wanting to be pressed into. The fact that it was wrong somehow only made it feel better.

An intoxicating warmth spread from her stomach and flooded into the mysterious new region between her legs. The almost uncontrollable urge to move her hips against the rhythm of his thrusting came over her. It felt instinctual, as natural as beating her tail when swimming.

The flash of a smile crossed Jarin’s handsome face, which incensed her. He thought he was the one in control. He thought he was getting to her.

To prove him wrong, she pulled him forward by his neck and ran her tongue over his parted lips, from bottom to top, lingering in the wetted middle. The spikiness of his stubble was a pleasurable contrast to the surprising softness of his mouth.

This time it was Jarin who gave an involuntary moan.

“You taste like the ocean,” she whispered, licking her lips and detecting salt.

He gazed down at her with a drugged look, his fingers tightening around the base of her skull, jerking her head back with a firm tug of her hair. “I bet you do, too.”

A pounding on the door jolted Riella out of her trance. She’d almost forgotten she was supposed to be evading a royal patrol. Moments later, the door opened.

Jarin’s body blocked her view of the guards, but she heard them begin to bark orders.