Page 22 of Forever My Siren Luna

“We have a visitor,” Beretta nods in the direction of the treeline as she gets dressed. We just shifted back and she is slipping back on her pants after cleaning off in the stream.

“I noticed.” Val sniffed him out the second he got there, but she was too focused on fighting with Beretta to stop and ask why he followed us. I’m glad it’s him and not Lachlan. That would have just angered Val more.

Cherum was more than welcome to follow me around all he liked as long as he didn't try pulling that babysitter nonsense on me like he did before, have an army stalk me everywhere I go. Val would tear through any army he sent. Even the thought of taking on that many warriors in a fight excites her. She doesn't want to be overlooked or underestimated ever again.

He didn't call an army, though. Cherum just watched, wincing when the fighting got heavy, and twitching like he wanted to step in several times. Val was winning the entire time, her aura and larger frame being a huge advantage to her. Beretta enjoys a challenge, though, and she can hold her own, avoiding serious injury.

“He’s a fine looking specimen, that one,” Beretta chuckles, waving her fingers at him as he tries to look anywhere but at her bare chest and my naked frame.

I grunted in mild agreement. Cherum is a fine specimen, but I doubt Beretta will be able to getthatout of him. Even in my first life, Cherum was never one to play around with anyone outside of the brothel girls, and even then, Yasmin once told me he would rarely pay for services. He would mostly just tease and flirt.

“Shy, isn’t he?”

I washed the last of the blood out of my hair from a nasty gash I gave Beretta while we were sparring. She healed quickly, but the evidence of our brawl was left all over us when we shifted back. We had to take baths in the stream to rid us of it all.

Instead of answering her, I pulled the tunic she brought for me in the rucksack over my head, then yelled for Cherum to come over. “I know you’ve seen naked women before,” I smirked as he continued averting his gaze. He tripped on a large rock while walking over to us because of it.

“I have, but you’re my Luna, lass. I’ve never seen you naked, nor do I desire to.”

“Why not?” Beretta smacks my butt harshly, making me yelp and Val growl. “She looks quite exquisite in the nude. Our captain has had to order the men not to gaze at her because of how captivating she is?”

“Really?” I turned to stare at her, my brows pulling down. This is the first I’ve heard of it.

“Why do you think Little Joe is always so quick to bring you your clothes?”

“I thought that was just because he was shy about it.”

“Nope,” Beretta chuckles. “Captain had it out with everyone not to so much as glance at you when you were naked.” I bend over to pull on my pants, struggling to get my wet feet through the leg holes, and Beretta takes the opportunity to fondle my butt again. She jiggles my cheeks in both her hands until I swat her away. “As your best friend and first mate, I am the only one with that right.”

“Will you stop it?” I growled, jumping to get the tight-fitting pants she packed for me all the way on.

“You were blessed with a fine ass,princess,” she used the title mockingly again. “Someone should be able to enjoy it.”

Cherum is watching us with a disbelieving look on his face. “Do you mean to say you make it a habit of strutting around naked?”

I shrugged. “If I do, what’s it to you?”

“Nothing,” he muttered, toying with the gravel with the toe of his boots. “I just didn’t expect that.”

I couldn’t help but to laugh at his shy demeanor. It's not fitting for his appearance. “I only strut around naked after shifting. I don’t just do it for fun.”

“No, sadly, she doesn't. Ourprincessis too prude to get her jollies rocked for the hell of it like some of us,” Beretta told him, wringing out her wet hair, saturating the front of her shirt in the process so it becomes see-through. Cherum's eyes drop to her nipples showing through, then quickly look away as his cheeks turn as red as his beard again. Beretta just smirks and continues on. “The Captain is protective of her too. Her being naked after shifting is never an issue, Delta.”

“No, but the reason why he is so protective of her may be,” Cherum muttered.

I rolled my eyes. “He’s like a big brother to me. Actually, he’s a lot like you.” I playfully hit his shoulder, “I get that same protectiveness from him. There is nothing to worry about from him."

“Really?” Beretta looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

“Yeah,” I slipped on the vest from the bag, then dug around it for stockings to wear under the boots. “Probably why he doesn’t like seeing me naked too. He’s just a brother to me, and treats me like his little sister.”

Cherum is pressing his lips together, looking at me with amusement.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing,” he says, his eyes crinkled in the corners like he’s smiling.

“You have to admit that even as a big brother or whatever, the captain is a fine looking man. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind playing house with yourbig brotherif the opportunity ever came about.”