Page 9 of Rock of Stages (Moonlight Siren #4)

CALEB

S hit.

When I woke, holding Naiya close to me, with my painfully hard cock pressed against the curve of her luscious ass, I cursed myself. This was not what she wanted.

Fortunately, she appeared to be asleep, her gentle breath soft like a melody and her chest rising and falling in slow movements.

Her enticing fragrance wrapped around me, and I breathed it in more deeply.

It flooded my senses, stirring me like an aphrodisiac, yet also calming me, like the scent of the sea.

Carefully, I tore myself from her warm embrace, despite my beast murmuring within about claiming my mate.

I tiptoed into the bathroom and turned on the water.

What I needed was a cold shower. But despite the frigid temperature, I was still raging hard.

Sleep had been full of dreams about Naiya, sweet and sinful, and I couldn’t help but replay the most sordid memories—of tasting her, of sliding deep inside her, of having her cry out my name…

My hand found its way to my erection, stroking as I fantasized about my mate. Despite the sense of it being wrong to touch myself with her sleeping merely feet away, I justified that I needed to take the edge off to be able to function around her. Otherwise, I feared I’d pounce like a feral beast.

I stroked faster as I got closer to release. Thinking of her, there in my bed. Climbing on top of her… I dropped my head back and exploded with a low grunt.

Hell, I hoped it wasn’t loud enough to wake her. Breathing hard, I leaned forward and pressed my forehead against the shower wall. Damn, I needed to pull myself together before I scared my mermaid away.

Minutes later, I truly cooled myself off with the iciest water I could stand.

I grabbed a towel and dried off. My clean clothes were in the closet.

I didn’t think about bringing them in here.

I wrapped the towel around my waist and slowly opened the door, planning to grab some without waking her.

But when I stepped inside the main cabin, Naiya was sitting up in my bed with the lamp beside her side on.

Her silvery-blonde hair was tousled, and her eyes still heavy with sleep. Adorable.

“Good morning,” she said with a bright smile and glanced at the clock. “Or should I say afternoon?”

I chuckled. “Yes, it’s hard to know the time of day without a porthole. And I tend to sleep late since I work with a vampire who isn’t ready for practice until sundown.”

“Ah.” She brought her gaze back to me and slowly perused my body, covered only in a towel, in a way that made me pump my chest out further. I wanted to look good for her. Wanted her to want me, to feel a fraction of the desire I had for her.

“Is that what you do most days?” she asked, tilting her head with a curious expression.

“Yes.” I smiled. “But priorities first. Are you hungry?”

We returned to the buffet on the pool deck and filled our trays with sandwiches and fruit, then found a free table outdoors. The ship had docked at its private island, and I had free time before meeting with the band that evening.

“We could go explore after we eat,” I suggested, then realized she’d probably rather swim, the way other sea-faring supernaturals often did.

“Or I could show you the extension on one of the lower decks. Many sea shifters dive into the ocean when we’re docked.

If you’re missing the sea…” I left the thought unfinished.

She grinned. “I’d rather explore with you.” Then she arched her brows with a gleam in her eyes. “Especially if you go in the ocean with me later.”

I groaned playfully. “If I must…”

While we ate, she asked me about myself.

I told her more about my life before I joined the ship, glossing over the days with my strict grandfather after losing my parents.

“The band and the staff on this ship, they’re my new family now—strange as hell, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

” I turned the discussion to her and asked about her life and family and how she usually spent her days.

“Exploring, if possible,” she replied with a smile. “I love to swim to new areas, explore shipwrecks, find treasures.”

She plucked a grape from her plate, eyes sparkling as bright as the sunlight on the ocean’s surface.

“But my father… He thinks I should stay close, follow his path in leading the pod.” Her expression dimmed slightly.

“My mother died when I was young, and I barely remember her. I’m the youngest. My brothers and sisters have found mates, and lately, he’s been pressuring me to marry a merman from a high-ranking family.

A political alliance he described as ‘the best interest for me and our pod.’”

The words hit like a sucker punch. I set my sandwich down, appetite instantly gone. “Marry a merman?”

Her mouth pressed into a grim line, she affirmed the horrid news with a slight nod.

A tightness coiled in my chest, low and dark, making it difficult to breathe. My beast growled beneath the surface, stone-hard and ready to hunt down a merman who thought he had any claim on my mate. Mine. The word rumbled through me with a fierce echo.

I tried to keep my reaction subdued so as not to scare her. She’d only met me last night. Anyone would be frightened by a big, intimidating gargoyle grunting that she was his . So I forced myself to keep my voice low and steady when I asked, “What do you want?”

She pushed her hair back and glanced at me with uncertainty in her eyes. “I’m not sure. I just know…it’s not him.”

Good. I exhaled and the tightness in my chest eased a fraction. I couldn’t let this nameless, faceless merman steal my Naiya. And as long as I was still breathing, I wouldn’t let that happen.

The problem was—now what? She belonged to the sea. And soon enough, once the novelty of her exploration wore off, she’d want to return to her home beneath the tides—a place I couldn’t exist.