Page 20 of Siren Problems

CALDER

I find her on the cliffs, like I knew I would.

She’s silhouetted against the dusk, wind tangling her hair, her coat clutched tight around her like she’s trying to hold herself together.

I don’t say her name, not yet.

Because I don’t know what I’m about to say after.

She turns when she hears my footsteps—sharp and slow, like she’s bracing for a wave.

“You’re late,” she says, voice flat.

I nod once. “I’m here.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

No. It’s not. I walk closer anyway.

“You got the grant.”

She lifts a shoulder. “Guess you heard.”

“I did.”

Her jaw tightens. “And?”

I reach for words. Don’t find the right ones.

“I came to say goodbye,” I finally manage.

That breaks her.

Not visibly, not right away. But I see it in her eyes—how they go glassy, then hard.

“Of course you did,” she says.

“I’m not good at staying.”

“No kidding.”

“Luna—”

“Don’t.” Her voice cracks. “Don’t do this if you’re just going to disappear again.”

I move before I think. I cross the space between us in two steps and pull her against me.

She resists for half a breath—then melts into my chest like she’s exhausted from fighting gravity.

“I didn’t come here to leave you,” I whisper. “I came because if this is the last time, I want to remember everything.”

Her breath catches.

“Don’t say that,” she whispers.

I cup her face, force her to look at me.

“I love you.”

Her eyes go wide.

“I love you, Luna Wilder. And I’m sorry it took this long.”

She swallows hard. “Then don’t let it be goodbye.”

I kiss her, desperately, without any softness.

She responds instantly, grabbing my coat, pulling me close, like she’s trying to anchor herself.

We stumble back toward the shack, barely making it through the door before she’s pushing me against it.

“Take it off,” she growls, tugging at my coat.

I shrug it off and press her against the wall, kissing her until she gasps.

My hands slide under her shirt, up her spine, memorizing every inch of warm, willing skin.

“Gods, I missed you,” she breathes, fumbling at my belt.

“I couldn’t stay away,” I admit. “Not from you.”

She pulls me down into a kiss so fierce it’s more like a promise, then pushes me back toward the bed.

Clothes fall away—hers, mine—until there’s nothing between us but breath.

She sinks onto the mattress, legs parted, flushed and waiting.

“Come here,” she says, voice thick.

I kneel between her thighs, run my fingers through the slick heat of her pussy, and she moans—head thrown back, eyes glazed.

“You’re soaked,” I murmur, rubbing her slowly. “For me.”

“Always for you.”

I groan, fingers curling inside her. She arches, hips grinding down.

“Don’t tease me,” she begs.

"Never," I reply. Not tonight, at least.

I guide my cock to her entrance, holding her gaze.

“Look at me.”

She does.

And I slowly push in, deep and aching. She gasps, nails digging into my back.

I fill her completely, stretching her walls, and for a moment we just breathe, locked together.

“Fuck, you feel like home,” I rasp.

Her legs wrap around me, urging me in deeper.

I start to move in long, deliberate strokes. Each one saying what I can’t.

She moans into my mouth as I kiss her, her hands sliding to my ass, urging me on.

I give her everything: all the pressure, all the rhythm, all the need.

“You’re mine,” I growl against her throat.

“Yes,” she gasps. “Yours.”

Her pussy clenches around me, pulling me tighter, and I lose control—thrusting harder, rougher, but she meets every one like a challenge.

“More,” she pleads.

I flip her over, haul her hips up, and take her from behind, gripping her hair, watching her back arch.

“Fuck, Luna,” I growl. “You're so good. So perfect for me.”

“Yes Calder,” she cries, trembling. "Harder, please, don't stop!"

I do as she asks and fuck her harder until she’s sobbing with pleasure, collapsing onto her elbows as her orgasm hits, sharp and stunning.

I follow with a roar, spilling inside her.

We collapse in a heap of sweat and salt and love we’re not ready to lose.

And for a moment, we don’t.

Her breath’s still stuttering when I curl around her from behind. Her skin is warm against me, pulsing with aftershocks.

I breathe her in, memorizing the scent of her—salt and fire and something that’s just hers.

She’s quiet.

Too quiet.

And the words crawl up my throat like they’ve been waiting there all night.

“You should take the grant.”

She stiffens.

I pull her closer anyway. “Go. Take it. Get everything you’ve earned. Forget this town. Forget me.”

“No,” she whispers.

“You have to.”

She turns slowly, her eyes already wet. “Why?”

“Because I’m cursed. Because I’ll always be cursed. Because you can’t build a future on someone who’s afraid to stand in the sun.”

“I’m not leaving because I’m scared,” she says. “I’d be leaving because you are.”

I wince.

But she doesn’t look away.

“You think love is the risk,” she says, voice trembling. “But it’s the only part of this whole damn thing that isn’t. ”

I shake my head. “Luna?—”

She kisses me.

Slow.

Soft.

Lingering.

Like it’s a promise she has no intention of keeping.

And when she pulls back, she whispers, “I’m not forgetting you, Calder. So you better decide fast if you’re going to let me remember you with or without you.”