Page 10 of Siren’s Kiss & Feral Beasts

NERISSA

T his isn’t good. Monumentally, a huge mistake.

For two days, I’ve wandered through town searching for the owner of the guaiac wood and pineapple combination. Its traces follow me, but there’s no one there. Taunt me, and without conscious thought, I find myself walking in front of the wolf-owned inn and the blacksmith shop her husband owns.

I’m met with a dead end every single time, unable to answer what this could all mean.

The couple doesn’t ask, but I sense their stares and lingering questions. My father’s been sending me sonar pulses through the water just beyond my home, but I’ve asked him for more time. No explanation given, just a plea from his daughter.

Stupid? Maybe.

Irresponsible? Yes.

And yet, I didn’t care until the moment Alpha Kai Daire walked through the tavern’s door.

Imposing, his aura fills the room, and every head turns in his direction. There’s a rumble in his chest, while large fangs peek through his lips, the latter of which are curled up in a snarl.

Dark, dangerous eyes meet mine. His attention is on me, and I feel the old mage beside me tense, what sounds like an oh my coming from her thin lips.

Not that I look away from the man. I can’t.

More so when I’m slammed with the unique scent I’ve been desperate to find.

“This is bad,” I mutter low, a sound that to a tide-hopper sounds like a series of clicks. He hears it, though, and I’m afraid to ask if he understands my language. Not that it matters a second later when those dark pools shift to the older woman beside me.

It’s fleeting. Barely a few ticks of the clock, and yet, I don’t like it.

Almost bristle in annoyance.

What the hell is wrong with me? I need to get out of here.

Magda clears her throat then, hand already reaching for her canvas bag. “I’ll be leaving now.”

“I’m not sure you?—”

“Come find me tomorrow before you head home.” With the tips of two fingers, she taps the book I’d been summoned to pick up. It’s already protected, the preservation spell making it waterproof and only to be opened by the queen herself. “Truth and lies, my child. Hide one and expose the other.”

Before I can ask what she meant, Magda is up and out of the tavern.

Many others follow suit, and the ones who decide to stay keep a wide berth between themselves and the imposing alpha wolf.

The same man who steps closer, his bare feet padding across the wooden floor until he’s towering over my much smaller frame.

His expression is guarded, but there’s something soft about his eyes. A warm mix of chocolate and honey, they fluctuate between the two shades, and there’s no hiding the slight crinkles at the corner. Smiling with his eyes.

He’s also bare-chested.

Strong and sinuous, his muscles bulge—the thick cords tensing while his nostrils flare. He’s scenting me, and I follow the rapid rise and fall of his chest with rapt attention. Because he’s a gorgeous man. No mistaking that.

Tall. Dark. Handsome.

Every solid inch of my enemy has been designed and carved by the goddess herself, a literal manifestation of all that I find attractive in a man.

Easily over six foot five, if not taller, Alpha Daire makes me feel small.

Tiny. Delicate against his sharp muscles—a jaw carved of stone—and I take him in as desperately as he does me.

My tanned skin prickles with awareness as his gaze travels lower; I do the same.

Tattoos. Dark ink against olive skin.

From the base of his neck down to his ribcage, ink marks his skin in brutal detail.

Vertebrae stacked, ribs arcing outward, and every line and bone etched as though his skeleton had clawed its way outward.

Black and gray shadows turn his body into a living X-ray, while on each wrist, there is the clear imprint of a black paw. His wolf.

I’ve heard of that before but never paid enough attention to the local wolves here. Or maybe it’s just an alpha thing—the sign that its wolf has awakened and he or she is dominant.

They’re stunning. Intricate yet intimidating, but it’s the compass on his neck that draws my eye. The coordinates in it cause my brows to furrow, as if I should understand their meaning, but I’m pulled from the thought by a hand extending toward me, palm up.

Long, rough fingers. Hands that have labored and killed, if needed.

I’ve seen them bloody before. That night on the beach, even from afar, my keen eyesight didn’t let me miss a single detail, and I craved for those blood-soaked claws to trace the length of my spine before gripping me?—

“Come with me, little treasure,” he says, and the deep tones resonate with a hidden place inside of me.

It’s rough, the animal there and commanding, and I find myself placing my hand atop his without conscious thought.

The compulsion to be closer is undeniable, and I’m lost to the small curve of his lip when our skin touches.

What is that?

Tiny electrical pulses dance across my palm; they extend from the tip of my fingers, crawling up my wrist and arm. It almost tickles. The small bursts of playful energy dart between our hands, anchoring me in place, and my breath catches.

I don’t pull away either. Can’t.

Kai drops money onto the table, covering the cost of my untouched wine. The sound of it hitting the wood is sharp, final. Without another word, he threads our fingers together and leads me from the tavern.

The air outside is cooler than earlier today.

In the horizon, the sun sets and the night blooms release a soft perfume, but it’s dulled by the scent of man, wood, and that hint of sweetness from the pineapple that makes my mouth water.

The combination is sexy, overpowering my senses in the most pleasant way, and I forget the world around us as he leads me silently down the street.

I’m not thinking about anything outside this stolen moment.

A mistake? More than likely, but I don’t care. Not right now.

The further from the center of town we get, the more his body relaxes.

The rigid control I felt radiating from him in the tavern loosens, shoulders lowering, and the line of his mouth is less severe.

He doesn’t release me, though. Instead, Kai moves my hand to the crook of his elbow, covering mine with his in a gesture that cannot be called anything but gentlemanly. Sweet.

I tilt my head up, caught by the sharp cut of his jaw. In the way his head turns just enough that our eyes meet again, and in them, the glint of hunger is unmistakable. It makes my heart beat faster and my pulse flutter, a rhythm I know he can hear.

“I’ve waited.” Two words, and once again, they leave him in a dark, yet velvet tone.

Man and wolf, their tone curling around me in a way that tugs at the center of me.

Like a spell—a call—I can’t ignore, and I find myself moving closer.

In this moment, nothing matters but luxuriating in the heat coming off his skin and scent.

His thumb brushes across my knuckles, testing the pulse flowing between us.

“So fucking long. Even without the stone, I know.”

Out of nowhere, two dogs run past us, almost barreling into me before I can make heads or tails of what he just said. I blink, and my back is against the wall of a closed bakery with Kai standing a few inches from me.

Not touching, but the heat coming off his large body envelops me like a blanket, and my nipples tighten against the soft cotton of my dress.

“Look at me, sweetheart.”

“I’m…” I trail off, almost biting back a whimper when a soothing, low rumble comes from his chest. It’s calming. Can’t control my compliance—don’t want to fight it.

I barely reach his chest, and to meet his gaze, I have no choice but to tip my face up. Those soulful eyes are staring at me, and I find myself fascinated by the change in them. One second brown, the next golden, and his gaze remains intense.

There’s reverence in them, too.

My eyes lower a bit, and I notice the slightly crooked bridge of his nose, an imperfection that doesn’t diminish his handsomeness. If anything, it adds to it. And as if he knows what I’m thinking, he lowers his head, bringing his mouth to my nose, and he kisses the tip.

Such a contrast to the rugged and dominant man I know he is. The filthy, untrustworthy pirate.

What are you doing, Nerissa?

Kai chuckles then, and the sound feels like a warm caress. It renders my earlier thought void, and I want him closer. To burn myself with his touch.

I’m in trouble.

“…I didn’t reset it before my healing abilities kicked in.”

“Oh,” I say. Not the most eloquent reply, but I’d been too busy watching his mouth just now. How it moves with each enunciation. How he ran the tip of his tongue over his slightly fuller bottom lip.

Won’t deny the small shiver that crests over me at the act. And while I should be embarrassed by my attraction to this man—an enemy to my people—I’m not.

Instead, I blush. Heat spreads across the apple of my cheeks, spreading down until reaching the tops of my breasts. Another mistake.

Alpha Kai watches me with undisguised hunger.

His eyes roam, taking in each delicate bow where a button should be.

From my bust to the hem of my mid-thigh summer dress, he doesn’t miss a single detail.

Raw and palpable need flows between us. The attraction is electric, and I find myself tightly sandwiched between his warm body and the wall on my next breath.

He’s breathing hard, tattooed midsection heaving, and I’ve never felt so small in my life. So delicate.

Wetness coats my upper thighs, my core clenching hard when a strong arm slips around my waist and lifts me until we’re face to face, chests drawing in deep breaths while his exhale becomes my inhale.

Gods help me. I cannot resist him.

Yet my prayer falls of deaf ears. More so when I get to experience a taste of his protectiveness.

A warning snarl suddenly rips from him, and the sound reverberates against my lips—they tingle in its wake. It also causes a few yips to come from somewhere around the corner; the response is one of fear and submission.

He’s alert where I’ve been docile, ignoring the subtle tilt of his head, picking up conversations, and keeping track of where the residents are.

Affording us privacy. It reminds me of my own abilities, how the lightest noise filters through, or how easily I should pick up movements. All normal behavior, especially from?—

I’m stopped in my tracks.

From his intense eyes to his lips and then his neck, where I pause. Where is it? There’s nothing where the stone should’ve been. Where just a few days ago, I’d seen the chain, a large black stone dangling and hard to miss.

That day, as he fought the rogue, I’d taken note of the size, the metal used to secure it, and began to plan. I was going to take it. Let nature distract him while I slip undetected onto his ship—a thunderstorm my cover—and then slip away back home.

Easy. Controllable. Magda was part of my plan; I needed her to create a scent blocker for me. My cloak would work; its ability to hide my scent and heat trace is unmatched, but there are too many variables that can go wrong.

It could snag on something.

It could be grabbed.

Two scenarios I’m unwilling to test. Not when this wolf is more than meets the eye.

Pricks of pain send a jolt of pleasure through me. It’s his claws; they’ve extended, and when my gaze meets his again, his fangs are exposed. His grin is just shy of feral.

“I’m going on instinct, Nerissa. More beast than man, and I want you.”

“Kai,” I breathe out, a slip of the tongue as he hasn’t given me his name.

Haven’t given him mine, either. Not that Alpha Daire calls me out on it.

If anything, he revels in the way it rolls off my tongue.

There’s a vibration coming from his chest, that sweet little sound again, and it causes my core to clench and my hips to gyrate. Fuck , he’s purring for me.

Throbbing against my mound, but then he lowers me, slowly rubbing himself over my midsection until my feet touch the ground. Thick, long—I’m whimpering as he removes his hand, tapping my nose with a single finger while a slick smirk graces his lip.

“Run, little treasure.”