Page 29 of Siren’s Kiss & Feral Beasts

KAI

“ T he captain always goes down with the ship.”

Threat. Promise. Seduction.

A low moan that settles on the tip of my throbbing cock while the pleasurable vibrations slide across every nerve ending like a filthy caress.

Something she’s aware of as her lithe legs wrap around my waist—her delicate fingers slipping into my hair and tugging hard—while her plump lips hum against my throat.

Her siren song. The cadence is sweet yet volatile—a provocative tease meant to heighten her delicious betrayal and my unwavering compliance. Because that’s what this is: a play for power and revenge as she walks me out of the room, tip of the knife now pressed to my throat.

This is for control over what’s been given and taken by her people more than once.

History repeats itself, and yet the players are a little smarter now.

I don’t stop Nerissa as one of her hands leaves my hair and cold metal slips around my wrist a few seconds later, the loud click of the mechanical lock like a gunshot in the night.

Firm. Sensual. Foreplay. Every muscle in my body contracts, the act painful as the animal—the beast within me—fights for control as she binds my other clawed hand to the large mast.

She planned this and somehow studied my ship; the proof is my now shackled arms.

The bindings are heavy and solid metal, not silver. Those are kept in the captain’s desk.

These, though, are breakable. If I wanted to, I’d be out and mounting my siren, but I don’t move. Instead, I let her play her game and set the trap, but I’m not the end target and we both know this.

Beautiful, cunning female. Mine.

Blood drips from my fingertips and onto the ship's deck. It marks the start of my hunt, and I snap my teeth playfully at her when the same dainty fingertips slide across each pointed tip of my right hand.

Back and forth. Gentle sweeps.

“You’re such a good boy for me, Alpha. So sweet to his mate.

” Nerissa rolls her hips teasingly, almost lazily, while her sharp nails rake across my chest. No hurry.

No self-awareness—acknowledgement of lighting my world on fire.

Instead, the pointed yet delicate nails dig in deeper while the biting cold rain strengthens, stinging the newly made welts.

A few tips break through my skin; I feel each drop and revel in the way she spreads my blood across her palm and my bare chest.

“And you’re playing a dangerous game, my little treasure.”

“Maybe I am...” she shrugs, a small tilt to her lips “...or maybe I’m too much for you, Alpha Daire.”

My response? I buck my hips against her. The act causes Nerissa to let out an involuntary gasp, the knife slipping from her grip, but there’s no fear there. No. The bond thrums between us, the high frequency demanding that I do just that... claim her .

Goosebumps rise across her skin, and her cheeks grow flushed.

Moreover, it has nothing to do with the current humidity or the angry waves below us.

The water crashes against the side of my ship, its power turning us, and there’s no getting control of the helm when the heir to the merpeople’s crown names me the enemy .

Taking in a deep breath, I hum as her scent envelops me. Owns me.

That delicious mix of orange blossoms and coconut with a hint of vanilla and something else—wilder and ancient—curls around my lungs. It hits me harder than the storm building around us ever could:

She’s etched onto my skin like a tattoo. Rewires my blood to sing only for her.

I. Am. Hers.

What’s more? She realizes just how mine she is, too.

There’s no denying this. Us. We are, and it’s as natural as the sun rising and setting or the tides crashing against the shore.

“Are you mad at me?” While Nerissa’s tone is cocky, beneath the layer of challenge there’s also a tinge of worry.

Of caring. She’s fighting against everything she grew up loyal to.

Her family, the crown—her people. Poor little mermaid mated to the one thing she’s been taught to abhor above all else.

“No. Not mad.” I’m hard for the curvaceous nymph—fucking throbbing for another taste of the only cunt I’ll ever worship—but she’s dead set on setting my world on fire.

Or better yet, drowning it and then reviving us in a blaze of glory.

But then again, I wouldn't expect anything less from the siren who owns my beast and me.

Both man and animal belong to her now. Our fated one.

“Then what are you?”

“Indulgent.” My one-word response has its desired response; her eyes narrow, and her lips form a pout. “Or were you expecting something else?”

“Careful, Wolf. Some might think you’re still in charge here.

” Lightning cracks through the turbulent sky, striking the ship’s bow then.

The impact is sharp and jostling, cracking the wood where I embedded my claw marks above the carving of a wolf mid-shift, the day I laid claim to this vessel.

The prior owner was an old pirate, a dishonorable shifter who challenged me for my alpha rank and lost more than his fangs that day.

Not the first time it happened. Won’t be the last.

This ship was my prize.

My home for the last twelve months, while I hunted down my darling treasure.

I’ve fought like a beast. I’ve killed to protect it, too.

And now it’ll all go down in a plume of smoke…

“What about now?” The lilt in her voice changes, pulling me back to those dangerous eyes.

Her expression is gentler, a softness I enjoyed the night we met—before she stole from me and then ran.

Such a smart female. So perfect. Nerissa’s thighs loosen their tight grip around my waist, but she doesn’t release me completely.

No, she stays close enough to enjoy the vibrations coming from my chest in a low and soothing growl.

And it’s in that closeness that I note the way luminescent scales in varying shades of purples and teal with touches of pink—different patterns—rise across her arms and ribs. They’re beautiful, look so soft, but there’s also a subtle thrumming coming from each.

Silent, yet they send a call that no one can hear, but then…

The mermaids below begin to sing again. Louder, their cadence meant to be sultry, and the tune is different this time.

They’re not going for subtle anymore. The melody intertwines with the howling wind, creating a hypnotizing soundtrack that my men fight against. Each note is meant to distract and control, lacing itself through the cracks in the wood and bone before coiling around every werewolf aboard like a velvet noose.

Each note strikes an ingrained yearning every werewolf carries—the hunger for the softness of skin and the surrender of their fated bond.

A gift from the gods. Soulmates are to be treasured and honored.

Moreover, my pack doesn’t believe in intimacy before finding your true mate.

We refuse to. We’re loyal to our destiny.

Anything less would be a disgrace, no matter how long it takes to bond with your soulmate. And more than that, no wolf wants to be responsible for the pain that betrayal could cause their fated one.

We’re territorial animals. We do not share.

The thought alone of another touching what is goddess-given and ours would lead to the death of a fellow shifter. There is no other way.

Yet my men aren’t infallible, and the siren’s song affects my crew.

One by one, they hit the deck, half-shifted—nails dragging splinters from the deck’s wood as they struggle to anchor themselves.

The song weaves, tightens, while a heavy crash comes from the bow of the ship.

The carving and my claw marks are gone, lost in the turbulent waters below, while embers fly away in a plume of smoke.

“I’m going to make you pay for this, Nerissa. On your knees and then on all fours.” Licking a fang, I taste her desire in the air surrounding us. There’s no denying the scent of her wetness nor the hungry tug of the semi-formed bond between us. It demands we act. That we mark each other and fuck.

“They’re here,” she whispers low, mouth against my neck. You couldn’t see or hear it from our position, the storm muffling any possible sound, and I give her a minute nod. “Remember, everything I do or say is a lie. Follow me when this is done.”

“To the end of the earth, my siren. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Alpha. Nothing will ever change that.” Nerissa’s smile is sweet, but then turns predatory as she unwraps her legs and slides down the front of my six-foot-five frame.

The descent is slow, meticulous, and I snarl viciously when her wet cunt glides over my cock. “Now be good alpha and growl for me.”

“I’m going to make you pay for this, Nerissa. You’ll take it like a good girl and beg for more.”

“Anything for you.” A clicking sound comes from my mate, and the sirens come closer. They surround the ship, bodies positioned to attack anyone who tries to jump, and my men all fall into line. In our last shared dream, Nerissa had given me instructions for myself and my crew.

How to act. How to prepare for the compulsion to serve a siren.

Some of them have small pieces of cotton in their ears, blocking enough of the signal to lessen the effect.

Their sounds are sweet and melodic—soaked in sin—while my female carries a slightly different tune meant to control me.

Nerissa’s song is private, a sensual call to her male, and my chest vibrates with an answering purr she can’t ignore.

It’s there in the rapid rise and fall of her chest. The dilation of her pupils and goosebumps on her soft, tanned skin.

“How much longer?” I mouth against her lips when she kisses me, while my pack members continue to fight.

The ones without the cotton for help decided it was easier in their wolf form; they shook the noise off and grappled with their mouths to grab hold of the sail’s rope.

They bite and pull, dig their claws with a different purpose now, but nothing will save this ship.

I know it. They do too.

The mast snaps, the sails tumbling down and crashing a few feet from Nerissa and me.

“Get out. I’ll find you later.”

“But, Alpha?—”

“Get them the fuck off the boat, Gamma. That’s an order.”