The Sheik and the Siren (Elemental Series) (7 page)

BOOK: The Sheik and the Siren (Elemental Series)
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“Oh, I would love that,” she said, her mind taking her back to a time when she was a child, playing and frolicking with her fae friends. But then their parents started realizing it was too risky for the young girls to stay together since there was at least one of the elements that could kill each of them, and they were young and careless. And to protect their daughters, they’d split them up and all went their separate ways.

“Well, your friend Brynn-Riletta is married to Lord Drake and they have a little boy named Blaze.”

“Can he summon fire?” she asked anxiously.


’Tis too early to tell if he’s inherited any of the fae qualities, but he hasn’t shown any signs as of yet. Of course his mother would like if he’s inherited her power, and Lord Drake likes the idea as well since he plans on training Blaze himself to be a strong warrior.”

“What about Rae-Nyst?” she asked, longing to hear more.

“Your dryad friend is married to Duke the Destroyer, or Lord Wolfe, I should say. She had their wedding in the circle of standing stones and made all the men wear flowers in their hair.”

“Oh, that sounds like Rae,” she said with a giggle. “Does she have any children?”

“Nay, not yet. But she is due any day now. And your sylph friend, Portia-Maer is married to Lord Wolfe’s knight, Sir Braden – actually Lord Braden now. She is pregnant as well, and I’ve seen in my crystal that she will have twins.”

“Oh my, will she be surprised,” said Ebba with a smile. “And have you seen anything in your crystal about me?” she asked curiously.

“Ebba, darling, you and Ace both have some rough roads ahead of you though I cannot say what, exactly. But all I know is that if you go through it together, it’ll make each of you stronger. So think about that next time you leave him in bed by himself and go out to sleep in the sea.”

“But I need to go to the water to replenish myself,” she told her.

“Then do it during the day instead of at night. And take Ace with you. Show him how you live and what your world is like beneath the waves.”

“He’s already seen it,” she said gettin
g to her feet. “And there’s no need for him to see it again.”

“I see,” said Juturna nodding slowly and opening the trunk. “There is something you want to keep away from him. But if I know anything about the Lion of the Sea, it’s
that if you tell him to stay away, he’ll only want to do it more. Not unlike a fae.”

“I’ll have no trouble with the Sea Lion, so don’t you worry.”

“Sea Lion?” she asked with a chuckle. “Oh, I am sure Asad does not like that title in the least.”

“Asad?” she asked
, puzzled by the woman’s use of this name.

“Ace,” she said. “Asad is his real name, didn’t he tell you?”

“Nay, he didn’t,” she said, now knowing why. “That is a sheik’s name, is it not?”

“I would imagine. A
fter all, his mother was a harem girl and his father was a sheik.”

“What!” She all but screamed, her blood already boiling to hear this. “And you ask me to be kind to him and trust him when one of his kind has killed my father and abducted my mother?”

Juturna looked at her and just shook her head. “One rotten apple doesn’t spoil the whole barrel.”

“Doesn’t it?”

“Ebba, darling, why don’t you ask Ace about his past and let him explain to you why he is even here at all. I think you’ll be shocked by what you hear and mayhap see him in a different light.”

“I’m not sure, I’ll have to think about that.”

“Fine, and in the meantime let’s dress you like a lady around all these men before you are abducted too for walking around half naked.”

“I am a siren, this is what I do.”

“And they are men who haven’t had a woman in a while. They are hard and bothered and want to bed any girl they can get their hands on. They are men. Believe me, child, that is what they do.”

“Then, let’s find a gown quickly,” she said, helping Juturna dig through the trunk.

“You’ve never made love to a man and are frightened to do it, aren’t you?”

“Does it show?” she asked.

“Oh yes,” Juturna said, “yes it shows. And believe me, a coy virgin who is also a seductive siren is the dream of every man who walks the earth.”

“I am glad you are here, Juturna,” said Ebba. “Because I think there are some things about men that I need to learn.”

 

Chapter 7

 

 

With the help of Boots and the misfit men with their extra boats, Ace was able to get three barrels of food, from grain to salted pork and even dates and bring them back to the castle along with a good amount of wine, ale and even some new swords and extra canvas and wool to make clothes for the men. He could have had more, but Boots had delivered most of the supplies to the merchants, trying to calm them down when they’d heard part of their delivery had been stolen.

Ace
brought from his own cabin a pair of scissors, three needles and several spools of thread that he kept on board his ship for times when the sea was rough and their clothing needed repairing.

“You cannot just take these goods,” Boot
s told him. “I was lucky enough to have found a few merchants who still trusted me to trade their wares. I need to deliver them. You know they will be missed.”

“Then when you go back to Lornoon, tell them that the cargo was stolen by pirates.”

“I already told them that for the first time your misfits raided us. I cannot believe you are just handing over this precious cargo to a bunch of thieves.”


’Tis for a good cause,” he told him. “And someday, ’twill pay off, I’m sure it will.”

“I just hope you’re right,” said Boots. “Because
with the loss of all these wares, the vendors are going to hold you responsible. How are you going to pay for all this when they demand you make good for their losses?”

“Don’t worry about that now.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to go back and face these angry people.”

“Then go to Thorndale instead and seek out Lord Drake. Ask him for help until I can return.
His coffers are full and I am sure he would help me, knowing I would repay him as soon as possible. Now stay for something to eat, and make sure to bring some food back to Bear aboard the Paradigm before you return to shore. Cook’s made up some concoction and I really have no idea if it’s edible or not, since the man is blind and can’t see what the hell he’s doing.”

“And he cooks?”

“Aye, he’s gained his confidence back, but I warn you, be nowhere near him when he picks up the meat cleaver. But we will eat what he’s made and tell him ’tis delicious even if it’s not. There is no way I want him losing his confidence again.”

They entered the great hall, and Ace was pleas
ed to see the men hurrying about and putting together a trestle table, every man pitching in, in one way or another.

“Great work, gentlemen,” he called out. Now find a couple of benches somewhere and head off to the kitchen to bring in that delicious meal Cook
’s prepared.”

“It smells like something died in there,” ground out Willis.

“’Tis food, now we’ll all eat it and like it, understand?”

They muttered their acceptance, tho it didn’t sound
sincere. Then he turned and stopped in his tracks as his gaze fell upon the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes upon.

“Ebba-Tyne, you look . . . ravishing,” he said. “I can’t take my eyes off you.”

Juturna stood behind her, and gave her a small nudge forward as he held out his arm to escort her to the table.

 

Ebba damned near tripped on the long gown and had to reach for Ace in order not to fall. Her mother was a taller woman than herself, and the gown was ill fitting. She felt ridiculous wearing the dress that trailed out the length of an entire person behind her and with sleeves that hung all the way down to the floor.

She’d always wondered how her mother maneuvered in it, and now she knew
what an irritating task it really was. She also was reminded why she’d always refused to wear a gown, even though her father begged her to look like a lady.

“May I escort you to the table, my lady?” asked Ace, picking up her hand and placing a kiss upon it.

“If you must,” she said, noticing that every man there was drinking her in with their eyes. They’d never looked at her like this before when she ran around half-naked. It was the oddest thing.

“I’ve never seen you look so alluring,” Ace told her on their way to the table.

“You’ve seen me naked,” she reminded him. “So are you saying that was not alluring but this is? I don’t understand.”

He inhaled sharply at her words, then leaned over and whispered in
to her ear.

“Don’t bring that up right now or I’m not going to be able to control my urges.”

“Well, mayhap we’ll have to do something some day to take care of that little problem,” she teased him, not at all meaning it. After all, she could never go to bed with him now that she knew he was the son of a sheik.

“Really?” he asked, the hope in his voice more than she could bear.

“Someday, . . . and I said mayhap, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“Would you be staying with me in the solar tonight, my lady?”

She was nervous all of a sudden, her eyes darting over to Juturna who’d come to join them and then back to Ace again.

“I don’t know,” she said as he helped her sit.
“We’ll see.”

“I could pleasure you, my lady, I assure you ’twill be to your liking.”

“Quit saying that,” she said, “because it makes you sound like a sheik.” She turned to talk to Boots who was sitting next to her, blatantly ignoring him.

 

Ace looked over to Juturna who was sitting across from him and shrugged his shoulders.

“You n
eed to stop trying so hard,” Juturna whispered from behind her hand. “A fae needs to think you don’t want her and that’ll make her flock to your side.”

“What?” he mouthed the word behind his
hand. “Do you really think so?”

“Try it, and see.”

“What are you two talking about?” asked Ebba turning suddenly.

“Nothing,” said Ace, looking down to the porridge that Cook made that
Sir John just placed in front of him. He put a spoonful in his mouth and almost gagged. The man had used a few too many herbs and spices. He’d have to tell him how to use curry and sage before he cooked again.


So, how’s the food?” asked Cook using his walking stick to tap the floor, making his way from the kitchen to the table.

Ace quaffed down his ale and he noticed every man there doing t
he same. His mouth was on tingling and an odd flavor hung at the back of his throat. He couldn’t tell exactly if he were eating fish, or pork or something dead from the bottom of the sea.

“Delicious,” said Ebba, before he could answer. He looked over in surprise to see her spooning up the last of the juice from the bottom of the bowl. “Can I have a bit more, Cook?”

“Of course,” he said, heading for the kitchen.

“No need,” Ace called out, pushing his bowl toward Ebba. “We seem to have an
extra bowl of it right here.”

“Aye,” said one of the men, pushing his bowl toward her as well. Before long, a do
zen bowls of overly strong, odd-tasting porridge were all lined up in front of Ebba.

“If I eat all these, I’ll look like a whale,” she said.

“You could never look like a whale, my sea goddess,” he said then noticed Juturna shaking her head. “Or on second thought, aye, you could.”

“What?” she asked, putting down her spoon and looking up at
him. “What did you just say?”

“I said, I said . . .” he looked at Juturna for help but she was just shaking her head and
heading for the kitchen right behind Cook. “I said I’ve yet to see a whale. But mayhap I will . . . some day.”

“I think I’m done,” she said, pushing the bowl back toward Ace. “I’m going for a swim, and don’t wait up, as I’ll not be coming back to the solar this evening.”

Ace felt like a fool for what he’d just said, and was already regretting it. He poured himself another ale, and then another, knowing this was going to be one hell of a long night.

 

Ebba removed her burdensome gown and dove into the water, feeling more confused than ever. Juturna had said she should give Ace a chance, and her heart cried out to be in his arms once again. But her head warned her to beware, as this man reminded her of the sheik that had taken the lives of so many of her men as well as her beloved father. And then he’d taken Ebba’s mother from her. That is something she could never forgive.

She missed her parents dearly, and was thankful for her friends of the sea. She swam to the b
ottom of the ocean, her dolphins circling around her. They obviously wanted to play.

I don’t feel like playing
, she told them, pushing them away. Then she thought of what Juturna had told her about her elemental friends. They sounded so happy being married to humans. And her friend, Brynn-Riletta, even had a child to call her own. She wanted that more than anything in life. A child to care for, and to love. To fill the empty space within her. If she couldn’t be nurtured, then she needed to nurture someone else instead.

Mayhap Juturna was right, and she should give Ace a chance. She wanted the happiness her friends had found, and perhaps she could be happy with a human man as well. Ace made her feel alive and vibrant
inside, something she’d never felt with anyone before. Aye, she decided, mayhap he could be the one for her.

After all, he was nothing like the sheik
who’d killed her father and stole her mother. And he was probably from a different land anyway, and she was just being overcautious. If he were evil, surely she’d have felt it by now. He’d been trying so hard to woo her, that perhaps she should just give him what he wanted already. After all, ’twas really what she wanted too.

She emerged from the water, and in the darkness donned her gown
. Then, with her stomach fluttering and her heart beating rapidly, she headed toward the solar where Ace would be sleeping.

 

* * *

 

Ace stumbled back to his solar, having spent most the night drinking and playing cards with the men. He’d won almost every hand, though they were only betting with seashells. He wavered at the door, almost dropping the basket of shells he’d won. If his winnings were coins, he’d be rich right now.

He closed the door and made his way in the dark toward the bed, tripping on the chair in the process. The basket fel
l from his hands, the shells scattering across the wooden floor.

He left them there, stepping over them, and removing his belt and weapons in the process. He went to place them on the bedside table and missed. His sword crashed to the ground, echoing loudly in his ears. Then he pulled off his clothing and fell into bed naked,
wishing more than anything that Ebba would be spending the night with him.

He felt so foolish trying to ignore her or act like he didn’t want her
, though he couldn’t get her out of his mind. But if what Juturna said was true, then he needed to do this in order to bring her closer. Then, perhaps she would want him as badly as he wanted her.

He fell into a drunken slumber instantly, immediately dreaming of making love to the sultry siren of the sea.

 

Ebba snuck through the corridor of her own castle, feeling no better than a thief in the night. But she didn’t want anyone to see her going int
o Ace’s chamber so late. She still felt nervous for what she was about to do, and just decided to keep this action to herself instead of announcing it to everyone.

She slowly pushed the door open and slipped into the room. Closing it silently behind her, she laid her back against it, feeling anxiety course through her. She knew Juturna was right in te
lling her she was a fae and faes had a healthy sexual appetite. Her mother had warned her about this years ago, but Ebba had dismissed the thought from her head, getting lost in her underwater world instead.

She took a step forward, her bare foot crunching s
omething sharp beneath her toes. “Ow!” She jumped back and grabbed her foot, then looked up in the darkness when she heard an odd guttural sound coming from the bed. The Sea Lion was snoring, she realized. And the room reeked from strong ale.

She took another step and her foot hit something again. She reached down and picked up a shell from the sea. She headed for the window and opened the shutters
, letting in the moonlight that spilled across the floor lighting up dozens of shells, looking like the floor of her ocean right here in the chamber.

What was he d
oing with shells on the floor? Then he snored once again, and tossed and turned in his sleep. The moonlight on his face made him look regal, and his long hair fanned out around him atop the pillows. Then she moved closer and heard him call out her name. She thought he knew she was there at first, until she realized his eyes were closed and he was talking in his sleep.

She slipped the gown from her shoulders and settled herself next to him on the bed. He turned just then, his arm slapping
over her, and his leg straddling her as well in a half-sort of hug.

He was still sleeping, she realized, and the playful, teasing part of her that made her a true fae had her giggling to herself as she d
ecided to toy with him in this state.

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