The Pirate and His Siren

Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

LUARNA

W e spend our days sailing across the sea, the weather being kind to us, full of sunshine, balmy days, and a calm sea. Not that it matters to Kynan and me, as we spend most of our time in his cabin, exploring each other’s bodies.

At first, I thought Kynan saw me as an easy lay, which I’d been on board with.

A siren is a sure thing, after all.

But the little things he does begin to make me think this is more than just sex for him, like running a comb through my long locks that become a tangled mess after our rigorous lovemaking. It’s a laborious task to work out all of the knots, but Kynan never complains.

But I’ve only ever enjoyed this act with Ikina. My mother used this time to lecture me about the proper ways a siren had to conduct themselves.

He even procures me new clothing from chests he keeps below deck in the cargo hold, which I suspect are meant to be traded, but he gives them all to me. Or sometimes, he will slip me a sweet dessert at mealtimes .

All of this is dangerous territory to tread.

A siren doesn’t love.

Nor does she give her heart away.

Initially, I didn’t know why I stayed aboard the Deadly Destiny , knowing I could leave whenever I wanted—swim away and never look back. At first, it was because Kynan wanted to prove himself, but now he does thoughtful things that keep enticing me to stay.

To distract myself from having possible feelings for Kynan, I throw myself into learning what it means to be a pirate and working on a ship.

Initially, the crew of the Deadly Destiny found me a bother to have around, but they slowly began begrudgingly accepting me amongst them more each day. Arkur was the first when I started to assist him in the galley, teaching him to fillet the fish I hunted that day to get the maximum amount of meat from the bones. He was often surprised I would shuck mussel shells by hand. I told him we didn’t have tools in the sea to use for our food consumption. Providing food is beneficial to our stomachs and keeps me from drying out.

As a reward for my help, he slyly gives me extra portions.

I learn what it is to sail a ship and pitch in to help where I can. My siren strength is seen as a boon, especially for hauling rigging when it’s time to pull the sails. Even with my siren strength, especially if a gale picks up, it’s back-breaking work, and calluses form on my palms, but I find a strange enjoyment in partaking in the running of the ship.

Instead of spending my days swimming lazily in the sea, waiting to seduce the next male, I’m doing something productive .

My mother would hate it—her daughter conducting hard labor—making it all the more gleeful to do.

The leers and lustful stares have now begun to wane except for a few. One of them is a balding man, Marver, whose remaining locks fall in stringy, yellow strands, his teeth yellowed and missing in several places. His eyes are a murky gray. He is the one who pinched my ass the first day I stepped on board.

Alarn, one of his friends, whose hair is so greasy, I can’t tell if it is originally blond or a light brown, tries to emulate Kynan and his officers’ look with a beard of his own. It appears he can’t grow any hair on his chin, with sparse patterns of bristles here and there.

The other is Dirk, with short brown hair and cropped bangs that fall half an inch down his forehead. His hazel eyes are always bug-eyed and watching me.

But I can handle myself against them.

Being in my nature to seduce men, I may have teased them by putting a sway in my hips while I stride across the deck, which I suppose drives them mad, knowing they can’t have me. It’s a heady, delicious feeling.

But what really makes the crew accept me is the game Ships and Bounty .

During one of the long stretches of sailing, where the sea was calm and there was barely a breeze, I came across crew members huddled around in a group where they’d marked out squares on the deck with chalk.

“What’s the object of this game?”

“You have to overtake your opponent,” Xandin, a tawny, brown-skinned man, his black hair twisted into long dreadlocks that fell past his shoulder, begins to explain. “But you have to place bets on how many squares you’ll move. If you lose, you give your opponent a coin, but if you win, you get to move forward the number of spaces on the dice.”

“Which way can you move?” There are squares marked in rows leading one way and then joined to another row leading in another direction in what first appears to be a complicated gridlock.

“Any which way you want, Miss Luarna,” says Nik, the cabin boy. He’s at an age I think is too young to be part of a pirate crew. A flop of honey-blond hair falls over his wide, innocent blue-gray eyes he constantly brushes aside. He is scrawny and looks underfed but eats as much as the rest of the crew. His physique is due to running around doing all the grunt jobs the crew delegates to him.

“Certain places like ’ere.” He points to a collection of bones and a tiny wooden chest on a pile of sand. “This is where you want to head. The treasure being the ultimate prize.”

“What are these other places?” I can see little gems scattered over different squares. On closer inspection, the jewels are made of glass.

“Aye, as we’re pirates, you wanna collect as much booty along the way before your opponent does.” Xandin grins. His left front tooth is replaced with a golden one, glinting in the sunlight. “That’s also how you pay your opponent.”

“Sounds complicated. I’m in.”

“There’s a buy-in, Miss Luarna.”

I raise a brow before tossing in a gold coin. “Will that do?”

He gives me a wide grin as other members crow their delight. “Aye, that’ll do.”

Nik hands me the dice.

The playing pieces are little carved pirate ships with different colored sails. I inspect mine, the detailing intricate, all parts of the ship. “Who carved these?”

“Old man Bones.”

I lift my eyes to the pirate in question, who gives me a bashful, wide, toothy grin set in his sun-weathered face. His skin is lined with deep wrinkles. When it isn’t covered with a scarf, his head is peppered with gray.

“Your work is impeccable, good sir.”

“Bah, no one’s told me my work is impeccable.” He ducks his head.

I lift my little ship with red sails in his direction. “Well, they should.”

I soon pick up on the game’s rules, failing miserably the first few turns. It’s the betting on the dice that undoes me. But the more I play, the more the rest of the crew gathers around wanting to play against me.

Finally, I understand the game and secure my first win. I crow with delight before reining my voice in, lest any of my song spills out. I quickly glance around, but none of the crew are compelled, patting each other on the back for a game well played or jeering good-naturedly that they let me win.

My latest opponents turn to me and congratulate me on a well-won strategy.

“Since you won the last round, you have to be the first throw, Miss Luarna.” Nick holds his open hand out to me with the two wooden dice resting in his palm.

Apprehension fills me as I search their faces for any unease at me playing again, but there is nothing but joy on their faces.

Something settles in me then.

There has only been one other to accept me—Ikina. Not even my mother looks upon me with such warmth .

This is the day I knew I’d become one of the crew.

Yet, I don’t know if accepting their approval means leaving myself vulnerable to a certain pirate captain.

I push those thoughts aside and grab the dice. “Aye, let’s play.”