The Pirate and His Siren

Chapter Ten

CHAPTER TEN

KYNAN

A fter my routine stroll, I step up to the rail beside Flinders in the prow, making sure everything is running smoothly on my ship.

“Anything?”

“Nay, Captain, scarcely a sighting anywhere.”

I lean heavily on the rails, gazing across the endless blue-green water stretched out before us. “I need to come up with a plan. Something to keep my ship running and the crew happy. We can’t keep carrying on doing nothing, never finding another soul in the Bay .”

“Roberts and I will follow you anywhere. We don’t have to be pirates, you know.”

“But there’s a sense of freedom about it, being stewards of our own destiny. We’re not bound by the laws of the lands and our own people, each of us here on the Deadly Destiny .”

Loud, raucous banter draws our attention. My eyes immediately find her, head tipped back, laughing with the crew.

“That’s cheating, lass.” Bones laughs .

“No, you’re just upset I’m skilled at this game,” she retorts.

Most of the crew have abandoned their stations to gather around her and the game. But I can’t bring myself to reprimand any of them as I watch them laughing and jeering with her.

The sight does funny things to my heart.

I always knew I wanted to keep her in my bed, but I never imagined she’d be a part of the crew. But the scene before me is something else I want to keep.

“Including Luarna, now?”

“Aye, including her.”

“You shouldn’t worry about us. You should be focusing on doing right by her.”

“Aye, Luarna is fast becoming my fucking heart, but you and Roberts are my brothers. I won’t abandon either of you for a skirt. Besides, look at her. She fits in with our family now, doesn’t she?”

“Aye, she does.”

“Good. Now all we have to do is find a way to keep it.”

All of it.

Including Luarna by my side.

Luarna finds me later in my cabin as I’m poring over maps.

I pull her onto my lap. “Finished playing with the crew?”

“Too much time in the sun can dry out a girl’s skin, especially a siren. I need to take a swim later. ”

She’s been doing that the more we stay out at sea. But unlike that first day, when she challenged me by diving in naked, she is now respectful and dives into the water with her clothes on. I even join her on occasion, trying to perfect my tail-fucking technique.

“Besides, they won all my money.”

“Aye, or did you let them?”

A small grin spreads over her face while she wraps her arms around my neck. “Maybe…”

I shake my head before going back to studying the maps spread over my desk.

“What are you looking for?”

“A way to survive. A pirate’s life isn’t as profitable as it once was.” I stab my index finger at the body of water above the continent. “If only we had access to the Fae waters. There’s loot to plunder there, for sure.”

“Us seafolk have always been able to access these waters. The High Fae may seem like peaceful folk, but they can be as cutthroat and manipulative as they come.”

I pull her closer against my body. “Sounds like my kind of people.”

“They won’t take too kindly to you trying to rob them.”

“Aye, but that’s half the fun. Can you get us to these waters?”

She shakes her head. “Access is only through underwater tunnels. You won’t survive the swim.”

I twist her around, pull her legs over the armrest, and tip her face up to mine. “I thought a mermaid’s kiss allows a man to survive in the water.”

“I’m a siren. It works differently for us.”

“Aye, it does, does it?” I stroke her thigh.

She shudders under my touch, squirming on my lap. “Yes, we take no mates. ”

“Is that right?” I hide my displeasure at her words.

Luarna will take me as her mate.

She has no choice because I’m keeping her.

I caress her sex through the fabric of her breeches, making her pant. I deftly unlace the ties, my hand delving inside, finding her folds already wet for me. Holding her close, I stroke her to completion, watching in rapture as she comes apart in my arms. I continue to run my fingers through her folds as she rides out her orgasm before lifting my fingers to my lips, savoring her taste while I lick them clean.

She lifts her head off my shoulder and flashes me an appreciative grin. That’s what I love about her. She takes her pleasure without feeling the need to reciprocate. Just like any pirate would.

Luarna swings her legs off the armrest to face the map again. “You know there are other ways to steal from the Fae.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why must you rob people on the sea?”

“Because sailing the sea is ingrained in me now. I don’t know if I can go back to living on land. I need the salty air in my lungs and the wind in my sails.”

“Why did you become a pirate?” she asks quietly.

“Roberts, Flinders, and I had stuffed up a scam, and we were looking for an escape route, heading toward the dock. One of the greatest pirate captains to ever live, Captain Anston, saw us running from the city guards and made us part of his crew as cabin boys. As soon as I stepped on the Sea’s Diamond deck, I knew this was what I was meant to do with my life… to have the adventure to plunder and be a free man. But it’s mostly that out there.”

I look out of the closest window. “To be on the water. The notion of sailing these waters exploring the world as I plunder and loot. But the world is smaller than we thought.” I rest my chin on her shoulder. “But still, something has always drawn me to the sea.” I tighten my grip on her thigh. Maybe it’s her. Maybe I am drawn to be with her.

But I know if I say as much to her, she’ll flee from me again.

No, I have to show Luarna she is mine.

“I’m a being born of the ocean, yet I have no trouble being on land.”

“I want to be free, to live without abiding by anyone else’s laws.”

“If there’s anyone who is free to do as they please, that’s a siren. We seduce men for pleasure and sometimes to procreate. We travel the world, moving from place to place, never letting anyone tie us down.”

“Aye, that sounds like my ideal type of living.”

“So I think you need a boat that can travel along rivers and land so we can rob merchants on their way to the Nexian.”

“Aye, you may be on to something.” I stroke my beard. If I can’t make it as a pirate of the sea, can I be a river pirate? The land pirate side of it repulses me, but if there was a way to move the ship across the lands to each river, it might be the way moving forward.

I grin at Luarna before smacking my lips to hers.

Sometime later, I find Roberts and Flinders and begin discussing with them the possibility of robbing people on land. I tell them about Luarna’s idea for a vehicle that can traverse land and sea.

“It would solve our current problems,” says Roberts, scratching his beard.

“Aye, it would,” Flinders agrees and looks over at the crew bringing out barrels and instruments. “Can such a vessel exist?”

“We might have to investigate it. Talk to ship builders.”

Flinders lifts his chin in the direction of the crew, who are setting up barrels to sit on while they sing and play instruments.

“What’s all this then?” I ask.

“Luarna’s presence has distracted most of the crew from our lack of pirating, and this recent turn of events has boosted morale.”

“I hate to be the one to dash hope…” Roberts begins, “… but even Miss Luarna’s coin won’t be able to settle the men much longer. They’re in a good mood now, but as the days go on with no looting to be done, their moods will turn sour.”

“Aye, so we go ahead with Luarna’s idea then?”

“Aye, it is a good one, Captain,” says Flinders.

“Yes, we’re in agreement.” Roberts cracks a rare smile. “But we don’t have the coin to pay for a new ship or to make changes to this ole girl.” He runs his hand over the railing.

I slap him on the shoulder. “We’re pirates… who says we’ll be paying the shipbuilder?”