The Sheik and the Siren (Elemental Series) (6 page)

“You sound as if you are running from something or someone. Are you?”

Instead of answering, he looked out to the sea and pointed. “Look,” he said. “Look how vast your ocean is, and how you can see from up here that it stretches out for as far as the eye can see.”

She looked then and inhaled sharply. It was such a glorious site and it called to her, making her want to return to the sea. She thought about her mother and wondered what became of her. Then she thought about her father, and started to become quite lonely.

“I need to return to the sea as soon as we eat,” she told him.

“You are not staying in the castle tonight?” She could hear the disappointment in his voice.

“Nay. I need to replenish my energy. The more time out of the water, the weaker I become.”

“So . . . are you saying that you could possibly die if you don’t get back to the sea in time? Like the way Brynn, the elemental of fire was drained of her strength by being submerged in water?”

“Exactly. I stay on land no more than a day at a time b
efore I need to get into water. That’s why I am so worried about my mother.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, turning and
gently putting his hands on her shoulders as if he wasn’t sure if she’d like it or she’d pull away.

“That evil sheik took her with him to the land of sand across the sea. That land has no water, and that would be the end of an elemental of the water to be trapped there. I am afraid she may have already perished, it’s been such a long time.”

“Then why don’t you look into the crystal dolphin and find out for sure?”

She’d been
thinking the same thing herself since she found out she could scry after all. “I’m afraid of what I might see,” she told him.

“Then I’ll look for you.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” she said with a smile, looking at his lips. She wanted to kiss him badly and noticed he was looking at her lips too.

“Then . . . we can,” his lips came closer, “do it,” his breath brushed against her lips and her eyes closed in anticipation, “together.” His mouth closed over hers and she melted under his touch.
The slight stubble upon his face rubbed against her, only exciting her more. She reached up and laid her hands against his bare chest, feeling the heat from his body. Then he slowly released her from the kiss, their lips staying together slightly before they parted. She pulled back and looked at him. His eyes were dark and hooded, his lips full and strong and just begging to be kissed again.

His head was wrapped with fresh bandages she’d used after she’d cleansed his wound. It hadn’t been deep and she knew he’d heal quickly. But stan
ding there now with that wanton look in his eyes, and half naked, she could see why he sounded disappointed she wasn’t going to be staying the night with him.

“Stay with me tonight, my siren of the sea,” he said in a sultry whisper. “I can please you in ways you’ve never dreamed.”

“I think you’ve already tried,” she reminded him.

“Nay, that was naught
compared to the night of ecstasy I have planned for you. That was only me dreaming about you. What I have planned is a night of passion so far from anything you can imagine that you’ll think you are in a foreign land. So what say you, my little fae. Would you stay with me tonight or not?”

She was lost in his eyes that were drawing her in much the same as her siren’s song had done to him.

“Would you be tied to a post this time?” she asked with a smile.

“Only if you want me to be,” he said, pressing his lips against hers again. She felt his hands sliding down her shoulders and over her back, settling on her waist. Then before she knew it, his hands were on her bottom end and he was pulling her closer. She couldn’t help but feel hi
s arousal pressed against her.

“Ebba-Tyne and
Sir Ace, the meal is ready,” called Cook from down in the courtyard. “Are you two out here?”

Neither of them said a word and the wicked thought of not answering the blind man and instead making love atop the battlements flashed through her head. And next when she looked into his eyes she couldn’t help but read his mind. In his mind they were in the midst of heated passion, her head thrown back singing her siren
’s song as he dipped himself between her thighs.

“We’ll be right there,” she said, pushing away, excited but at the same time scared by the thoughts she’d just read in his mind. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, but she’d never had a man – any man before
. She just felt like she needed to talk to another woman. But she knew that woman might never again be her mother.

“Let’s s
tay here,” he whispered, pulling her closer.

“Nay,” we must go,” she said, heading down the battlements
before he had a chance to try to change her mind.

She sat next to him during the meal, without saying a word. S
he couldn’t help but feel frightened by this man, and it was more than just his lust. Something about his dark eyes and bronzed skin was unsettling. Mayhap he reminded her too much of the man who’d abducted her mother.

She excused herself directly after the meal, ignoring his call to her to stay and join them in a game of cards. She ran through the darkness, making her way to the shore. Just the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks already comforted her. She got to the shore and quickly removed her clothing
, throwing it far up the beach. Then she dove into the water to replenish herself, to calm her mind and soothe her wary soul.

Ace watched from atop the battlements, able to see Ebba making her way across the small island and stopping at the shoreline just above her coral cave. He’d wanted her to stay with him tonight so much that his body ached in anticipation of bedding her. He’d never had trouble getting any woman he’d wanted. But then again, they’d usually sought him out, and he hadn’t cared one way or another. But things were different with Ebba-Tyne. She was unlike any woman he’d ever met. And he wanted her so badly that he only hoped he could convince her that she wanted him too.

The moon shone down upon her creamy skin as she
pulled off her shift and threw it onto the sand. Her two full breasts looked like they ached to be suckled, and her rounded buttocks just begged to be squeezed. He closed his eyes tightly and moaned. He’d have to find some clothing to wear soon, so he could stop walking around displayed and embarrassed. He’d have to find something for her to wear also. That is, a gown that covered her breasts as well as her legs. Because broken and maimed or not, this castle was full of men who hadn’t lain with a woman in a long while, and he couldn’t allow a one of them to touch her.

He headed down to the solar to get some well-needed sleep, wondering how in hell he was every going to leave Dolphin Island and go back to the mainland now.

Chapter 6

“Ship appro
aching! It’s anchoring just off the bay,” came the shout that woke Ace from a sound sleep.

He jumped from the comfort of the large bed and made his way to the
window. He threw open the shutters and looked out, but saw nothing. Then realizing it must be approaching from the north, he hurriedly put on his braies and hose, cursing when he realized he’d ripped his tunic to shreds to wrap his wound yesterday and then foolishly let Willis keep his best tunic. He’d felt sorry for the man and didn’t want to be taking the man’s clothes from his body. It was the least he could do.

He pulled on his shoes and spied a large trunk at the foot of the bed. He opened it to find tunics and hose and even a few gowns for a woman as well. He grabbed the first tunic he saw, and pulled it over his head. It was
dark green with ornate gold trim and made for a much larger man, but it would do for now. Actually, he liked the fact it covered below his waist better.

He strapped on his belt and donned his weapons, stopping quickly at a basin of water he’d brought there last n
ight to splash his face. He felt the stubble on his face getting thicker. He raked his fingers through his tangled hair, and rushed out the door.

Ebba was dressed and at the beach before any of her men arrived. Having spent the night in the ocean, surfacing several times when needed, the dolphins told her Ace’s ship was headed right for them before it was even visible on the horizon.

“So they came back for him,” she said softly to herself, watching the ship approach. It anchored a ways out since it was too rocky
and too shallow at the shore to dock, even for his carvel type ship made for shallower waters.

S
he watched as two men helped an old woman into the small boarding boat and lowered it into the water. One man stayed with the ship while the other climbed over the side of the ship and joined her. She wondered who they could be, and watched from the shadows. Then her men approached the beach, dragging their boats used for pillaging out into the water.

“Call the dolphi
ns,” Barnabus, called to her. Barnabus was an excellent swordsman at one time, but now had trouble balancing the weapon in his hand after losing two of his fingers in battle, not to mention losing one of his eyes.

“Nay,” she called out, running out to stop them. “We are not pillaging this ship.”

“Why not?” called out another of her men. “We’ve always done it before.”

“Because this is my ship,” came a low voice from behind her. She turned to see Ace approaching the shore, lifting his arm and signaling to the small boat rowing toward them. “This is my ship and whatever I have aboard it, I would share. But any man that steals from me again would have to face the tip of my sword, and I warn you I won’t be merciful. So put your thieving boats back where you got them and instead, help my friends get to shore.”

“Who is that?” Ebba asked him.

“That is my first mate, Boots,” he replied. “I knew he wouldn’t desert me.”

“But there’s an old woman in the boat as well,” she pointed out.

He squinted in the sun and held his hand to his eyes. “Aye, there is.” Then he looked again and his eyes opened wide. “God’s teeth, I do not believe the old seer.”

“Seer?” she asked. “Is that a woman who can see the future, like me?”

“Aye, very similar as she has a gazing crystal as well. She is the old healer, Juturna. She’s been with every one of your elemental friends so I am not surprised she came to help you as well.”

“I don’t need help,” she spat. “And I don’t even know the old woman. One seer on this island is enough, we don’t need another.”

He patted her on the shoulder and reached o
ver and kissed her atop her head, laughing.

“Do not
feel threatened by Juturna,” he said. “Give her a chance. It may be nice for you to have another woman on the island. Just think of her as . . . as a . . . grandmother.”

He was going to say mother and
she knew it, as she’d read his mind. And she was only too glad he stopped himself and said grandmother instead.

She noticed he was wearing one of her father’s tunics, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. “Where did you get that tunic?” she asked.

“I found it in the foot trunk at the end of the bed. I hope you don’t mind, but I needed something to cover my – my – I just needed a tunic, that’s all. There are gowns in there as well. You may want to cover up a little in front of these men now that you’re going to be spending time in their presence at the castle.”

She opened her mouth to speak but he walked away to greet his friends. Her men were aiding in pulling the small boat to the shore.

How dare he tell her to cover up, and she was appalled that he would even suggest she wear her mother’s gowns. Her mother was lady of the castle since the day she’d married a human man. The woman had tried her hardest to fit in, but Ebba knew in her mother’s heart she only wanted to stay in the sea.

She watched
Ace go up to the boat and lend a hand to the old woman, helping her to the shore.

“What are you doing here?” Ace asked her.

“I saw in my gazing crystal you were wounded, so I went to the docks of Lornoon to find you. That’s where I met Boots and he told me you were stranded on the island. Let me see your head,” she said reaching up and peaking under the bandage.

“Bear
is on the ship too,” said Boots. “But I couldn’t get anyone else to come back. They are too spooked from our time in Death’s Door.”

“You sailed the ship with just the two of you?” Ace asked.

“I helped all that I could,” Juturna said, inspecting his wound. “It looks like someone took good care of you. I’d guess it was you, Ebba-Tyne, am I right?”

Ebba moved forward slowly, wondering how the woman knew her. “I did help him,” she said. “But how do you know who I am? Did you see that in your gazing crystal too?”

“I didn’t need to,” she said, picking up her skirt that was already wet from the water and getting caked with sand. “I know all your friends – the lady of fire, the dryad and the sylph. Now come along child, and I’ll tell you what they’ve been doing. They can’t wait to see you. And for heaven’s sake lets get you a decent gown to wear.”

Ace chuckled as he watched Juturna whisk Ebba off to the castle. Ebba looked over her shoulder to him as if she wanted him to intervene, but he just let her go.

“Aren’t you going to save her from Juturna?” Boots asked him.

“Hell, no. If I can’t get the girl to put on some decent clothing than mayhap the old woman can. After all, Juturna’s not the kind of woman who takes no for an answer.”

“I can agree with that,” said Boots. “She insisted on helping us sail the ship and I’ll tell you it was all I could do to not throw her overboard.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t, as I feel she may be an asset with dealing with the siren. Let me show you the castle and then we’ll go get some things off the Paradigm,” said Ace.

“What for?” asked Boots. “I just came to collect you. After the seer’s done with the girl, we’ll board and head on home.”

“I’m staying here for awhile,” he told him.

Boots just shook his head.
“You’ve gone mad,” he said. “The siren’s song must have addled your brain.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because why else would you want to stay on a god-forsaken deserted island with a bunch of thieves?”

“Don’t call them that,” said Ace in a low voice, looking over to the men who were pulling the rowboat to shore but looking in his direction. “They are not thieves, but knights and men of the castle who have had everything taken from them. I am going to stay for awhile and help them regain their confidence and get
them back on their feet.”

“You have got to be kidding!
You have a trade business to run, Ace. The goods are not going to get across the sea and back by themselves.”

“I can’t leave these men
now. They need help.” Ace guided Boots toward the castle and they walked and talked as they trudged through the overgrown path, Ace using his sword to hack down a few vines in the way. “I want you to bring back supplies so I can help them rebuild their castle.”

Just as he said that, they approached the castle. Boots stopped dead in his tracks.
“Please don’t tell me this is the castle you are talking about?”

“It most certainly is. It was Ebba’s father’s castle before he got killed.”

“Who killed him?” Boots asked. “An island wildcat or perhaps a wolf? After all, it looks to me there may be a few wild animals here that I’ve never even heard of.”

“N
ay. Ebba said it was a sheik. And that he’s also abducted her mother.”

“A sheik? Ace, doesn
’t she hate you then as well? ’Tis no secret where you come from with your bronzed skin and dark hair.”

“I’m not sure. Not yet. But I think she can learn to trust me in time. Af
ter all, I am nothing like the Sheik of Tamaris.”

“I hope not. After all, your own sheik father ordered you executed.”

“He is not my father,” said Ace. “And I warn you not to say anything about that in front of Ebba.”

“No, of course not,” he said. “After all, we wouldn’t want her to hate you and ruin your chances of bedding her now, would we?”

“’Tis so much more than that now, Boots. I actually care for these people as well as Ebba-Tyne. It’s strange, I know, but somehow I feel as if I belong on this island of misfits. I’ve never really felt comfortable anywhere before, but here – I do.”

“Well, I hope you’re making the right decision by staying
, Captain. After all, I’d hate to think you’ve just given up everything for something that may not work out in the end.”

“
’Twill work out, I assure you. After all, everything is going so well, so how could it be any different?”

Ebba found herself being escorted to the solar by Juturna who wouldn’t take no for an answer. The old woman all but pushed her into the room and closed the door behind her.

“Now,” said Juturna, walking into the room and spying the unmade bed. “Tell me all about you and Ace. It looks as if you’ve already spent the night together, so I’m guessing everything is fine between you.”

“I barely know him,” said Ebba, wrapping her arms around herself in a protective manner. “There is nothing between us, and of course I didn’t spend the night with him. He slept here and I spent the night in the water where I belong.”

“What?” Juturna made a face and shook her head. “I’ve seen the way you two were looking at each other, so how can you tell me there is nothing between you?”

“I am a siren and he is man. A man who pushed his way into my life and has now taken over my castle as well. So tell me, why should I even care about him?”

Juturna put down her bag and began to investigate the room. “You are a fae, child. I know the sexual prowess of a fae as well as the effects
they have on a human man.”

“I can control myself,” she said with a stiff upper lip.”

“But can he?” she asked, looking over the top of the lid as she peered inside the trunk at the foot of the bed.

“He’s had his moments,” Ebba admitted, going to look out the window. “But I
made sure it didn’t go anywhere at all.”

Juturna slammed down the lid of the trunk and sat atop it. Then she motioned for Ebba to join her.

“I’d rather stand,” Ebba said, not warming up to the woman at all.

“Well, if you won’t sit next to me than at least sit in the chair so I can brush your hair.” She held up a boar bristle brush with an ivory handle that used to be her mother’s.

“Where’d you find that?” she asked. “That’s Mother’s.”

“’T
was in the trunk,” she said pulling a chair up to Ebba. “Now sit already and let me use it on your hair, because it looks to me as if you haven’t brushed it in forever.”

Ebba hesitated and then bit her lip. She wanted to warm up to the old woman, but she felt as if she were trying to take the place of her mother, and she couldn’t allow it.

“Where is your mother anyway, child?”

“My mother . . . my mother has been abduct
ed and taken over seas over a year ago. And my father is dead by the hand of the same man.”

“Sit, and tell me about it. I have a feeling you need someone to talk to.”

Ebba reluctantly gave in and sat in the chair but stayed silent. She knew Juturna was right in saying she needed someone to talk to. She’d felt so alone for so long, only talking to the dolphins and occasionally to her father’s men. Still, she found it hard to open up to the woman, as she really wasn’t used to this, nor was she used to having contact with a lot of people.

Juturna ran the brush over Ebba’s hair, and used her fingertips
to help get out the tangles.

“You know I’ve helped all your friends. And since you don’t seem to want to talk about your family, would you like to hear about what’s happening with the other three elementals?”