19. The Perfect Curse

Chapter 19

The Perfect Curse

The Siren

" H ave a good swim, beautiful?"

I stopped in the doorway, my fingers wringing out my wet hair as my skin glistened with droplets of the sea. Kipp's hungry eyes traveled up and down my body as he leaned back, his booted feet resting upon the corner of his desk as he watched me.

"Have you enjoyed the view?" I asked, marching forward to pick up my discarded blanket and wrapping it around myself.

I hadn't wanted to be spotted by anyone who could report back to Poseidon when I'd first been captured by this man before me, but that violent display between the gods earlier this morning meant he already knew. Hell, he had probably paid the Fates to orchestrate all of this just to see me fail. It didn't matter what he had done, who he had paid off to see me fail. It only made my determination that much stronger.

Kipp gestured toward a newly acquired seat, a small pile of folded clothing sitting on its cushioned seat. I quirked an eyebrow. "I thought you liked me naked and vulnerable," I said.

He smirked, that infuriating dimple showing itself and drawing my eye. "I do indeed," he replied, his gaze turning molten. "But when that happens, I'd rather you want me to want you naked and vulnerable… beneath me." He gestured to the clothing again, closing his eyes. "Besides," he added, that smirk still firmly in place, "you look ridiculous in that blanket."

Dropping the blanket, I grabbed the clothing from the chair, dressing quickly as I said between clenched teeth, "I didn't say beneath you."

"No, I'd like to believe you thought it."

I tied the pants at my waist, the material thin and soft against my flesh. The shirt hung loosely over my form, so I knotted it again at my hip so that I didn't swim within the clothing. Kipp's eyes were still closed while I fisted the oversized fabric to my nose, breathing in the obvious scent of him. Salty sea, spice, and a hint of… I believe Marcus called it whiskey.

"These are still your clothing," I accused, letting the fabric fall from my grip. "You had all day, and you couldn't find something more suitable for me to wear?"

I felt the scent of him wrapping around me, claiming me. The wide, vee of the collar dipping low between my breasts, providing me with coverage but only just barely. While I didn't mind the heavy salty scent that smelled like home, when not in the sea, it held an entirely different purpose for sirens. It heightened our lust, driving us mad with it, and this was such a small space. The window still hadn't been repaired, and I'd fought against this raging hormone since he'd captured me. Now, I dragged a fingertip along my skin as my heart raced beneath my touch, my lust and hatred warring within my veins as I tried to swallow all of it back.

"Seeing you flush like a mortal is fascinating," he announced, his boots clumping to the ground as he stood, stalking closer.

I backed away from him, my eyes drifting to the planes of muscle barely contained beneath his smooth flesh. His shirt lay in a wrinkled heap on the floor next to the desk, making it difficult for me to concentrate solely on the hatred within me rather than the lust building a furious heat within my core. I wanted to trace my fingers along the white lines of scars that crossed his chest, a roadmap of the trials he'd lived.

Clearing my throat, I averted my gaze, forcing my heart to slow with deep even breaths. This was the cursed pirate who had bound me to him against my will. I needed to remember this. He was my enemy.

"You've been alive for centuries," I stated, focusing my attention on his black eyes. "Is that part of the curse?"

"Give or take a few." He shrugged.

I searched his dark inky gaze for a hint of that brown I'd spotted earlier, but all I saw was the darkness. A darkness that seemed to be eating him from the inside out. He'd probably been kind once… caring.

"I have decided to help you, not that you've left me much choice, but I want help in return," I announced as I sat in the new chair that had been brought in for me. It was positioned so that it faced him, and I leaned forward, my long, dark hair falling over my shoulders in wet clumps as I watched him closely.

"Help you?" His voice took on a heated tone that sent an odd feeling throughout my body, one that pooled seductively at my very core. "Help you how?"

I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the building pressure of lust within me. "I didn't get much of a choice in whether I'd help you or not," I replied, crossing my legs as I leaned back. "So, Kipp, do we have a deal or not?"

His head tilted sideways as he eyed me with a mixture of intrigue and wariness. "A deal? What are you getting out of this?"

He had no idea the stakes hidden beneath the depths of the sea. The elusive sea witch that he needed to break his curse also held the key to my rightful place on the throne in Atlantis, a position that was my birthright, but had been stolen from me by the power-hungry Poseidon. I had no idea who Triton was, a half-sibling I'd never asked for, but one thing was certain. He was just another one of Poseidon's puppets. This sea witch, if found, could ensure no one else could claim the throne that belonged to me. This sea witch who was more than a simple sea witch, but he didn't need to know all that I knew just yet.

If she could break the curse eating this pirate's heart and soul, she could break the curse of the sirens, the one that had been dwindling our population for centuries.

"You need me to find this sea witch to break your curse," I said, choosing my words carefully. "There is a curse facing my people as well, decimating our population. I need information from her on how to break that curse as well."

"What's your business with Circe?" he asked, naming the sea witch as he cocked a brow.

I laughed. "Oh come on. You knew how to bind a siren, you've discovered the name of the sea witch, and you know more about me than you're letting on. You're telling me you don't know the sirens' curse?"

"I know about the curse," he answered easily, that damn dimple peeking from his cheek with his lopsided smirk. He busied his hand by twisting the golden loop in the lobe of his ear. "I'm just curious why you're choosing now to attempt to break the curse."

I shrugged. "Convenience. You have me searching for her anyways. It's sort of a two fish one net kind of thing."

His brows pulled together. "The siren curse was created by Hera in her jealousy though. Do you really think you can break it?"

"I want to try," I replied.

I knew he'd known more than he was letting on, knew more than any average human could. Hera had cursed my mother and all her sirens, creating the ritual all sirens who came of age needed to perform in order to gain their powers, making it far too easy for them to lose themselves to their humanity. She'd made us monsters, horror stories to every human living near the sea. It had been the perfect curse to claim her revenge.

"I think…" I began, not sure if I wanted to share my personal history with this mortal but knowing I didn't have much choice. "I think the siren queen was forced to marry Poseidon by Hera to make Zeus lose interest in her."

It had been ages since I'd contemplated my mother's history, the trials she'd faced throughout her life, and the heartbreaking choices she'd been forced to make. A legacy, it seemed, that would be mine as well.

Long ago, my mother had found Zeus floating in the sea after his battle with Cronus, and she'd nursed him back to health. It hadn't taken long for a friendship to develop between them. She'd shared stories of their time together, and her eyes always got this faraway, dreamy look in them when she spoke of him. She had never blatantly told me of the budding love between them, but I'd known. Even young as I had been, I'd always known.

When Hera had discovered the truth, she'd coerced Poseidon into a marriage with my mother, the only other person she could maneuver into eliminating the relationship between my mother and Zeus. It was why my parents had only had one child in all the centuries they'd been wed. They had no love between them. The only thing they had ever shared was me.

Kipp's hand on my knee jolted me from my thoughts. He'd leaned toward me, an amused glint to his dark brown gaze as he asked, "And you'd trust a pirate like me?"

I didn't move his hand, even as I felt the warmth of his touch seeping through the thin fabric of the pants that he'd given me to wear. "I have no choice," I answered, my voice steady as his presence overwhelmed me. My powers surged just beneath my skin, reacting to the nearness of his darkness. It was a dangerous combination, addictive and magnetic.

His gaze narrowed; his breath warm on my face with a hint of whiskey. "What if I want something else from you?" he murmured, his lips brushing the edge of my ear in a barely-there touch that left my traitorous body wanting more.

My heart raced with desire, my lustful nature igniting within me. I couldn't afford to let these emotions distract me. Not with so much hanging in the balance. I blinked up at him, his hair untied and hanging along his cheeks, begging me to brush it aside. Instead, I clenched my fists in my lap. "What do you want from me, Kipp?"

"You know, you have an awful lot of questions for someone who is supposed to be ruthless…"

"Curiosity is a dangerous thing," I answered, "But ignorance is worse." I leaned back in the chair, putting some distance between us despite the desire to do the exact opposite.

Kipp smiled, pulling his hand from my knee and leaving an icy void in its place. The darkness dimmed within his gaze as he chuckled.

"It seems like we both have something to gain from this arrangement," I said, forcing my voice steady despite the hunger clawing at me from within. "I will help you find the sea witch if you promise to help me release my people from their curse."

His gaze lingered on me, softened with desire as he answered, "It's a deal."

The tension in the room was heated, and I wasn't sure if it was entirely due to the lust of my power or if there was something else between us. Was this a result of him binding me to him? Did his curse given darkness call to mine? My gaze lingered on Kipp's lips, the memory of them at my ear fresh in my mind, heating my blood, my desire.

I knew better than to give in to these desires. Love was a weakness, a vulnerability that I couldn't afford. I had a kingdom to claim and a legacy to uphold. Sacrificing my heart, the potential for any kind of love, seemed like a fair trade. It had been love that had ruined my mother's life. I wouldn't make the same mistakes as she, even if that meant denying what I craved most.

"What's the matter, Talia? Are you afraid of what might happen if you get too close?" he asked, his gaze glittering with amusement as he watched me.

"It is you who should be afraid, pirate," I replied with a shake of my head.

"Oh, my dear vicious siren," he said, his fingers dragging through his dark hair as he laughed. "You have quite the effect on me." He reached for me, his hand hanging in the air between us but not actually connecting as he paused his movements. He licked his lips, admiring me. "I can almost taste the power flowing through your veins."

I stood, putting more space between us. I turned, my entire body tensing, an unseen battle warring within me as I fought against my nature, the pull of him, and everything in between. We had a task to focus on, nothing else mattered. He had bound me against my will. This pirate had bound me to him against my will.

This alliance would give us both everything we needed, everything we wanted possibly, but it would be the hardest thing I had ever done, and it just may be the ruin of me instead.