To Seduce A Siren by Jane Cousins Page A

 “Speaking of which, I suppose I’d
better get a move on, Darcy’s probably renting a speed boat about now.” 
    Nate
had no more said the words when the sound of metal striking rock reverberated
through the air.  Nate shot out of his chair lightning quick and rounded
the shack.   Charisse close on his
heels.  Oh Goddess, well the good news was, it wasn’t Darcy, the bad news
was, it was two lovesick and from the looks of their sunburnt faces and blurry
eyes, drunk fisherman, in a dinghy.  No wonder that bitch Bettina had been
quiet for the last five minutes, she’d known these two inebriated fools with
their inhibitions lowered would be lured here. 
    Damn,
how could she have been so inattentive?   She’d been singing whilst
she’d been looking for Nate’s body hadn’t she, after he’d dived off the
cliff. 
    The
two men stumbled over one another as they clambered out of their damaged
boat.  Honestly, how stupid were these guys?   She’d lined that side
of the rock with bumpers and fenders to prevent this very type of accident from
happening.
    “Hey
fellas.”  Nate moved forward to help the pair.  “You guys okay? 
You look like you’ve had a little accident.”  Nate was staring into the
dinghy as it slowly began to fill with seawater.  “Fellas?”  He
turned around, surprised to find the two guys ignoring their sinking
boat.  One was now kneeling before Charisse, the other stood next to his
friend, swaying drunkenly. Okay the dinghy was kind of small and old but still,
Nate was surprised the twosome weren’t a tad more worried about their vessel
and fishing gear. 
    Walking
back to the centre of the rock he noted that Charisse’s full lips were
compressed into a thin line as she studied the unexpected visitors, so it
wasn’t like she knew them, or if she did, she certainly didn’t like them. 
Hmmm, the whole incident was kind of strange. 
    Weirder
still, the invisible to everyone but him black scaly demon, encasing Cyd’s
psyche, had lessened its grip on her ever so slightly.  Through the
retracted tentacles he caught glimpses of deep peaceful greens, simmering hot
pinks and bold golds.  Wow, this woman really was stunning inside and out,
well, if you could ignore the insidious dark shadow that all but encompassed her
soul.
    The
drunken guy standing finally found his voice.  “You’re so pretty.”
    “Dude,
your boat’s sinking.”  Nate studied the two men with a frown, was the guy
on his knees crying?  How much had they had to drink?
    “Er...
that’s okay.”  The drunk took a step towards Charisse.  “You know
your skin is like freshly… poured milk.”
    Nate
winced, this guy had to be kidding, Charisse was covered from head to toe, in
fact the only visible skin was her paint splattered hands and zinc covered
nose.
    “Umm.”
Charisse shifted from foot to foot, Goddess this was embarrassing.  Two
half-drunk accolades worshipping at the Siren altar whilst Bettina slurped down
on the unexpected buffet.  Urgh, she hated that feeling of their emotions
sliding through her, travelling down the bond.  Tomorrow the two would
wake up with massive hangovers and feel strangely empty and a little bit dazed
for a day or two.  Thankfully, their memory of having met her would take
on a dream like quality.  
    In
the meantime though, she had to suffer through the guy who was standing listing
off half-baked compliments whilst the guy kneeling seemed to be content to just
silently weep, his gaze never shifting from her.  She wasn’t fond of the
weepers but at least they were generally quiet.
    “You’re
eyes are like the deepest, bluest pools of ocean.”
    Nate
snorted a laugh.
    “Hey!” 
Charisse felt kind of offended.  Nate might not think her up to his high
standard of women to flirt with, but he didn’t need to rub it in.
    “What? 
Sorry.  It’s just bozo here can’t even see your eyes behind those
sunglasses. Their green my drunken friend, at least get your