#4 Moonlight on the Water
Chapter 25

Navy

I rolled my eyes at Knox but secretly I was smiling. He forced down three of the worst pancakes to ever be made just so I wouldn’t feel hurt. I can’t say that I would have done the same thing for him.

After a terrible breakfast, I opted for some quick mix oatmeal while Knox finished getting ready. I was eating on the front patio when he came out looking handsome in a pair of board shorts and a tight fitting T-shirt.

“Up for a swim?” He asked me with a goofy grin. I nodded eagerly and jumped up. Knox walked over towards the large shed in the back of the property and unlocked the door. He jumped on a fourwheeler and pulled it out of the shed, patting the seat behind him,

“Hop on.” He grinned. I looked at him wearily,

“I don’t know, I know how you drive a regular car.” I mumbled.

“Ye of little faith.” Knox chuckled at me. I rolled my eyes and hesitantly sat behind him, barely able to straddle his large frame. Knox gave my leg a squeeze,

“Hold on tight, baby.” He smirked, pulling my arms around him. I gripped him harder when the fourwheeler bucked forward. He sped off through the trees. It was a short ride to the pond but I spent every second of it with my eyes snapped shut and my face buried in his shirt.

The pond was a fair size with murky water and it was completely surrounded by an alcove of towering redwoods. Lily pads and cattails covered half the pond. But, it looked to be free of weeds or algae.

“It’s not much, but it’s more rock than mud which is nice for swimming.” Knox said, shutting off the fourwheeler and helping me off. We held hands as we walked towards the edge.

I looked sideways at him and smiled widely. He cocked his head but before he could say anything, I was pulling off my crop top. His eyes widened at my boldness,

“Race you to the other side.” I was already shimming out of my shorts as I placed my bet.

I had no idea where my new found confidence had come from, but I was rolling with it. Right in front of Knox, I unclasped my bra and dropped my underwear to the ground. His eyes never left my face as they filled with desire. He licked his lips and I could tell he was struggling to keep from gawking at my body. I turned my back to him, knowing damn well he would take the opportunity to admire me. I dove into the pond, leaving him standing on the shore.

I popped out of the water, already in the middle of the pond. My tail broke the surface, splashing Knox to shake him out of his daze. He grinned at me and stripped himself, even though it was completely unnecessary. He jumped in, doing a cannonball, causing me to shriek and dive under the water to avoid his large splash. When I came up, he was on the other side of the pond.

“How!?” I yelled.

“I have talents, baby.” He called back, paddling out to meet me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, his fingers brushing over my scales.

“I can see that.” I said in a suggestive tone. He raised an eyebrow at me, his smile wicked.

“You’re testing me, little mate.” He purred.

“I don’t know what you mean.” I shrugged innocently. Knox’s eyes traveled over my body,

“Can I touch it?” He asked, eyeing my tail.

“Sure.” I shrugged again, replaceing his question a little odd. He never asked to touch me before. His hands slipped down from my hips and grazed my tail. I shivered at his butterfly light touch.

“I don’t know what I expected it to feel like.” Knox laughed at himself.

“Me either.” I whispered, catching Knox’s attention.

“What do you mean, baby?”

“A human has never touched my tail before.” I admitted.

“I’m not human, little mate.”

“Fine, a non-siren.” I corrected myself in a snarky tone.

“I’m glad my hands are the first and only.” He said in a deep, husky voice, gripping my backside as he pulled me closer to him.

“Greedy!” I accused him before wiggling away and diving under the water again.

I swam powerfully to the bottom of the pond, observing the different colored stones that rested there. I grabbed a purple, heart shaped stone and swam back up to the surface. I came out a few feet away from Knox who was looking at the water with a concerned expression.

“I really hate when you do that.” He sighed at me. I must’ve been under longer than I thought. He paddled over to me, taking me in his arms again.

“I found this.” I held the rock up proudly. Knox took it and admired it close to his face,

“Beautiful, just like you.” He smiled.

“You shouldn’t be so worried about me.” I said.

“I can’t help it, baby.” Knox sighed.

“I can be under forever, you know.” I smirked at the fear that flashed over his face,

“You better not!” He growled, gripping me tighter.

“How long can you hold your breath?” I challenged him. Knox’s face scrunched up as I questioned his abilities.

“Let’s see.” He took a huge breath and dipped under. I giggled at him and sunk under, floating in front of him.

His cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk, his expression relaxed at first. I grinned, crossing my arms as I watched him smugly. After about 10 seconds his eyes started to bulge as his face contorted. At 15 seconds I could practically see him sweating with the effort. By 20 seconds I took pity on him and created an air bubble around his head. He gasped dramatically.

“That had to have been like three minutes.” Knox tried to catch his breath.

“Oh yes, definitely.” I indulged him.

“What?”

“Nothing, dear.” I teased. Knox’s face lit up and I shook my head at him.

“Can I go down to the bottom?” Knox asked curiously.

“Sure, let’s go.” I led the way. Knox caught up with me and it didn’t take long for us to reach the bottom. I sat on the pond floor, my tail flopped beside me as Knox explored.

“Ah-ha! There it is! I can’t believe it!” I heard him yell but I couldn’t see him through the cloudy water. I sighed and swam towards his voice. He was standing on the rocky bed with something in his hand.

“What’s that?” I asked, looking around his large frame.

“My old cellphone! Clay threw it in the pond a few years ago.” He declared, holding up a flip phone.

“Why?”

“Because he’s a dick.” Knox shrugged.

“Right and you did nothing to provoke it.” I narrowed my eyes at him accusingly.

“Not at all.”

“Mhm.” I didn’t believe him.

“Man half this stuff down here is probably from my siblings and me.” Knox chuckled,

“They used to come here all the time when I first bought it, before they met their mates and everyone got busy.” He added.

“Having a mate isn’t a reason to stop seeing your family. We should all come here together.” I suggested. Knox looked at me with wide eyes and I realized what I had just said. I was making future plans with Knox like I was planning on staying forever. I avoided his eyes, casually swimming away.

“Let’s go up.” Knox said and I followed him to the surface.

We swam around playfully for another hour or so before Knox helped me out of the water. He grabbed a towel from the back of the four wheeler and started drying me off.

“You know you don’t need to do that, right?” I laughed at him.

“What?” He froze, looking up at me. I grabbed his hand and placed it on my tail. In a few seconds, warm air started secreting from the scales, drying me off. In less than a minute, my legs were back.

“So that’s how you do it so quickly!” Knox looked at my legs in awe.

“Have you been timing me?” I laughed.

“Well, no, I was just wondering.” He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. He jumped up and grabbed my clothes, giving me privacy to get dressed.

“I have more tricks up my sleeve, want to see?” I said mischievously.

“Uh, yes!” Knox’s voice was giddy as he helped me stand. I shook my head at him. I had to admit, he was pretty adorable.

I looked up at the sky and watched as storm clouds rapidly rolled in. Thunder and lightning cracked and then it started to downpour. Knox looked around in shock as everything was saturated but us. There was an invisible umbrella hanging over our heads.

“You’re doing this?” He gasped.

“Duh.” I laughed at him. I blinked and the storm vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Behind me, I felt the pond responding to my call. The water rose up and came flying towards us. Knox’s eyes widened and I could tell that he was thinking about grabbing me and running. Just then, the water surrounded us in a damp cocoon. Knox spun in a slow circle, looking around us.

“This is amazing.” He said in a breathy voice,

“Can all sirens do this?” He asked, his eyes coming back to me.

“No,” I shook my head,

“It’s more common for siren’s in the royal bloodline to have abilities, but it’s still rare for anybody.”

“Can I ask a dumb question?” Knox said and I laughed at him,

“Okay?” I released the water and watched as it splashed loudly back into the pond.

“I know that the stories about sirens are probably about as accurate as the movies about werewolves, but you always hear that sirens sing and lure sailors to their deaths.” Knox spoke sheepishly and I couldn’t help but laugh at his expression.

“That’s somewhat true. Sirens do have songs, like the one I used to call you. Sirens have unique calls for their mates, but they also have a luring call. It’s rare for a siren to use it. Despite what the stories say, we aren’t actually interested in killing sailors or eating their flesh. The only time a siren would use her luring call would be if she was in trouble or needed to defend her home.” I explained.

“You keep saying she?” Knox noticed.

“Yeah, only female sirens have a call.” I said.

“Oh. So a luring call would do what exactly?” He asked.

“Exactly what it sounds like, any male would hear the call and be lured towards it. They would come with blind obedience. So, in theory, we could lure them into the ocean and force them to stay there until they drowned.” I shrugged,

“But, I’ve only heard of that happening a handful of times during the wars.”

“But, women can’t hear it?”

“Nope.”

“What about mated men?”

“It doesn’t matter, mated or not, any species.” I answered.

“That seems pretty overpowered.” He said thoughtfully. I laughed,

“It is, but there’s a reason the gift was only given to women. We are far less trigger happy than men.” I said smugly.

“That’s true.” Knox nodded in agreement.

“Any more questions?” I was genuinely happy to appease his curiosity, feeling proud that he was interested in learning more about me.

“Just one, can I kiss you?” He purred, leaning in close. I laughed abruptly at his topic change but nodded anyway. I eagerly returned his kiss with an equally passionate one of my own.