Caspian

I shut the door hard the second I got back on the yacht and leaned against it.

Stupid.

It was stupid to kiss her.

But she was right there, and so close. And the raw, unrestricted allure of a siren is a great temptation to anyone. Especially when you're already attracted to her even when far away from her influences. I ran my fingers through my hair, the feeling of her lips on mine still lingering.

"What was that? What happened?" Nikkos was standing in the galley when he whipped around to face me.

Looking up I met his concerned gaze.

I grunted. "Nothing."

"I've never seen you slam the door like that before," Nikkos argued. "That's not nothing."

"Leave it," I said.

"Caspian..."

"Leave it, Nikkos," I snapped.

I stalked over to my cabin and opened the door. Still upset and unfairly taking it out on Nikkos. Turning back to look at my cousin, my shoulders sagged. "Sorry, Nikkos. Not now."

He paused, unsure of his next move. Or mine.

I ran my hand down my face, growling at myself.

"I kissed her," I finally admitted.

Nikkos's shock was plain on his face. "You did what?"

"She tastes like the sea," I said, quieter this time. Softer. "She belongs in Atlantis."

His eyes dropped all concern and moved to sympathy. We both wanted her home. A siren belongs at sea.

"That's not your decision to make," Nikkos murmured.

My eyes met his, my brow drawn low and tense. "She isn't doing well here, you heard her say it herself. How long do you suppose she can last with no job out here? These mainlanders don't take care of their own like we do. She's putting on a front and you know it."

"But it's her decision," Nikkos argued. "We can't make a siren do anything. No one can."

"I know!" I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I know, Nikkos."

"What do you want to do then?" My cousin asked.

"We need to convince her," I said. "We can't leave her here."

"What would the senate think?" he asked.

"Fuck the senate," I snapped. "Half of them think that just because they can stick their dick in a siren they can control them. They know nothing."

"Dimitris would demand to know why you didn't just drag her back," Nikkos admitted.

"You can't make a siren do anything she doesn't want to do," I reminded him. "You had the right of it."

He gave a dark laugh. "I know, I know. Dimitris wouldn't have that for an excuse, no matter how valid."

"So..." I crossed my arms. "We have to convince her."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Nikkos asked, just as his phone went off.

"Oh for the love... Caspian, are you calling me again?" Nikkose asked as he pulled the device from his pocket. He frowned at the glowing screen.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Unknown number," Nikkos said, answering the phone. "Hello, this is Nikkos."

I watched my cousin's expression closely. It began as curiosity, then surprise.

"Yes, yes that would work." He looked up at me, distress in his eyes. "Yes, we can do tonight if that's what has to happen . . ."

He trailed off as he listened intently to the conversation on the other end.

"What is it?" I whispered, but Nikkos shook his head and focused on the call.

"Oh. Oh! Yes we could do that. Yes. Yes. Thank you for telling me. Three hours? Of course. Thank you, I appreciate it."

Nikkos ended the call, shoving the phone back in his pocket. His face pale and his eyes sharply focused.

"We have to make our move tonight," he said.

"Really?" I asked.

"That was the mercenary, he finally got our message and is in town," Nikkos said, now pacing in the small space the belly of the boat allowed us. "I think I'm going to be sick. It's finally time."

"Relax, Nikkos," I said. "We have his fee and then some, it's what we've been waiting for."

"You don't understand, Caspian." Nikkos stopped pacing long enough to face me. "What if this doesn't lead us to the answer we want? What if he's a fraud? What if we go through a whole plan and it still fails?"

"We'll find a way," I insisted, dragging my fingers through my hair. "We've got to."

Nikkos resumed his pacing for a moment before stopping and spinning to face me with a surprised expression.

"What?" I asked.

"Three hours..." he mumbled. "Caspian! We can enlist the siren's help. Madeline can come with us and make sure we're not being played."

"I don't want to use Madeline like that," I said. "And she may say no anyway."

"She may," Nikkos said. "But you must ask her. If this doesn't convince her what she's capable of, nothing else is going to."

He stared at me for a long moment as I grimaced.

"Alright, I'll call her," I agreed.

Nikkos visibly relaxed his shoulders as he sighed. "Thank the gods. I'll call in a reservation for a nice meeting place, you get Madeline and get her into a suitable dress. Formalwear is a must, it's that pompous place on the water, apparently dinner is part of the arrangement."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course it is. Alright, I'll call her."

"Good luck, cousin," Nikkos said. "We need the siren's sway if we're going to succeed."

I nodded. "I know, I just hope Madeline thinks so too."

~

Madeline

We kissed.

I grinned, touching my fingers to my lips. My mouth was on fire from the heat and the tenderness and the salt of the water and air.

I stayed out on the beach a while longer, enjoying the temperature of the water as it pushed and pulled the sand across my feet. Caspian was so warm, and under that no-nonsense mask he wore he was actually pretty playful and charming. And he was... he was...

He was leaving at the end of the week.

My shoulders fell. I sighed, stepping out of the water and sitting down where the sand was dry. I reached up to my neck, playing with the choker absently as I watched the waves.

Every damn time. I think something is going to go my way and then it never fails to disappoint me. Every. Damn. Time.

And with Caspian I was already getting those too-good-to-be-true vibes. Too smooth, too handsome, too nice. That's how they all start off, and I fall for it every time.

I sighed. Caspian was a beautiful, wonderful, glorious distraction. A dream, if only for a fleeting moment. But soon he would be gone and any potential trouble would be gone with him. Then it's right back to no job, and soon to be no apartment.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, a small headache starting. "Ugh, what am I gonna do?"

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I contemplated ignoring it. With a groan I reached for it and it lit up as I brought it in front of my face.

"Speak of the devil," I murmured.

Caspian.

I raised an eyebrow, looking toward the anchored boats where Caspian had disappeared to just a little while ago. What could he need so soon after leaving? I straightened my back and  lifted my chin.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Madeline." He seemed breathless, relieved. It sped my heart up just to hear him that way, and his accent just made it all the more attractive.

No, don't fall for it, Maddie.

My tongue darted out, wetting my lips and tasting the salt air.

"Caspian." I didn't know what else to say, only that I really wasn't ready to talk to him again like this. We just kissed, and I had a lot to process from everything he and Nikkos had told me about their home. Our... home. Or at least, the place I could be from.

"Madeline, we've just had a bit of an emergency come up. I need a favor," he said, his voice heavy with hesitation.

A favor. The way he said it sent a chill down my arms. What would it be like for a man like Caspian to owe me a favor? And for that matter, what could he possibly need from someone like me?

"What kind of favor?" I asked, maybe a little too eager for the chance to spend more time with him, even though I was just sulking in my relief that he would be gone just a few minutes ago. I could nearly smell his aftershave, hear the way he laughed and the glint of mischief in his eyes, and try as I might all my desires for him came rushing back to the surface.

Fuck, Maddie, get it together! You're such a wet ho for dimples and a basic sense of  respect.

"Madeline, are you willing to come with us to a dinner meeting?" Caspian asked. "We... we need you."

I paused, unsure what to say to that. "Um, Caspian, I don't know anything about business. I don't even know what you do, actually."

Good point, Mads. What if he's in the mafia?

He laughed, a soft sound that brushed against the phone. "Sorry, sorry. Let me start at the beginning. Nikkos and I have been charged by our boss to secure a contract."

Alright, not the mafia then.

"Oh. So, what kind of contract?" I asked.

"We want to be put in contact with a very selective group, and this is our way to do that. But we're not sure how much we can trust this informant."

"Ouch, that's no good. But, where do I come in?" I stood, brushing any sand off my butt and slipping on my shoes.

Caspian sighed into the phone. "I hate to ask you when you've only just gotten the hang of it, but Nikkos thinks we need your sway to make sure we aren't being played."

I caught my bottom lip between my teeth, shifting my weight from one hip to the other. "Caspian, I barely figured it out today. There's no guarantee it's going to work on some businessman I've never met. Besides, isn't that kind of... cheating?"

Caspian groaned. "No, you're right. Believe me when I say I wish we weren't resorting to this. I didn't want to involve you, but I can't stress the importance of our success in this."

My heart was already sinking. I didn't feel right about it. It's not like I ever really liked it when this sway came up and people started acting differently toward me. And now that I sort of knew what it was and could control it, I really didn't want to start using it with bad intent the very day I learned how to use it.

And now, Caspian would get mad that he taught me something and couldn't manipulate me with it. I braced myself for the incoming argument.

"Madeline." He said my name so softly, so gently over the phone that I nearly didn't hear it over the ocean breeze and distant birds. My throat tightened, ready for the demands. The conflict.

"I understand," Caspian said. "I won't force it on you."

I let out a strained breath.

What?

"You... won't?" I asked.

"No, of course not. What kind of man would that make me?" he asked.

Trent. Kennedy. Alex. A whole list, actually.

"Oh," I breathed. Then it really, fully hit me all at once. Caspian was real. He wasn't Trent. He really was that serious mask with a playful guy under it. He really was talking to me for the sake of it. He hasn't tried to get me straight into his bed or get me to drink with him or anything.

"Madeline." He said my name again, snapping me out of my daze. "Feel free to say no, but can I ask for one more thing?"

At this point, he could ask for my sopping wet panties and I'd probably oblige.

"Yeah," I answered, weakly. "Sure."

"Would you like to accompany me to a rather nice restaurant this evening? I won't ask you to use your sway, but I do owe you a reward for earlier and I can at least treat you to a nice dinner before we leave."

"Leave?"

"Yes, this meeting is what we were waiting for. If it pans out we will leave on Friday. And..." His voice trailed off and I could almost picture his strained puzzlement as he decided on his next words carefully.

"And?" I prompted.

"And I might just be looking for another reason to spend the evening with you, Madeline." His voice was low, soft, warm.

I bit my lower lip, looking over to the boats bobbing on the water. I may have pressed my thighs together just a little bit as his voice rolled over me through the phone. "Ok, I'll go. I might want to spend some more time with you before you go, too."

My heart was pounding with my own confession. Growing so attached so fast wasn't anything new to me, but I was really feeling it with Caspian.

And then something more pressing occurred to me. "Um, but you're buying, right?"

Caspian laughed, the low rumble of it traveling through the phone and plummeting straight down into my chest, hot and comfortable. Goosebumps ran across my arms, and I found myself playing with my choker again.

"Of course. Thank you, Madeline. If nothing else, I'm glad to have the chance to treat you to another meal. But this place is also very upscale, do you have anything black tie to wear?"

My face heated up and I found my eyes drifting toward the ground. "No... I don't."

"Ah," he said, his voice still warm with no judgement in it. Lending me a sliver of hope. "In that case, it would be my pleasure to gift you something suitable."

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"Are you still on the beach?" Caspian asked, amusement tinging his voice with merriment. "We should have enough time to visit a shop before our reservation."

"You're serious," I said.

He laughed again. "Believe me when I say the pleasure is all mine. I'll be right there, stay where you are."

"Okay," I breathed, and he hung up the phone.

Too good. Caspian was still too good to be true. And, hell, maybe he'd leave at the end of the week and break my heart, but I could still return the dress and use the money to, you know, not be homeless. A silver lining to a short and tempting fling with a sexy island businessman.

I spotted him as he came down the steps to the sidewalk that would bring him back to me. The wind tugged at his still-open shirt and I stared with no shame at the golden stretch of his stomach and the tightness of his firm shoulders.

Yeah, Caspian was too good to be true, and I was ready to indulge in the fantasy.