The Siren's Eyes (The Siren Legacy Book 2) Read online

  “Sorry to disappoint,” he said, shooting Cin a grin.

  “You should be.” She winked at him.

  “I might have a women's suit somewhere,” he lied. He might be able to muster the energy to jump to the mainland and buy one for her, though.

  “That’s okay; it’s not like I’m going to be here long.”

  Thad’s heart sunk. The thought of her leaving was not an enjoyable one. He tugged her hand again and pulled her away from window that looked out at the pool, and guided her through to the master bedroom.

  “The bathroom's here,” he said, pointing out the master bath, “and the bedroom is through there.”

  “Lordy, that’s the biggest closet I’ve ever seen,” she said, looking at the two walk-in closets on each side of the walkway that led to the bedroom.

  Thad chuckled as he handed her the bag she’d packed. “It is fairly large.”

  “How can one man have so many clothes? Are you a shopping addict?” Cin looked at him accusingly as she stepped into one of the closet halves. She ran her hand along the line of clothes, her eyes roaming over everything.

  “Not a shopping addict.” Thad held his hands up defensively. He smiled. “I guess I’ve never really thrown anything away.”

  “How old are you?” Cin asked, pulling one of his suits from the ’70s out and looking at the brightly colored material.

  “Old enough to know that we should both get some sleep.”

  “Spoil sport.” She pouted at him, and it just about made Thad’s heart give out. He didn’t think he could have taken it if that pout had been serious.

  “I’m going to grab a pillow and a blanket and I’ll be out of your hair.” She trailed after him as he walked into the main part of the bedroom.

  “Your bedroom is as big as my apartment.” There was a note of shock in her voice, like she had been expecting tiny bedrooms when, in fact, Thad had the opposite.

  He had always hated being cooped up in the house that he had grown up in. It had been huge for the times, but that was what you got when your father was blessed by Poseidon and your mother was a siren.

  They hadn’t exactly led a normal life, and maybe it was the siren in him, but all he had ever wanted was a big open house that allowed him to fly. Thad shook himself out of his reverie and went to grab a pillow from the bed and one of the blankets he kept strewn around.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to take the couch?” Cin said, glancing at him.

  “Yes. Now get some rest so you don’t look exhausted when we visit your mom tomorrow.”

  “Yeah . . . about that . . . maybe you can drop me off?” Cin refused to make eye contact with him.

  “Let me think about it. I don’t want to leave you in danger, and these guys seem to know a lot about you, so I'd really rather stay. Also, it could help with understanding my vision.”

  “Sure, I guess. I mean, that’s understandable. The thing is”—Cin took a big breath and plopped down on the edge of the bed in front of him—“if you’re there, then my mom will assume that we are together and will start interrogating you. She wanted me to be married five years ago and expected to be a grandmother twice over by now, which is something she reminds me of frequently.”

  “Let her think what she wants. You don’t have to explain it to her right now. Plus, it might help us get whatever information we need out of her.”

  “You’re talking about her like she’s a criminal. She’s my mom!”

  “I meant that we need to find out what our cryptic friend meant. That’s all.”

  “You really don’t mind if she thinks you’re my boyfriend?”

  “Not at all.” In fact, he kind of liked the idea. It seemed appropriate. But boyfriends kissed their girlfriends. A dark side of him poked at his own insecurities like an open wound. The side that was inexplicably drawn to Cin pointed out that she liked his eyes. He was sick of having these two sides of himself warring with his thoughts, and it had only been a day. He would have to suck it up. He could power through. He just had to focus.

  “Okay, thanks. I’ll tell her in a couple months that we broke up.”

  Thad scowled at that but knew he didn’t have any room to be upset or expect anything else.

  “Get some sleep,” he said, grabbing the blanket that Cin wasn’t sitting on from the bed.

  It took all his willpower to walk away and not lean down and kiss her right then and there. This unbelievably sexy woman was sitting on his bed, looking like . . . he didn’t know quite how to describe it. She looked alluring yet fierce, but most of all, she looked edible. He knew she would taste amazing.

  “Sweet dreams.” Thad stopped in his tracks. Her voice was quiet as it came from behind him, almost as though she was embarrassed to wish him sweet dreams.

  “You too,” he said over his shoulder, knowing if he turned to look at her again, he would be pushing his willpower too far.

  Chapter 8

  Cin took her bra and jeans off and prepared to slide into the most luxurious bed she’d ever seen, but curiosity overtook her. She looked around Thad’s room. The walls were a dark gray, or maybe blue—it was hard to tell, because they were covered in art. All nature based, with the occasional skyline.

  The bed was enormous. It had to be at least a California king, if not custom made, but it only took up a third of the room, if that. There was a desk and bookcase on one side, next to the closet, and a sitting area on the other side, where the wall was mainly windows.

  She could tell he liked to use the area by how worn the seat had become. The fabric on the arms was faded, but not as much on the seat, and there were permanent creases in the cushions. She wandered over and realized that the window wall had a door, similar to the one in the living room, that exited almost directly into the pool.

  She had always wanted to live somewhere with a pool, ever since she was a little kid. Her mom had teased her and called her a little fish. Whenever she was near water, she jumped, slashed, and dove into it. She couldn’t help it. Cin wandered back to the bed and flopped down.

  What the hell had happened to her life?

  Aster had been kidnapped, a mysterious hacker person was sending her messages, and the only man she had been attracted to in forever was sleeping on the couch while she was in his bed. Ugh. She wanted to rant and rave about Aster and track her down, go in and kick everyone's asses until she got her sister back, but she knew she didn’t stand a chance of finding Aster on her own. She also knew that Thad probably wouldn't let her go in guns blazing without a plan.

  The only plan she could muster right now involved Thad and the two of them in this bed. The bed, which smelled deliciously of him, making her want him all the more. She knew it would never happen, though. He was probably into model types who would fit well with his extravagant lifestyle, because this house was most definitely extravagant. She couldn’t imagine him wanting a tattooed, dyed, curvaceous woman like herself.

  His scent tantalized her whenever she shifted in the bed, whispering sweet fantasies into her mind. It made her want to investigate his closet and bathroom and see if the scent was as strong there as well. She was willing to bet it wouldn't be.

  Cin glanced at the clock on the nightstand. She’d been trying to sleep for over an hour now. She should be exhausted, but as soon as Thad had left, her exhaustion vanished. She sighed. Cin knew herself well enough to know that she wouldn't be able to sleep for a while. She was too wound up, but she wasn’t sure why. Because of Aster? Because of Thad? She swung her legs to the side and shimmied over to the side of the bed. Maybe she could read herself to sleep?

  His bookcase was a good place to start. Maybe he had something that could lull her brain into relaxing. She looked at the titles as she ran her finger across the spines. They were all the fancy schmancy kind of books, with the leather hardcover and the title embossed on it in gold or silver. This dude had to be loaded.

  Cin felt like she was being extravagant when she bought a book from anywhere other
than the clearance section of the used bookstore. Even then, she rarely spent over ten bucks. None of the titles made sense to her. When she pulled one from the shelf, she realized why. They were all in different languages. Russian. Italian. Spanish. She even found one in Korean.

  She sighed and flopped into the armchair that faced the windows. Thad’s scent was heavy here too, causing a ripple of images to flow across her mind, the two of them together. She didn’t know why she was so attracted to this man, but he was like catnip for her.

  The water of the pool caught her eye as it glinted and glimmered in the moonlight. She was willing to bet that right now it felt amazing. It had been so hot today, such a contrast from yesterday. Maybe she could go and dip her toes. Thad would never know. Unless he couldn’t sleep either, in which case maybe he would come and join her. She didn’t see any downsides to this idea.

  The door eased open silently, and she carefully closed it behind her, making sure it didn’t latch so she could get back in. Cin padded down to the pool’s edge, which was only a few feet from his door. It was a walk-in pool. Her jaw dropped.

  She had only ever seen pools like this in hotels or waterparks. The lights in the living room were off, so Cin knew Thad was asleep. She walked to a deeper edge of the pool and sat down, dangling her feet over the edge into the water, which was amazingly warm.

  A deep relaxation took over, and all she wanted to do was float in the water. She loved how if she let the water come up and over her ears, she could block out most sounds, and then it was just her, weightless, staring into the sky. There was something so magical about it to her. Now she had an idea of what magic really was, and it had nothing to do with floating in the water. Cin made a snap decision and jumped in, the warm water welcoming her home.

  Thad came awake with a start. Something had splashed. If his mermaid cousins were messing around in the pool again, he was going to be furious. He had barely even scratched the surface of what existed in the world with Cin; he really didn’t want to have to explain mermaids in the early hours of the morning.

  Sighing, he got up. He knew there was no chance of getting back to sleep until he figured out what it was. Thad pulled on his jeans and went to the window. His heart stopped. There was someone in the pool, and it wasn’t one of his cousins. It could only be Cin with that hair. What the hell was she doing?

  He was out the door and down to the pool before he could take another breath. He called her name, but she didn’t respond. He could not have her dead in his pool. That was bad on too many levels to count. Thad could swear his heart stopped beating. Stripping off his jeans, he jumped into the pool. As his head went under the water, he heard a scream.

  “What the hell are you doing? Trying to give me a heart attack?” Cin’s voice shouted as he resurfaced.

  “I thought you were dead.”

  “If I was dead, wouldn't I be floating face down?”

  “Not necessarily.”

  “Well, I thought you were asleep, and I couldn’t sleep, so I came out here.”

  Thad stepped closer to her, needing to be sure she was okay. His hand reached out to her and ran up her arm. She inhaled sharply. “I thought you were dead,” he whispered again, still trying to quell the lingering fear in his heart.

  “Thad . . .” Cin’s voice was soft.

  Her hand came tentatively up and rested on his chest right over his heart, which currently felt like it was going for an escape attempt and her hand was its exit vehicle. He watched as her eyes traveled hungrily down his body, and for the first time, he took in what she was wearing. Which was not a lot.

  He tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry. The tank top she’d been wearing all day and possibly a pair of panties—that was it. The top was weighed down by the water and molded itself to her breasts. Gods, they were beautiful. They strained against the wet fabric of the tank top. She was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. He groaned.

  “You okay?” she said, her voice husky.

  “Yeah. You?” He could hear that his own voice was gravely with need. His erection throbbed painfully as she moved away. She was supposed to move closer, not further away.

  “Overall, I’ve been better. But right now, I’m very good.”

  He swam toward her. Right now, he couldn’t stand being that far away from her.

  “Are you following me?” she asked, a playful smirk on her face.

  “Maybe. What if I am?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “What if I said I wanted to catch you?”

  “Then I would say good luck.” She darted away from him, faster than he would have expected.

  Maybe she was part mermaid. She did have the hair for it. All he knew right now was that he was going to catch her. He swam after her, but his erection made it uncomfortable. The water kept pushing it in ways it did not want to go. So he let her evade him for a while. He was a couple seconds behind her all the time.

  “I thought you would have been able to keep up better,” she called over her shoulder.

  “The chase is half the fun.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s the other half?”

  “Finding out what you do when I catch you.” Thad couldn’t remember the last time he’d been at ease like this with anyone other than his brothers.

  “You better catch me if you want to find out, then.”

  Thad pushed off the wall of the pool and intercepted her in a turn, his hands grasping her around the waist. He flipped her around so she was facing him.

  “I caught you.” Thad’s breath was warm on her shoulder as he pulled her toward him, sending goosebumps out over her skin.

  He was magnificent.

  The water droplets on his skin sparkled as the moonbeams hit them, his skin glowing underneath them. The normally bouncy blond curls were plastered to his head from the water. The man was sculpted—there was no other word for it. He wasn’t as much of a body builder type as she had first thought, but he was solid muscle.

  The power that Cin could feel under her hands made her body tight with need. Not to mention he was only in his boxers or boxer briefs. She couldn’t tell since the water had molded them to his body. As he pressed her against his body, his hands slipped under her tank top, his rough, calloused palms grazing their way up her sides and back as the water between them was reduced to nothing. Cin’s breathing increased as she felt his cock press against her.

  “So you did,” she breathed.

  His pale eyes stared down at her. If he kissed her now, she’d be lost. Just as she thought that was going to happen, he bypassed her mouth and kissed her neck. A shiver ran down her spine. He kissed lower until his mouth skimmed the hollow of her neck by her collarbone. Cin gasped involuntarily.

  “Thaddeus.” She breathed his name as his hands slid down her back to her hips, cupping her butt under the water. She gripped his shoulders as she lifted her legs to wrap them around him, nestling him against the part of herself that was on fire for him.

  “You’re killing me, Cin.” He walked them toward one of the walls of the pool. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are?” he whispered into her ear before nibbling on her earlobe. She groaned in response.

  “I didn’t think you were interested, to be honest,” she breathed as he kissed back down her neck.

  Thad stopped and pulled back. “You thought I wasn’t interested?” His forehead wrinkled in concern.

  Cin nodded. His gaze bored into her as they stood together, quietly evaluating the position they found themselves in both physically and emotionally.

  “I’ve barely been able to think of anything except you since I met you. You fascinate me.”

  “Same here,” Cin said, pushing up and giving him a slight peck on the lips.

  Thad’s arms dropped, and she was dunked in the water as he backed away.

  “What was that?” she asked, wiping the water from her eyes.

  “I . . . I’m not used to kissing.”

  “What do you mean? You were doing some spectacular kissing on my neck a m
oment ago, and you clearly know what you’re doing with your hands. Or at least you fake it incredibly well.”

  Thad walked out of the pool. How could he ignore her like that? Anger pulsed through her before turning into a shimmering frustration. She balled her hands as she followed him out of the pool, trying to calm herself.

  “Talk to me. I know we don’t know each other that well. I can’t get to know you if you shut down and refuse to talk to me.”

  Cin followed him into another part of the house she hadn’t seen, a bathroom that was on the other side of the living room. It was designed for people who had used the pool, with towels and benches and multiple showerheads in a huge walk-in shower area. Thad wrenched the handle of a showerhead and stood under what had to be cold water. He faced the wall and let the water sluice down his back. Cin watched for a moment as the water almost seemed to follow the lines of his tattoos.

  “Thad.” Cin followed him into the shower. The spray bouncing off Thad’s body hit her like little ice pellets. “Can’t you even look at me?” Cin hated how small her voice sounded. She wanted to rage against him, but all she felt was guilt. Guilt about Aster, guilt for not calling her mom earlier because of the issues they had with each other, and now guilt for somehow hurting Thad. Because there was no mistaking his body language.

  “What do you want me to say, Cin?” Thad’s voice was whip sharp as he turned around, his eyes cast downward.

  “I want you to tell me what happened out there. I thought you were interested in me there for a moment, but now it feels like you’re playing a game. I don’t play games. I never have when it comes to emotions, so be real with me.”

  “I can’t remember the last time I kissed someone on the mouth.” Thad scrubbed his face. “It’s something I’m not used to and it scared me.”

  Cin was taken aback. This big hulking man was scared of a kiss? She watched him closely. His eyes darted to hers and then away again. They were the most unusual eyes she’d ever seen. She could stare at them for hours. Those red glasses he’d initially worn around her were kind of creepy, and she loved that he felt comfortable enough now that he didn’t wear them anymore.