Siren Awakened

by C. R. Jane

  The soft touch lit something inside of me. I ran trembling hands along his back, dragging my fingers across the skin on his back. He flinched as I ran across a lash wound that hadn’t quite healed yet. I stiffened, reality threatening to ruin the bubble we’d created.

  “It’s okay,” he murmured, brushing a kiss against my stomach once again and ridding my mind of anything but his lips. He gripped my hips, pulling me close. I drowned in him. He stood up and ran his nose along the sensitive spot at the base of my neck, his breathing heavy to match mine. The heat of his mouth burned my skin.

  He nipped my shoulder, then planted soft kisses towards the top of my breasts, palming the soft mounds through my faded bra. He made me feel gorgeous, like I was wearing sexy lingerie instead of a prison uniform and faded underthings.

  I fumbled with his shirt, my desire making me clumsy as I pulled the shirt upwards. Seth helped, exposing the smooth lines of his chest. I ran my fingers along his chest and my hands across his shoulders, then traced his arms. Even with all the silver lash scars that never fully faded because of his almost daily torture sessions, he was beautiful. Like a dream really.

  In a swift movement, Seth unclasped and dispensed with my bra, his tongue teasing my nipple before I had a chance to react. The sudden intensity pooled hot desire between my legs. I moaned and gripped his shoulders, digging my nails into his flesh.

  He began to tease me, his arousal strained against his pants and pushing against my thin pants and underwear. With one hand, he untied the drawstring that held the pair of pants up, and my pants slid to my ankles. I quickly stepped out of them and then pushed against him once again, desperate for the friction.

  “I’ve dreamed about touching you like this from the very first day I saw you. Every single minute your mouth was close enough, I obsessed about kissing you.”

  As if wanting to make up for lost time, he ran his fingers along my back, stroking gently before moving his hands and cupping my breasts. He circled his thumbs around my hard nipples, and I reached for the string on his pants. I undid it with shaking fingers. He shuffled out of his pants. They joined our clothes, which were strewn across the dirty stone floor. His prison issued grey briefs held a barely restrained erection.

  He wanted me, that much was obvious. I hungrily dragged my gaze across his smooth chest, taking in the sight of his rock-hard abs and the lines disappearing into his briefs. He was thinner than the others, but for a guy who was starved regularly, he was amazingly fit looking.

  Seth didn’t stand for long. He pushed me backwards onto the cot, and when his naked chest met mine, he undid me. I arched my back as he slid a hand beneath my bottom, my hardened nipples brushing against him. Seth groaned, his rigid length pressing against my increasingly sensitive sex. He pulled my leg around his waist and nibbled on my lip as I gasped for breath, drowning in the moment.

  He suddenly moved down my body until he was kneeling on the floor in front of me, the warmth of his breath against my sex. He pulled my legs towards him, setting them on his shoulders. I was quivering as he pressed his mouth to me, tongue gliding along my wetness and teasing the sensitive bud. I gripped the edge of the cot and struggled to stifle a cry.

  “Fuck, you’re perfect…” The vibration of his voice against me intensified the engulfing sensation. He slid a finger inside, continuing to explore me with his hot mouth. Licking, sucking, thrusting with his fingers, he brought me to the brink over and over. Then each time he stopped, prolonging things to the point I was ready to scream at him. Weren’t we supposed to be hurrying? Although at the moment, I couldn’t remember the reason that was.

  The blinding orgasm hit, and I swore those stars that I hadn’t seen in so long were suddenly dancing in front of my eyes.

  I could feel him hungrily taking the sight of me in. “Fuck, you’re beautiful, Selena,” he growled, then pressed me into the cot. My heart hammered as our mouths met, teeth clashing with the raw intensity of the kiss. Seth took my wrists in one broad hand and held my arms above my head. I made a breathless sound as Seth’s rough kisses shifted towards my breasts, before he closed his mouth around my pebbled nipple. He pushed my legs apart with his knee, fingers travelling up my inner thigh until he discovered my wet center. I bucked against him as he slipped a finger inside, moving his mouth back to mine. His tongue thrusted into my mouth, matching the movement of his finger, and I moved against him, pushing myself against the palm of his hand.

  For what felt like eternity, I drowned in the sensation of his attention to my body, his expert kisses and touch bringing me to the brink and then letting me go again, over and over, just like before, until I couldn’t take the building pressure anymore. I closed my eyes, a scream building inside my chest.

  Stroking my damp hair from my face, he kissed my closed eyes. “I can’t believe this is happening. I want you so bad.”

  Seth nudged my legs apart and stroked me again, before pushing against me. I gasped as the tip of him touched my clit, and it was all I could do not to come just from his touch. Seth thrusted into me then, hard, and I almost cried out. He stilled, aware of my tensing, then pulled out so he was barely inside.

  “I love you, Selena,” he said, “I’ll always love you.” The emotion was clear in his beautiful crystalline gaze, and I nodded, unable to speak. A tear escaped, and he kissed it away gently, before thrusting back into me hard. This time, I did cry out, overwhelmed by the new connection to Seth, wanting more of him but aware he’d already given me everything he had, body, heart and soul.

  He moved slowly at first, eyes still fixed on mine, before increasing the urgency. The pressure built as the movement bumped my clit. He pulled up one of my legs, and I curled it around his hip. I dug my fingernails into his tense shoulders, and he kissed me, the movement of his tongue matching the push of his hips. Everything overwhelmed into a world of sensation as I spiraled upwards towards the edge of those stars once again.

  All I could feel was him inside me, over me, consuming me, and I clutched his waist, giving into the supernova explosion of my orgasm.

  Lost in Seth’s world, I was aware of his hips tensing before he thrusted hard into me one more time, swearing softly as he came. I wound my arms around him, holding his damp body against mine, his rapid heartbeat slowing. Seth covered my face with kisses, and I relaxed back with my eyes closed, at peace for at least a minute.

  A groan sounded from under the cot where we were still wrapped around each other.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked anxiously.

  “I’ll take care of him,” a voice came from the darkness right outside the cell.

  We both jumped when Keon stepped close to the cell.

  “Have you been watching this whole time?” I asked indignantly, furious that he would do something like that.

  He held up his hands as if to calm me down. “I just got here. Something came over the speakers that the prisoners in the next block hadn’t been fed yet, and I volunteered to come since I knew you were on duty today.”

  I quickly got up and began to put my clothes on, feeling awkward suddenly.

  Another groan, and a hand flopped out from under the cot. Keon sighed and stepped into the cell.

  “When you say ‘take care of it,’ what do you mean by that?” I ventured, not sure that I wanted to know the answer.

  “No one will find out about this,” he answered calmly, not answering the question outright but giving me enough that I knew the fate of the guard.

  But I found myself not really caring.

  Sometimes when I had thoughts like that, I wondered if I belonged in Nightmare Penitentiary after all.

  “I’d better go,” I told Seth reluctantly nodding to my cart of now ice-cold food. He stood up, unashamed of his nakedness. He put his arms around me.

  “I love you,” he said softly. Keon pretended to be interested in the wall while Seth nuzzled my neck, the sexy fae completely different than any time before. Who knew he’d be a cuddler?

  “
Oh, I need you to take this with you,” he told me, throwing on a pair of pants and moving away from the cot. Keon took that opportunity to drag the hazy-eyed guard out from beneath the cot and hauled him over his shoulder with a grunt.

  “Thank you,” I told him. He gave me a small, sad smile that told me how he really felt about what he’d walked up on, and then he stroked my face with one hand before he left the cell.

  Seth returned with the crystal. I looked at him confused. “I know, you went through a lot to get this back to me. And it does make me heal faster. But it will be safer with you. You’re the only one that I trust with it.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, grasping it in my hands tightly. He was so revitalized right now. I didn’t want him to experience his torture sessions without the crystal.

  “It would be far worse for me if it got taken again and we started everything over again.”

  “Okay,” I murmured, tucking it into my pants pocket.

  Seth pressed a desperate, quick kiss on my lips. We could hear footsteps getting closer.

  “See you soon,” he told me before I slipped out of the cell and took off with the cart, right as another guard appeared around the corner.

  I walked away with a smile I couldn’t contain and ignored the flicker of unease in my heart that told me I knew better.

  Chapter 13

  Selena

  I staggered back to my prison cell after morning shift, exhausted. Alaric had spent the night in my room, and we decided that waking me up every couple of hours might stop the ghost from taking me over.

  On the bright side, it worked. The bad part was that now I struggled to keep my eyes open, and I could easily lie on the floor now and I’d fall asleep. But that didn’t solve my problem, now did it?

  The ghost still resided inside me or clung to me…the jury was still out on which, but there was no doubt she wanted me dead. The funny thing was that by looking at her, she didn’t look scary, but I guessed when it came to survival, even ghosts would do anything to remain amongst the living.

  One idea that kept revolving around my head was doing a séance and attempting to communicate with the spirit to see if there was another way to fix this, instead of having it kidnap me to steal things or toss me into the sewage, or…try and kill me.

  Someone rushed past me, their shoulder knocking into mine, and I stumbled backward, my feet tangling. Next thing, my ass hit the ground, and I grimaced. Laughter surrounded me, so I got up and just kept going. I swore I might as well be in high school somedays.

  In my prison cell, there was no sign of Keon or Alaric, so I took the chance to go have a long shower to attempt to stay awake, then I’d hunt down another cup of coffee from the mess hall kitchens. Staff were permitted to access the Nescafé, and I’d already had three cups.

  Settling down on my bed, I toed off my shoes and yanked off my socks when a small ringing sound came from the end of my bed. I glanced over just as Keon’s little mouse hopped up on the mattress. Another small chime came from the rustic looking bell he carried in his mouth. The thing was half his size and resembled the huge church bells, rustic with a small metal ring at one end.

  “What have you got there?” I leaned over and picked it up as the mouse made himself comfortable and began chewing on his back leg. The idea of fleas crossed my mind, but I wasn’t exactly going to shoo him away when he’d just brought me a gift. Plus after what Keon had told me, I now adored this little guy.

  I ran a finger over the outside surface of the bell, where numerous patterns lined the metal, swirls that all looped together. There was no end or start to this. The inside was painted black and the same for the clapper.

  “It’s very pretty,” I said to the mouse and rang it as if calling the dinner bell.

  A shiver laced my body, raising all the hair on my arms. In a flash, the British ghost pest tore out of me like a white blur. But just as fast, she zipped back inside, leaving behind the words, “What did you do?” hanging in the air.

  I flinched back, clutching the bell in my fist, my thumb inside it to stop it from ringing.

  My head buzzed with what just happened, then I jerked my head toward the mouse. “Is this who I think it was?” I whispered, my heart thumping in my chest. “You took this from the warden?”

  He squeaked, his little whiskers twitching, and I might not have spoken mouse, but I was one hundred percent certain he’d just said yes.

  I wanted to scream with excitement and leapt to my feet, pacing in front of the bed. “Do you know what this means?”

  He just looked at me, watching me going back and forth. “It means we can use it to exorcise myself. Oh. My. God. I could kiss you right now.”

  He made a strange squeaking sound and seemed to physically pull away from me.

  “Keep your furry pants on, I’m not going to actually kiss you.” Especially if he had fleas. “But you are a magician to have found this and know exactly what I needed. You really can understand me, hey?”

  He just stared up at me.

  I started pacing again, murmuring to myself. “So clearly, the trinket only works if I’m holding the bell, since nothing happened until I touched it. Good to know. But now, how do I use it? I rang the bell, and she came out of me. Then what?”

  “Then what?” a deep male’s voice came from the doorway, startling me so much, I shuddered as I spun around, my hand with the bell loosening. Next thing, the bell fell.

  My stomach dropped all the way to my feet.

  Instinct had me throwing myself after the bell, my knees hitting the ground. I caught it in my palm, the ringing coming once again.

  Like before, the ghost yo-yoed out of my body, vanishing inside me like a slingshot, leaving behind her screeching words, “You’re making a miisssttaakkkeeee.”

  Gasping for air, I sat there, my finger inside the bell to stop making any sounds, and then I realized I never should have gone for it as it shouldn’t affect me if I wasn’t touching it. But I panicked. Crap.

  “Are you okay?” I glanced up to Keon, who had me by my arms and lifted me to my feet. “What were you just doing?”

  “Did you see her?” I blurted, flopping down on the bed. “The ghost just flung out of me and then back in.”

  “I didn’t see anything.” He crouched in front of me, his hands on my knees and worry crammed behind his gorgeous eyes. “Did you fall asleep?”

  “No, your mouse brought me the trinket from the warden’s room.” I showed him the bell in my grasp, ensuring it didn’t make a sound. “And when I ring it, she flings out of me for seconds.”

  His eyes widened and swept from me to the bell to his mouse.

  Keon beamed, and he scooped up his mouse. “Dude, you did this? You are amazing.” He kissed it on the head and the critter seemed to almost swoon in his hand.

  “He has fleas, and now you are not kissing me with a mouse mouth.” Not to mention, the little thing recoiled when I mentioned kissing it. I shook that away. Being rejected by a mouse was not going to bother me.

  Setting the mouse back on the bed, Keon turned to me. “Hand it over, so you don’t accidently ring the bell.”

  I nodded, gingerly lifting my fist and placed the item in his palm on its side so as I lifted my finger from the clapper, it remained flush to the side.

  Releasing it, I flung my hand back as if I’d just cut the wrong wire on a ticking time bomb.

  He closed his fist around the bell and placed it into the pocket of his pants.

  “So what now?” I asked.

  “How do we use it to eliminate the ghost? What do we know about it so far? It comes out when you’re asleep and the trinket can draw her out of you anytime.” He glanced over to his mouse and winked. The little critter then scurried away and vanished into a hole in the wall.

  “Well, it’s not just when I’m asleep actually. I never thought much of it until now, to be honest.”

  “Selena,” he reprimanded me with that deep voice.

  “She kinda appear
ed first in a bathroom I randomly found one day when I was exhausted…and she made a show while we were having sex in the yard.”

  He stiffened. “She watched us?” He rubbed his chin, almost grinning, and of course that would pique his interest.

  “She wasn’t there to admire us, but give me tips apparently on having better sex.” I huffed. “How would a dusty old British ghost from the 1800s be an expert at sex? You know she called me a prostitute?”

  “What sort of tips?” His lips quirked.

  I sighed. “Fine, we’re not having this conversation now. I have the trinket to help me, so let’s stay focused.”

  His lips pinched. “Of course. You can tell me later. So, she first came to you when you were tired in the bathroom. And each time afterward was the same?”

  I nodded. “I think it’s when my mind is too weak to fight her that she takes advantage of that moment. So sleep and exhaustion.”

  “Well, then we need to conduct a ritual that will draw her out, and then we send her back to wherever the hell she came from.”

  I leaned forward. “And you can do that?”

  “Fuck no, but Seth should be able to. He’s got magic in his bloodline.”

  “Okay. I think he’ll help us. Oh, reminds me. Was everything all right with that guard in Seth’s cell yesterday?” Heat flared up my neck at the memory that Keon knew Seth and I were having sex, yet he covered for us from getting caught.

  He nodded quickly. “Yeah, all taken care of. Like I said, nothing you need to worry about anymore.”

  “What are you both conspiring to?” Alaric barked as he strolled inside, and I almost jumped out of my skin at how focused I was on Keon.

  “God, please stop scaring me like that,” I said, my heart racing.

  He looked at me puzzled. Keon was on his feet and gave Alaric a long-winded rendition of what I’d told him.