Their Siren (Daughters of Olympus Book 1)

by Charlie Hart

  This isn’t a force of nature. This is some sort of magic. The water flashes bright colors—beams of light shooting toward me.

  Oh fuck. Maybe this isn’t diving toward a destiny so much as plunging toward my death. Seaweed curls around, tangling me in a web. A white light envelops me—it’s like I’m trapped in an orb deep in the sea. For a moment I’m safe, but then, in a flash, the light is gone and the water pulls at me, tighter and tighter. My body spins out of control.

  The water moves in a whirlpool and I’m caught in the center.

  I can grab at nothing. The only thing surrounding me is the vastness of the ocean moving at a harrowing speed. It came with such a force, it feels like it was aimed right at me.

  When I followed the seal, I was exhilarated. I felt like I was making a choice for myself like I was brave.

  But now I’m scared.

  Now I realize I’m nothing but a fool.

  This is it. This is the end.

  I scream with anger, my story can’t end here; not like this. My voice is shrill and full of fury, in a way I’ve never heard before. It pierces the sea and the water tightens around me, the vortex growing smaller and my vision blurred.

  Then, just when I feel like this is the end... something grabs hold of me, my body is caught. I scream as I’m pulled from the water, caught in a net. I’m dragged from the whirlpool, and lifted from the depths.

  As I break through the water, I grip the net with my hands, knowing that whatever happens next, I’m no longer waiting for my life to begin.

  Tonight, it has.

  Chapter 3

  Kai

  We didn’t have a choice in the matter. Our boat moved against our will, responding to a call we had no choice but to answer.

  We threw out our net and saved her.

  She coughs and sputters, waterlogged and gasping for air.

  And when she lands—utterly naked and absolutely divine—she begins swearing like a sailor. That gets Crew grinning from the get-go. And me rolling my eyes. This guy is going to be the death of me, I swear.

  He may be a member of our elite sailing team preparing for an around the world race, but he’s got no manners. Crew likes his woman dirty—and so when this woman is brought aboard spouting off What the actual fuck, it’s obvious that he’s immediately drawn to her; not picking up on the fact she practically died out there.

  “Easy, boy,” I say, eyebrows raised, already doubting Crew’s intention. We couldn’t be more different. He’s from the school of hard knocks. Me? I’m Ivy League, born and raised. “She nearly drowned.”

  “She’s alive now,” Crew says with a cocky ass smile. Her skin is bare, and her nipples tight, and her breasts full. The curve of her body is a wave I want to ride.

  “And she can hear you,” she groans, rolling from the net and onto the slick deck of the sailboat. She pulls her knees to her chest, hiding the most exposed parts of her body from us.

  We’re all drawn to this woman before us. Crew, Eric, West, and I can’t look away. We may be our own men, but right now, I’d lay down my life for this stranger.

  But she doesn’t feel like a stranger. It feels like she’s supposed to be here.

  Her call echoes inside of me.

  We had dropped anchor for the night, but next thing we knew, all four of us heard her call and we moved with speed and intent.

  Toward this spot.

  For the last few weeks we’d been looking for something we couldn’t name.

  And now we’ve found her.

  I may have studied law, but this defies all logic and reason.

  She has me transfixed. Hell, she had us caught under her spell even before we arrived.

  And as I look around at my shipmates, I realize I’m not in that trance alone.

  Her long legs are sun-kissed, her lips are full, her hair a salty tangle of soft pink waves. Damn, she’s more than a woman needing rescue; she’s a woman come to save me.

  Before I can act on my impulse though, Eric, being the gentleman he is, kneels before her, and takes her hand in his. “Hey, little mermaid, I think you got lost at sea.”

  His words are smooth, and the thing is, though, with Eric, it isn’t a false front. He’s constant, like a faithful dog. Always by your side.

  And right now, his calming voice seems to stir something inside this woman because she sits up, rolls her shoulders as if sore--as she surely is from that thrashing about at sea--and looks up at all four of us, like she’s seeing humans for the first time in her life.

  “Holy shit,” she says, her hands running through her long hair. “I’m so glad you were here. I don’t know what happened to me out there.” She bites her bottom lip, eyebrows lifted, and looks out past the men, toward the water. Whatever is out there has a hold on her. As if, even knowing the ocean just tossed her to and fro, she would still return first chance she got.

  She looks haunted, as she looks across the sea. Like she saw something, or felt something, that was bigger than she understood.

  Eric drapes a large beach towel around her shoulders, and she takes hold of it, glancing up at him and letting her eyes offer a thank you.

  “What’s your name?” he asks.

  “Harlow,” she says in a soft whisper. She shivers and even though we’re in Hawaii, it’s nearly midnight and the night is cold. She’s chilled to the bone and I step toward her, wanting to warm her. I feel protective of Harlow in a way that doesn’t make sense for someone I’ve just met, but I look at the men around me, wanting to be sure no one moves too quickly, not wanting this woman to be jarred.

  I clench my jaw, when the hell did I start thinking about other people? My mother would be proud if she were alive.

  Though she would not be proud of the thoughts running through my mind right now.

  Harlow is naked on this boat and we can hardly keep our eyes from wandering. She blinks slowly, taking us all in. And I notice Crew’s eyes narrow as he watches this woman. He knows a thing or two about being a long way from home. His life has been nothing but moving from one place to the next, never putting down roots.

  And this woman somehow ended up ten miles from shore.

  “You want to try and stand?” I ask, holding out my hand. She nods and lets me lift her to her feet.

  I take off my button down and her eyes widen as she takes in my body. I swear to god she licks her lips.

  “There you go, babe,” I say, handing it to her.

  “Hey,” Crew says with a cocky grin. “Is that necessary?”

  “Don’t want her to catch a cold,” I say, brushing off his comment.

  “Thanks,” she says softly, dropping the towel and putting on the oversized shirt that hangs to her knees.

  I try not to stare as her fingers move up the buttons, one by one.

  “Were you out on a boat?” Eric asks.

  She shakes her head.

  “Were you with anyone else?” West asks. “Like, is there someone else out in the ocean?” He runs to the edge of the deck, looking overboard. For someone who usually has a joke, he seems terrified at the thought of someone else being lost at sea.

  “I was alone. Swimming.”

  I furrow my eyebrows. “You were swimming for ten miles, in the middle of the ocean, at night, alone? I know we’re a bunch of jackasses, but we aren’t that dumb. No one could swim that fa--”

  She cuts him off, “I can. And I did.”

  I scoff, and though I am drawn to her, have the desire to ravish her--the sensible side of my brain can’t believe this story. “Uh, okay.” I push my lips forward. “I’m just trying to understand how you ended up so far from home.”

  At this, Harlow frowns. “That’s what I was trying to figure out, too.”

  Instinctively, all four of us step closer and look at the woman before us. Her legs shimmer in the moonlight, but it’s more than that, it’s like green glitter has been pressed into her skin, and there’s a tattoo on her thigh that glows.

  Her legs wobble as if she�
��s standing for the first time in her life. She nearly falls, and I reach out, catching her. Needing to touch her.

  “Easy there, girl,” I say, with my hand on her back, her waist, and when she falls into me, her body presses against mine and a spark goes off.

  This isn’t me. I am usually a distant asshole. No one would call me boyfriend material. I’ve never had a reason to commit.

  But one touch from Harlow, and it’s like I’ve spent my entire life waiting for this moment.

  Insane, sure, but it’s the goddamn truth. When I pull her against my chest, her body is frigid, icy cold, but there’s something heating us. I can feel it. The pulse of energy between her… between all of us … is strong.

  Harlow is something else. How could she swim like that? Be out here, alone--yet alive?

  She may not be exactly human, but damn, she looks all woman.

  But it was her song that pulled us in. It was haunting and vicious. Impossible to escape. And it makes me want to do whatever she says. She has a hold on us all.

  We were drawn to her. The need to save her, deep in our bones and we didn’t even know what we were trying to find.

  We couldn’t have turned the ship around if we wanted to.

  “We can take you to the shore,” Eric says. Always practical.

  Harlow shakes her head, burrowing her face into my chest. “No. I don’t want to go back there now. I feel like I’m here for a reason.

  “What reason?” West asks.

  “I don’t know. I saw something and was pulled into the ocean and...,” Harlow stops, stepping away from me as if remembering herself. Remembering that we are strangers.

  “So, you didn’t swim out to sea?” I run a hand through my hair. “You were forced?”

  Harlow smirks. “Crazy, right?”

  “This night is full of crazy things,” West says. “Maybe we are all supposed to be here, together, tonight.”

  “Yeah?” She looks the men over, her eyelashes long and sweeping against her high cheekbones. “You think you were meant to catch me?”

  Eric nods, tapping his hand against the boat’s railing. “We’re a sailors. Go all over the world as a team. And never have I heard something so...,”

  Haunting. Beautiful. Intense.

  “What brought you here?” Harlow asks.

  I raise an eyebrow. “You did, Siren.”

  Harlow reaches for her throat, her towel dropping as she presses her fingers to her skin, eyes widening as if just now remembering.

  “You sang us a melody, surely you remember?” Crew steps toward her.

  Harlow pushes her lips forward, shaking her head. “No way. I don’t sing.”

  Eric looks at Crew, then West, then me.

  We all nod in agreement. We tell her about the force, the way our boat was pulled closer and closer over the last few weeks, and even though it took us off course, we had no choice but to go where directed.

  “It was more than a song,” Eric says solemnly. “It was a call.”

  Chapter 4

  Harlow

  They tell me it was a siren’s call that brought them to me, that forced them to fling out a net and catch me.

  But it makes no sense.

  And when they tell me this, I throw back my head, my drenched hair splattering water droplets against the wooden deck of the boat.

  I’m not scared. They may be strangers, but it’s like they aren’t. It’s like they were brought here for me, and me for them. Whatever reality I used to know was left on the beach tonight. And now, all that is left is this boat, rocking in the middle of the ocean.

  These men are here for me.

  I know it in my bones, my body that has detached itself from my mind tonight is screaming this truth.

  These men are mine for the taking.

  That idea overwhelms me and I take a slow, shaky breath, trying to steady myself.

  “Are you okay?” the gentle one asks. His eyes are blue like the sea at dawn, and his dark hair is pushed away from his eyes. And when he checks in on me, it is with so much sincerity it makes my chest ache.

  “I’m okay. It’s just been a strange series of events. You probably wouldn’t believe me if I tried to explain.” I look over my shoulder, wanting to see the seal. The one who brought me here. I press a hand against my chest, hoping to see it again. Hoping it will find me. I feel like the seal is the answer to my questions.

  And yes, that is the part I can’t exactly say aloud. It sounds insane to acknowledge that a sea creature forced me into the ocean.

  But it did.

  And still reeling from whatever happened deep in the ocean, I can’t begin to explain this to the guys.

  The men look at one another, scratching their heads and their hands running along jaws and no one speaks for a moment as they let me accept whatever part of the truth I want.

  But what I really want is them.

  These men who were called to find me. They saved me and now I want to be with them.

  But how do I get from here to there?

  I’ve never done this before.

  I look up at the men, in their various stages of disarray, but all of them ridiculously sexy.

  In their various stages of turning me on.

  Damn. I never have sexual urges like this.

  Then again, I’ve also never been pulled into the sea, learned to breathe underwater, with legs that somehow glitter and glow.

  “Well, thanks,” I tell them, lowering my chin, and lifting my eyes. Realizing how very naked I am in front of these men. Men I am claiming as my own, whether they are or not. “Thank you for saving me.”

  The shirtless one snorts, apparently not realizing that I’m about five seconds from pulling their muscled bodies against my own. “We didn’t have a choice in coming to your rescue. We couldn’t have turned the boat if we tried.”

  I frown, my defenses up. Here I was all ready for sexy times and the half-naked one is retreating. And he’s the one I would have bet was most up for taking a chance on me. When I was pressed against his chest I felt something, if you know what I mean.

  I exhale slowly. “I don’t know the call you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything to make you come, at least not on purpose. And if you don’t want me here, just take me back.”

  I bite my bottom lip, suddenly feeling vulnerable. That fierce strength I felt moments ago is gone in a flash.

  I may be able to project confidence, but inside I’m scared of rejection.

  Scared of not being enough.

  The sweet one shakes his head. “Hey, there, Harlow, don’t cry.”

  I sniffle and maybe it’s because it’s so cold or maybe it’s because I suddenly realize how very far I am from home. Or maybe it’s because I want this: them, this night, this chance... and I’m scared it’s going to be carried away like the waves at low tide, moving farther and farther from my grasp.

  “I’m fine,” I say, blinking fast, wanting to muster up the small kernel of strength I know must be deep in my belly.

  “You are not fine,” the one with a crooked smile says. “Let’s get you into some warm clothes, for starters.”

  I nod, my shoulders relaxing. “What are your names?” I ask.

  They tell me, and I listen, watching their dynamic and realizing they are more than teammates. They are like a family. Razzing one another and taking it in good humor.

  They are all quite different, Crew has the body of a weightlifter, his shirt tight around his thick biceps, his eyes the color of the palm tree leaves swaying back on the shore. He isn’t steady--not rooted in much, that’s for sure. And every word he utters is laced with innuendo.

  It’s not lost on me.

  And West, he laughs easily but with his crossed arms it’s clear he has a chip on his shoulder. His blond hair is cropped short and the tattoo on his forearm reads Lost at Sea.

  Eric is gentle and kind, with dark hair and blue eyes, the kind of man who would never break a woman’s heart. Instead, he’d be almost
too gentle with it. When he knelt before me after I first landed on their boat, he looked at me so sincerely it almost hurt.

  Then I look at Kai, so classically handsome and cynical as hell. I swallow as I take him in, remembering how moments ago I was pressed against his chest. How for a split second, with his arms wrapped around me, I could breathe.

  Now, I blink, trying to keep their names straight.

  “Are you overwhelmed?” Eric asks. “That was a lot of information.”

  “I’m okay.” I shiver though, and they seem to remember that they promised to warm me up below the bow of the boat. “I’m so sorry,” I tell them, a tear falling from my eye. “I don’t know what happened. It felt like I was getting swallowed up by the sea.”

  “Don’t apologize, Harlow,” Eric says. “We’re glad we found you when we did.”

  West takes my hand, lacing his fingers through mine like we’ve done this a thousand time. When I catch his eyes, he must see the question.

  He smiles slowly like he knows something I don’t. “Besides, it’s not every day we meet a mermaid,” he tells me.

  I shake my head. “I’m no mermaid. I’m just a long way from home.”

  “No, you’re a siren,” Kai says following us below deck. He presses his hand against my back and a tingle rolls up my spine. “And sirens belong to the sea. You aren’t going anywhere tonight.”

  I see Eric shoot him a look that says slow down, but I like Kai’s confidence. His wanting me here.

  Because the truth is, as I step into the cabin, a warmth envelops me. The dark wood is glossy and there’s an overhead light allowing me to see each of the men’s features more fully. They are gorgeous, ripped, and clearly spend a lot of time on the water, just like me. Their skin is sun-drenched, and their hair has lightened in the way only the sun can do. They’re in t-shirts and shorts, but their biceps are big, and they must spend a lot of time working out to make bodies so... able.