Page 26 of Siren’s Secret

“I’d say you were under his skin the whole time.”

“It might have started that way, Wayla, but it became more. You are my mate.”

Wave growled. “Fuck no.”

“Fuck yes,” he replied without any heat.

“I’m not—we aren’t…”

“Tell me about yourself, morsel,” Irishen said, changing the subject and completely ignoring Wave’s spluttering.

“Tell you what?”

“What’s your favorite color? When did you learn to drink the poison you call coffee? Do you like your water room temperature or from the fridge with ice?”

“Yo-you want to know my favorite color?”

“Mmh,” he hummed.

“What’s yours?” Wave asked suspiciously.

“Black,” he replied easily. “The shiny kind that reflects the colors around it.”

“Black doesn’t reflect colors.”

“Your hair does.”

“But it’s not… fine. I like blue.”

“But is that your favorite color?” Risha’s tone was teasing.

Wave bit her lip. She wasn’t going to tell him that her favorite color was black, too. The kind you met when you swam deep enough and light no longer penetrated through. When she stayed silent, Risha moved on.

“Okay, how about water? With or without ice?”

“Ice,” Wave blurted.

Risha laughed softly. “I like mine with ice too, obviously.”

“Why do you drink warm coffee, then?” Wave found herself asking.

“It’s the contrast,” he said, almost purring. “Hot and cold, wakes up the senses.”

“Uh-huh.” Wave gulped. She could see that. Irishen took mercy on her and changed the subject again.

“Have you ever been skiing?”

Wave shook her head and then remembered that he couldn’t see her. “No.”

“I could take you some time,” he said.

“Maybe,” Wave replied through a yawn. “What’s your favorite book?” she asked in return.

Irishen chuckled. “You know that’s an impossible question to answer.”

“Okay, fine. Top ten?”

“Hmm…” Irishen hummed. “There’s this children’s book my nanny used to read to me at bedtime. Snowflake’s Adventures with the North Wind. I still remember it word for word. If pressed, I guess I’d say that’s my all-time favorite.”