Page 41 of Siren’s Secret

When she didn’t thrash or pull away, Jarred relaxed under her. There was still utter rage in his eyes, but Wave knew with absolute certainty that it was rage on her behalf. He would never hurt her like that. Jarred would tear anyone trying to hurt her into pieces.

Slowly, something released inside her. “Okay.”

“Okay what, precious?”

“I’ll… think about the bond.”

Jarred sighed, but the warmth kept pouring into her. “We’ll wait. Tell me, precious, do sirens have some kind of claiming like that?”

Wave blushed. She couldn’t help it. Jarred’s eyes widened and then a slow grin spread over his face.

“Tell me.”

“No.” She shook her head.

“Wave.”

She shook her head. “No. Not… yet.”

Jarred waited for a moment, but then relented. “Okay, but you’ll tell me when you are ready?”

“I… think I’d like to,” she found herself saying, to her utter astonishment.

Jarred smiled, pulled Wave down to his chest, and held her until both of their heartbeats evened out. When she was almost certain Jarred had fallen asleep, he spoke.

“Tell me about the siren. I get that you need to keep that side of you hidden, but I don’t want you to hold back with me, precious.”

“I can’t—”

“You are letting that side out now. I can taste the difference in your power and there’s a sharp edge to your aura now.”

“Well, it’s sort of safe here,” she began and Jarred purred.

“So, it’s a location thing? You can relax here?”

“Here’s… fine. The ocean is right there and only humans live on this island. An old tribe.”

“Do they know about sirens?”

“They have legends,” Wave murmured.

Jarred nodded. “Okay. So, if you need to release—shit, that’s it, isn’t it? You are holding your siren side down all the fucking time and were pressing down your stormbringer powers too until it all…”

“Boiled over.” Wave sighed and reluctantly sat up again so she could see his face. “Yeah, close enough.”

“How bad is it?” Jarred looked worried, his eyes roving over her face like he was cataloguing every little thing about her appearance.

“I need the ocean,” she admitted. “Swimming and diving in deep help, too.” She blinked and shook herself a little. “I lost it during the attack. I’m still not sure how only Sinister figured it out when I screamed into the storm like a lunatic.”

Jarred cupped her cheek and stroked her skin soothingly. “He won’t tell.”

“I know,” Wave hummed. “For some fucking reason, I believe him.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Help with what?”

“You can’t keep pushing your siren side down. It’s hurting you, so what can I do to help?”