45. Horizon
Chapter 45
Horizon
BETH
I bite my bottom lip as I finish the song. My cheeks tingle as though Melisandra could hear my entire life story—past, present, and future—in the lyrics.
“You were taught the ways of the kingdom under the horizon by Mélusine, daughter of Melpomene herself. You are indeed one of us.” Melisandra turns to Aidan and smiles , showing all her teeth. “And you, handsome, I knew you were special, but I didn’t know how much.” She titters, amused. “Malon, this is Aidan Summers, the Crown Prince of the Summerlands.”
Malon’s resentful pout morphs into a full-blown sneer. “Bet or no bet, we’re not letting that fucker slip through our fins,” she growls.
Melisandra’s eyes gleam with mischief. “Shush, daughter. He might be our enemy, but he’s in love with one of us.”
“We can’t let him go, for tides’ sake. And she’s not one of us,” Malon says begrudgingly, rubbing down her burnt throat.
“The salt of the sea runs in her veins.” Melisandra’s tone softens. “A sister on the throne of Summer… I never thought I’d see the day. With her as queen, we might finally end this vicious cycle of violence and death. We might finally be allowed to walk the beaches of the continent again.”
Tears mist the corners of her eyes.
“The Lord of the Tides said—” the younger siren argues, but her mother cuts her off almost immediately.
“The Lord of the Tides is an earthling. I don’t care what he promised us, he will never know what it’s like to be hunted for his song.”
“But who’s to say that man will marry her, in the end? That he won’t simply change his mind? Why should we trust him?” Malon adds.
Aidan links our fingers, his sharp tone cutting through the tension between the two women. “You don’t have to trust me or take my word for it. I’ll marry her now.”
A delighted gasp whistles out of Melisandra. “You will?”
He holds her baring gaze. “Yes. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“What do you say, daughter of the sea? Will you take him?” she asks me.
My head spins. “Err— Now?”
“Will you let us ensure that we’re not passing up on the opportunity to kill the next Summer King for nothing?” Melisandra says with a pointed look, clearly hinting for me to take her up on her generous offer.
My gaze flicks from Melisandra to Malon, the younger siren looking disgusted by the idea, and to Aidan, who gazes down at me expectantly, his bottom lip tucked between his teeth.
I squeeze his hand with a profound, almost visceral determination. “I will. Yes.”
The captain’s cabin near the bow is stifling, the air thick with the smell of damp wood and the faint, sharp tang of the sea that clings to the walls. The low groan of the ship’s timbers beneath us is a constant reminder of our precarious situation, but there’s something almost comforting in it, too.
I play with my fingers, my heart racing. “We don’t have to do this, not if you don’t want to. I could still talk to Melisandra. Maybe?—”
I had asked to speak privately with Aidan while Melisandra summoned the rest of her clan, insisting on a proper Sea wedding.
Aidan covers my hands, forcing them to a standstill. “Songbird. I want to marry you.”
My gaze flies up to meet his. “Yes?”
“I would have done so a long time ago,” he says, his eyes darkening, “if not for Ethan and my parents thinking they could blatantly overwrite my free will.”
We always talked about getting married, about finding a way to make it work, but this—this feels like a dream twisted into something darker. There’s a quiet thrill between us. We’re finally going to do this, but it’s shrouded by the knowledge that it’s not for us, at least not in the way we wanted. It’s an obligation, a fulfillment of a murderous stranger’s agenda, and a sharp edge of unease cuts through me.
“What about Heather?” I ask, unable to leave well-enough alone.
“Heather arrived at the academy the year after you left. She became Will’s friend and spent tons of time with her at the castle.”
“And you two grew close. I get it,” I say, crestfallen.
Aidan kisses my knuckles, one at a time. “Heather was Will’s lover, Beth. Not mine. After Will died, she became my best friend. I figured, since I had never been able to fall in love, Heather would make the finest queen I could hope for and proposed.”
“Oh.”
I can’t deny the flutter in my chest when Aidan catches my gaze, his hand resting on mine like it’s meant to be this way. We’ve wanted this, wanted each other, for so long. Is it foolish—or even dangerous—for me to go along with these crazy circumstances?
The ship rocks beneath us, but in this small, suffocating cabin, it’s just us—and for once, I feel a fragile sense of peace.
Until Seth marches inside the cabin. “Now, don’t think I’m not enjoying the company of all these gorgeous, naked women, but your other bride is on this ship,” he announces.
Aidan’s body tenses at the revelation. “What? Where?” he asks, his voice tight.
Seth smirks, his impatience growing. “She’s tied up in the other cabin, but I can’t find the keys to the cuffs. I went through the books and notes lying around the room, and I’m pretty sure the Lord of the Tides lives on this boat, along with my brother.”
“I need to speak with her—” Aidan begins, but Seth cuts him off.
“You can catch up with your ex-fiancée later. She’s a little shaken, but I checked, and she’s all for getting rid of the murderous fish before we go and rescue her.”
“Have you told her about the wedding?” Aidan asks, his voice betraying a flicker of guilt.
“She was supposed to marry you today,” Seth replies with a shrug. “I think you should tell her yourself.”
My throat tightens as I glance at Aidan. “You can go to her,” I say, forcing the words out, even though it feels like sandpaper scraping my insides. “I understand.”
Aidan shakes his head firmly. “No,” he says, his voice steady now. “Seth is right. We’ve already delayed long enough.”
The salty air wraps around us as we make our way back to the deck, the wind whipping through our hair, carrying with it the distant hum of the sirens’ song. The sea is rougher now, dark waves crashing against the sides of the ship, yet it feels like the calm before the storm. As we step onto the deck, a school of sirens circles the ship, their voices rising in harmony, creating an eerie, haunting melody that ripples through the breeze.
“Ah, finally. Our bride and groom,” Melisandra calls, her voice dripping with amusement.
She steps forward to take her place as the officiant. Her dark red hair falls in soft waves around her shoulders, and she wears a necklace of shells that drapes across her chest, the polished pieces covering her breasts. Seaweed bracelets adorn her ankles, and her bronze skin catches the faint light, glimmering under the stars. Her green eyes lock onto mine as she begins the ritual, her voice clear and commanding despite the quiet of the night.
The ocean breeze tugs gently at her hair as she says, “Sirens love the hardest. Our song demands nothing less than unfailing loyalty. Will you engrave your bones with the promise to cherish your beloved, to rise above temptation in every form, and remain faithful to her forever?” she asks Aidan.
“I will,” Aidan answers, his voice unwavering.
“And you, daughter of Melpomene, will you claim this man as your own and protect him from the waves?” the siren continues, her voice smooth as silk, and yet it carries a sharp edge.
The wind dies down, as though the sea itself is listening.
“I will,” I say, the words leaving my mouth more easily than I expected. The promise feels raw, crawling out from the depths of my soul despite the strange circumstances—despite my fears, and everything that’s still swirling in my mind.
The siren nods in approval. “Your marriage will last even beyond death, and your female children will know the call of the sea.” She pauses, glancing over at the others, a faint smile playing on her lips. “And as for the rest of the ceremony…”
I hesitate. “What about…the rest?” I ask, my voice barely more than a whisper, unsure of what I’m even asking.
“What about it?” she replies nonchalantly.
“Is there a Sea-preferred way to consummate a wedding?” Seth adds with a teasing grin. “The tail must make things awkward, I bet.”
The sirens laugh in unison, the sound like a cascade of water over smooth rocks.
“Earthlings have such ridiculous traditions,” Melisandra chuckles. “You have taken your vows before Melpomene herself, under the moonlight where the ocean meets the sky,” she adds, her voice growing more serious. “There’s no power in the worlds above or below the horizon that could prevent your union now. Besides, the groom would die if he didn’t claim his bride before dawn.”
I open my mouth, ready to ask if it’s a figure of speech, but when my eyes meet Melisandra’s, I see the glimmer of mischief there—no, it’s not a metaphor.
Aidan catches my eye, and I wonder if the weight of his choice is finally catching up to him. If he's truly ready to pledge his life to me under the eyes of the sea gods—under the looming threat of whatever comes next.
He steps closer, his eyes dark and intense, and before I can even react, he scoops me up into his arms. His kiss is fierce, desperate, like he’s trying to consume me, and I lose myself in it. My pulse quickens, the world around us fading into a blur. His hands are on my back, gripping me tightly as though he’s afraid to let me go, his mouth claiming mine with a fervor that makes my entire body ignite.
The sirens chant in cheer, then slip back into the waves with the same stealth with which they appeared, leaving only the echoes of their song behind.
I melt into my husband’s body, my fingers threading through his hair, pulling him closer, eager to feel every inch of him as he guides me back toward the cabin.
Aidan closes the door behind us and presses me to it. “You deserved better than a rushed wedding,” he says with a frown.
“It’s too late to turn back now.” I scrape my nails down his shoulder blades, impatient for him to touch me. “You heard the sirens. You’d die without me,” I say in jest, my heart both heavy and light at the finality of that statement.
“I’ve died without you for a hundred years.” Aidan glances around the room, the tiny cabin cluttered with maps and scrolls. His hands fall from my shoulders to my waist, tracing the flimsy buttons of the undershirt he lent me. “But you deserved a better wedding.”
Luther’s cabin is a strange place for us to celebrate our love, but I’ve been waiting for this moment forever, and now that it's here, nothing else matters. “Who cares about the wedding when I finally have you ?”
Aidan bares me to him, one button at a time, his hands shaking as he slides them up my stomach to caress my breasts. He dips his head down to taste them, the areolas thick and dark under his scrutiny. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
I can’t believe I almost watched him marry someone else, or that Malon tried to steal him away, and the thought fills me with a needy, hungry flare of rage. Jealousy spikes in my blood, the siren in me stirring to life.
I palm his erection over his trousers, and he hisses under his breath. “Oh, fuck.”
From the way his cock throbs at the simplest touch, I have trouble believing he’s able to function at all. “That must hurt,” I breathe.
His eyes shine with bottomless greed as his hips buck forward. “You have no idea. I was ready to kill them all just to be left alone with you…”
He’s still affected by my song, and my insides are slick in response, my body arching into his touch. He pulls me into a heated kiss before ridding himself of his trousers, the fabric bunching at his feet as he picks me up in his arms. His hardness rubs against my entrance, and I cry out at the friction. “Take me now. I need you inside me.”
I’ve never indulged in the high a siren’s song can bring, least of all with Aidan, my husband , and the rush sizzling through me is unequaled.
Magic spices up the air of the cabin. Waves rock the boat from side to side, as though the sea itself is dancing in cheer. Oxygen grows sparse, and I struggle to catch my breath, my walls pulsing, the anticipation radiating across my belly.
I shake all over. The visceral need for Aidan to fill me, to soothe the tender sting of emptiness within my body, eclipses everything else. Our eyes lock, and he muffles a heavy groan as he feeds me his cock inch by inch.
My head falls back against the door, the feel of him even better than I remembered.
Hotter.
Harder.
Ice and fire meld together as though they were always meant to collide as Aidan moves in and out of me, the moment heightened by the power of the sea and the weight of our vows. The magic that sank into our bones tingles in delight at the meeting of our flesh, drugging and raw. Aidan appears as intoxicated as I am as he places an open-mouthed kiss on my lips, fucking me slow and steady.
He’s mine.
Finally.
The foolish promises we made as kids have become reality, and I can’t get enough of us like this, together. Of the scent we make, and the fury of my love for him.
Every kiss, every touch, is a promise, and for a brief, blissful moment, I forget everything but him. Sirens love the hardest, indeed.