Chapter 21 – Wave
Wave froze over Jarred and tried to digest his words. A real chance. Halfway in love. Going all in. This wasn’t what she had expected would happen. She had brought him to the edge of an ocean, where she could easily disappear.
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Wave swallowed and tried again. “You can’t… love. You are joking, right?”
Jarred shook his head. “I’m not, but I’m not bringing it up to upset you. I just want to be honest with you.”
Wave felt like crawling out of her skin. Memories tried to pull her under, but the feel of Jarred under her, his light hold on her, the throbbing of the fucking bruise that refused to heal on her throat, all of it kept her present. Here. With him.
A soft rumble rose from Jarred’s chest when he sensed her rising panic. Slowly, he lifted his hand and wrapped it around her throat, thumb stroking over the bruise.
“Talk to me, precious.”
All her focus went on that simple touch. It should have torn her memories wide open to have him hold her like that, but it didn’t. Goose bumps ran over her arms and her breath caught when she leaned against his hand harder.
The ache was like a balm. The more she let herself feel it, the more she felt him.
The care in the way he cradled her throat.
The need to take care of her. Her eyes focused on the bruise on the side of his throat.
It should have healed during the flight over, but it hadn’t. She wanted to bite him again.
“Why isn’t the bruise healing?” she rasped out.
Jarred’s fingers flexed before going back to the easy stroking.
“It’s a claiming thing,” he replied slowly.
“Until you either accept or reject my jaguar’s claim…
If you reject it, it will heal.” Jarred swallowed and slowly turned his head to the side, giving Wave a better look at his throat. “If you accept it, it’ll scar.”
As Wave watched, the bruise on Jarred’s throat began to fade, leaving behind the silvery marks of her teeth. It took only a couple of minutes for all the traces of the bruise to vanish and for the swelling to disappear.
“What the fuck was that?” She blinked. “Did you just… What did you do?!”
A smile flitted over Jarred’s lips quickly. “My jaguar and I accepted your claim on us. Both man and beast are yours as long as you’ll have us.”
“No. You can’t.”
“I can and I did. I didn’t mean to claim you back there, but my jaguar had other plans. Now I think it’s the smarter of the two of us.”
Wave’s hands trembled and Jarred clasped them, releasing her throat. She missed that touch immediately. Still, she had to argue back. “What if I reject the claim?”
“That’s your choice, and once my jaguar accepts that all hope is lost, the mark will fade from us too.”
“So, it’s not a forever thing.”
Jarred’s eyes flashed. “It’s not a shackle around your throat, if that’s what you are asking.”
Wave flinched, hard, and his eyes zeroed in on her with a whole different kind of focus.
“Wave?” He growled, the sound suddenly carrying more weight and power than before.
She tried to shrug, but every one of her muscles was locked in place.
“Did someone do that to you? Who hurt you?” The menace and rage rolled out of him like an avalanche. It flattened everything in its path and left no room for arguing or evasions.
“He’s dead,” she whispered.
“Pity,” Jarred grunted. He didn’t hesitate as he lifted both of his hands and clasped them around her throat. The bruise pulsed under his palm and heat poured from the contact. It caressed her from her throat, down her back, over her legs, all the way until her fingers and toes tingled.
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?”
“I’m not manipulating you.” Wave recoiled. “I don’t need to—”
“Wave. Wave, stop,” Jarred snapped. It was only then that Wave realized she was trying to get up, and he was holding her in place. “Stop,” he rumbled, an annoyingly soothing sound that she responded to instinctively. “I’m asking, what would help you release your powers? Talk to me, precious.”
“But I—”
“Tell me.” That was a command.
Wave wanted to do nothing of the sort, but she gritted her teeth and forced the words out. “I can tear into someone’s mind and force them to bend. Even if they don’t want me to. Or are unsuspecting.”
Jarred locked eyes with her. “I know that part.”
Wave’s shoulders slumped. “Or if, in theory, I’d have a willing victim—a partner, I could slide into their mind… and connect us. If they… gave me control, it wouldn’t have to be… it could be…”
“What are you trying to say?” Jarred interjected when she got lost in the words. Hesitatingly, she met his gaze.
“I could take over their mind without causing harm. I could link my own thoughts with them. That’s… sort of similar to a mate bond for sirens.”
“Permanently?”
Wave hesitated again. “The… sharing is temporary.”
“But?”
“Once the bond fully forms, it doesn’t fade. Having one is extremely rare. And dangerous. A siren bond can be used to control the siren. Catch their bonded and the siren will follow. There are no happy endings for my kind.”
Jarred was silent for a while, digesting that before he spoke again. “Can you use that power without forming the bond?”
“Sure, but who would trust a siren—oomph.” Wave found herself rolled over and Jarred was hovering over her again.
“Show me.”
“What?”
“Show me, Wave. I’ll let you take over.” His eyes were absolutely serious.
“You can’t…”
“Yeah, I can. Show me, precious.”