Tidal Vortex-Book One

Chapter Thirteen

Connor:

I pace the private guard's quarters, unable to sleep despite being tired from the long journey. The soft thud of my footfalls echo in the small space. I run my hands through my short, black hair in frustration, while I internally beat myself up. God help me! I feel a deep attraction towards Teal. At first, I had thrown her into the same category as every other haughty royal I have ever known. She had risen to the occasion, showing me, I was wrong in my judgement of her character. I tried to bloody hate her in the beginning, but when she stood up to me on that beach, calling me out on my shit, I had fallen hook, line, and sinker. She had sucked me in like a siren calls to a sailor from a boat and she didn't even know it. I can't seem to get the mental picture of her in bed at Bianca's place out of my head. Her raven black sleep mussed hair, teal-colored eyes still foggy with sleep. Sitting propped up in bed, her perky chest showing through the thin fabric of her white nightgown. Oh, and that blush that filled her cheeks when she realized I had been staring. When those idiot male siren's had attacked her, I lost my mind with worry. I still can't believe that they snatched her up so quickly, giving me no time to react. It was a pleasure tearing his throat out! It was the least he deserved, considering the fact that had I not intervened, he would have taken her against her will. I only wish I could have saved her the experience of having to kill the other male. She was fierce in her attack. I shivered at the thought of how she had torn the siren's cock off, then ripped the bastard's throat out. All because there was a shortage of unmated female sirens. Fuck, I shouldn't be thinking of her laugh or feeling like I miss her even when she's just in the other room. Get a hold of yourself, man, or you will end up dead out at sea. I shouldn't be having these feelings for a royal princess, much less the daughter of Poseidon. I should wait for my fated mate, like every good siren did, I tell myself internally.

In the human realm it would be fine to have these feelings, but here in Atlantis it was a death sentence for a guard to even touch a royal, let alone a princess. Technically, I have already broken this rule by holding her hand on the way to Atlantis. I'm drawn to her like a moth to a flame. I find her irresistible despite the knowledge that I will probably end up burned. The only thing that has saved me from punishment is that no one else knows of my transgression. I would be punished severely, even if she were the one to reach out and touch me in a harmless gesture. I shouldn't have agreed to looking her in the eyes or to be at ease with her when others aren't around, but I did. Maybe it's the way she smiles at me that did me in. Or how she said she wasn't particularly good at following rules and would even break the ceiling they were written on. She makes me laugh, and it has been an awfully long time since I've laughed. In fact, I don't think I have smiled often at all since before my parents were captured by Nimrod when I was ten. I had been with them that fateful day.

Getting lost in my thoughts, I remember that horrible day. We had been traveling from the island to Atlantis when my father froze, straining to listen and feel the currents in the water. My father had hidden me by lowering me into a small crevice in the sea floor while my mother looked around us in fear. He made me promise to stay silent and hide for a long time. Then told me to go to Poseidon once no one was around. Just as he was about to hand me my little two-year-old sister, they had been nabbed, chained up and carted off. I sat in that dark crevice for a day, too terrified to move and mourning the loss of my family. The last thing I had seen and heard of my family were their screams and cries as they were taken away by force. The worst part was how helpless I had felt.

Reflecting on that awful day only brings sorrow. I have searched for years trying to find where Nimrod's secret base is in my effort to find my family. It has been years though, and I know deep down they're probably dead. At one point a couple years ago, I had been filled with hope that I would find them alive. I was no longer under that illusion. Teal made me smile, and it feels great to laugh again. She is unlike any royal siren I've ever met before. Sticking her nose up at Atlantis politics, social rules, all the while holding her chin up with an unwavering confidence. Sure, she has shown vulnerability here and there, but she's one fierce siren merwoman. I don't think she even realizes how strong and capable she truly is.

I sit on the small twin sized bed adorned with a plain brown blanket and place my head in my hands. Lifting my head, I glance at the enormous wall of surveillance screens and roam my eyes over each room to make sure no threats to Teal's safety exist. I muddle in my own warring thoughts for hours, skipping dinner, since I feel far too unsettled to eat. What am I going to do about these feelings? I'm going to have to tell Teal that we need to follow Atlantis rules despite our mutual distaste for them. Maybe I should request another guard to take my place as her personal guard. The second it crosses my mind I dismiss the idea as impossible. I'm not capable of walking away from her and leaving her safety up to someone else. Just the thought leaves me feeling anxious. I need to not feel anything for her other than what was proper of a guard to feel for someone of her station. If I didn't get my head straight, the future wouldn't look too bright for me.

A few hours after Teal retired to her chambers, I watch as she awkwardly walks around her room. She seems uncomfortable with the grand splendor. When she opens the wardrobe and flinches, I find I can't hold in my laugh. I couldn't for the life of me envision her in any of those lacy pink dresses. The thought is almost comical. I suck in a breath when she takes her dress off, revealing her bikini-clad body. My body responds in ways it never has to any other siren. In the back of my mind, I know I shouldn't remain watching her. Yes, I could say it was for her safety, but there are no threats right now. No, I watch her out of fascination. Fascination and attraction I have no right whatsoever to feel. Turning away, I force myself to give her some privacy.

Moving to the desk, I switch on a motion detector alarm that will alert me to anyone entering her room. Then I walk to my bed. Looking back up at the monitors, I see Teal sitting down at the desk writing something. I wonder, what could she possibly be writing? I hope to the gods above that she's not formally requesting a different guard. Being cast aside would emotionally gut me. Fuck, I care far too much! I wearily watch as she puts the letter in an envelope, then leaves her room. I'm just about to go find out where she's going when I see her on the surveillance system, hand the envelope to the guard at the front door before she turns, heading back to her chambers. She walks over to her bed and lays down before switching the lights off. I can't help but think, Fuck I really hope, that wasn't a formal request for a new guard! If she does request a new guard, it would be all my fault. I had acted like a complete asshole.

Exhausted, I pull off my clothing and pull on a pair of sweatpants I brought here from the island on my last visit. Most sirens here wore robes, togas, or roomy dresses. All things that could be taken off in a hurry and not hinder our shifting to our siren forms. Poseidon knew the guards picked on me, so secretly he let me stay here in this unused wing for years whenever I was on shift. I lay down on the small familiar bed and within minutes I fall into an exhausted dream filled sleep. My dreams are full of longing for a certain merwoman that I shouldn't be thinking about at all, but that's the good thing about dreams. They let you experience things you know you can't have in life. I dreamed of being able to take her in my arms while kissing her passionately. The feel of her body held against my own aroused one. It felt so real. Exploring her glorious body with my hands while drawing out little breathy moans. Those little breathy moans were sexy as hell and made me want so much more!

Sometime later in the night a harsh, loud shriek of a siren scream jars me awake from my blissful dream. My eyes blink open, wondering if maybe I had dreamed of hearing the shriek. Then suddenly it came again from Teal's room! Sitting straight up in bed, I hear it again. I shoot out of bed so fast in my panic that I face plant into the damn door. Adrenaline causes my heart to beat a frantic rhythm in my chest as worry floods through me. Calling my siren strength and other abilities forward, I let my hands and eyes morph. In a half-shifted form, my senses and strength are stronger. Long claws on my webbed hands now sit, ready to rip an intruder apart. Reaching down, I practically tore the door off the hinges in my haste to get to Teal on the other side. The door lands broken on the floor, as I charge over it and into the room.