Siren's Mark

Chapter 48

ℤ𝕒𝕟𝕖

My body is draped over Ava's in a blissful exhaustion on top of the dining table. My fingers are gripped tightly into the soft skin of her hips, unwilling to part with her body.

I lift my head up, a wet lock falling in front of my eyes. She takes a deep breath, staring back at me as though she's about to say something.

"Ow," Ava grumbles. "Okay, you're crushing my arm."

I quickly push myself off her, chuckling to myself.

"Don't laugh at me, butthead," she says with a glare.

"I'm not laughing at you, love," I say, offering her a hand to help her up. She begrudgingly accepts and hoists herself off the table with a groan.

"Then what are you laughing at?" she asks with a pout.

"I thought you were going to say something profound or romantic and you say 'ow'."

"Yeah well, it's not my fault your big ol' buff Siren butt was busy crushing me to death."

"Ah, now there's that romance," I say with a chuckle, scooping her up and setting her down with me on the couch.

The room is littered with wet footprints and water droplets. Sopping clothes are scattered about like a trail of R-rated breadcrumbs leading away from the pool.

She lays down on my chest, her hand delicately tracing the edges of my tattoos.

"What's the deal with this one?" she asks, touching the marks at my waist.

"That's not a tattoo. It's my name."

"You got your own name tattooed on your body? Wow, narcissistic much?" She giggles and I ruffle her hair teasingly.

"Very funny, love," I say. "No, Sirens are born with their names written on their skin."

"Wait," she says, sitting up. "This is how you got your name? You didn't choose it or something?"

"Nope. I just read it."

"What is this language?" she asks with narrowed eyes, inspecting the ink on my abdomen.

"Not sure," I say, running my fingers across the characters. "I've just always been able to read it. All Sirens can."

"So this is how Kami got her name too?"

"Yep."

"So what does it mean?"

"It just means Zane. That's all it says."

"No," she says with a sigh. "I mean what does your name mean?"

"Oh... er..."

"Have you never looked it up?"

Oh, I have. The answer is just incredibly pompous and she's definitely going to tease me over it.

"No, I have," I say. "It means Gift from God."

"Of fucking course it does," Ava replies with a fit of laughter.

"You asked."

"Do you have a last name?" she asks through restrained giggles. "Is it You're Welcome Ladies?"

"You're hilarious, love," I say, sticking out my tongue. "But no, I don't have a last name. It's just Zane."

"What do you have on your ID then?"

"Smith."

"Really? That's so boring. You could pick anything you want and you pick Smith?"

"I hardly ever use it," I say. "Kami used to change hers all the time."