Like Dark Algae

Copyright © Emmi Lawrence

Edited Dec 28th, 2014: This story has been removed and below is only an excerpt. The entire Siren Song novella will be available for purchase in January 2015.

Ignoring the worry settling in the back of his mind about his disruption to their potentially sacred, rocky island, Rikel pulled free his knife and started gather hair of different colors. A million shades of turquoise blended in the dark, so he picked random strands and lopped them off.

They crinkled dryly in his fist. Not like the strands he’d gripped on the siren in the sea. Hers had been soft and supple.

“That won’t help you,” came a melodious voice behind him. “They’re too old. Too dead.”

Rikel dropped both hair and knife, sucking in a breath as he fought for control over his body’s reaction. His penis had become hard at the first word, leaking by the end of the sentence. Unable to resist the call of that voice, Rikel turned, bracing one hand on the hair-covered rock in front of him as he got his first look at the new siren.

The light splayed across the man’s upper torso and face. His coloring leaned more towards green than blue, like dark algae with flecks of the sea flickering through as the waves heaved underneath it. A splash of speckled dark blue, a hint of violet at its core, looked as if it’d been tossed against the siren’s right temple, a few escaping droplets reaching as far as the bottom of his right cheek.

His hair held the same variegated colors that all sirens seemed to possess. This one’s hair ranged from a tanish sand-mimicking shade to almost black. A thick section had been braided down his right side, the tail of it tied with tiny fish bones.

Around his neck he wore a necklace made of thick black mussel shells and when he moved, they clicked against one another. Loud enough that with the last of his conscious thoughts that didn’t have anything to do with wanting and lusting Rikel wondered how the man had managed to sneak up on him.

“So you aren’t asexual,” whispered the siren, cocking his head slightly, his long hair sticking wetly to his biceps and curling around his shoulders. His tail flicked out of the water behind him, creating a small splash in the pool of seawater, the ripples heading towards the channel that cut through the Nest.

Rikel started forward before the siren had finished speaking, coaxed by that gentle whisper. He jerked to a stop a few paces away and almost managed a step backwards as the sounds faded from his ears.

The siren smiled. “And I haven’t even sung to you yet.”

This is only an excerpt of Siren Song. For more excerpts you can go to the Excerpt page.