Page 38 of Tik-Tok

North tried to stand, to go to Tik-Tok, but Echo held her back.

The siren’s nose twitched, seeming to scent the air. “With each passing minute, I can smell the desire in you getting stronger. Close your eyes,” Echo instructed her. “Take deep breaths.”

North shut her lids while her chest heaved, but within the darkness, all she could think about were Tik-Tok’s fingers, his mouth, his length. Echo kept telling her to breathe, and it somehow grounded her enough not to lunge across the rowboat for him.

“Celyna! Get over here!” Tik-Tok roared.

North opened her eyes and her gaze met a naked blue female with scales along her flesh, standing at the edge of the water. Long green hair, black eyes, beautiful. A storm of jealousy plowed through North—she’d never seen this female before, but knew it was the sea witch.

“I was only giving you what you wanted, pirate.” Celyna stepped into the water, making her way closer to their boat. “And here you are, as I knew you would be.”

“Take the spell off her,” Echo said, her voice deadly. “Or I’ll bring my mother into this.”

“Oh, Siren Princess, I meant no harm.” Celyna shrugged. “And why bring your mother into this when we both despise her?”

“Remove the fucking spell,” Tik-Tok seethed, his fists tightening at his sides.

Celyna smirked. “You need a vision—so that means I need you.”

“It doesn’t have to be Tik-Tok,” Echo said. “Dax is more than willing to fulfill your fantasy.”

Celyna peered at Dax, who seemed poised to leap from the boat toward her the moment she agreed. Licking her bottom lip, the sea witch nodded. “I suppose he’ll do.” Her eyes gleamed as they trained on North’s, and a voice whispered in her skull.I release you.

A veil seemed to lift from North and she hunched over, gasping for breath. She remembered Celyna at the ship, then everything that had followed. Her eyes slowly lifted to Tik-Tok’s, but she couldn’t read his expression. She jerked her gaze away, recalling everything they’d done, him touching her, ravishing her, her liking it too much. How she still liked it. Would even do it again. But he was disgusted by her, that she wasinnocent… Her cheeks grew blazing hot.

A purple flame lit within her, as it had when he’d brought her over the edge, writhing in bliss. That color.

“I feel it,” North whispered, her entire being filling with wonder. “I feel my magic.”

Chapter Fifteen

Tik-Tok

North felt her magic.She felt it.Tik-Tok’s heart nearly pounded out of his chest as he rowed back toThe Temptress, leaving Dax on the island with Celyna. He’d begun to wonder if North would ever access her latent power or if they would be stuck sailing the seas forever. Waiting. Hoping for something that would never happen.

Echo and North spoke in rushed voices, but his pulse was pounding too loudly in his ears to make out the words. They appeared excited—all smiles and hand gestures. He should be excited too. But he wasn’t—he didn’t dare let himself hope too much. What if it was something else? Another one of Celyna’s tricks. Or… Or fuckinggasthat she mistook as the rumble of magic.

Shit.No. It was definitely magic. The citrusy scent of it was almost too faint to recognize, but it was there, tinging the air.

“Climb the ladder,” he told North. Once she was halfway up, he began to follow, stopping after a few rungs to look back at Echo. “Take the boat back and wait for Dax.”

Echo wordlessly grabbed the oars and pushed the rowboat away from the wooden hull.

“You’ve got this,” he encouraged North when she fumbled near the railing. “Swing your leg over.”

She listened, disappearing onto the deck, and a moment later he joined her. Respen, Cyrx, and a handful of brownies stared at them in obvious confusion.Nosy bastards.Tik-Tok took North’s hand and rushed across the deck to his quarters, ignoring the stares.

Once inside, he slammed the door. “Show me,” he demanded.

“Show you?” she said, trying to catch her breath between words. “How am I supposed to show you a feeling?”

Right.She felt it, but that didn’t mean she coulduseit. He tried to even his breaths, calm himself, but he’d waited so long… To have the magic he needed be so close and not be able to access it…

“Are you okay?” North asked.

He met her stare, reading the nervousness there, and unclenched his jaw. “Areyou?” He looked her up and down, appraising. It hadn’t been long enough for the scent of her bliss to dissipate completely from the room. His heart thumped as it reached his nose, creating a direct path to his throbbing groin.Bad Tik-Tok, he chided himself. This wasn’t the time to get distracted. He rubbed the pad of his thumb along his bottom lip. “Any lingering urges from Celyna’s spell?”

North blushed. “No.”

---