Page 64 of Siren Problems

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“Yes Calder,” she cries, trembling. "Harder, please, don't stop!"

I do as she asks and fuck her harder until she’s sobbing with pleasure, collapsing onto her elbows as her orgasm hits, sharp and stunning.

I follow with a roar, spilling inside her.

We collapse in a heap of sweat and salt and love we’re not ready to lose.

And for a moment, we don’t.

Her breath’s still stuttering when I curl around her from behind. Her skin is warm against me, pulsing with aftershocks.

I breathe her in, memorizing the scent of her—salt and fire and something that’s justhers.

She’s quiet.

Too quiet.

And the words crawl up my throat like they’ve been waiting there all night.

“You should take the grant.”

She stiffens.

I pull her closer anyway. “Go. Take it. Get everything you’ve earned. Forget this town. Forget me.”

“No,” she whispers.

“You have to.”

She turns slowly, her eyes already wet. “Why?”

“Because I’m cursed. Because I’ll always be cursed. Because you can’t build a future on someone who’s afraid to stand in the sun.”

“I’m not leaving because I’m scared,” she says. “I’d be leaving becauseyouare.”

I wince.

But she doesn’t look away.

“You think love is the risk,” she says, voice trembling. “But it’s the only part of this whole damn thing thatisn’t.”

I shake my head. “Luna?—”

She kisses me.

Slow.

Soft.

Lingering.

Like it’s a promise she has no intention of keeping.

And when she pulls back, she whispers, “I’m not forgetting you, Calder. So you better decide fast if you’re going to let me remember youwithorwithoutyou.”

CHAPTER 21

LUNA

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