Secrets of the Siren [Sirens and Sailors 5] (Siren Publishing Classic) (11 page)

Jasper gestured for the women to move away from where the weapons lay strewn across the beach. As soon as they moved there was a cheer from Destiny Rock and the crew made their way across to Refrainia.

Captain Sivan picked up Ligia’s gun on his way up the beach and strode up behind her. She felt the barrel dig into her back and her heart pounded.

“Don’t turn around,” he sneered into her ear.

The rest of the men picked up the weapons and surrounded the women menacingly.

“How did you get out?” Kalliope shouted over to Toby.

Jasper pulled a knife from the waist of his towel. “You didn’t check everywhere.” He gave her a smarmy grin. “Took a while to pick the lock though. Smart move of ginger’s to take the keys.” He threw Ligia an approving look.

“What are we gonna do with all these women, Captain?” Jared leered as he spoke.

“Well I know what I’m gonna do with this one.” Captain Sivan grabbed Ligia’s arm and swung her around. He didn’t take his eyes off her as he sneered, “You can all do what you want with the rest!”

The men jeered and started to grab at the women, who screamed in terror.

“You can’t!” Ligia’s voice came out as a whisper as she stared in horror at the man in front of her.

“I can do what I fucking like, bitch, and so can they!” He spat the words at her as he hauled her away from the crowd.

A sudden shot made everyone jump. Ligia sprung round, her heart in her mouth. She scanned the throng to see which of her friends had been hurt. They were all looking upward at the top of the path which led to the beach. Her eyes followed theirs and her heart leapt.

“Nobody move!” a police officer shouted.

Ligia’s mind was in a whirl as the whole beach was surrounded by uniformed men, with guns pointing at the pirates. They moved in swiftly, carefully removing the weapons and handcuffing the men before leading them up the beach. It all happened so quickly it seemed surreal. Suddenly Aitan was by her side, wrapping his big arms around her and holding her. Tears flooded down her face as she held onto him. Relief swept through her, mixing with the fear and anger she had just been feeling, and she just wept and wept into his strong, warm chest.

All around her she could hear her friends doing the same. The sound of sobbing and laughing filled the air, and she wasn’t aware of the police officers who had taken the pirates away and were now hovering, waiting to speak to her. Aitan held her until she was ready to speak and then he lifted her face up to his. His was smiling. His gorgeous teeth gleamed through his tan, his big gray eyes shone brightly, and he looked utterly gorgeous. He kissed her on the lips gently before whispering into her ear that they needed to talk.

“We’ll talk in the big house,” Rechavia called over, and he led them up the beach. Melantho had cold drinks ready for everyone and they squeezed into the front room. The hostages were still there, telling the police about their ordeal. The young lad cried as he recounted the fear of being tied up and told they were all going to die. Ligia went over and gave him a hug, much to the bemusement of the officer who was questioning him.

“His parents are waiting at Eastland, miss,” the officer informed her.

“She got us out, sir,” the young lad said with a smile and a sniff. “She came in with a knife and freed us all.”

Aitan raised an eyebrow, listening in to the conversation. It sure sounded like there was something he needed to deal with later.

* * * *

It was late afternoon before the last of the cops departed the island. They took the hostages with them, which was a bittersweet release for them. They knew they owed the girls their lives, and their parting was a tearful one, especially for the young boy. The girls waved off the last of the ships and turned to go back up to their homes. They hugged each other as they parted ways, and set off with their men.

Ligia was prepared for the mess in her ransacked little hut, having seen it when she returned to use the computer, but Aitan was visibly horrified. They didn’t have many belongings, but what they had had been strewn about the place like trash. Even the furniture had been upended.

“They took everything.” Ligia sniffed as she looked around. “All I managed to save was this.” She took the tiny, fish-shaped stone from her bikini bra and held it up. Aitan smiled, evidently touched that she had treasured it.

“They didn’t get everything, darlin’.” Aitan squeezed her tight in his big, muscular arms before pulling something from his back pocket.

“My ring!” Ligia’s eyes opened wide and she threw her arms around her man.

“I’ve got your hair clip, too. The cops searched those motherfuckers before they locked them up on their ship. This is the most valuable thing on the island except you. I know that fucker was trying to take you when we got here. I guessed they’d already taken this.” Aitan held her tight and she hung onto him like she would never let him go.

“I love you so much.” She breathed, eventually.

“I love you too, darlin’. And I want to marry you. Do you still want to marry me?”

“Yes! Oh God, yes! I really do, Aitan, more than anything.” She didn’t hesitate. “We’ll have to find a way around this thing with your family because I’m
going
to marry you.”

He placed the ring on her finger and kissed her soft lips. He had never seen her so adamant and he obviously liked it. “I really missed you, darlin’. I don’t ever want to spend another night away from you.”

She nipped his bottom lip and he kissed her with the passion of a desperate man.

Finally she broke free, as the real world started to encroach on their magic.

“What
are
we going to do about your family?” she asked with a frown.

“What about them?”

“Your mother doesn’t like me. What about the rest? It’ll be hard on you if you marry me against your family’s wishes.”

“Well, we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we? How about you make a start on this place and I’ll grab the laptop?”

She bit her lip. “They’ve left messages, I think. I didn’t read them, I just recognized the names.”

Aitan nodded and set off to retrieve the laptop. Ligia sighed as she tidied up the pots and pans, then the table and chairs. A jug of white flowers had been knocked over and she went to take one of the Elmwood leaves from the bedroom to soak it up. She held her breath as she looked around the little bedroom, remembering the events which had occurred there. A tear rolled down her cheek.

“Something happened here, didn’t it?”

She hadn’t noticed Aitan return, but he must have noticed her expression.

“Nearly,” she replied without looking at him.

He turned her chin up with his finger, forcing her to look into his eyes.

“It won’t happen again,” he promised.

She nodded and managed a smile. Somehow she knew Aitan would keep her safe.

“I’m going to use this to mop up the water,” she announced, grabbing the cover from the bed.

Aitan helped her remove it and she took it into the front room where the jug had been spilled. “I think I’ll get us some new bedding,” he said, removing the rest of the leaves which served as bed linen. He took them outside and returned shortly afterward with an armful of fresh leaves.

“Thank you,” Ligia said, as they made the bed.

He gave her a knowing look and a wink.

“Let’s get this thing fired up, then,” he said as they returned to the front room. He had already placed the laptop on the rickety little table and he began pressing buttons.

“I’ll get the supper,” Ligia said, making a hasty retreat.

It took Aitan a while to sift through the many e-mails and v-mails which had been sent from his family. They seemed exasperated that he was unable to answer any of them, and had just sent more and more, mostly saying the same thing.

Ligia was dishing up meat and vegetable stew when he went outside. The sun was beginning to set and it danced on her hair, making it glow dark red. He loved her hair. He loved everything about her.

“Don’t look so worried,” he said with a grin. She hadn’t noticed she was frowning. She looked up at him pensively.

“We don’t have to get married if it will upset your family, Aitan. I’m happy for us to just be together.” Her eyes were wide and tearful. He seemed sad to see her vehemence wane.

“We’re getting married and they’re coming to the wedding. They can’t wait to meet you.” He was grinning even more broadly as he leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

She gave him his supper and snuggled next to him on the grass while they ate.

“I’ll show you the messages after,” he promised. “Mom’s real sorry. She apologised to you on the v-mail. She said she wanted to say it to your face but she couldn’t get through on the Super-Skype. The visual mail says it all, though.”

“We switched the computer off so we could hide it from the pirates,” Ligia replied, taking a bite of her meal.

“Not to worry. We can talk to her later.”

Ligia stared at him, warily. He smiled, stroking her cheek.

“It’s OK. Honestly. My sisters have been in touch. They were really cross with Mom when they heard what she’d said. She didn’t mean it.”

“Your sisters?”

“Yeah. They were real excited when Mom told them about me getting married, and asked about you. When she told them what she’d said they were mad. Suzette demanded she got back to you right away to explain. Geva tried to speak to you but couldn’t get through so she sent you a video message, apologising for our Mom. She wants you to know that they don’t agree with her or what she said. After Suzette gave her good talking to, she got to the bottom of it all. You can see for yourself what they said.”

He finished eating and put his plate to one side, before tucking into some fruit.

“I didn’t know Suzette was your sister. I saw Geva Daoud on the messages so I assumed she must be one of your relatives, but I didn’t know about Suzette.” Ligia cleared away the dishes.

“Suzette’s the older one, she’s married to Nuri. They’ve got a little boy, Hyam, you’d like him.” Aitan put his arms around her waist as Ligia washed the pots.

“Hyam. That’s a nice name.” Ligia smiled.

“It means ‘life.’ Suits him too. He’s a real lively one. They named him that because he nearly died when he was born.” Aitan sounded a little subdued. He rubbed Ligia’s stomach, suddenly imagining her pregnant with his baby. He’d seen how protective she’d been with the young hostage earlier, and knew she’d make a great mom. He grinned.

“Is he OK now?” she asked tentatively.

“He’s more than OK. He’s three years old, and into everything. Hey, maybe we can get them to put him on Super-Skype one day so you can see for yourself? Suzette and Nuri don’t use the computer often, they’re the least technical people I know, but I’m sure they would for you.”

Ligia smiled, a warm feeling filling her tummy. She liked the idea of being part of a family, especially one that liked her.

“Come on, you need to see these messages,” Aitan said with a grin as he led her inside.

Luckily, the screen lit up, as it was getting quite dark when they sat at their little table and fired up the laptop.

Aitan skipped through the e-mails and went straight to the visual messages. Geva’s was the first message he brought up. She was a pretty girl, not much older than Ligia. Her hair was lighter that Aitan’s, a sort of very dark blond. Her eyes were big, like his, but bluer. She wore a worried frown.

“Aitan, Ligia, I heard what happened with Mom. I’m so sorry, I know she didn’t mean it really. We’re all real thrilled that you’re getting married and can’t wait for Ligia to be a part of our family. Suzette’s over at Mom’s now, talking some sense into her, but you just be sure that no matter what, I’m
definitely
coming over your way for this here wedding and I can’t wait. Ligia, darlin’, if you’re half as lovely as Aitan has described you, I’ll be more than happy to call you my sister. Now don’t you guys worry about a thing, d’ya hear?” She winked as she turned off her computer. Her dazzling smile and Southern drawl matched Aitan’s perfectly.

“That’s so lovely.” Ligia had tears in her eyes. She’d been so sure when she had seen her name come up on the messages that she would be backing up their mom and telling Aitan not to marry her.

“Sounds like Suzette got a real bee in her bonnet over it, too.” Aitan grinned as he pressed a few keys.

“A what in her what?” Ligia loved his foreign expressions.

He laughed, squeezing her hand. “I’ll have to show you one day. Maybe we could go to Westland and visit the family sometime?”

“And see Amaranda and Eban? I’d love to see the new baby!” Ligia’s eyes lit up at the thought, and Aitan leaned over to give her a big kiss on her luscious mouth.

“Sure, why not?” He grinned as they turned back to the computer.

Suzette had left one of her rare visual messages, and Ligia gasped as her face came up on the screen. She looked just like a female version of Aitan. She had the same sandy-coloured hair, though hers was much longer and fastened back on the top of her head. Her eyes were a slightly paler shade of gray, and her mouth and nose were the same perfect shape as his.