Shelli Rosewarne

Hi all,

It’s Thursday, which means I’m sharing another free read with you 🙂 This is the first part of a new one, called Siren’s Call. It involves Ciaran, who is sadly unlucky in love – can the mysterious women he meets on the beach change that for him? Hope you enjoy x

It was Midsummer’s Night the first time he saw her. The heat was stifling and after tossing and turning, unable to sleep, he’d given up and decided on a walk along the beach. It was one of his favorite spots and one of the things that had attracted him to the house in the first place. The sea was calm for once and the gentle lapping of the waves against the sand was soothing. The sky was clear and the full moon offered enough light that he didn’t need the flashlight in his pocket.

He meandered slowly, hands in his pockets. This would be a romantic situation if he only had someone to share it with. He scuffed his feet through the sandy pebbles. Yeah, right. His friends were always laughing at his bad luck with women, and that was if he even got up the courage to talk to them in the first place. Was it really his fault that he preferred books to sports, that he couldn’t lift weights to save his life—and he’d probably be just as skinny if he did?

Lost in his self-pity, at first he wasn’t sure what the shape on the rock was. When he actually made it out, he was convinced he must be seeing things. He slowly moved closer, mouth gaping in disbelief. Sitting on the rock, bathed in the moonlight, was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Her skin glowed pure white in the moonlight; her hair streamed down her back and over her breasts. She was slowly running a comb through it, and his eyes became glued to the motion. At the moment it lifted at the front, he caught a glimpse of perfectly formed alabaster breasts. When he managed to drag his eyes up to her face it was a vision, delicate and heart-shaped, with huge eyes and full, pouting lips that pursed as she hummed a haunting melody.

He stepped forward, half-convinced that he was still in his bed, asleep. At any moment now he was going to wake up, probably after embarrassing himself like he had as a teenager. Instead, he saw her eyes widen in shock, the comb stilling in her long tresses as she looked at him with fear. For a moment, she seemed frozen before turning as though to run.

“Wait,” he cried out. “I won’t hurt you, please don’t go!”

The woman turned, her huge eyes lit with curiosity.

“I’m Ciaran,” he told her. “What’s your name?”

The woman rose gracefully from the rocks, and he gulped as he realized she was completely naked. She glided towards him and he tried to subtly adjust his pants as his body hardened uncomfortably.

“You can call me Rae.” Her voice was musical and he felt as though he could close his eyes and simply listen to it forever.

“Are you lost?” he asked. He couldn’t understand why she was out on the beach, alone and naked, in the middle of the night.

She smiled and shook her head. Up close, he could see that her eyes were pale, silvery in the moonlight. With only the tiniest slits for pupils, the irises looked huge. He had to clench his hands by his sides not to reach out and touch her. It seemed wrong to want to molest a woman alone at night. She seemed to have no such worries, though, and her hand drifted up, stroking down his cheek. Her skin was cold, despite the warmth of the night. He took off his light jacket and offered it to her. She simply laughed, the sound like notes on the wind.

“I am not cold, Ciaran, but it is nice to see there are still some gentlemen left on the land.”

He frowned; her words and manner were old-fashioned, and he had the odd feeling she didn’t belong here. She reached up on tiptoe and pressed her cool lips against his. Every other thought left his mind. Her arms slipped around his neck and he pulled her closer against him, running his hands greedily over her curves, glorying in the smooth softness of her white skin. His mind was telling him that something was distinctly strange, but his body ruled out any objections and told him not to be such an idiot. It was probably a dream anyway, he rationalized. There was no way he could be awake when the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen appeared naked and threw herself at him.