Mistress of Siren Cove Ch. 13-15

"My life has been environmental science, so that's what I'll do. I'm sorry to see my technology go, because there's useful science there to build on, in a different direction."

Elysia listened sympathetically and said little. When the evening ended, he walked her to the room and they kissed. Neither wanted to part, and as she stood at the open door, she asked him in. He hesitated, not knowing what to do, but she knew where his heart lay, so she took him by the hand and closed the door.

Their first night together was a revelation for them both. As he touched her bare skin, her power rose to envelop her, but it did not affect him. What affected him was the obvious pleasure she felt from each touch of his hand. The feelings she felt resonated with him and increased his pleasure. It was beautiful lovemaking, especially for Elysia. She had been with many men, but he truly touched her heart as their bodies and spirits joined. For his part, Elysia was the first woman whose response to him was what he had always wanted from a woman.

In the morning, they had breakfast, then he called the lab, assured himself that everything was going OK, and said he would not be coming to the office that day. They spent the rest of the day never far from each other's arms, and as he went back to the lab the next day, she moved into his house. After two more weeks, the lab that could have caused so much trouble no longer existed, and Elysia thought she was in love. This was true love, not what she and Andrew had.

To celebrate their work in Bern, she and Connor decided to spend two weeks lying on the sand looking out at the Mediterranean Sea. She saw her daughter every day on video, and Antoinette was there to take care of little Lorelei. She talked at length with Antoinette about the relationship between herself and Connor, including the sexual relationship, and decided she needed to explore further the love that seemed to be growing between them.

Chapter 15: Where to go next?

They had two weeks of glorious weather, wonderful food, delicious sex, and time to get to know each other. Finished with the troubles in Bern, Elysia and Connor had a chance to really get to know and understand one another. She kept in touch every day with Antoinette and Lorelei, her island family, but her focus was on him. He filled her heart in a way that she desperately needed.

He was beginning to put together in his mind a new life for himself, and as he talked, his plans always seemed to include her. She did not want to discourage this too much because perhaps they could be together. She didn't see how, though. She couldn't live indefinitely off the island. Her powers had fully matured, and it was often difficult for her to simply walk down a street without gathering a crowd of men. Sitting on the beach, she saw it as well, though the men were usually respectful, and she was sure it annoyed Connor.

She would have to return to the island, perhaps when their vacation ended, and she had no idea what would happen to them. She thought about bringing him with her. Maybe that would work, but she did not see how. The only thing she could do was to tell him about herself and her life on the island and allow him to decide.

She talked with her mother, who said it would be alright if she did not say too much. Back in their room, sitting on their balcony looking over the sea, with a bottle of wine on a small table, she started.

"Connor, you've been wondering a long time about me, and the people I work with. Thanks for not pressing it. As I said, it's secret, but you and I have something, don't we? Connor... do you love me?"

"I think I do, and I think you love me as well, Elysia."

"I think so, I believe so. It's so confusing, so tangled up. In some ways, it would have been better if we had not met. But we have, and I do love you, and I don't want to part with you."

"So, you don't have to, Elysia. Why can't we be together?"

"Connor, I know, and I think I want to, but there's something about the way I am, the way my mother is, and the way almost all the women I know are. But it's secret, and if I tell you, you must swear never to reveal it. Can you do that? Swear, no matter what I tell you?"

Connor looked at her seriously, thoughtfully took a sip of wine, and said, "And you need to tell me before we can talk about being together?"

"Yes, Connor, you have to know."

"Well then, I swear." He said this nervously, not knowing what he was getting into, and not knowing what would happen if he accidentally revealed this to someone. He knew her people were powerful, and maybe he should fear them. Still, he wanted to stay with Elysia. She had done so much for him, and he sensed that it would make her happy if he stayed. He owed it to her, somehow, to hear what she had to say, regardless of what might happen to him.

"Good. Connor, I'm not like other women; I'm what people call a siren. Maybe you've heard of them, from old tales, like the tale of Ulysses?"

"I think so, maybe, although I don't know anything about Ulysses."

"Fine, that's just what we have been called, and pretty much all of what they say about us is wrong. We, including me, have the power to attract and control men. When a normal man sees me, if my power is fully awake, he sees a goddess, not the plain thing you see before you. No matter what I really look like, to that man I would appear as his ideal woman. You notice how the eyes of men turned to me on the beach today, and every day. They do this even when I try to mute my allure. Unmuted, I might have a circle of those men standing around me."

Connor looked at her in complete surprise. He had noticed how she attracted men and was proud that she was with him, but pretty women always attract men. "But you look so normal now, Elysia, pretty, but normal."

"To you, yes. And to other women, yes, I look normal, but to nearly all other men, I glow like a movie star. You're immune. You're not affected by my allure, and we don't know why. Some men just aren't."

"And the other women you know, they are like you?" he asked, still bewildered.

"Mostly, yes. Miriam isn't. She lives on our island, but she was born with no power. You see, sirens are born with this power, some kind of genetic mutation, but even the daughter of a siren may not have this trait. My daughter, Lorelei, will be a siren, but not until she turns sixteen, when the power blossoms."

"I'm sorry, it's hard to believe."

"I know. I didn't believe it either when I first came to the island. I was raised in Chicago after being kidnapped as a baby from the island by my mother's sister. I grew up not knowing what I was. I didn't know until I was found and returned to the island, where my mother told me. My power was untrained and weak while growing up, but I still attracted many men."

"And your organization uses this power? How?"

"We attract men and get them under our control. You might say we enthrall them. Once under our control, they'll do as we tell them. We enthralled your five top scientists, for instance, and made them tell us everything they knew, and made them get me a meeting with you. Once we no longer needed them, we ordered them to forget all about us, and they went back to their women as if nothing had happened."

"So, you can enthrall a man walking down the street, just like that?"

"No, we attract them to us, invite them to our beds, and have sex with them. It's a special kind of lovemaking that allows us to bind them to our will."

"So, my top scientists, you made love to them all."

"Well, we did, but I only had sex with Tod; there were five of us."

Connor shook his head, still bewildered.

"Connor, you can see I can't live among normal people all the time. It's too difficult to hide my allure. I must soon return to my island, to my daughter, to my work there, and to my mate, Antoinette."

"But you have a husband."

"Yes, but we don't live together. We sleep together sometimes, but he's very handsome and the other sirens constantly attract him to their beds. Like other men, he has no power to resist them. For the sirens, he is prey, and they are sexual predators, but he is very willing prey. Lovemaking between a siren and her prey is a wonderful experience for both."

"Like many other sirens, I have taken Antoinette as my mate, for companionship, for sex, and for a partner in raising my daughter. She'll join with my husband soon to conceive a daughter, and I'll help her raise that child."

"What do you all do on this island of yours?" he asked.

Elysia explained the work of the island, and how this work extended back to Atlantis. She could see he was very interested in this, and he said, "I would love to be part of that work. I thought I was doing good things for the world when I first developed my technology, and then I discovered I had become part of the problem, another source of destruction. You must know how bitter that made me feel when I was forced to keep building that cursed thing."

Then Elysia took her chance. "Connor, would you come back to the island with me? We could be together there. We have many men and women who come to us from outside, and they usually thrive there. My husband was a famous tennis player before coming to the island, and he has a wonderful time, teaching tennis and loving the women who adore him. It's a beautiful, peaceful place to live, and everyone knows the importance of the work we do."

"You want me to come with you?"

"Yes, if that's what you want. You'd have your technology, and we could build you a new lab. We have plenty of space, substantial resources, and several scientists there who would welcome the chance to work with you."

"And you and I?"

"I don't know how it would work. We could live together at the Palace, you and me and Antoinette. We love each other, Antoinette and I, but as sister-lovers. I was meant to have real love only for a man, and she knows this. She's passionate and will frequently bring men to her bed. You would be safe from the other sirens, because you're immune to their lures. But as I must take other men to my bed sometimes, to satisfy my siren needs, you may also have a need to sleep with other island women. It's the way of the island, and it's my way. But I would hold the love in my heart only for you. Perhaps, as we hold our heart's love only for each other, it could work?"

Connor finished his wine and poured another glass, trying to envision such a strange life. Then he tried to imagine life without Elysia. The one was strange, not normal, and interesting, while the other was sad and lonely.

"I see no other way, Elysia. I'll come to your island with you."

Continued... Ch. 16