Read Online Cassandra Pierce - Diamonds in the Sand [The Aquans 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Special Edition) by Cassandra Pierce - Free Book Online Page A

against her thigh, and arousal coursed through her like a roaring high tide.
    “An excellent start,” he said, shifting his weight so he could hold her down more effectively. “I sensed great promise in you from the beginning. Good to know my instincts are still sharp.”
    Cyra laughed inwardly. Who did this human think he was? She looked forward to besting him at his little game. But she decided to let him play for now.
    It had been a while since she’d taken her pleasure. No sense in wasting a prime opportunity like this one.
    She raised her legs and wrapped them around his hips.

Chapter 6

    Seated in the bungalow behind Septimus’s desk, Maura watched Daq and his sister meander along the sand. She’d slipped out early in the morning, managing to avoid talking to the guys. Her escapade with Tagin and Ejan the night before still made her blush a little, and she couldn’t help wondering if they’d shared any of the details with the others. Though she had no regrets, such brazen experimentation didn’t reflect her normally cautious personality. All she could do was blame Irissa’s potent cocktail mixture…and wonder if island life hadn’t changed her, too.
    Below, the two siblings were still talking, and Cyra was moving her hands in an animated fashion. When Daq didn’t respond, Cyra turned her back on him. She marched down the beach until she disappeared from sight.
    Setting down the handwritten journal she’d been poring over for the fourth time, Maura exited the bungalow and approached Daq. He stood watching his sister stroll away, his thumbs hooked in his cutoff shorts and a scowl on his face.
    “Trouble?” she asked.
    His mood lightened. “My sister’s always trouble. How are things going with Septimus’s notes?”
    “I don’t know. Some of his entries seem perfectly normal, though of course his eye for detail is superb. Then he’s made others that seem…well, a little different.”
    “In what way?”
    Maura hesitated. She still wasn’t sure what to make of Septimus’s most recent volume of notes, which contained snippets of folklore about mermaids and sea serpents, drawings of mysterious stone formations, and maps of bizarre places she didn’t recognize. “He seems to have become interested in marine legends and vanished societies—Atlantis and that sort of thing.”
    Daq’s brows sank on his forehead, and Maura’s stomach fluttered. She had to admit, she found his brooding expression incredibly sexy. His bare chest, flecked with droplets flung up from the waves, wasn’t exactly unappetizing, either. “Why do you consider that a problem?” he asked.
    “I don’t, not at all,” she said. “Septimus loves obscure or offbeat subjects. Anything connected with the sea fascinates him. It’s just that last night, when we visited Ejan’s mother, I heard how he’d been going around telling people about underwater cities and races. I suppose he wanted his stories to be authentic, so he was brushing up on the myths. Maybe he was planning to write a book.”
    “Maybe so.”
    “Still, I can’t see how this new interest relates to his disappearance. I mean, it’s not as though he started walking around the island looking for sea monster eggs or something. His notes refer to places and people that supposedly vanished thousands of years ago. I doubt he built a time machine.”
    “Yes—that does seem unlikely.” Unhooking his thumbs, Daq wandered to the water’s edge, gazing wistfully over the waves. “Tide’s coming in,” he observed.
    “Seems that way,” Maura agreed. The churning crests looked as though they were topped with cream. “So what’s with Cyra? She wasn’t too happy with you.”
    “She did seem rather on edge,” he said with a shrug. “I expect she’ll calm down soon.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Because I’m pretty sure she’s seeing someone. I don’t know who, and I can’t tell how far it’s gone, but I know her well enough to read the signs. We’ll