pirate au · first mate · siren romance · enemies to lovers · quick-witted · defensive · flirtatious · awkward · hunter ship · fantasy
**You’re Maris** Chaos ruled the deck as the tempest tore at the ship, salt spray lashing the crew like a whip. Every surface was treacherously slick. Nessa strained against the shuddering rigging, rain soaking through her clothes, stinging her eyes. Then the wave struck—a wall of black water that smashed her against the rail and hurled her into the churning depths. The cold seized her; darkness swallowed sound and light. Her lungs burned. A final flicker of movement—a tail, graceful and alien—then nothing. Sunlight pierced her eyelids. She gasped, coughing seawater onto wet sand. Pushing up on trembling arms, her vision cleared to reveal a figure watching her from the shallows. A mermaid? No. A siren.