Lorelei tossed and turned during the night as dreams tormented her. She dreamed of standing on the deck while her mermaid sisters called for her to return to them, but she couldn't will herself to leap over the side and dive into the water. What was holding her back? Why didn't she want to return? The dream faded into another and next she was swimming through the sea being chased by a merman. She had never been fond of mermen and had preferred human men. Mermen weren't known to be kind or loving like human men were rumored to be. Her worst fear was to be trapped with a merman. While they were few, they were fiercely protective of their female counterparts and despised it when a mermaid chose a human over one of them. She tossed and turned as the merman grabbed her tail and dragged her deep into the murky depths of the ocean. She knew that he would punish her for becoming friends with a human man. As darkness overtook her, she prayed that the dream would end. The God that the humans were fond of seemed to have granted her wish. Her dream took a sudden and sharp turn that only caused her to toss and turn more violently. She dreamed of James touching her. His hands travelled down her arms and came to a rest on her hips. Her skin was hot as he kissed her. She turned over violently and felt herself falling. Then she landed hard on the floor.

James awoke to a loud thud and a yelp of surprise. He blinked his eyes to help them adjust to the darkness and then leaned over the side of the bed.

Lorelei was lying on the floor with a stunned look on her face. Her cheeks were burning red and she was muttering something in the other language she often used.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

He seemed to have startled her, for she shot him a frantic glance before abruptly moving her gaze to the ceiling.

"I'm fine," she said, "I just rolled out of bed, that's all."

His eyebrows furrowed with concern and he offered her his hand.

"Do you need help?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said firmly despite the frantic look on her face, "I'm perfectly fine."

He eyed her before withdrawing his hand.

"If you insist."

Lorelei took deep breaths to calm herself down as James went back to sleep. She couldn't let herself get worked up over a dream. She knew that it was in her nature to be sensual. She was a mermaid after all. However, she also knew that James was very much the exact opposite of her. She couldn't ask him to do anything that he wasn't willing to do just to make the feeling go away. He was her friend and she couldn't do that to him. She wouldn't do that to him. With that resolve in mind, she sat up and let out a deep sigh. She would have to become used to the dreams.

She knew that the desires of a mermaid could manifest themselves in different forms. For her, they came in the form of dreams. She had dreamed of Iisku when she stayed with him for nearly a month. Now she was dreaming about James and that made her deeply uncomfortable. She would just have to ignore them.

The next morning, Lorelei made sure that she was out of the cabin before James even woke up. She wanted some time to get her thoughts together after her dreams from the night before. She leaned against the rail of the ship and sighed as the wind teased her red hair. The air felt wonderful on her skin and the smell of the salty air was refreshing. She smiled and tried to forget the dreams from the night before. She closed her eyes and tried to think of anything other than the dreams.

"You're up quite early."

She nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun around and saw James standing before her fully dressed in his uniform. Her skin tingled as she remembered her dream with him and she fought back the redness trying to rush into her cheeks.

"I wanted to get some fresh air," she said, "Perhaps your habits are rubbing off on me."

He smiled and stood next to her at the railing. Lorelei dug her nails into the palm of her hand to distract her mind from wandering off into sensual territory.

James glanced over at Lorelei as she gazed at the horizon. She looked tense and he wondered if it had anything to do with how she acted earlier when she rolled out of bed. He considered asking her what was troubling her, but he had a feeling that she would avoid the question.

Lorelei risked a glance at James and noticed that he was watching her. She turned red and immediately averted her gaze. He could tell that something was bothering her and he no doubt wanted to know what exactly it was. She would take that dream to her watery grave. He could never know about it. She had worked so hard to gain his trust and admitting her dream to him would no doubt strain that trust. She couldn't risk the friendship she had with him.

"I'm going to go up above," Lorelei said as she turned from the railing and went towards the stairs.

James didn't say anything as he watched her step down onto the lower deck. Her shoulders were tense and she had a resigned look in her eyes as if she had decided something. A sudden thought went through his mind; what if she had decided to return to the ocean? He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he considered the thought of her leaving. She was the only person on board that he felt a connection with and who understood him. They shared a bond on multiple levels and had much in common. He wasn't willing to lose his friend so soon. But he also knew that if he forced her to stay, he would be no better than Iisku. He would have to let her go if she wished it. He straightened his back and took a deep breath as he pushed the thought away. He would address it when Lorelei finally voiced her intention of leaving.

Lorelei stayed in the crow's nest for most of the day and only came down when the sun had completely sunk below the horizon. Stars dotted the sky and a cool wind blew through her hair. She sighed at the cool air on her skin as she walked across the deck. Only a few of the crew remained above deck and they flashed her friendly smiles, which she was only happy to return. The crew was more than happy for her to be posted in the crow's nest. She was the only one who seemed to enjoy being high above the deck for hours at a time.

James was looking over maps when he heard the door to his cabin open. Lorelei quietly shut the door behind her as if she didn't want to disturb him. Or perhaps she had been trying to sneak in unnoticed.

"I haven't seen much of you today," he said and Lorelei jumped at the sound of his voice.

She gazed at him briefly in surprise before she managed to school her expression into one of calm.

"Someone has to make sure that the enemy doesn't sneak up on us," she said.

"And I thank you for doing a wonderful job."

Lorelei smiled and crossed the cabin towards the bed. She suddenly stopped. The sooner she went to sleep, the sooner she'd have to face more sensual dreams. She could feel her nerves on edge and her body singing for a man's touch. Her eyes darted towards James and she abruptly shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Is something wrong?"

"No," she replied with a smile, "nothing at all."

She would have to do her best to pretend that nothing was wrong. She sat down on the edge of the bed and started to slip her boots off as James returned to his maps. She laid back on the bed with a soft sigh and closed her eyes. She remembered the last time she had been intimate with a man and immediately opened her eyes. It was going to be a very long night.

After another hour of poring over maps, James glanced up to see Lorelei had fallen asleep. She was curled up on her side and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He smiled slightly at how peaceful she finally looked after being tense the whole day. He finally rose from his chair and quietly crossed the cabin towards the bed. He could hear her soft breathing as he removed his shoes and slipped off his coat. He laid down next to her and she sighed at his warmth. She turned over and snuggled up against him. James had determined over the past week that Lorelei sought out warmth when she slept and he had grown accustomed to her pressing herself against him. It had been awkward at first, but he had started to enjoy it. There was something soothing about feeling another person's warmth. The first night she snuggled up against him he had trouble sleeping. He had taken the time to look over her red hair and her pale skin. The contrast between the brightness of her hair and the paleness of her skin was something to admire.

Lorelei had nightmares once more as she was curled up against James. She dreamed about watching him fall over the railing of the ship during a storm and diving in after him, but being unable to rescue him. Her nightmare faded into another where she was dragged over the side of the ship by a vengeful merman while James watched helplessly. She could feel the merman's grip on her arms as he dragged her deep into the murky depths of the ocean. She tossed and turned as the merman grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. Even though it was only a nightmare, she could feel pain in her scalp as if it was actually happening. The merman was becoming more and more violent as he gripped her wrists and dragged her down deeper to where she couldn't see anything anymore. Lorelei felt panic rise in her chest as she tossed and turned. His hands clasped her neck and she couldn't suppress the scream that escaped her lips.

James was abruptly awoken by a scream. It had sounded feminine and he instantly knew that something was wrong with Lorelei. Her nails had lengthened into claws and her hand swung out and nearly clawed him in the face. He gripped her wrist and shoulder.

"Lorelei!"

Lorelei panicked at the pressure on her wrist and shoulder and started to kick at whatever was holding her.

James tightened his hold on Lorelei and started to shake her.

"Lorelei, wake up!"

A voice cut through her nightmare. A voice that was familiar and dripping with concern. A voice that belonged to a person she trusted. A part of her was afraid to open her eyes in case the person holding her actually meant her harm, but another part of her believed that she knew who the person was from their voice. James would never hurt her. He was her friend. She opened her eyes and felt waves of relief wash over her body when she saw James' concerned face.

"Lorelei, are you alright?" he asked as his eyebrows furrowed with worry.

She nodded her head and brought a hand to her face. Her face was covered with sweat.

"Yes," she said, "I'm fine. I just had a nightmare is all."

"Did you have one last night?" he asked.

She nodded her head once more.

"What is troubling you?" he gently asked.

She was taken aback by the gentle tone he was using, but decided that she could trust him. She didn't have to tell him about her sensual dream from the night before.

"I had a nightmare that I was kidnapped by a merman," she said.

James gave her a puzzled look before quickly replacing it with one of deliberation. Apparently he hadn't considered the existence of mermen and was now trying to reason that they it only made sense for a male counterpart to mermaids to exist.

"Mermen are particularly... violent and possessive," she explained, "They despise it when mermaids avoid them or choose to spend time with mortal men over them."

She could see the understanding in his eyes as she explained merman behavior to him.

"I'm afraid that a merman will recognize me as a mermaid and try to drag me back into the ocean. In my nightmare he was dragging me down by my hair and trying to strangle me."

The understanding was replaced by a flash of anger that took Lorelei by surprise. She studied James' face for a while before finally sighing and wiping the sweat from her face.

"Thank you for waking me up," she said, "I'm sorry that I keep waking you up."

He smiled.

"It's no trouble," he said, "I'm more worried about you than I am about losing sleep."

She smiled and started to settle herself back down to sleep.

James watched her until she finally fell asleep. This time she seemed much more at peace.