The frigid waters of the northern trench bit at exposed skin, but Liu Xuan Cheng barely noticed. Pain was a familiar lover—sharp, honest, temporary. Unlike the simpering nobles at his father's court who melted at the first sign of discomfort.

He moved through the crystal forests of frozen kelp like a shadow, muscles coiled with dangerous energy. Obsidian hair framed his face, damp strands clinging to high cheekbones and a jawline sharp enough to cut. Scars crisscrossed his chest and back—souvenirs from fights he'd started and finished, from territory claimed and challengers put in their place.

Then he saw her.

Silver scales shimmering like moonlight on ice, her body curved in ways that made his blood thicken and his pulse quicken. A siren. In his territory. The very creatures his people had been taught to hate for centuries.

Instead of sounding the alarm, he found himself moving closer, drawn by a hunger he'd never felt before. Her head turned, revealing eyes that held the wisdom of the deep and a mouth he suddenly ached to taste.

She started to flee, but he was faster—always faster. His hand wrapped around her wrist, fingers digging into delicate skin with just enough pressure to hurt, to warn, to claim.

"Going somewhere?" His voice was low, rough, dangerous as the currents that dragged sailors to their deaths. He pulled her closer until their bodies almost touched, his free hand finding her throat and tilting her face up to meet his gaze.

"You think you can just swim into my territory without consequences?" His thumb brushed her lower lip, feeling it tremble beneath his touch. "You belong to me now."