Croygen
I stomped across the deck and sheathed my sword. My fists were so tight at my sides that my knuckles popped.
What the hell did I just do? What was I seconds from doing?
There was no doubt if Scot hadn’t stepped in, I would be fucking Katrina against the railing right now, not thinking about the consequences.
I never used to care about those things, but Katrina was different. She wasn’t some woman I could bed and walk away from with no strings attached.
I almost screwed everything up, and 99 percent of me wanted to turn back around, strip her bare, and push inside her, already sensing she could take me to my knees.
But it was wrong. I shouldn’t look, touch, or feel that way about her.
“Fuuuuck!” I bellowed up at the sky, rain trickling down as the storm skated by, moving on. My body throbbed with anger, desire, and confusion, but what mostly pissed me off was the sense of peace I felt when I was near her. A calmness that felt reckless and turbulent. It made no sense. Everything in me was agitated and feral, but deep in my gut was a serenity, as if Kat could pinpoint exactly what I needed, what was plaguing me, easing the pressure inside like a bloodletting.
I had needed the fight to forget about Annabeth’s disease, to push away all the unknowns of our mission, and get lost in the bloodlust and battle.
And fuck, it felt so good dueling with her. The sword to my throat had my cock hard as a rock, experiencing the power she held, the moment she could take my life, and the moment I could take hers. She could actually challenge me, which hadn’t happened in a long time. The girl was a force. Strong, confident, and sexy as hell. She enticed me like no other, and fighting her was better than sex with most of the women I had been with.
That’s what scared the shit out of me.
Rotty’s daughter should be the last person I should feel anything for. And when she learned the truth about that fateful night?
I grunted, my fingers digging into my eyes, trying to regain some sensibility and draw the blood in my dick back to my brain.
Pirates didn’t live by many codes of conduct. We had minimal rules, and most could be broken. There were a few we took seriously. And fucking your first mate’s daughter had to be on the list.
The moon peeked through the clouds, and a snicker found me through the dark. The silhouette of a small figure stood not far from me.
“My dear boy. You are so screwed.”
“I could’ve been,” I muttered to myself, pinching at my brows, wanting to take that back.
“What stopped you?”
“You know what.” I clenched my jaw. “Plus, I knew her as a kid. It’s wrong.”
“You would’ve been a kid when I was around your age, and I’d fuck you now.”
A laugh coughed out of my chest, my head shaking. “We need to put a warning label on you.”
“Too hot to handle.” She grinned, showing off her few teeth.
“With all those layers, you really are.”
“This one is different. That troubles you.” She grew serious. “Release the past, or it will always keep you from a future.” She clicked her tongue. “Or peace.”
“Getting philosophical on me?”
“My way of saying get your head out of your ass.” She rolled her milky eyes to the sky. “You already know the truth; you are simply too scared to face it.”
“Too scared of what?”
“Being owned by a pussy.” She snorted, shuffling by me. “Confirming we are headed for Hangzhou?”
“Yeah,” I grumbled. Hangzhou was run by fae, a stunning, prosperous place at the head of the Hangzhou Bay, sitting between Shanghai and Ningbo, controlling a lot of imports. The fae in power made gambling a huge part of the city. They created a playground for the wealthy and the desperate, hoping to win some kind of fortune to survive in these times, only to return home more destitute than when they went in.
It was also the best place for shady deals. Ju didn’t reign there, making it a perfect place to get supplies and regroup.
Stomping into my cabin, I slammed into my bathroom, stripping and stepping into my shower before it even heated up. Cold water stung my skin, and I welcomed it, wanting the torture, craving the pain. Anything to take away my thoughts, lessen the need still throbbing in my dick. My hands went to the wall, and I leaned under the stream. I could still feel her heat, hear the moan she tried to hide from me, see the way she bowed into me. My gaze caught where she cut into my side and her nail marks on my arm. She had enjoyed inflicting pain as much as feeling it.
“Fuck,” I hissed, my hand wrapping around my shaft. It was so tight it hurt, making me go insane. I was a breath away from tracking her down, bending her over whatever surface we were near, no matter who was there, and fucking her so hard I’d make sure Killian, wherever he was, heard her cry out my name, knew it was my cock inside her, claiming her.
Did he fuck her? Know the feeling of sliding into her?
A growl gurgled in my chest, my molars crunching down. A violent possessiveness washed over me, my hand stroking harder. The vision of her on her knees, her mouth sucking down my cock as her cat teeth dragged faintly down my shaft.
Grunting, I clamped down, rubbing firmly. Sex was always something I was up for. Even bad, it was good. But I was always the one in control. The one to dominate, even if my lover got out her whip and toys. I took lead. Whatever they were into, I was down for, but I was never out of my league or too desperate not to walk away.
Katrina was twisting me up. I had no willpower. My awareness of her, even when she wasn’t in the room, was worrisome. The yearning to always find her, challenge her, fight her, was not something I was used to.
Why her? Why, out of all the women in the world, was she the one who had woken something in me?
My aggravation with her only increased my need, my balls tightening as I pictured myself pumping into her as she held the sword to my throat, the blade cutting into my skin the moment I released inside her.
“Shiiiit!” My cum gushed over my hand and onto the tile, my legs unsteady under me. Taking several pulls of air, I fell against the wall. Reality slowly set in, and with it, chagrin over who had gotten me off.
Not seeing Katrina as the little girl I knew, but as the woman she had become, was a problem. I needed to keep her squarely in the box marked “Do. Not. Open.” Because as much as Kat said I was the one who wrecked her life, she was the one who took everything from mine.
“Land Hoe!”
“It’s land ahoy.”
“There’s just one hoe?” Sprig sat on my shoulder, nibbling on a pancake Zid had made this morning. “That doesn’t seem good for business.”
“Ahoy… not a hoe.”
“I still say, one hoe for the whole place? She must be exhausted. You’d think there’d be a couple of hoes by now.”
My hand going to my face, I exhaled. Why was I even bothering?
“Don’t you have a stuffed pig to go hump?”
“Pam is to be spoken about with respect and love,” he exclaimed, looking around, nestling closer to my ear. “Let me tell you, I know from experience that she does not like being called that in or out of the bedroom. She got so mad at me. Though she didn’t mind being the pony one time.”
My eye twitched. “I walked into that one,” I muttered to myself. “That was my fault.”
Scot, Corb, and Vane prepared us to dock. The bustling port was getting ready for market day in the slums of the city. Humans and fae moved in and out of this area freely, unlike a lot of other countries, but mainly fae lived here. Only a sliver of land was left to the servants and workers of the fae elite to inhabit.
How fast, when the world divided, class and money took all, forcing the middle class to fall into poverty. There were only two races, fae and human, and two classes, rich and poor.
“Is it breakfast time yet? I’m starving.” Sprig licked off the last bits of butter and pancake from his fingers, syrup in his fur and covering his mouth. There was a reason Zoey and Ryker hand-fed him. The sprite was a natural disaster around food.
“You literally just ate.” I wiped off his fingers and face with my shirt. “Like two seconds ago.”
“Us sprites need to eat constantly or we whittle away and die.”
“Could I be so lucky?” I picked him up, plopping him on Tsai’s shoulder behind the helm. “Here, you’re now on babysitting duties.”
I left it up to them to figure out who I was referring to.
Cooper strolled up to me, the heat already dampening his brow. He wasn’t used to this kind of humidity coming from the Pacific Northwest. Rain, yes, but the type of heat that strangled you, clogging your lungs, wrapping around you like a wool blanket with the heater fully blasting, no.
“You coming?”
“Yeah.” Cooper nodded. “Need to get a few supplies. Better clothes for this weather. And AB wants to see if the long-distance walkie-talkie Lars gave us will work on land. She needs to tell Zoey she has Sprig.”
Lars was trying to create new devices to work in this magic-infused world. He had the best engineers, scientists, and doctors leading the way, and they were making good leaps, but still, there would be hiccups and setbacks along the way.
“I’m coming too,” a voice slunk up my back, her statement reminding me of a fantasy I had last night. I wanted to say the shower was a one-time thing, but I had woken up in the middle of the night, my body craving hers like a drug. Half-asleep, I had no guard up, letting my mind free, and fuck, did we get dirty. It felt so real, like I could feel her weight on me, smell her, taste her.
My muscles locked up, my walls rising.
“No, you’re not.” I scowled at her.
“I’m sorry?” She cocked her head, folding her arms.
“I’m out,” Cooper scoffed, giving me a look that said, Good luck, pal. “Meet you on the dock.”
I barely heard him. I faced Kat, my arms mirroring hers.
“There is no need for you to go. You’re going to stay here and out of trouble.”
She stayed quiet, but she was anything but silent, and I had the urge to run after Cooper.
“Not only do you have no say in what I do—”
“Technically, you’re my prisoner.”
“Nor do I give a fuck,” she continued, ignoring my assertion. “I need some underwear, pants, and a shirt that doesn’t stink of you.”
“I’ve been told I smell good.”
She stepped up to me. I clamped my hands tighter on my arms because all I wanted to do was grab her hips and drag her all the way into me.
“It amazes me someone hasn’t killed you yet.”
“Must be my charm.” The side of my mouth hitched up, and I inched even closer to her, forcing her to tilt her head back. My body towered over hers, my mouth so close I could almost taste her lips again. The impulse to lean down and kiss her, like it was something I did all the time, almost overtook me.
Stepping back, I pushed past her. “Fine.”
“I wanna go,” Sprig chirped.
“No,” I barked, my fury turning on him, freezing him before he jumped. “You will only attract attention. Even now, a talking monkey would create hysteria.”
“I promise I won’t talk.” He pretended to zip his lips. “See? Silent as the dead,” he pledged, pointing at his mouth, which was moving freely.
“I said no.”
“Wow, someone really needs to get laid. You’re acting like a Viking again. I can always tell when he needs to club his seal.”
Both my eyes twitched.
“Sprig, just stay here this time. I promise I will bring you back something yummy.” Annabeth rolled up her hair in a topknot.
“Better be fried and covered in honey!” He stomped his foot on Tsai’s shoulder. “Ohhhh, like honey cookies, or honey noodles, pastry. Oh, deep-fried honey knots with honey dip rolled in sugar. Oooo, how about—”
“We get it, chinchilla.” I started down the plank.
“You get me anything with banana, and I will poop in your boots again!”
Kat’s eyebrow lifted at that as we hit the dock.
“Yeah, he did that. And in my jacket pocket too.”
“Speaking of jackets. Can I get mine back?”
“You mean mine?” I glanced over at her, Cooper and Annabeth already taking off ahead of us. “You took it from me.”
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
“And it is now in my possession again.”
“I want my jacket and boots back.”
“You mean the boots you could slice a man in half with? Most likely me? No fucking way.”
“Seriously, how has no one killed you yet?”
“Lucky, I guess.”
She ran her hand through her hair, pretending to be more irritated than she was, but I could see the amusement she was trying to hide.
“Come on, there’s a clothing stall.” I didn’t think, my hand threading through hers, pulling her with me as I wormed through the crowd to the cart, where AB and Cooper were already picking through stuff.
When we walked up, Annabeth’s gaze dropped to where my hand was holding Kat’s. I instantly let go as guilt and embarrassment flooded me all at once.
I was not a hand-holding kind of guy. That was an intimacy I had no affiliation with. I courted to seduce, took their hand in a dance, kissed them to command. I didn’t hold hands in the middle of the day just because. It was weird for me. Except with Kat, it had come way too easily.
Turning away from them, my attention returned to the crowds, watching all the different characters and types of people moving along with their lives.
Scanning the area, my gaze stopped on two men buying survival gear—knives, boots, camping items, rope, compass. Something about them caught my attention, a tick in the back of my brain.
One turned to his buddy, nodding his head.
“Holy. Shit,” I breathed.
“What?” Kat’s response was instant, her head darting around, searching for whatever caused my reaction. She looked at me, following my gaze to the two men. “You know them?”
“Not really.” My gaze stayed intently on them. “But I know what they’re after.”
Her head jerked to me.
“Those are the guys from the pub.” I nodded at the two men. “They’re the ones I overheard talking about the nectar.”
Of all the places in all the towns, Tiger and Hammerhead were standing only feet away in this one. A link to the nectar.
“I think we just found our break.”
Cooper was tall enough to see above most of the crowd, his head nodding, telling me the men were coming our way.
“Keep your distance,” I whispered to Kat.
“Croygen,” she snapped, my head turning to her. “I’m a cat-shifter. I know how to stalk prey without them knowing. I can do it in my sleep.” She placed her hands on my chest. “Now shut up and calm the fuck down. I got this.”
Shit. Was it bad that I was turned on by her remarks?
She slipped out from the cart, trailing the two men who were loaded down with stuff, not paying attention to their surroundings, oblivious to who shadowed them.
We couldn’t let them out of our sight. They were our only clue as to where the nectar might be.
It took everything I had to wait, to let the men drift out of view. Cooper and AB stood out too much around here, their golden hair recognizable. And there was a very slight possibility the men might recall me from the pub.
Like Kat, I had a talent for disappearing easily, blending in with my surroundings and almost vanishing in front of your eyes. It was how I got out of many sticky situations when husbands came home while I was in bed with their wives.
Five minutes later, Kat was back, slinking up beside me.
“That was fast.” I nodded to Cooper and AB to join us. “Did you lose them?”
“No.” She frowned at me, waiting for my friends to circle in. “They’re staying in a room above a bar. Third floor, on the corner.”
“Bar,” Cooper repeated. “Good chance they’ll be drinking there tonight?”
“Hopefully, and leaving the room unguarded.” I hoped it would be that easy. Otherwise we’d have to do it when they were asleep. “We get in, take note of everything they have. Maps, documents, pictures. Anything.”
“Easy enough.” Kat tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Uh. Did I say you were going?”
“Uh, do I care?” she countered. “What don’t you get? I’m a cat. Why do you think we’re synonymous with thieving? I know you’re having an issue seeing me as a competent woman.” That was not what I was having trouble seeing her as. “But I became the pirate PIB for a reason. Maybe this is hard on your ego, but I’m amazing at what I do. So stop being an egotistical jerk and get over yourself.” She slammed into my shoulder, stalking by me, leaving the three of us.
“I really like her.” Annabeth curled her arm around Cooper’s, both of them nodding in agreement, grinning like fools.
Cooper was loving that I just got my ass reamed. “Think someone got put in their place.”
“Shut up,” I mumbled, tramping back to the ship as their laughter followed me.
The problem was I didn’t disagree with them.