When Drew stepped away from Kelia, he forced himself to look forward. He did not want her to read him the way she always knew how to.
Drew need not worry, however. She stepped across the small deck to portside, leaning against the bannister, arms crossed over her chest as though to protect herself from the cold.
The clouds from the horizon had rolled in and were now nearly overhead. There would be another storm, just as they were about to set sail for Sangre. It would help delay the crew on the Wraith,
but it would not help at all with sailing the small boats to the island.
Bethany moved past him and disembarked the boat. It was decided she would take one of the other boats that belonged to the inn and sail it herself, leading the Sirens who supported her a couple of days after Drew.
Apparently, even with Wendy’s assistance with the wind, Bethany wanted to see if she and her sisters could take care of the looming threat that was the Wraith
and its crew. Drew suspected she wanted to handle any treachery from other Sirens in secret.
Drew did not know if it was a good idea, but Bethany was insistent. She wanted to speak to the Sirens, gather more, if possible. The way she spoke, it seemed as though she thought she would survive the battle with the Queen.
He did not think anyone would. But as long as the Queen was dead, that was all that mattered.
Kelia pushed away from the bannister and sauntered into the cabin. The sight of her back in the small room filled him with a sense of belonging, as though he was where he was supposed to be. He felt complete. Whole. Of course, he wished it were his
cabin on his
ship, but anywhere Kelia was, was home to Drew.
As he looked at Kelia, he had this feeling that this was the last moment they would have together. He did not want to spend the time wallowing. He did not want to spend the time planning his attack. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to forget everything except her.
“Is everything al—”
Before she could even finish his sentence, he reached out and pulled her to him. His lips crashed on hers, and his hands found their home on her hips, tightening their grip on her almost immediately.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his breath harsh as his hands ran up and down her sides. “I’m so sorry for this life I’ve condemned you to. I’m so sorry that I love you the way I love you.”
“Don’t.” She quieted him with her own firm kiss. Just as suddenly, she stepped back, her eyes burning emerald. “Don’t tell me you’re sorry you love me.”
“If I didn’t—”
“My world would cease to exist,” she put in. “You are everything I consider truth. I still remember—" She chuckled to herself. “I still remember when we met. I was so certain I knew you. It turned out, I knew nothing. You were the only truth. Even my father was a man who did not tell me the truth about who he was or what he believed in. He knew what the Society was, and yet, he did nothing about it. You are the only person in my life, without a doubt, who I know would never lie to me. Please, apologizing for loving me would tell me I was wrong about you.”
“I love you more than anything,” he said, holding her close to him. She tucked her head under his chin, and he pressed her closely against his body. “I wish I could live in this moment forever. But I do regret what has happened to you, Kelia.”
“I don’t. Not anymore.” She pressed her lips together and looked down at her hands, as though she was inspecting the blood that crusted onto her fingers and beneath her nails. “I cannot change it now. There is no point in being remorseful. I am not unhappy, Drew. I need you to know that.” She shook her head, pressing her shoulders up as she stretched her arms. She looked out the window of the small cabin. Drew knew she was looking at his ship, getting closer and closer, however slowly. “What happened with your crew—”
“Do not speak of it,” Drew said. “What’s done is done. They chose their path. And now we must choose ours.”
“I didn’t realize Sirens could be so destructive,” Kelia said before a wry grin took hold of her lips. “Silly of me. I’ve seen firsthand what they can do, and yet, I have always been involved. Now, looking from the outside, I see what vicious creatures they are and how we are all lucky to have survived the attack.” She paced across the room until she reached the bed. She glanced at him over her shoulder. “And you? Are you all right?”
Drew forced a smile. “I do what I need to do in order to survive,” he said. “In all honesty, I am tired. This has consumed my life for far too long. I would just like to forget about it for the moment.”
Kelia slowly slid on the edge of the bed. “How would you like to forget?”
She parted her legs slightly, enough to cause him to raise his eyebrows.
Drew felt his breath disappear. “I can think of a particular way I’d like to indulge right now.”
“Then indulge me.”
The corner of his lips lifted up as he moved closer to her.
“I intend to,” he murmured in a low voice.
When he reached her, he positioned himself between her legs before kneeling down. His head reached her collarbone, and he tilted it up so he could lock eyes with her. His hands were caressing mindless circles on her thighs. He felt a shudder rip through her body, and he smiled. He forgot how much he affected her. He forgot how much she responded to his touch.
He moved his hands up her thighs until they came to the hemline of her tunic. He began to undo the tunic until it slipped off her shoulders and left her in nothing but a dirty undershirt that he believed once used to be white. Now, he could not distinguish the color.
God, she was beautiful. It was like he forgot each time he looked at her. He lifted the undershirt up so he could see her skin, though not completely taking it off.
He kissed her ribcage and felt her writhe underneath his touch. He smiled as he placed another kiss just below her breasts. Slowly, so slowly, he lifted the shirt and tossed it onto the floor.
Her nipples hardened from the cold. Drew pushed her down so she rested on the bed and he covered her body with his. He wanted nothing more than to enter her now, to give into his desire and coat himself in her warmth, but he forced himself to take it slow. He did not know when they would be able to do this again, and he did not want to take that for granted. He wanted to remember being with her in this way because, after he gave himself to the East India Company, it would be all he had left.
His lips found her nipple and he gently took it into his mouth and hummed. She gasped, and Drew felt himself get harder at the sound.
Kelia grabbed the back of his head, pushing him closer to her chest. Drew wrapped his right arm around her before dragging his left down her body, under her pantaloons, and between her thighs until he touched her core. She let out a moan and her grip on him only tightened.
“Please, Drew,” she said. “Don’t stop.”
Drew had to muffle his own moan. The sound of his name on her mouth was enough to cause him to put everything aside and simply fuck her. No romance, no memory, just fuck her hard until he came inside of her, marking his territory and releasing all the pent-up tension that had been building inside of him since the last time they had been intimate.
His fingers did not slow down as they danced across her folds. She arched her back, spreading her legs so he had better access. And then, then she let out a gasp and cried out his name once again.
When she spasmed underneath him, he clamped his mouth around her nipple. She had to shove him off of her, which Drew delighted in. He expected that he would crawl back on top of her and remove her pants and strip himself down.
Instead, she crawled on top of him and straddled him herself. When she all but ripped his tunic off of him, he wasn’t sure what to expect.
Her hands ran up and down his torso, going over the muscles in his stomach and lingering only when she passed a scar or a mark permanently on his skin. His hands reached behind her and began to ease off her pantaloons. She wiggled her hips to help him do so, which meant she was wiggling against his desire for her. He bit back a groan.
He needed her closer. He needed to press her to him so she was part of his body the way she was part of his soul.
There were too many clothing between them. He yanked her pantaloons the rest of the way down then went to work on his breeches. The minute he was completely naked, the cool air touching his skin, he let out a gasp.
But the cold did not last long.
Kelia repositioned herself on top of him and slowly impaled herself onto his hardness. Drew did not want to be dramatic, but he was ready to cry out. It was a beautiful sort of torture, something that brought him great pain and even greater pleasure. She was so wet, so slick, that he needed to release his hold on her and grip the scratchy sheets underneath him in his attempt to control himself.
One hundred years of experience disappeared.
He felt like a virgin being fucked for the first time by a woman who found pleasure in torturing him by delaying his gratification just to make him squirm.
The fact that Kelia was so bold only added to his ecstasy. He had not expected her to be so comfortable with herself, with him, to do something so playful in such an intimate setting. Warmth filled his body. He fell in love with her even more. Something he had not thought was possible.
“I love you,” he said suddenly.
He cracked his eyes open in order to lock them with hers. God, she looked beautiful with her tangled blond hair, her dark, jade-green eyes heavy with desire. The mischievous twist to her smile was not one he had seen on her before, but he wanted to see it more.
“I love you, I love you, I love you.”
She giggled, a light sound with ragged edges. He was suddenly addicted to the sound. He needed more of it.
When he was finally all the way inside of her, positioned deeply where he should be, his hands released the sheets and found their proper place on her hips. She wanted to be in control, fine. But he had to hold her. He had to touch her.
Kelia arched her back and let out a gasp. It almost seemed as though she was searching for the best place to be for herself and had found just what she was looking for.
Kelia spread her thighs open even wider and placed her fingers where his had been just moments before.
And then, she moved.
Slowly, at first. Every movement she made was slow and excruciating.
He loved every second of it.
She was testing this out, experimenting. He loved that she was confident enough—that she trusted
him enough—to pleasure herself in front of him without hesitation.
She rolled her hips. Drew groaned. His grip on her tightened.
When she found a rhythm with her fingers, she began to increase her speed. Drew did not conceal the sounds coming from his mouth any more than she did, which seemed to be not at all.
She moved in a steady pace, up and down. Her eyes were closed as though she was focusing slowly on her pleasure, like she was simply using him for her own desire.
Which was fine with Drew.
He thrust upward, meeting her hips with his own.
He did it again and again. He continued to meet each thrust, and her moaning turned to shouts.
She would climax soon.
As would he.
He had been so fixated on making sure she was taken care of that he had almost forgotten about his own desire until it was almost too late to stop it.
“Come, darling,” he instructed. “I cannot hold back any longer.”
She sucked in a breath.
The words seemed to have the correct effect because it was getting harder and harder for her to keep her movements as consistent as they had been.
“Drew,” she said, her voice caught in a breath. “I’m going to—”
“Come for me, darling. There you go.”
The minute she started to twitch, he released himself into her. He was not able to stop it. His head went light, and he let out a long, low grunt.
Drew came down from his high at a snail’s pace as Kelia slowly fell forward until her head hit his shoulder. He finally released her hips and trailed his hands up her back. Her body broke out in goosebumps, and his lips tugged up into a tired smile. It was difficult for him to open his eyes, but he could feel her so much better. The way her head fit perfectly just under his chin. The way the small of her back was the perfect spot for his hand. The way he hooked one ankle around one of her legs, tangling himself with her even with their bodies connected already.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Her breathing immediately steadied. He knew she was asleep.
Still, he said, “I love you, too. More than you will ever know.”
So much, in fact, that I’m willing to do something I have never done before in all my years to ensure your safety: turn myself in to my enemy.