Hymn of Breath and Bone (The Whispering Sea Duet #2)

Chapter 14

Caspian had looked like the god of the sky himself at our handfasting, all golden skin and swaggering confidence, the blue-green sea dragon scale flashing bronze in the moonrise as he sang our vows. His teasing words and heated looks had been exactly what I needed to make it through the ceremony, and I felt the pulse of pride down the bond when I sang our vows for all of his people to hear.

Seas, I was going to eat him alive if he’d finally let me.

I shouldn’t have been surprised when, after only a few minutes’ flight, we landed on the deck of a ship that was waiting at the base of the cliffs. It was about half the size Caspian’s flagship, the Argo, had been, and I remembered he had said that warriors would follow us in a larger ship so that we would go unnoticed.

Most of the crew were already aboard, and many I recognized from my time on the Argo. They cheered as we landed. They must have missed the handfasting to prepare the ship, and Caspian obliged their cheers for a show by sweeping me into a theatrical dip and kissing me nearly senseless.

The wave of desire that flooded our bond would have been embarrassing if I hadn’t waited so long for him.

“Eager, are we?” Caspian teased.

“You have no idea,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to his chin before stepping back to admire him at arm’s length. “I intend to show you exactly how eager I am.”

Zephyr landed on the deck, scowling at the cheering crew. “Get back to work! We have a ship to sail. Ogle your king later!”

“Are you sure, Urchin?” he asked, looking askance at the crew that we were about to scandalize. “They’ll all hear.”

“I’m rather counting on it,” I purred.

“Such a scoundrel, Urchin.”

“Pirate,” I corrected with a waggle of my brows.

Caspian barked a laugh, guiding me by our bound hand toward the captain’s quarters and giving my backside a surreptitious pat.

“Weigh anchor!” Zephyr shot me a wink and a grin as she nodded to Caspian amid ordering the crew this way and that. The two of them must have already coordinated our departure, because the crew were already unfurling the sails, guiding a wind to take us out to sea as some of the onlookers from the handfasting waved from the cliffs.

A few of the crew gave Caspian winks and pointed looks as he guided me past, but Caspian ignored them as if only he and I were aboard the ship.

“Watch the sunset with me,” he murmured, guiding me to the railing as we got underway, the orange light of the setting sun almost completely gone.

“Such a romantic,” I teased, rolling my eyes up at him.

The heated look he gave me stirred embers in my core and made me suddenly disinclined to make fun.

Caspian positioned himself behind me as he pressed me against the rail, our bound hands resting on the wood in front of us. His free hand drifted to my hip and made small, teasing circles as we watched the sun go down and stars wink into existence above us.

I was practically shaking with desire when he finally pressed his lips to my neck as he hummed. “That should be enough time. Are you ready to go in, Urchin?”

“Enough time for what?” I breathed, gasping a little as his hand trailed over my stomach to make more idle circles that began to dip treacherously low on my belly.

“You’ll see,” he whispered, breath hot in my ear as he guided me to his cabin.

The cracks around the door had been dark when we had first landed, but now a faint golden glow shone from within the little room. I raised a brow at Caspian in question, but he just grinned, opening the door and guiding me in, careful to keep our right hands bound.

I gasped as I took in the scene. This room was much like his room on the Argo, but candles glowed on every surface, and little white flower petals covered the quilt on the massive four-poster bed.

“We had to make some last-minute changes to the room,” Caspian murmured, guiding me further in and smirking down at me. “The desk and table were moved in exchange for a bed large enough for me to properly show you my eagerness.”

“Where will you work?” I asked dumbly, eyes still taking in the scene.

The ship was by no means private, but Caspian had turned his cabin into a romantic escape to at least give us the illusion of privacy.

Massive windows stretched from floor to ceiling, a bit more grand than the ones on the Argo had been. It looked like we floated just above the dark ocean, and when the candles burned out, the stars would cast a silvery light over everything.

“I’ll find someplace,” Caspian said, directing my attention to the only other door in the cabin. “Bathing room. Bed. That’s really all I expect you’ll need for the next week or so.”

I laughed, and Caspian pulled me close as he smiled down at me. “What about food?”

“Hmm, you can eat other things.”

“So I’m your prisoner?” I teased, remembering the first time we’d had a very similar conversation.

He kissed my knuckles as he finally unbound our hands, letting the ribbon drop to the floor between us.

“My guest,” Caspian corrected, walking me backward toward the bed until the backs of my knees hit the mattress. “A very honored guest. Now be a good girl and get on the bed.”

“A good girl?” I scoffed, trying to ignore the molten heat that pooled between my thighs.

Caspian brought his hand to my neck, crushing my mouth to his in a kiss that promised all the heat I wanted and none of the restraint. His fingers wove into my hair, holding me still as he broke away, his teeth grazing my lower lip. “Do you really want to keep arguing, Urchin?”

“No.” The word was barely a breath. “Though I should after your disappearing act last night.”

“So defiant. It's one of my favorite things about you.”

He pressed a kiss to my neck, working down to my shoulder and the gold clasp that held my gown in place.

“This needs to go,” he murmured, glancing up with mischief in his eyes, the glow of the candles reflected in their depths. He slid the clasp and strap of the gown off my shoulder with his teeth, his hands braced on my hips. The neckline was so low my breasts were practically slipping out. He tutted as if this were unacceptable. “This one too.”

The other strap came down, baring my breasts to him completely, and he took one peaked nipple in his mouth as his hands went to the belt at my waist.

Caspian moved with achingly slow deliberation, removing my gown as if savoring every inch of bare skin. His eyes raked over my body as the dress fell away.

“Skies, Marina. You’re—” He swallowed, cheeks a little flushed and all pretense of swagger gone. I may or may not have preened a little as he ran reverent fingers down my arms and over the soft skin of my stomach. “You’re a goddess.”

“And you’re slow,” I replied, fingers already tugging at the laces of his trousers.

He caught my wrist, his grin devious. “I’m methodical, Urchin, and you’d do well to remember it. I intend to map every inch of your body—first with my fingers, then with my tongue. It requires careful study.”

I shivered in anticipation and felt my nipples pebble with desire, both mine and his. “Is that the pirate talking? Or the poet?”

“A little of both.” His free hand moved to cup my breast as his other held my wrists fast, and the pinch of my nipple sent lightning shooting to my core. “Perhaps also the soldier. I intend to commit a thorough pillaging.”

“Scoundrel,” I gasped, letting my eyes flutter shut as he teased me, pulling me flush against his chest.

“Always.” His free hand moved down my waist to my hip, then skimmed my bare backside and squeezed.

“Tease,” I moaned as his fingers slipped down between my legs to brush my core while he kissed beneath my ear and down my neck.

“The very worst,” he agreed, his mouth closing over a nipple. He flicked his tongue against the taut bud, and heat pooled where his fingers were teasing.

Another soft moan escaped me as he maneuvered us down until I was lying on my back and pressed a line of kisses below my breasts.

“Just so we’re clear, Urchin,” he said, fire burning in his amber eyes as he looked up from his slow exploration. “This ends with me buried so deep inside you, you won’t remember your own name.”

“Please,” I begged, needing him to take me now and end the slow torture he was inflicting on me.

He grinned, standing and unstrapping the pauldrons and dropping them unceremoniously on the floor with a clang. My breath caught as he removed his boots and trousers, making quick work of the laces I had fumbled over.

Finally, we were both bare before each other, neither moving as I tried to catch my breath at the sight of him set aglow in the candlelight.

“You are having rather filthy thoughts, Urchin,” he purred, kneeling at the foot of the bed and pulling me by the ankles until I was spread out like a feast before him. I gasped as he spread them wide, his tongue making a cursory sweep through me as if testing my readiness. “Already so wet. But I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a little longer.”

My groan of frustration turned into a cry of pleasure as he dipped his mouth to me and began to feast, tasting and sucking every sensitive inch of flesh as if he truly were trying to map me completely. One of my hands fisted in his hair, the other moving to my own breast to tease the nipple there, needing more already.

Caspian chuckled, the sound throaty against me as he replaced my hand with his, teasing and pinching as he continued to swirl his tongue in an increasingly steady rhythm between my legs.

I gripped the blankets beneath us, my head thrown back in the pleasure of being consumed, small noises of need escaping me unbidden.

Just when I was about to demand more, I felt him at my entrance, a finger sliding in and curling gently as he continued to taste and lick and taunt me.

“Please,” I begged, hardly knowing what I was asking for, just knowing that I needed him in a way that couldn’t be satisfied by anything less than all of him.

“Patience,” he murmured, slowing his rhythm and making me whine in frustration. Caspian laughed, making up for his slower pace with a second finger. “I told you, Urchin, that I would make this last.”

“Cruel,” I breathed, unable to form a complete sentence as words seemed too difficult to fully grasp. “Wicked.”

“Yes,” Caspian agreed, flicking his tongue once before he removed his fingers from me.

I let out a little sound of protest that was only stifled when I felt his tongue take the place of his fingers, thrusting into me as if he could claim me with just his mouth. His fingers made gentle circles where his tongue had been, and the change in sensation made me reel with tensions as he pulled me back from the edge I had almost fallen over.

“I hate you,” I whimpered, feeling the vibrations of his laughter against me, which was his only reply as he once again replaced his tongue with his fingers.

He didn’t speak, focused on the task of my release, and I felt his brow damp with sweat and my desire as he began to bring me once again to that glorious, glittering edge.

“Don’t come until I tell you to,” he commanded, kissing my inner thigh before returning to his feast.

I whined in protest, my need so heady it was the only thing I could focus on.

“Not yet,” he ordered, as I almost succumbed, his command pushing me back from the ledge again as I moaned and cried out.

“Please, Cas.”

“Now,” he said, and as if a dam had been opened inside me, I shattered, the orgasm splintering along my bones and down my spine as I arched into him, the sensation suddenly too much to bear.

I tried to scramble back, my body still shaking with climax, but he held me fast, his pace unchanging as he continued to guide me through the throes of ecstasy.

I whimpered, feeling my pleasure spike and build again. “I want you.”

“That’s how the night ends, Urchin,” Caspian replied, lifting his mouth just long enough to deny me. “And I'm afraid we’ve only just begun.”

He pressed his mouth to me again, repeating the delicious torture of his tongue against my core until I was shuddering with a second climax, the screams and cries of release so loud I was sure the entire sea heard me.

“That’s it,” Caspian purred, his approval spurring me on and on as tension uncurled within me. “Take everything, Marina.”

“Please,” I begged, practically whimpering in my need for him. “Please.”

Caspian chuckled, scooping me up from where I had fallen limp at the end of the bed and arranging me more fully on the mattress as he braced himself above me.

I ached for him to fill me, but the insufferable beast seemed content to let me suffer.

“I’ve had a very long time to think about how I might do this, Marina,” he murmured, flicking his tongue over a taut nipple. “Every position and combination and fantasy—and I’ve had some very dirty fantasies.”

“Pick one,” I begged, wrapping my legs around his hips to try to pull him closer. He laughed, his hard length rubbing between my slick thighs and making more liquid heat pool there. “Stop teasing me, you wretched male.”

“Hmm.” He rubbed his nose against my neck, shifting my hips so he was nudging at my entrance. “But which way?”

Two could play at this game. I shifted a hand between us, gripping his length and making him utter a curse.

“Naughty,” he teased, grabbing my hand and pinning it above my head, his tip still poised at my entrance. He nipped at my lower lip, his teeth scraping against swollen, aching flesh. “But you’ve made your point. Are you sure, Marina?”

I met his eyes, intending to give him an incredulous glare, but he was earnest and searching, as if he thought there was still a chance I might change my mind.

“There’s no going back,” he added, brushing his nose against mine in such a contrast to the swaggering and teasing that I melted a little.

“Cas,” I murmured, cupping his face with my free hand and kissing him gently. “I have never been more sure of anything in my life. Now please, for the love of all the gods, fuck me.”