Chapter 33 #3
His grip stayed firm on the curves of my body, the only thing keeping me from tumbling back into the water and being lost to the ocean.
A position that required just as much trust as the pride he willingly sacrificed.
He stared up at me, arms resting against my thighs, head tilting as my breath quickened.
A look of utter innocence fell over his face. “Was that a question or a command? I may have gotten confused.”
Perhaps I would have laughed. Perhaps I would have found the obvious teasing amusing, maybe I would have even thrown back an equally flirtatious remark if those words weren’t echoing through my mind.
Your heart my religion, your soul my sacred texts, your body mine to worship.
Perhaps I wouldn’t have given in if the sight of him on his knees before me wasn’t the most delicious thing I had ever laid eyes upon. If the feel of his hands on my hips didn’t send sparks of flame through my veins to light every nerve ending into a blazing inferno of desire.
Perhaps I didn’t need to hold back.
“Kiss me,” I breathed.
He froze beneath me, his eyes finding mine. Every muscle in his body went rigid as he searched for any regret, any hesitance within me. Impatience was an ugly beast clawing into my chest as my hand found the back of his neck, tugging him closer. “That one was a command, Captain.”
In an instant I was being lifted from the bow of the ship, my legs instinctively wrapping around his waist as he stood with the movement.
Our eyes met before mine fluttered closed and he passed the point of no return.
His lips were a clashing of desire and need against my own as an arm banded around my back, pressing me into every hard plane of his body.
“Aye! The deck is off limits for fornicating, get a room in the cabin below like the rest of—”
Malika’s sharp voice was drowned out as water surrounded us, a rushing cocoon of raging white waves, and for a second I thought surely we must have fallen overboard. Yet Roan still held me tightly, his feet solid on the wood of the deck.
His lips parted from mine for merely a second, his voice low and thick. “Fuck going below deck, I’ve waited months for this, for you.”
And then his lips were back on mine, soft and rough all at once. A demand in every press, a question in every sharp breath.
Goddess had I ever been kissed before with such utter craving?
It was a sea of endless longing, a push and pull of tenderness and hungry desire. His arm an anchor as though he thought I might float away if he were to release me.
And when he moved from my lips to trail hungry kisses down my neck I felt as if I could unravel, my fingers moving to his dampened hair, gripping as I drowned in the sensation of him.
In the feel of his strong body against mine, grounding me to this moment we carved out of time and space with soft breaths and gentle caresses.
A moan slipped from me as a hand threaded into my hair, tugging me tighter against him. I could feel every muscle against my chest, my hands roaming over his shoulders, twining behind his neck.
Soft lips traced a blazing pattern across my skin and back to my mouth, swallowing the small noises that escaped me and Goddess it felt as if I was melting into the man.
As if I could stay in this exact moment for a hundred years and never have another worry.
As though he was the cure to any issues I could encounter, an addiction that only I would ever know.
He kissed me until our lungs screamed for air, until our bodies were soaked from the raging storm of whirling water around us.
The world narrowing to his lips pressed against my own and the taste of salt from the storm around us.
His hand slid from my hair before settling back at my waist. The soaked fabric of my clothing offered no barrier as his fingers pressed into me, warm and possessive.
A shiver rippled through my body as he drew me closer, the solid heat of him a stark contrast to the cold bite of the sea.
“Syra,” he murmured, my name spoken against my lips like a vow.
My lips found his again before reason could intervene, before the reality of our situation could come crashing down upon us once more. My words breathless against his mouth, “Let us live in this moment and not think of what comes after.”
His kiss was aching with restraint that soon unraveled into something deeper and far more desperate as my finger threaded through his hair.
His hand slipped beneath the clinging fabric of my shirt, the warmth of his fingers on my skin drawing a sharp gasp from my lips.
Calloused fingers skimmed the skin of my waist, igniting a trail of fire in their wake as they traced upward.
The touch was slow, exploratory–reverent yet intoxicating enough to have me arching into it.
Then his hand pressed firmer, his touch unyielding as he explored the curves of my waist. His groan reverberated against my very soul as his fingers moved further upward and brushed against the underside of my breast, a soft noise sounding in my throat as the kiss deepened.
A clashing of lips, teeth, and breath—no idea where I ended and he began.
Then his knuckles brushed against something cool.
The delicate chain shifted beneath his touch, the pendant resting against my skin catching between his fingers. My entire body stilled, reality crashing over me like a breaking wave. He pulled back, dropping the pendant, as my body tensed. His eyes danced with questions that I couldn’t answer.
The world beyond this moment—Amori City, the king, my secrets—surged back into focus, sharp and merciless.
His forehead rested against mine, his breath warm and uneven as his magic continued to rage around us.
For a heartbeat, neither of us moved, suspended between longing and consequence.
And when he pulled back, his eyes traced every line of my face.
His hand trailed over my shoulder, thumb brushing against the high point of my cheek and he hadn’t lied.
His stare held a reverence, a sacredness of a religious zealot worshipping their god, awe reflecting in every prism of color in those eyes.
My breaths came short and harsh, winded as I gazed back.
“We should slow down,” he murmured softly, an out for the tension that was suddenly radiating from me.
Four simple words to save me from putting an end to something that I wanted so desperately.
Then his lips curved, slow and wicked. “Besides, the first time I have you won’t be on a ship where my magic is needed to hide us from the crew.
When you're ready, I intend to worship you properly, Syra. On a bed lined with furs where my name falling from your lips will be the only thing you need to worry about.”
A shocked laugh escaped me, my head falling to his shoulder as my body shook, “You’re infuriating.”
His lips pressed to my temple, “But you love it.”