Chapter 19
Kit
Imeet Aster’s eye as the two of us continue placing candles around Torin’s bedroom.
I’m not sure if all of them are essential to the ritual or if they’re for aesthetic purposes, but between them and the absolute mountain of blankets we’ve scrounged up, the room’s an absolute fire hazard. But I think Reva will like it.
She’s what matters tonight. That’s what I keep repeating to myself as a wave of nerves hits. And if we can help to fix Torin’s disappearing body parts and I can strengthen my curse-making at the same time? All the better.
“All right?” Aster asks me. I nod, even though my stomach’s churning for some reason.
I say ‘for some reason’ but I know exactly why I’m feeling this way.
Reva really needs this to work, and I really need to not have another funny turn right after I finish.
My cheeks burn with the embarrassing memory of waking up, ankle-deep in water with no idea how I got there.
Even worse, I was striding around with my bare arse hanging out, only moments after being intimate with the woman I’ve mooned after for close to two years.
“I made something,” Aster says. “A potion.” He pauses for a moment, glances around at the dozens of candles we’ve just spent the past ten minutes arranging, and then nods to himself.
Jack chooses that moment to appear in the doorway, giving the room a sweep with his eyes before winking at me. In his arms, he’s holding a tray that’s covered in brown, slightly chipped mugs.
“Evening, gentlemen. I come bearing the fruit of Aster’s efforts.”
“It does two things,” Aster adds, his words stilted and accented. He huffs a breath of frustration, pushing his hair back. “I don’t know the words for them.”
“What are they in your language?” Jack says. “I’ll translate.”
“You will, will you?” Torin says.
Jack points to his ear, where he’s wearing something dark and round that matches the one Aster is wearing. “Unless you want to drag Reva in here and ask her to translate, go ahead.”
Aster then proceeds to explain in his own language, his eyes skirting down to Jack’s crotch a couple of times before he gives a sheepish shrug.
“Ah,” Jack says. “It’s part contraceptive and part...
something to keep your cocks hard for as long as possible.
Aster says—” He chuckles, running a hand down his face before grinning widely.
“Aster says that all the books focus on climax. The energy is strongest to transfer at that point. And since Reva can come more than once, you fellas need to be up to task to do the same.”
“Sounds romantic,” I reply, earning me a snort from Torin.
Aster places the tray on the floor in the corner and then returns to making the blankets look nicer.
He’s trying. We all are. Trying to make this an enjoyable experience for Reva and not just a necessity for her to get her seal back.
“How are you planning to do this?” Jack asks. “Is each of you planning to take a corner of her body?”
“What are we going to do? Eat her?” I say. “We’re not disposing of a body here.”
“Why are you even here?” Torin snips at Jack. “I thought you didn’t want to be involved in this.”
Jack lets out an incredulous noise. “If you knew—” He stops himself from saying any more, twisting his head slightly, his lips morphing into a smile so seamlessly, it’s scary. “Someone’s a grouchy pants tonight. Again.” He then turns to me. “Are you all right?”
I nod, wiping my sweaty hands on the front of my trousers. Usually, I pride myself on being unflappable. I disarm unknown curses on the regular, spend my life getting to know strangers, and feel nothing about joining my brother’s band of pirates with impulse issues.
But tonight, I’m really feeling the nerves that are usually someone else’s problem. Not mine.
“I’m okay,” I reply. “Just feeling kind of jittery. Like someone switched out my tea for overly strong coffee or something.” I struggle to swallow past my dry throat. “I suppose I’ve known Reva a lot longer than the rest of you. I’ve had a long time to think about—”
All the things I want the two of us to do together.
Tonight is definitely not one of them. It feels simultaneously too pre-planned and like it’s been sprung upon us.
“Worried about performance anxiety?” Jack asks.
Well... I wasn’t.
“With that potion Aster made, I’m pretty sure none of you will need to worry about not getting hard enough.” He gives a little wince. “You might have to worry about it going down afterwards, but that’s a problem for later.”
I mimic his wince, but for a different reason.
It’s not like I’m shy, but since I set myself up in my shop, there’s always been a bit of distance between me and the rest of Finch’s crew.
It’s understandable, really. I only see them for a few days at a time every few months, or as long as my seasickness will allow.
This feels like we’ll be getting to know each other very well indeed.
“You wanted it to be just the two of you?” Aster asks me quietly.
“I never imagined her having a whole plethora of mates, no,” I reply. “I’m not possessive or anything, and the other night worked fine.”
It was quite honestly the single most erotic experience of my life, and I thank my lucky stars it hasn’t disappeared from my memory like a lot of other recent events.
“I don’t even know what’s up with me,” I tell him honestly. My feelings are all too messy to make sense of.
“Then maybe we start with just the two of you. The rest of us can join later.”
I stare at Aster, and he meets my eyes, projecting that same sense of calm. He couldn’t be more different from that wild thing Reva brought to my door all those months ago.
“You’d do that?” I ask, glancing around the room to see that Torin and Jack have stopped squabbling for long enough to listen in.
And just like that, my nerves fizzle to nothing.
Reva traveled across the kingdom and put herself at risk to find me.
Sure, she was coming after her skin too, but one of the few things I recall from the past few weeks is the assurance that she was bullheaded about coming after me.
She even joined my brother’s crew, and I know exactly how intimidating they can seem to an outsider.
If Reva can do all of that because she cares about me, then I can get over myself to help her get her seal back.
“It might be a good idea for you to start things off, Kit,” Torin says. “Less overwhelming than all three of us pawing at her.”
“I appreciate it,” I say with a grateful nod before holding my hand out. “I s’pose it’s time for that potion.”