Chapter 21
Rosetta kissed Alister, moving her lips over his again and again. It was heated, rushed, like they were trying to get in as many as they could before they pulled away.
She refused to. Rosetta refused to be the one to break from the kisses they shared, refused to be the one to separate, because she knew there would be a final one.
With his chest pressed so tightly against her own, she could feel his heartbeat starting to calm, his breaths becoming steadier.
And there it was.
His head pulled back, and she drew her lips over his one last time, following his mouth before she let him separate them. The hand still firmly gripping her backside released, and he had to yank it from underneath her.
She expected him to get off her, to roll away like many men would.
All Alister did was take the worst of his weight from her as he placed his hand around her head, the other still supporting him under her shoulders.
She dropped her legs so they were bent, cradling him, with her feet flat against the bed. She was giving him the freedom to leave whenever he was ready. Slipping her arms from his back, she placed them against the sides of his neck and jaw as she searched his face.
His lips were pursed, a serious look on his features as his eye glided over her. They were only a breath away from each other, and there was a moment of silence, a pause.
Rosetta gave him a warm smile.
“Thank you.” She let the sincerity of those words fill every part of her expression – in her lips, her eyes, in the way she looked at him.
Thank you for this. For this moment and what had led to it. For everything he had done, for helping her achieve her goal.
This is the happiest moment of my life. For so long, she had been hurting. She was relieved to feel the first moment of contentment she’d ever had.
As she stroked the short hair on his jaw, she expected Alister to chuckle, to let his arrogant and self-important personality shine.
Instead, his brows furrowed deeply, his lips pursing harder together.
She didn’t know what it meant, but she hoped the way his gaze swiftly darted over her face wasn’t regret.
“Are you alright?” she asked when his gaze boring into hers became too much.
“Sail with me,” he said, his tone sharp and steady.
“Excuse me?” Her voice broke an octave as she tried to sit up.
He refused to let her move, taking his arm out from behind her head to hold the side of it.
“Help me find the Raider’s trove.”
“You’re joking, right?” She let out an awkward laugh, her eyes looking elsewhere.
He’s only saying this to get a rise out of me. Alister couldn’t be serious, and Rosetta hated the way her heart nearly leapt at the idea of his cruel joke.
“Nay, lass.”
He moved her head until she was forced to bring her averted gaze back to him. Her brows crinkled in confusion.
“I thought the plan was to part ways.” Then she quietly said, “That this was goodbye.”
“Aye, me too.” His dark face suddenly turned brighter as a grin plastered across his face. “But I’m asking you anyway.”
“Why? Don’t get me wrong, it sounds fun, but you don’t seem like the kind of man who wants a woman trailing after him. Most men go to the sea to avoid women clinging to them.”
His grin grew wider, mischievous even. “Aye, that’s true. But I don’t mind the idea of good pussy trailing behind me... on her own damn ship.”
She paused, her head tilting to the side with a frown.
“Wait, you just want sex?” That made much more sense.
“Why not?” He lowered his head and buried it between the crook of her shoulder and neck. He swept his tongue over it, making her tense beneath him. “Think of all the good fucking we can do while we search, and at the end, I might even share the booty with you.”
Hot sex and the potential of riches beyond imagination? Now that sparked Rosetta’s interest.
“That’s if we find it. I still don’t think it exists.”
He gave a shrug before grinding his soft shaft against her clit. The muscles in her abdomen twitched in reaction. “If we find it, we’re both infinitely richer. If not, one of us will get bored and sail the other way.”
“That could get complicated.”
He pulled his head back, taking in the dark look on her face, then let out another chuckle. “Nay, you are too smart to fall for someone like me.”
“Maybe it’s your poor heart I was worried about breaking.”
His eye crinkled with humour as an outright laugh fell from his mouth. He leaned back to kneel upright, grabbing both her thighs to bring them around his hips.
His heated gaze was body tingling. He looked over her, from her head, down her chest, all the way to her exposed folds. He used the pad of one of his thumbs to pull the lips of her pussy apart, softly thrusting against her once more. The throb that lanced her almost caused her to moan.
“My cock just isn’t ready to give up the way you feel around it.”
Rosetta squinted at him, her lips thinning. She realised her body might be thinking the same thing. “But I don’t care to find the Raider’s treasure. I want to take down fleet ships.”
“That’s your goal?” he asked incredulously. “That’s how you get Queen Mary Anne to hunt you. Do you have a death wish?”
Rosetta shrugged. “Not if there are no survivors to say who’s been sending her ships to Davy Jones’ locker.”
“You’ve got some big goals there, lass.” He thumbed her clit, circling it, making her hands clench, before palming his hand up and over her stomach, not caring about the sweat and his seed on it. “I’ll help you sink whatever ships your heart desires.”
Then he thumbed a nipple before grasping her breast in his calloused palm and squeezing it. She wondered if he noticed her thighs twitch around him in response as he shifted his grip and rolled the firm peak between his thumb and forefinger.
“Think of just how easy it will be when you point at a ship you want gone, and you’ve got my warship and its cannons backing you up.”
“You’re talking about starting a fleet, Alister.”
“One of pirates.” His gaze fell to the ceiling, that grin never leaving his face. “Your strength with my speed. My firepower with your cargo space.” He looked down at her, excitement thrumming from him. “I may never need to dock again.”
The idea of never touching land again seemed to be what threw his mind over the edge, and she felt his cock harden.
He’s serious. Alister was truly asking her to sail with him... for fun?
“I don’t know if I can,” she said with a sigh. “I have to ask my crew.”
“Nay, you don’t.” He raised his brow at her, a glint in his eye. His lips even pursed together. His face said he was suspicious of her words, like they might be a lie to get out of it. “Your crew will follow you anywhere, will do whatever you want. They’ve already proven that.”
“I’ve only asked them to follow me until I got the Laughing Siren.” He’s right, though. She knew they would probably agree to it. “What about yours? You’re asking me, but I’m sure you haven’t asked them.”
“I don’t give a shit what they want. I’ve never told my crew to follow my command simply because I want it.
They can put up with it for once. Plus, they will enjoy having the extra supplies you can carry.
” He looked around at the walls with a chuckle.
“You can ferry more livestock for better eating, more booze to drink. They will appreciate that.”
“Talking about crews...” Her gaze shifted to the door. “They’re both waiting for us.”
“I’m not leaving this room until I have your answer, lass.”
She brought her eyes back to see his grin had fallen and he looked serious once more.
“If you say nay, they are going to have to wait until I’m done fucking the absolute hell out of you, since I don’t know if I’m ever going to get the chance again.”
Rosetta looked down at the hardened shaft jutting between his hips and lying over her stomach. “And if I say yes?”
“They can wait one more round.”
“And what if I say yes to your offer and no to... that?”
She didn’t take her eyes off his cock, trying to suppress the urge to lick the seam of her lips in want. She even rolled her hips so that he would slip against her stomach, still wet with his seed.
“You’re going to help me get rid of it either way. I’m not using my hand like I have been.” Her eyes widened and darted up to his face. “Oh aye, Rosetta. I’ve been craving you that bad.”
The sheepish smile that grew on her lips made him frown.
“I have never trusted that face.”
Rosetta leaned up and pressed a kiss to one of his cheeks. “I used to touch myself in your hammock before you took back your ship.”
“You fucked yourself in my bed?” His nose crinkled on one side, his erection noticeably pulsating against her.
“Pictured you while doing it.”
Alister’s teeth gritted as he pulled back his hips and slammed his cock into her pussy to the hilt, eliciting a sharp gasp from her. He shook his head as he moved inside her, his long hair falling over his shoulders to hang above her like a dark curtain.
“Shit, screw it.” Then he groaned, his nose crinkling as his mouth fell open, his grip on her thighs tight. “Give me your answer afterwards.”