Mira #2
I hate to admit it, but gods help me. I love when his clothes are off.
He’s the most breathtaking man I’ve ever seen.
All golden skin, sharp edges, and that storm in his eyes.
We climb onto the edge of the ship, barefoot and balanced, hands clasped like we’re anchoring each other to the world. We lock eyes. And we jump.
The second we hit the water, everything stops.
Time. Sound. Thought. The glow swallows us whole.
Moonlight flickers in his eyes and sparks through me, like the stars themselves fell from the sky and lit my blood on fire.
All from one impossible look. Kai wraps his arms around my waist, steady and sure, holding me like I’m the very thing keeping him alive.
He tries to hold on, but the ocean has other plans. And who are we to argue with her?
The current rips me from his grasp, dragging me under as if summoned by something ancient, sacred. Then, light. A radiant beam bursts through the deep, just like in my mother’s journal. It wraps around me, warm and blinding, lifting me from the sea’s floor like I’m nothing but breath and starlight.
I rise, suspended between sea and sky, hovering above the waves and under the stars.
And then, I feel everything. I feel the waves battering distant cliffs, their fury echoing inside my chest. I feel whirlpools spinning like storms unchained, wild and endless.
I feel sea creatures gliding far below, silent and sure, wrapped in the hush of the deep.
I feel the ocean’s pulse. Her rhythm. Her rage. Her reverence.
For the first time in my life, I feel whole. I’ve found myself. I’ve found home. It’s as if the very heart of the ocean replaced mine with hers.
I glance down and see Kai in the water, staring up at me. There’s something in his eyes, something rare. He looks proud. At peace. Like he’s known this all along, and now I finally do too. Like he’s my biggest fan, quietly cheering me on.
The ocean cradles me back to the ship’s deck.
My feet touch wood once more, soaked but steady.
Kai swims toward the hull, ready to climb aboard, just about to reach for the ladder on the side of the ship, until the beam returns.
This time, for him. The sea claims him gently, lifting him the way it did me.
A blessing. A bond. The ocean chose him too, as the other half of my soul.
The water lowers him beside me, placing us back together where we belong.
Below us, sea creatures scatter like falling stars.
The glow fades into a soft shimmer, retreating until only moonlight remains, dancing across the waves, like the stars themselves have chosen to rest on the surface of the ocean.
Kai looks at me like I’m the only thing that exists, like the sea could dry, the stars could fall, the sky could shatter, and he’d still only see me.
He steps closer, the space between us dissolving like it was never there.
One hand finds the small of my back, warm, certain, while the other rises to cradle my face, his thumb grazing my cheek with a reverence that makes my heart ache.
Saltwater drips from his dark, wavy hair, landing on my skin, trailing down my neck like the ocean is still trying to reach me through him.
“You’re not just my greatest treasure, Mira,” he murmurs, voice husky and low. “You’re my compass. My reason. You’re extraordinary.” Then his lips find mine.
My body folds into his without hesitation, without fear.
I feel everything, the heat of his touch, the storm building in his chest, the sacred promise buried between every beat of our hearts.
The ocean didn’t just bless me. It blessed us.
He’s the only thing I’d burn the world for and the only one I’d let the flames take me, if it meant keeping him.
His hands roam, tracing the outline of my waist, my spine, my shoulders, as if he’s memorizing every piece of me. He kisses me again, deeper this time, like he’s been waiting his whole life for this. For me. And when his lips trail down my neck, my breath catches and sparks ignite beneath my skin.
With effortless strength, he lifts me into his arms like I weigh nothing. And in that moment, wrapped in his arms, with the sea below and the stars above, I know this is where I belong.
I’m straddling his body, my legs barely able to wrap around his torso, feeling the heat of him beneath me.
He carries me to our quarters, his hands never once leaving my skin.
When he lays me down, it’s like I’m something sacred and holy.
His gaze roams over me with a hunger that sends shivers down my spine.
He starts at my ear, his lips brushing against it with maddening slowness. Each kiss trails down my neck, across my collarbone, down the length of my spine, igniting sparks along every nerve. He takes his time, worshipping every inch of me.
His lips find my breasts, soft, aching, and my breath hitches.
I want more. I need more. But he’s deliberate, torturously slow, letting his mouth explore me like he’s tasting something rare.
His hand glides lower, fingers barely brushing the edge of my underwear, and the teasing touch makes my hips rise toward him, instinctive and desperate.
“What are you waiting for?” I whisper, the words breathless, tangled in the haze between us. He looks up, eyes dark and wicked, lit with a storm I recognize all too well. There’s something devastating about the way he’s worshiping my body, holding back only because he knows it drives me mad.
“For you to beg,” he murmurs, voice like smoke and sin, a smirk ghosting across his lips. Gods, he’s insufferable. And I want him so badly it hurts. I twist my fingers into his hair, tugging just enough to make him growl low in his throat. “Kiss me,” I breathe. “Please… just do it.”
His smirk lingers, but his eyes are reverent. And when his lips finally move lower, everything else disappears. The world dissolves, time stops, and all that’s left is us. Right here. Right now. In this moment, I am everything. He is everything.
His tongue moves in circles, slow and knowing, hitting every spot like he’s been mapping my body in dreams long before this night. One hand slides up, cupping my breast with just enough pressure to make me gasp, while the other finds its way between my thighs, confident, relentless.
Then his finger slides inside me. I arch, a sharp cry ripping from my throat.
My hands fist the sheets, legs trembling as he moves with more purpose, his strokes deep and maddening, tongue working in tandem, building a rhythm that sends sparks spiraling through me.
Between his tongue and his fingers, I am completely helpless.
He doesn’t stop. He devours me. Faster, deeper, like the ocean itself has taken over, waves crashing through me with every motion. My toes curl. My vision blurs. My body pulses so hard I feel like I might come undone. Then, I do.
Pleasure rips through me like lightning, white-hot and unrelenting. I shatter beneath his mouth, my whole body clenching, unraveling, set ablaze. I gasp for air, floating, weightless in the aftermath.
Kai pulls back, his breath heavy, lips glistening. He stares up at me, gaze smoldering. “Pure and utter perfection,” he whispers, taking in all of me with a knowing glance.
I can’t speak. I just stare, memorizing every inch of him. The way his soaked hair clings to his face. The golden sheen of his skin in the lantern light. The rise and fall of his chest, like I’ve knocked the breath from his lungs. Like he felt it too. He is breathtaking.
I’ve always wondered what it would be like.
What he would be like. I’d heard the whispers.
Seen the way women looked at him, hungry, enchanted, falling over themselves for a glimpse, a glance, a moment.
I never truly understood the pull until now.
I know why they all craved him. And more importantly, now I know he’s mine.
Kai moves up toward me, arms wrapping around my waist, drawing me into him until there’s not a breath between us. He presses his forehead to mine, his chest rising and falling against mine as he breathes me in like I’m the only thing keeping him alive.
“You ruin me,” he says, the words breaking against his breath.
“You tear through my life and leave nothing standing. Nothing makes sense unless it’s you.
If you’re the fire, then chain me to the stake, let the flames eat me alive.
I’d burn, screaming your name, if it meant you’d keep looking at me like this, like you’ve already decided whether to save me or destroy me. ”
My heart stops, because there it is. A confession, everything out in the open. This is real.
He pulls the covers over us, sealing us in warmth, the outside world fading away. He kisses the top of my head, his arms locking around me like he’s afraid I’ll vanish. I never want to leave this moment.
Not ever. No more words are spoken. We fall asleep wrapped in each other, our bodies tangled, our souls finally, blessedly, at peace.