Chapter 72
Burian inclined his head, eyes landing with vengeful intent on me as Demyan stalked from the room. The pirate waited until all noise grew distant. Kye’s brows furrowed at him, though true to his word, he said nothing as Burian pushed off the wall and closed the door, crouching at my feet. His hands closed around my chains as he tugged, checking the tightness.
The welts my nails had carved into his cheek and brow had disappeared, though the red veins in his eye remained as angry as the day I’d scratched him.
He laid his hands over my shoulders, pressing his chest hard against me as he leaned in, slowly forcing me into the wall. My gaze flickered silently to Kye over the pirate’s shoulder.
His back a rigid line, Kye’s jaw hardened, eyes locked on mine.
Burian tilted his head into my neck and inhaled. He chuckled as he pulled away, murmuring a word I didn’t recognize, and met my gaze.
Chin tucked to my chest, I simply glared at him through my lashes. “They’re tight,” I said, reminding him his task was completed.
The pirate fisted my hair in one hand, pulling my head to the side. I gritted my teeth as he exposed my neck and licked the hollow of my collar bone. My belly clenched at the feeling of his tongue, moist and thick over my skin. Locked in the cage of my ribs, my heart began to hammer.
“Uz si ochutnal, maly princ?” Burian murmured into my skin, ignoring my words. He slid his fingers down my lap, and my wrists burned as my arms suddenly tensed.
Inhumanly still, Kye watched, trained on the pirate as if imagining the most painful way to kill him.
“She”s sweet as glacier water,” the pirate continued. His fingers trailed up my bare thigh, brushing against the sensitive skin between my legs.
My breath hitched, spine locked hard against the wall, breath fossilized in my lungs. My pulse crashed in my ears. Across from me, Kye read the look in my eyes. The blood drained from his face, and I watched the thoughts flicker in his head. Though his expression remained tight and controlled, the scent of his anger roiled, so thick in my lungs I might have been breathing smoke.
I fought to take the advice I’d given Kye. To not react. To swallow the feeling of tar rippling in my belly. The pounding in my ears echoed in my head, and I fought for breath among the chaos of my own rage.
“But you already know her taste, don’t you?” Burian swerved his mouth against my collarbone, his lips streaking from my shoulder to my ear. “These malá ryba are all whores. They’ll seduce any man for the taste of pleasure. Spread your legs,” he cooed softly into my ear, fingertips digging between my thighs. ”Not to worry. I will make it fast.”
I forced my knees together, barricading his roaming hand.
Burian threw a glance out the doorway window.
No one was there.
I lifted my eyes to the ceiling, listening to the migrating boots over my head.
If he was worried about the other pirates catching him, I should scream—
Burian released my hair, using both hands to wrench my knees apart.
I opened my mouth, but Burian dove in, encasing my lips with his. He burrowed his hips between my legs, splaying me wide. The seam of my dress ripped to my waist.
He thrust his tongue deep enough to make me cough. I wrenched my chin away, but he pushed into me, teeth scraping my gums as the taste of stale liquor raided my mouth. I snapped my jaw closed and felt him jolt as the tip of his tongue caught between my teeth. He drew away, spitting blood and saliva on the floor.
Across the cabin, Kye chuckled.
Burian glanced back at him, then shifted his eyes to me, blood pooling in the crease of his mouth.
He raised his hand in the air, and the flat palm of his hand laid into me like a brick.
My ear popped. Pain split across my cheekbone, the taste of silver sharp on my palate. My hair flew as my skull cracked against the wall. A ringing filled my head, a scream aimed directly into my ear. The room blurred, shapes vibrating together and apart.
The cabin air lit with fire, molten iron cloying in my nose. Strangling. Suffocating.
Kye laughed again.
“Your prince’s mind has addled,” Burian murmured, staring at me through the hair caught in my eyes. I didn”t answer. My vision swam between sharp focus and muddied fog. My skin stung, but it was the gently unfolding agony in my ear canal that pierced me where I sat.
Burian’s knuckles grazed my inner thighs as he fumbled with the ties of his pants.
He reached into his waistband, exhaling as he stroked himself, wrist curved and straightened with leisure.
Of all the ways to cordae with a man, this was the last I’d have imagined. Chained to a wall in a pirate ship. With Kye watching.
What would happen when I cordaed? I realized I’d never given it the thought it deserved—likely because I never thought it would happen. Selena’s voice echoed through my head.
Humans tend to become enamored with the Naiads that cordae them. And you will as well. Naiads are…sensual beings. Once you start the act, the shyness or hesitance will drop away. It’ll be you and him, and nothing else in the world.
My skin crawled with the very idea of Burian’s touch, but even worse was the fear that in a few moments, I’d want it. Desire it. Would I arch into his hips? Wrap my legs around him and pull him deeper? Moan and writhe in pleasure as I coaxed him on?
Would my body betray me so deeply that binding to him would force all other feeling out?
I stifled a sob. I should’ve cordaed to Kye when I’d had the chance. I should’ve never brought a knife to my wedding bed, and I should’ve begged him to take me there, even though he’d hated me.
“That’s it?” Kye taunted, snapping me out of my thoughts. “That”s your cock?”
Unwilling to look down, I shifted my gaze to Kye, but he wasn’t looking at me.
“Ship full of weapons but I”m worried I’m going to have nightmares about sewing needles.”
Burian wrapped his fingers around my chin, rotating my vision back to him. He wiped hair from my eyes as he pumped himself.
“I thought you had two belly buttons at first,” Kye said. “How do you come? Does it exit single file, one drop at a time?”
Burian’s mouth curled, but he ignored the prince, thrusting his thumb into my mouth. Sweat and oil mixed with the taste of my own blood, and I turned my cheek. The pirate chuckled.
“Don”t stand up too fast. I think you”d break your nose on the wall before you broke your dick.”
“You seem a little too interested in my manhood, boy,” Burian growled, the corners of his mouth lifting in amusement at his own insult.
“That”s what you call it? I thought it was a maggot.”
Burian’s smile tightened.
“How do you masturbate? Through the prongs of a fork? Look—you can barely even grip yourself.”
“I won”t ask you again.”
“Or have you never done it before? It’s easy, I”ll walk you through it.”
Burian turned slowly, spine curving as he glanced at Kye over his shoulder. “Shut your mouth or I”ll shut it for you.”
“Kye,” I warned, fear fluttering in my stomach as I tried to assess this new line of questions from him.
“Look at her. Even as you sit at her entrance, she stares at me.”
Burian shoved to his feet, bracing his weight on my shoulders. I grunted as he slammed me against the wall, but he’d already turned on his heel.
“Is it your first time? Disappointing. Maybe you could find another pirate to offer some decent—”
Kye’s voice choked off as Burian’s fist slammed into his jaw. His head rocked back on his shoulders, but he swung to face forward again, teeth bright pink.
“Maybe it”s never seen a girl before. Do you get stage fri—”
Burian punched him again.
I pushed myself upright, blind terror stabbing through my heart. It became a living, breathing thing. Clawing. Biting.
“No! Kye!”
“Open your mouth, boy, I’ll show you how big I am.”
“Oh, thank Aalto. It’s been too long since I last flossed my teeth.”
Another blow landed on the side of Kye’s head, knocking him against the wall. He rolled his skull and blinked up at Burian, a fresh cut dissecting his eyebrow. “What”s wrong? The truth too hard to swallow?”
Burian grabbed Kye’s collar, leaning forward, a sneer contorting his lips.
Kye grabbed the man by the nape of his neck. And headbutted him. The cabin ignited with molten fury.
The pirate’s knees buckled as he fell forward into Kye’s lap. Kye twined Burian’s long hair in one hand. “Keep your hands off my wife,” he whispered, then drove his fist into the pirate”s face.
Twice.
Three times.
A fourth, and a crack split the air.
Burian grappled drunkenly to escape, feet useless.
“You’re a dead man,” Kye promised, watching him slither to the floor, the bridge of the pirate’s nose split open. “You’re fucking dead.”