27. Sage
Sage
Ilay in the already familiar bed, letting myself wrap my arms around one of his pillows.
I was feeling much better after being… squeezed so hard.
It was still a puzzling concept to wrap my head around, that it worked so well, but it was almost a shock, one that kept me grounded enough to come back to myself.
I’d tried so many things, since this had been an issue for some time, all with varying degrees of success.
But that felt pretty instantaneous. I would need to find something to replicate the feeling.
Obviously I couldn’t rely on Shadowhart to do that all the time. Eventually I would go home. I had to.
Though I couldn’t help feeling saddened by the thought.
It was… nice to feel so needed here. I thought of the whole stack of garments I had piled up in my room, and the smile on everyone’s face when I returned them fixed.
I’d given Bee back a pair of pants with giant holes in each knee that I patched with a purple floral pattern.
I thought it added a bit of charm to the whole thing, and they agreed, stating how cool and custom they looked. They wore those pants all the time now.
I would miss that feeling of being wanted like this. Maybe I could do something like that in the castle, but everyone there had their own custom tailor, no need for me.
The door snapped open, Shadowhart’s form filling the space.
He was a bit breathless, like he’d been running—or whatever the snake-like equivalent was.
The first couple buttons of his shirt were left distractingly open.
My eyes ran down the slip of brown skin that was exposed, showing off a bit of his collarbone, and some chest before closing to the next button.
Have I ever found someone’s collarbones attractive before? Either way, I was thinking that now.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
He nodded, “For now. There needs to be more assessments, but there’s nothing to be done until we know more.”
“And… the ship isn’t going to sink?” I felt silly for asking that. He obviously wouldn’t be here with me if that were the case, but until I heard the words, my brain wouldn’t stop.
“No,” he said seriously. “There’s a single minor breech in the hull, and it was easily patched. Everything is okay.”
I relaxed. When I asked obvious questions like that, I was often brushed off, as if I was just being silly, but he took it seriously. Making me feel comfortable in an instant.
“Thank you,” I said, more for the way he acted than his actual response.
“Of course.”
He sank down next to me in his bed, pulling off his hat and setting it on his lap, looking down at it.
I glanced at it with him. It was worn, but looked sturdy.
The leather had some thin spots, mostly where someone would pick it up to take it off their head.
Some of the stitching on the edges were coming apart.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
“The hat?”
I nodded.
“The previous Captain Shadowhart.”
I scrunched my brow. “What do you mean?”
“The Violet Ghost has had a Captain Shadowhart for generations,” he said. “Passed from one pirate down to the next.”
“I see, and who decides that?”
“The predecessor.” He looked longing for a moment. “It wasn’t supposed to be me.”
“It wasn’t?”
He shook his head. His fingers rounded the outside of the hat as he spoke.
“It was meant to be Coltar, at least we thought. He had trained closely with Tungesten, much longer than I ever did.” It took him a moment to finish.
“But that’s not what happened. When Tungesten was found dead, and his will was read, he’d left it all to me. ”
“That was the previous Captain Shadowhart?” I deduced.
He nodded.
“I think that means he saw something in you,” I said carefully. “He knew what a good leader you would be.”
“I think I’m alright most days,” he said, laughing a bit at his self-criticism.
“You’re great most days,” I told him. “Everyone on this ship has nothing but respect for you. And not that fake respect created through fear, either.”
“You were able to deduce all of that, huh?”
I nodded. “I have indeed.”
He laughed, finally setting his hat on the table to the side and lying down, opening his arms to invite me with him.
I went easily, wanting to feel wrapped in his warmth again. He tucked me against his shoulder, lying against his chest. His tail came up and wrapped around my back, surrounding me on all sides. I’d never felt so secure in my life.
Looking at his chest let me see all the small scars he had littered over his body. There were a few that looked extra painful. One running over the edge of his chest, the slightly lighter raised skin telling how big it once was.
I ran a finger over it without thought, and felt him tense at my touch. “Did that hurt?” I asked.
“No, that’s long healed,” he said.
“What was it?”
He blew out a breath. “I couldn’t tell you. A wandering hook that caught me just right, a cut from someone’s sword, a rough night out.”
I paused at his casual mention of being cut by a sword. “Do you get into swordfights often?”
He shrugged. “I am a pirate. Comes with the territory.”
I imagined Sorcha practicing out in the field.
I liked to watch her sometimes, usually from a window tucked far away.
It was fun watching her throw grown men to their asses so often, but imagining what it would look like without practice swords and real ones in their place always made me nervous.
And now I knew Shadowhart had done the same thing.
“Don’t do that anymore,” I said, my voice not as sharp as I wanted it to be.
“Do what?”
“Get hit by a sword.”
He huffed a laugh. “I don’t think I have much say in the matter.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “Don’t.”
“For someone who doesn’t listen well, you sure like to bark out orders.”
I shrugged. “What can I say. It’s my right as a princess. And the youngest at that.”
“Ah, I see now.” His hand wrapped around my chin, tipping my head so I was no longer looking at his chest, but at his eyes. “You just need someone to tame that brattiness huh?”
I swallowed hard, my entire body heating, as if I’d been baking in the sun. “And you think you’re up to the challenge?”
“I’m more than qualified.”
“Then prove it.”
His mouth was on mine, kissing me just as intensely as he did the other day. I didn’t think there was anything he did half-assed. Everything from running his ship to kissing me was done with the same intensity and focus. Which made me want to fall for him even further.
I let my hands go back to exploring over his chest, feeling the hard muscle over soft skin. My fingers found his shirt buttons and started unceremoniously pulling at them.
If I ripped a few, I could always fix them later.
Once the buttons were undone, he threw the shirt behind him, never breaking our kiss. Not until I pulled back, needing to look at his full, bare expanse.
He was all muscles everywhere. I had already known that, with everything he wore being a bit snug, but actually seeing them was hot in a whole different way.
His hands reached for the back ties of my dress, pulling away for a moment. “May I?”
I nodded. Somehow, he managed to untie the whole thing without his lips leaving mine.
I guess this pirate was good with knots after all.
My dress was fully loosened, and it took me a moment to wiggle myself out of it, with all of its extra fluff and layers.
Normally while doing this, I was somewhere that a dress was more to my benefit: pushed up against a wall, in a carriage, or a broom closet. Hardly did we ever make it somewhere I could get fully undressed, but now, I was seeing some of the benefits of pants.
Once it was off and on the floor, I was left only in my chemise and underwear. Much more manageable.
Shadowhart’s hands ran over the silky fabric of my chemise, until the thin straps fell, releasing my breasts. They bounced slightly with the movement, and his eyes widened just a bit as he watched them.
His mouth fell to latch onto one without warning. I bent into his unexpected touch, giving myself over to it.
My hand ran over his chest, down his scales there, until I knew I was close to reaching his cock.
Before I could, however, his hand shot out and stopped me.
I glanced down at him, waiting for some kind of explanation.
“I’m a bit different than you’re probably used to.”
I snorted. Was that the problem?
“Considering you don’t need to wear pants, I assumed.”
He choked on a laugh. I was getting addicted to finding out every little amused sound I could pull from him.
“I wanted to make sure you were comfortable with that.”
I leaned in and kissed him, heavier than I meant to, but no regrets. “I am.”
He released my hand, letting me continue working down as he went to give my other tit the same attention.
When I finally reached his cock, the difference was very obvious.
His tip wasn’t as bell shaped, missing the prominent ridge that was normally there.
Instead, there were many ridges going over his entire cock.
He was ginormous. I’d never had anyone this big, and wasn’t sure I’d be able to manage.
But my cunt still throbbed with the idea of trying.
I worked my hand down over him, noting it seemed to be slick of its own accord. He used his tail on me again, snaking it up my thigh and running over my clit with it. My underwear was dexterously moved aside, giving him better access.
The room was filled with harsh breathing and the occasional moan. We were so close, wrapped together in a way that made me wonder if we would meld, staying in this trap of pleasure forever.
I don’t think I’d mind it much.
Especially not when he decided to sink the tip of his tail into my opening. He pulled off of me to watch my reaction to taking him like this. My eyes rolled to the back of my head with the sudden intrusion.
“Shadowhart,” I moaned. “Yes.”
“Adrian,” he said, making me pause.
“What?”
“My name,” he clarified. “It’s Adrian.”
“Adrian,” I said.
As I did, his cock pulsed against me, so it seemed he liked that.
And I did too.
He lowered away from my grasp, spreading my legs, staring down at my dripping pussy for longer than felt comfortable.
As if he could sense my frustration, he bent down and licked me. My entire body reacted as he kept going, rolling my clit over his tongue with expertise. His tail came back as well, fucking into me hard and fast.
“Adrian,” I moaned, gripping his hair. I wasn’t sure how I hadn’t noticed before, but his tongue was a bit rougher than a humans, and definitely longer. He could cover so much ground, and I knew I was so, so close to falling apart for him.
My thighs tightened around his head. I had to be suffocating him at this point, but he seemed unbothered by it, wholly concentrating on my pleasure.
I’d never had a partner do that. That alone would have probably been enough, but he had to be a hot rugged pirate as well?
I was at my limit.
My entire body shook as I came for him, tightening around the tip of his tail deep inside of me.
He moaned too, making me wonder if he was sensitive there. Adrian continued to lick me until I fell limp and oversensitive, and had to push him away.
He lay down next to me, obviously planning to be done. But little did he know, I was nowhere near done with him.