27. Never
My head was spinning. Three days ago, I was sure I’d never see Hook again.
Now, here I was, back on his ship, in his realm.
And in his room.
It was just like I remembered it. Warm and masculine. The wall of windows dominated the space, even covered as it was with ceiling-to-floor curtains that were dyed an erotic, deep red and accented with a muted jacquard pattern that was so very Hook.
Between me and those curtains was a heavy oak table—the very same table where he and I had shared an incredibly tense meal when we barely knew each other.
It felt like that night was years in the past, and yet, everything was the same.
It was all so unreal.
“Looks like the universe proved me wrong,” I muttered.
“What was that?” Hook asked from behind me.
I turned, taking a moment to drink him in, too. And I’d be damned if he didn’t look tense as hell. “I was just thinking about how I didn’t think I’d ever be here again. Looks like I was wrong.”
“It wasn’t the universe that brought you here.”
I smirked. “No, I’m pretty sure that was you.”
“You know I had no choice, right? The shadow had the pendant—”
I held up a hand to stop him. “I know. Trust me, I had a front-row seat to the whole show. Plus, I told you to do it.”
Relief smoothed some of the tension lines around his lips and eyes. “Indeed.”
Closing my eyes, I pulled in a deep breath and reveled in the feel of the space. Not just because I was surrounded by all things Hook. That breath was the first one I’d drawn in ages that didn’t feel like there was a thousand-pound boulder sitting on my chest.
“What about everyone else? They okay?” I asked.
He nodded.
“What about Leo?”
“Sleeping like the dead in the war room.”
Relief and a touch of something a little warmer trickled through my veins. “So, we’re alone?” I looked pointedly at the door he’d left wide open.
His eyes narrowed, and he kicked it shut without looking at it. “We are now.”
“And your clothes are still on because?” I asked, giving him a mischievous smile.
My world was upside down. I was trapped in this realm while my brother was in the human world. That sucked on so many levels, but I had to take the good with the bad. The demon was where she was supposed to be and, somehow, I felt more alive than I had in years.
And now that it was finally just the two of us, I wanted Hook in a powerful way.
His expression turned dark, smoldering in a way that was purely him. “Ladies first.”
Oh, he wants to play that game?I glanced down at myself and winced. Goddamn, I needed a shower. But maybe I can work this to my advantage.
Pulling my head back up, I motioned to his feet. “In that case, the lady wants you to take your boots off.”
His responding smile was a thing of beauty. There was humor and joy and heat all rolled into that sexy curve of his lips.
He toed off one boot, then the other, and tucked them neatly next to the loveseat. Before I even had to ask, his socks were gone too. “What would the lady like next?”
The question sent a shiver through me. It was so strange to have him playing the submissive after our reunion back in the club. I also had a pretty good idea, once we were in throes of passion, that playing would go right out the window.
“Remove your shirt,” I said quietly. When he reached for the hem, I held up a finger. “Slowly.”
His smirk turned wicked, but he inched the fabric up, revealing his lower abs and the thin, irresistibly hot trail of dark hair that disappeared beneath the waist of his pants.
I shifted where I stood, heat already pooling between my thighs. When he lifted the shirt over his head, giving me the full view of his strong arms and muscular shoulders, I was practically drooling.
He held the shirt in front of him, so I crossed to him and tried to snag it from his grip, only he didn’t let go. “The lady would like to keep this,” I said, a rush of nervous energy pitching my voice a shade higher than I’d intended.
Hook’s gaze dropped to my lips before drifting back up. “I would be willing to part with it. For a kiss.”
He let go and I stepped back. I shook the shirt out, pretending to examine it when what I really wanted to do was hold it to my face and breathe it in.
Screw it.Balling it up, I brought it up and inhaled deeply. Scents of leather and saltwater and raw male energy filled my senses, damned near bringing tears to my eyes because of how much I’d missed him in the weeks we were apart.
How the hell did he smell so good?
A low rumble filled the space between us. “That wasn’t very ladylike.” His voice was deep and dripping with want.
“Does that mean you don’t want that kiss?”
“I said no such thing.”
I tossed the shirt on the loveseat and stepped forward until we were an inch apart. Tipping my head up, I said, “Then take your kiss, pirate.”
His eyes had that sexy, glowing ring of amber around the iris, a hint of the power hiding within. Instead of pressing his lips to mine, his hand wrapped around my neck and pushed, forcing me to walk backward until the backs of my legs hit the bed.
With a devious little flick of his tongue over his canine, he reached down and flipped the button on my jeans.
“Whoa there, sailor. You said a kiss.”
“I didn’t specify where, now did I?”
Biting my lip, I shook my head. “I need a bath before—”
“Even better.” With that, he ducked, tossed me over his shoulder, and headed for his washroom.
“Hey!” I batted half-heartedly at his back. The man was ridiculous, and over the top, and all I could do was laugh. “I’m pretty sure we won’t both fit in that tub.”
“We don’t need to.” Once inside, he set me down gently, and got to work drawing a bath.
I wondered briefly where the hot water came from. A boiler maybe? Or magic?
“How warm?” he asked, letting the water run over his hand.
I thought about everything I’d been through since my last shower. “Hot enough to cleanse my soul would be good.” If I ever managed to forget the nasty, oily feeling of Petra’s shadow taking over my body, I would count myself lucky.
A hint of worry creased his brow. “Are you not feeling yourself?”
“I’m fine.”
Translation: I feel off, but I don’t want to talk about it.
He adjusted the knobs and tested the water again. “Let’s try that again, but this time with truth.”
A childish part of me wanted to fold my arms over my chest and refuse that order. “Did you get that from our little connection?” A completely unfair and one-sided connection.
Letting the water run, he turned and rested his fine ass on the edge of the tub. His strong fingers gripped the edge tightly. “Yes, and on that note, there are things you need to know.”
My heart sank a little because he sounded so freaking serious. I was so tired of serious.
“Can it wait?” It wasn’t like anything he had to tell me could be any worse than smashing his pendant. Even just thinking about that moment sent a tidal wave of shame crashing into me.
He pushed away from the tub and closed the short distance between us. Warmth radiated from his palm when he reached up and cupped my jaw. His thumb traced lightly across my cheek, leaving a trail of heat along its path.
“You have nothing to feel guilty for, love. When you broke the pendant, the power that had been taken from me so long ago was returned.”
A spark of hope flared inside me. “Seriously?”
He nodded.
“I was worried it was lost to ether. Or worse.” Like maybe some other malevolent creature had gotten ahold of it.
He stepped back and touched the spot on his chest where that ragged scar had been. Now, there was just smooth skin. How had I not noticed that?
“You could have said something earlier.”
A warm laugh filled the small space, a sound nearly as intoxicating as the man himself. “When?”
I thought about it for a hot second. “When I told you what I’d done.” I nodded in the general direction of the ship’s deck. “Earlier.” I’d felt like absolute shit making that confession.
“Apologies.” He dipped his head, though his expression told me he wasn’t the least bit sorry. “I had other things on my mind. But I give you my word, the next time you sacrifice your only hope of getting home in order to keep your world safe, I will be certain to drop everything to tell you how your actions impacted me.”
Oof.He was probably trying to be charming and funny, but having the truth of my situation laid out so succinctly was a kick to the gut.
“Hey.” He caught my hands in his and brought them to his lips, pressing a kiss to the knuckles of each. “It’ll be okay.”
I wanted to believe that—wanted it more than anything—but that wasn’t usually the way my life worked.
“What about Petra? What’s going to stop her from sending her shadow back to my world again?”
He eased back without answering, letting go of my hands as he turned to shut off the water.
I stared at my palms, already mourning the loss of his touch, with no idea what I was supposed to do with my hands. So, I shoved them in my pockets. “I have to find a way back.”
“I know.” He tested the water, straightened, and leveled me with a look that had me biting my tongue. “And we can talk about that later.” Reaching out, he tugged the hem of my shirt. “We made a deal. You owe me a kiss, and I intend to collect.”
He grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands free of my pockets before lifting them over my head. “Do not move.”
The snarky little bitch in my head kicked up a fuss at that order, but it was all for show. Inside, that bossiness made me melt. I rubbed my lips together and, by some miracle, managed to keep my mouth shut.
Hook slipped his hands beneath my shirt, letting them roam across the sensitive skin just above my jeans before he finally dragged the fabric up and over my head. I thought for a second that he might try to use that soft fabric to bind my hands, and my pulse tripped over the shock of raw lust that rocked me.
His lips twitched. “What were you just thinking about?”
“Nothing.” Heat danced up my neck. “Just how good the bath will feel.”
He narrowed his eyes, clearly not buying my story, but he didn’t press. Well, not verbally.
Hook invaded my space, easily the most welcome invasion I’d ever experienced. His fingertips chased fire up my sides and around my back, and my bra fell loose. I started to bring my arms down to help, but he shook his head.
“Ah, ah. What did I say?”
“Not to move.”
He nodded, and with that, he dragged my bra up, letting the straps slide along my arms as he leaned his bare chest to mine.
It was hard to breathe with him standing so close, with his skin against mine, and that look in his eyes. It was like my body was coming alive in a way it never had before.
I didn’t know what to make of it.
“Now these,” he said sensually, catching the waistband of my jeans, the top button still undone from where he’d flicked it earlier.
He paused, but this time I remembered not to reach down. His comment wasn’t a request or an order. He was testing me.
Hook gave me a look so full of smug satisfaction I could have smacked him. “Good girl.”
Something deep in my belly quivered. I’d always hated those two words, but there was something about the way he said them that turned me gooey inside.
He started unzipping my jeans, slow enough that the click of every tooth unlocking sent little shocks of electricity zinging through me. When he reached the end, he hooked his fingers on both sides and pulled them down, panties and all, in a single sensuous slide.
And there I was, as naked as the day I was born, with my arms held over my head and my bare ass pressed against the cool wooden door. A shiver rippled through me, but not because I was cold.
Oh, no. That shiver had everything to do with the hunger in my pirate’s eyes.
“What now?” I asked through a throat that had gone dry.
“Give me your hands.”
I did as he said, still fighting the urge to tell him I could get in the bath all by my big girl self. That was what my mouth wanted to say. It was what my fiercely independent brain thought. But my heart? It just wanted to let go of the reins for once.
He watched me carefully as he helped me into the tub, and as I sank into the almost painfully hot water, hissing against the sting even though it felt fucking amazing.
“Too hot?”
Letting my head fall back against the smooth copper, I closed my eyes. “Just right.”
He fell quiet after that, but that didn’t mean he left me alone. One by one, he washed my legs and arms, running a soft, soapy cloth along my flesh in slow strokes. It was sensual and meaningful, at least for me, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel quite so alone.
I’d always had Matty and Lily growing up. When I moved away for college, I’d made friends. Then, when I came back after Matty’s dad went AWOL, I’d had him and Lily again.
I’d never really been alone, but there were a lot of times when I’d felt that way.
Or maybe the word I was looking for was lonely?
“Scoot forward.” His voice was gruff.
I peeled my eyes open. “Huh?” Why did he look upset?
He shucked his pants, giving me a lap-level view of his cock, currently at half-mast. Should I be insulted by that? I mean, the guy just had his hands all over me.
Instead of answering, he slipped his hand behind my neck and eased me up. The ends of my hair dripped from where they’d been dangling in the water.
I moved where he guided me, sliding forward, even as I mounted a weak protest. “You don’t have to wash my back, I can—”
A second after his hand fell away, his big body slid into the tub behind me, pushing the water level dangerously high. I almost said something, dreading the idea of soaking his floor. Before I could, he pulled me back until I was laying flush against him.
What do you know? There is enough room for both of us.