28. Hook
“Melancholy doesn’t suit you,” I whispered in Never’s ear.
She tensed against me, sitting with her back to my front in water that was hot enough to give her skin an angry pink tint.
“Can you stop that?” she asked.
“Stop what?” I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear her say it. Out loud. To admit and accept the connection we shared.
She huffed, sending a gentle ripple across the surface of the water. “The mind reading, or mood reading. Whatever you’re doing. Could you not, for like, five minutes?”
My inclination was to tell her no. Once a connection was made—or a claim was laid—it could only be broken by death. In truth, I was surprised her earlier demise hadn’t severed that link.
Even at my age, I wasn’t done learning. Now, with Never in my life, I suspected I never would be.
I could have told her all of that, but she also deserved the truth.
“You can learn to block me from sensing what you’re feeling if you want to.” I admitted, only half-cursing myself. Honesty was the right approach. Even if the wild animal inside me was kicking up a fuss about giving her this particular truth.
“Yeah?” When she started to twist around, I tightened my grip around her waist, holding her still. “How?”
Whether she knew it or not, every little movement, every minuscule shift, chipped away at my good intentions.
“First, I want you to put your hands on the tub, please.” She hesitated, but eventually did as I said. “Keep them there.”
“How is this going to help me block my emotions?”
“Patience, love.” I pulled one arm out of the water and slid my wet palm along her upper arm, to her shoulder, and finally to her slender neck.
I was obsessed with that sensitive bit of real estate. The woman had a beautiful body, breasts and hips that any sane man wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off, but it was that delicate, narrow stretch of sensitive flesh that I wanted to kiss, and nip, and bite, and grip.
Wrapping my fingers around her neck, she went even stiffer. Want and need filtered through our connection. So did an underlying rebellion, almost like she was itching for a fight.
“Does this bother you?” I asked, squeezing the tiniest bit.
She shook her head.
“Then why did you tense up?”
Silence was her answer, even though I could feel her internal conflict. I just didn’t know where it was coming from.
“Do you want me to stop?”
A pause, and again she shook her head.
I unwound my other arm from her middle. Sliding my hand lazily down her stomach, I let it come to rest just a few inches shy of my goal. “How about now?”
Another shake of her head. Anticipation washed over the connection.
“You want this,” I said, walking my fingers slowly across her skin beneath the water. “I can feel it.”
“Which means this little exercise clearly isn’t working.” Her voice carried some of her trademark sass, but there was disappointment mixed in there, too.
It made sense when I thought about it. She was the kind of woman who was usually in control. If she didn’t start out that way in a situation, she would take it.
Having her emotions on display, even just for me, was unsettling for her.
Whereas I wanted that connection, all of it. I was greedy for it. The woman kept so much locked inside... when she wasn’t running her mouth.
I smiled.
She had an attitude that would not quit. She could be as abrasive as she could be soft, and switch between the two on the turn of a dime. Having a sense of what she was feeling inside, when her words and actions were harsh, was like my personal answer key to the riddle that was Never Darling.
Had our connection been consensual, I would have exploited it fully. And if I’d been smarter, I would have kept what I was sensing to myself and used that knowledge to learn everything I could about her.
But it wasn’t. She hadn’t truly known what she was giving me when I asked her to let go all those months ago, and it was clear that she didn’t want me seeing everything. No matter how much the rough, possessive part of me bucked against the logic, I had to give her control over it.
“Try this,” I said, letting my hand continue its wandering. “Imagine a door. You’re on one side and I’m on the other.”
“Okay,” she said doubtfully.
“Now, think about what you want to keep to yourself. The thoughts and emotions you want to be yours and yours alone.”
“Would it be a dick move to say all of them?” she asked playfully, though I got the impression she was only half joking.
I let my hand drift lower, cupping her hot pussy possessively.
She shifted against me, setting my nerves alight. “That’s not playing fair.”
“Focus, Never.”
She let out a little groan that shot right to my center. “Fine. What are the things I want to keep to myself?”
“I said think about them. Find them in your mind.”
“Right,” she huffed.
It was hard to tell if she was taking the exercise seriously. So, I squeezed her neck gently, brought my lips to her ear, and whispered, “Focus.”
“Easier said than done when there’s a demanding pirate pressing his cock into your back and whispering in your ear,” she fired back.
That pulled a chuckle out of me. I adored this woman’s sass so damned much, but I wasn’t about to stop. I had a powerful need to touch her, to claim her, to fuck her so hard she would still feel me a week later. Touching her like this, without pulling her up onto my lap and sinking into her, was my middle ground.
I ran my middle finger up her center, and she bucked hard when I brushed her clit, sloshing water over the rim.
When I didn’t move back down or circle that delightful little nub, she let out an impatient huff. “I can show you how to do that, you know.” She lifted her hand off the edge of the tub, and I squeezed her neck tighter in warning.
She stilled, her hand hovering. It was like she was deciding if it would be worth it to try. A new note of curiosity drifted through the other emotions spilling from her, but she finally put her hand back on the rim.
“I’m not sure I like this game,” she said, but her energy told a different story.
“Then tell me to stop,” I offered. “It only takes one word.”
Instead, she gifted me with silence.
“That’s what I thought. Back to the door, love.”
She wiggled her hips just enough to steal my attention from the thing I was trying to do and send it careening toward the much more satisfying things I wanted to do. Swallowing hard and forcing myself back, I ran my finger up her center again. This time, when I brushed her clit, her fingers tightened on the edge of the tub.
Hunger flared inside me, and before I could reason with myself, I circled it again. Once, twice.
The sound that came out of her was illicit, and that barely caged wildness in me rushed to the surface. It demanded I stop this foolishness and take her right there, not caring that I really was trying to help her.
I was, right?
Admittedly, I was also torturing her a tiny bit. How could I not? I didn’t want her to muzzle our connection, and her body was so delightfully responsive. Her tiny sounds. The way her body trembled, sending a ripple through the steaming water. Even just the feel of her soft, wet skin against mine. I would never get enough.
“Where’s the door?” I whispered.
She shook her head. “I can’t. Not when you’re—”
I flicked her clit again, eliciting a gasp that made my cock throb. Emotion was pouring through the connection now, raw and unfiltered. So much lust and want and worry, all amplified by her growing frustration.
She was right. This wasn’t working. I was trying to guide her through closing a door she couldn’t find, and I was tormenting her in the process.
Which meant a different tactic was necessary.
Never was as reactive as she was responsive. If I pushed, the woman pushed back. Sometimes, it seemed, purely on instinct. So, I pushed. Instead of letting her emotions come to me, I reached out with my mind, followed the path back to her, and tried to pry more out of her.
“Whoa.” Her body went stiff, and that addictive flow of emotion was reduced to a trickle in the space of breath.
A deep sense of satisfaction rolled over me, only partly spoiled by the sharp twinge of regret. “See now. Was that so hard?” I whispered, hooking her by the hips and sliding her decadent body up against mine. It was divine torture the way her rear end slipped across my length, but I couldn’t stop myself.
I’d just given her the key to shut me out, in direct conflict with what I wanted.
It would take practice to keep everything she was feeling to herself, but once she got the hang of it, I had no doubt she would have a three-foot thick steel door standing between us in no time.
“Straddle me,” I growled, dragging her hips up and out of the water.
“The floor...”
“Will dry.”
A shiver trailed through her, transmitting her desire even with her new defensive wall in place. Like the strongest black rum, that shiver heated my blood, leaving my mind swimming.
“Now, Never.”
She huffed out a breath, but finally got moving. She had to wedge her knees on either side of me, leaving her lovely round rump at the perfect height to bite. So, I did.
“Hey!” She twisted around and reached back, swatting halfheartedly at me. “No ass biting, pirate.”
I grinned despite my better judgment. “Won’t happen again.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Because pirates in your world are known for taking what they want.” I pointed to the far end of the tub. “Eyes front.”
She shook her head. Just a whisper of her defiance trickled through the connection. So, I smacked one of those glistening globes with an open palm. The sound was much louder than the force behind it, but the way her bottom jiggled made it nearly impossible to keep from leaning forward and nipping at it again.
“Eyes front, Never.”
She followed my order with a roll of her eyes, but a hit of desire slipped through. When she started to sink down, I stopped her.
“Slide your hands forward.” She did, and the resulting view was everything a depraved pirate could have dreamed of. I ran my hands over her flesh, letting my thumbs dip between her thighs. “I think I’d like that kiss now.”
Without waiting for a response, I slid a lower in the tub, grabbed her hips, and dragged her delectable pussy to my face.
Even after months, I hadn’t forgotten her taste. It was burned into my memory, and having her uniquely wild flavor on my tongue again was like coming home.
I licked and sucked and flicked and fucked her with my tongue until she was squirming. Until she was right on the edge. Then I backed off, shifted her forward, and gave her bottom another firm smack.
She was panting, her body trembling. “Do you have any idea how close I was?” she asked, sounding more than a little spiteful.
“Bring yourself down on me,” I said, ignoring her complaint. My voice was rough to my own ears, a fitting complement to the way I was feeling.
She moved slowly, and I could have fallen in love with her right then, watching the way her body shook as her hips dipped into the water. With one hand on my cock and the other guiding her, she brought that delicious pussy down right where I wanted it.
Her body was primed to take me, slick with desire, but it still felt like a fist wrapping around me when she sank down onto my length. “Never,” I growled, my head falling against the tub with a thud. “You feel so fucking good.”
She sank further, taking me in inch by inch, until my cock was buried deep. Then, vixen that she was, she started moving without being told. She didn’t rise up and down. Didn’t bounce. No, she rocked her hips, grinding down on me in a way that felt too good to stop.
My fingers dug into her flesh, pushing her down as I tilted my hips up, giving her the full length of me to grind along.
“Fuck. Me,” she groaned. “I’m going to—”
I yanked her up and off me, my cock slipping free and slapping against my stomach as water sloshed all over the floor.
“What the fuck?” She damned near shouted the question between ragged breaths.
“Not yet,” I managed to bite out.
I hadn’t meant to let her get that close. I’d gotten carried away with how incredible she felt, and I’d let my focus drift.
She wrenched away from me, twisting and rising until she was sitting on the edge of the tub. Frustration creased her fine brow. “What do you mean, not yet?”
“I mean, I’m not ready to let you come yet,” I said, throwing as much dominance into the statement as I thought was safe, given her rebellious side.
She shook her head and swung her legs out of the tub. “Then I’ll do it myself.” She stood, yanked a towel off the knob beside the tub, and wrapped it around herself.
Her shiny new defensive wall came down a crack, and her defiance hit me. Defiance and mischief. She was frustrated all right, but she was also challenging me.
“Don’t you dare,” I said, dragging myself out of the water.
She was already out the door and halfway across the room when she shot a heated look over her shoulder. “Then come and stop me.”
With that, she flung herself onto the bed, letting her towel fall away.
I didn’t bother with my own towel before I charged after her. By the time I reached the bed, leaving a trail of wet footprints beside hers, her hand was already between her thighs. Her index and middle fingers moved in slow, teasing circles.
The scene brought me back to the night I’d witnessed her like this, back when she’d come to my world for the first time. I could have stood there and watched her pleasure herself for hours, but she’d thrown out a challenge I couldn’t let slide.
Also, after edging her twice, I wanted to be buried in that hot little pussy when she came.
I climbed on the bed, shoving her knees apart as I worked my way up. Grabbing her hand roughly by the wrist, I yanked it away from my prize. With my other hand, I cupped her wet pussy. “This is mine.”
She rubbed her lips together and narrowed her eyes.
“Say it,” I ordered.
She shook her head.
This woman. I pressed her hand to the mattress. “Don’t move.” Then I ran my palm down her sides and over her stomach. I spread her legs further apart. “Say it, Never.”
Again, she shook her head.
“Last chance,” I warned. When she didn’t open her mouth, I gave her sweet spot a firm smack.
She yelped and jerked, but from the way she was fisting the covers, she didn’t hate the sensation.
“Mine,” I said again, driving two fingers into her.
Her inner walls fluttered in the best way. I could have come just from watching her, feeling the way her hips moved, trying to ride my hand.
“Ah, ah,” I said, withdrawing my fingers. “Not until I say.”
She thumped her head against the mattress with a groan that had my already hard cock throbbing painfully.
Who was I kidding here? Edging her was a twisted kind of pleasure, but we were both wound dangerously tight.
I shifted position and buried my face between her thighs, bringing her back to the breaking point. When she was right where I wanted her, I pulled back. “Now, be a good girl and come for me.” Then I gave her wet, swollen pussy another little slap.
That was all it took. Her cry was a symphony of pleasure and relief. Her back bowed and her thighs trembled. Before she could settle into the sensation, I rose between her legs, lined myself up, and sank into her. Deep.
She spasmed around me, gripping me tight, and a guttural groan slipped through my lips. It was almost too much. All I could do was sit there and watch her while I fought like hell to keep my body under control.
It took a damn sight longer than it should have.
“You’re going to give me another one,” I said with a grunt, finally feeling like I had enough of a leash on my desire to move.
Never smirked up at me, her damp hair splayed around her. “You really think you’re that good?” Try as she might to hide it, those taunting words were laced with need.
I pulled out and drove back into her hard, sliding her gloriously naked body a few inches back on the bed despite her talon-like grip on the covers. Pleasure spiked through our connection, sending a shiver down my spine.
When I slammed into her again, she let out a moan that would be etched in my mind for eternity.
“Hands on the headboard,” I ground out. Every primitive instinct in me demanded more, but it wouldn’t do to have her head bouncing off the wood.
She threw her arms back and grabbed the polished wood, but I didn’t miss the moment of hesitation.
“I meant what I said, Never. You’re going to give me another one of those exquisite orgasms before I let you off this bed.”
She lifted her hips, letting me sink the tiniest deeper. Her lids fluttered for a second before those ocean blue eyes focused on me again. “Who said I wanted off the bed?”
Satisfaction rolled through me. That was exactly what I wanted to hear. I pulled back, tossed one of her legs over my shoulder, and drove into her again, bottoming out and making her scream.
“That’s it.” I pounded her harder. “One more.”
With each powerful thrust, the headboard shook and Never’s body tightened. I did it again and again, driving us both closer to the edge. The only problem was she had her head thrown back into the pillows and her eyes squeezed closed.
That wouldn’t do.
“Look at me,” I growled, unintentionally throwing a mountain of power behind the order.
Her gaze snapped to mine, a challenge glittering in her eyes. Eyes that now held a distinctly golden tint.
That was my power inside her.
The realization struck a desire so deep I hadn’t even known it existed, pushing me to drive into her again. And again. Ruthless. Relentless.
“One more,” I demanded.
She held my heated stare as her muscles clamped down almost to the point of pain.
“That’s my girl. Give it to me.”
That golden glow grew brighter by the second, and when she finally broke, she came apart with a scream that shook the air.
For the love of all that’s holy, this woman is everything.
I followed her over the cliff a second later, digging my fingers into the lush flesh of her hip and thigh, burying myself to the hilt as I lost myself inside her.
I collapsed on top of her with barely enough sense to catch myself on my elbows. Breathless and sated to my bones. And yet, my skin still prickled when she tunneled her fingers through my hair and forced me to look at her.
“You owe me a real kiss me, pirate,” she whispered. A hint of vulnerability filtered through the connection.
Had I not kissed her? A quick replay in my mind showed me the error of my ways.
“With pleasure,” I said, leaning down and taking her lips with mine.
The kiss wasn’t desperate or needy, but it was filled with so much passion that I didn’t know how one body could contain it.
It took me a moment to understand that it wasn’t one body. Some of that deep, bottomless passion was inside me, but it was also coming from her, pouring into me like water cascading over a fall.