Chapter 59
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
Sunlight brightens the room and dances across my closed eyes.
I let out a groan and turn my face away, sinking into the warmth wrapped around me.
The events of last night come rushing back to me as the sleep slowly drifts away.
Weston’s bare chest is under my cheek, and I’m tucked tightly into his side, while his fingers trace lazy circles over my back.
Waking up this morning, everything feels different.
Dawnlin isn’t the same world, and I’m not the same person.
But now, I know for certain I don’t want to stay here forever.
Now more than ever, we need to find a way home.
Spending eternity waking up like this would be amazing, but I don’t want to be robbed of the life we could have together back home.
It doesn’t have to be how Weston thinks.
I could change anything once I’m queen. We’d just have to contend with the kingdom and my father until then.
But right now, I don’t want to think about any of it. If there is anything I have learned on this island, it is to appreciate every moment because you don’t know when everything can change.
“You’re thinking too loud,” Weston says, the rumble in his chest loud against my ear. Fingertips skate up my bare back, my skin tingling in their wake, until they reach my head, and twirl through my hair and grazing my scalp.
“No, I’m not,” I grumble and turn my face farther into his skin, breathing deep and soaking up his scent. I’ll never understand how he always seems to know what’s going on in my mind, and my chest tightens, knowing it only means he understands me like no one else ever has.
“We still have a lot to talk about,” he mumbles.
“I don’t want to think about it yet,” I say, my voice muffled against his skin.
The muscles of his abdomen tighten as I skate my hands over them, trailing my fingers down his stomach.
My stomach flutters and I press my lips to his skin.
I want him to distract me for a little longer before we have to leave the safety of this room and face the reality of everything that happened with Dane.
Weston’s fingers wrap around my wrist, stopping my hand from drifting any lower before he lifts, flattening my palm to his chest.
“You’re probably going to be sore. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I tilt my chin up to look at him, only to find him watching me intently.
“I think there’s only one way for you to help me with that,” I mutter. His eyes darken, his pupils widening as a low rumble vibrates in this chest.
The next second, I’m on my back and he’s rolling on top of me, his fingers sliding up my sides and pushing my arms up around my head.
“We can ignore everything for a little longer,” he says between kisses across my chest. “But we need to talk about it, Lennox. We need to figure out what to do now that Dane knows what we’re after.”
The sound of my name on his lips makes my chest squeeze and fire burn through me. He’s finally seeing me for me, not focusing on the title that will keep us apart.
“I don’t want to talk about him. Not right now,” I say.
I try to pull my arms out of his grasp, wanting to run my fingers over his skin, but he tightens his grip, the thrill causing me to wiggle underneath him.
The muscles in his arms ripple as he pushes his chest off mine, his hips lining up with mine as he towers over me.
The sheets pool around his hips, and I gaze up at him, his broad shoulders blocking out everything beyond so all I can see is him.
All I want to see is him.
“Spread those pretty thighs for me,” he says, desire lacing his words.
I respond, my eyes not leaving his as I wrap my legs around his hips, a jolt singing through me as his hard length presses against my core.
He leans forward, tantalizingly slow, and brushes his lips over mine, and I part them, begging for more.
Weston’s lips part in a teasing smile, but his eyes don’t stray from my lips as he leans in again, but just as he’s about to seal the kiss, he stops abruptly as the door to the room flies open, slamming into the wall with a thud.
“Hey, Cap, when are we going to lift lockdown ohhh shit.” Jorn’s curse echoes through the room, and Weston’s face turns murderous.
“Get out!” he bellows over his shoulder.
“Shit. Fuck. Sorry. Shit. Sorry Cap,” Jorn stammers, then the door slams again, the room falling back into silence.
Weston’s head droops between his shoulders, and he heaves a sigh. I can’t contain my giggles any longer, and my entire body shakes as I try to stifle them. The corners of his lips tip up at the sound of my laughter, and his hips press tantalizingly deeper into mine.
“I hope you didn’t plan on keeping this a secret because the entire crew probably already knows,” I say through the giggles.
He looses another harsh sigh. “One day. I couldn’t have you to myself for one gods damned day.”
“It doesn’t change anything for me if they know,” I say. He looks up then, a crease between his brows. “You’re the one worried about titles and duty, Weston. I told you, I’m not.”
He leans forward and presses a searing kiss to my lips before wrapping his hand around my head, tilting it to deepen the kiss. I turn my head, breaking away from him before I can’t stop myself.
“Don’t you need to go open up the ship? Go be the captain,” I say, slightly breathless and trying to ignore the slow rocking of his hips into mine that’s driving me wild.
“Do you really think I’m going to let Jorn stop me from starting my day buried inside you?”
My face is on fire, and I know there’s no hiding how his words affect me. I don’t know why this side of Weston seems…unexpected, but I want more of it.
He frees my hands, and they instantly find his face, wrapping around his strong jaw.
I’ve spent months defying his touch, and now I’m craving everything I’ve been missing.
My fingers brush over the stubble as he dives in for another kiss.
His tongue is smooth and challenging, almost distracting me from the drift of his hand between my breasts and down my stomach.
He cups between my thighs, the heel of his hand pressing down and slowly circling, and sending fire licking up my spine.
I gasp into his mouth; the noise turning into a low groan as his fingers move, sliding through my wetness before pushing inside.
The stretch is intoxicating, the dull ache driving me wild and making me crave all of him even more.
“I love feeling how much you want me,” he growls, swirling his fingers inside, before slowly pumping them in and out, pressing deeper with each stroke.
“I’ve wanted you for longer than I am willing to admit,” I pant. My eyes are screwed shut as I try to keep the release at bay. I don’t want this to be over too soon, lockdown be damned. Weston was right. I just got him to myself, and I am not ready to share.
His eyes flare. “I kept trying to talk myself out of it, but I couldn’t,” he says, his fingers still working inside me, drawing heavy breaths from my chest. “I’m glad because I don’t know how I’ve lived my life without this. Without you.”
My heart feels like it is going to burst. I thought he would never let go of whatever was holding him back, and I didn’t know how I would return to the ship only to be met with another rejection.
If almost losing me helped push him over the edge and stop denying what has been building between us for months, then I am glad I did it.
Even though I didn’t get the dust, it was worth it, because I got him.
The building pressure subsides as he slowly slips his fingers out of me, rubbing my wet excitement over me and sending shockwaves through my body.
Then he’s kneeling between my legs, his hands wrapping firmly around my forearms and lifting me to his chest, wrapping my legs around his waist. Circling his neck with my arms, I press my breasts into him, reveling in the heat of his skin as our bodies mold together.
Fingertips sink into my flesh as he holds me above him, the tip of his length teasing my entrance.
His eyes find mine, the teal darkened with desire, and his voice drops almost to a whisper.
“I don’t care what happens, here, or if we ever get back home.
None of it matters, so long as you always remember, you’re mine. ”
“I’m yours,” I say, as I blink away the prick of tears beginning to form.
He doesn’t look away. His gaze stays locked on mine as he thrusts inside me, impossibly deep, and my head falls back as an involuntary moan rips from my chest. Muscles ripple in his thighs and hips as he drives into me, the delicious friction causing the base of my spine to tingle.
Chest taut and arms bulging as he holds me above him, I press harder, molding my lips over his, sucking his tongue into my mouth, trying to get impossibly closer.
A hand moves from my ass and dives between us, his thumb hitting me at the right spot, and rubbing quick circles as he pulses in and out.
I cry out, squeezing my eyes shut, as my core contracts around him again and again.
His speed increases, chest heaving with quick breaths and grunts, and sweat glistening across his shoulders.
My jaw falls open in a silent cry, my pleasure exploding, tearing me apart from the inside out, and he follows, groaning into my neck with one final buck of his hips.
I collapse onto him as his lips trail from my neck to my shoulder, nipping at my skin as I come down from the high.
“Jorn can go fuck himself,” Weston pants, his shoulders still heaving with exertion.
I laugh into his chest and feel his smile against my skin.
“He’s done enough already,” he grumbles. “I was not missing that, too.”
I straighten abruptly, the shift of my hips on his cock making him suck in a breath.
“You were jealous,” I say with a laugh as he sits back on his heels, settling me into his lap with a smug look on his face.
“I had to stop myself from ripping his arm off every time he touched you.”
I snicker, and lean in to him, running my fingernails through his hair at the base of his head. He lets out a low grumble and his eyes flutter closed as I brush my lips over his.
“You have nothing to be jealous of. But you can’t hurt everyone who touches me, Weston.”
His eyes fly open, finding mine, and I melt with the glimmer of challenge I see there.
“Watch me.”
I shove his shoulder and he chuckles, before untangling my limbs from around his body and slowly lifting me off him. He grabs a towel and cleans us both up before striding over to the armoire and opening the doors, his naked body on full display bringing heat to my cheeks.
I could get used to unashamed Weston.
Two sets of clothes appear in the armoire, one for each of us, and he pulls them out, tossing mine to me before pulling on his own.
We dress quickly, and I run my fingers through my hair, trying to tame the wild waves, getting rid of any knots to not give away exactly what has been going on in here.
Not that they don’t probably already know because of Jorn’s inability to stop talking.
Weston straps his belt around his waist, picking his sword up off the floor amid all the discarded desk trinkets, and slides it into the scabbard while I retrieve my dagger and settle it in the back of my waistband.
We do not know what the day will bring now that Dane is aware I double crossed him. We know the island will continue to protect us on the ship, but the danger for everyone off deck is heightened.
We can’t stop searching.
Weston sets his hand on the doorknob, ready to pull it open and face the rest of the crew, but before he does, he turns back to me, pinching my chin between two fingers and lifting my face, giving me a soft, warm kiss that makes my stomach tumble.
“Let me handle them,” he says as he backs away, then pulls open the door.