Chapter 29 #2
If someone had told Nia this woman was a queen, a goddess, she would believe it without question.
Every inch of her was perfection, from her kiss-bitten lips to the little scars that littered her body from years of pirating.
Nia leaned back for a better view, tracing any patch of skin that caught her eye.
She skimmed the edge of one soft breast, down a few small but jagged scars along her ribs, and over the delicate scales of her tattoo.
Zanta squirmed, color high in her cheeks.
“So beautiful,” Nia whispered. Her fingers continued their leisurely journey over the landscape of Zanta’s body. “I can’t believe I get to see you like this.”
A small, mischievous smile quirked Zanta’s lips before she seized Nia and flipped her onto her back.
“Are you the only one who gets such privileges?” Nia stared at her for a moment, half mesmerized before she realized she was still fully clothed.
Nia hooked her legs around Zanta’s hips and spread her arms out against the cushions.
“Unwrap me then.”
Zanta fell upon her like a starving woman, undoing the fastenings of Nia’s bodice, tugging the laces of her stays, unwrapping every layer of Nia’s dress one by one until she lay naked as the day she was born in the open shell of her gown.
Zanta caressed the curve of her waist, where the tiny silver key hung on its chain.
Fuck. She hadn’t been expecting this, so she hadn’t taken it off. Panic flared. Would Zanta know it was the key to the chest? Was this the moment she discovered Nia had been lying to her?
No. She couldn’t. Nia needed her one last time.
Zanta’s fingertips traced the delicate chain, found the clasp, and undid it. The chain too, fell to the bed. Why would she recognize it? It was a key just like any other, and Nia had absconded with it before Zanta ever set foot on the Silverfin. Zanta probably thought nothing of it.
The dress and the key ended up on the floor as Zanta flipped Nia onto her stomach.
She swished Nia’s hair to the side and trailed light kisses down the back of her neck, murmuring how it looked like flames.
Nia shivered as Zanta’s lips continued their journey down her spine, then paused at the spot to the left of it, just above her hip.
Nia’s muscles tensed. She knew what Zanta saw, the scar where Stroud had cut her.
Deliberate. A perfect square where flesh had lifted away.
Zanta’s breath pooled in the hollows of her back, unfelt by the deadened scar tissue.
Nia could practically feel the question on the tip of Zanta’s tongue, the concerned tilt to her brows.
She willed that question to remain unspoken. To let her keep another secret.
Pressure on the scar, not sensation. Zanta had kissed it, an acknowledgment without prying. She moved lower, hands cupping the curve of Nia’s ass.
Every nerve in her was alive to Zanta’s touch. Her breath.
Heat pooled in Nia’s core. Fire licking her skin from the inside wherever Zanta touched.
Nia had never been in love before. She’d had flings, infatuations.
But nothing ever felt like this; pleasure never came from such a deep well of longing like it did with Zanta.
If Nia hadn’t needed to find her treasure, she’d never have let it get this far.
She’d have fled before feelings ever reared their ugly heads.
Zanta’s attentions reached the ample swell of her ass.
She groaned appreciatively as Nia’s back arched in anticipation.
Nia wanted to watch her, to drink in every moment of her, but her mind went blank when Zanta nudged her legs apart and plunged her tongue into Nia’s primed heat.
Nia gasped as a rush of flame enveloped her.
It shouldn’t feel this good. It shouldn’t make her want to sob, but she was suddenly holding back tears, teeth clenching around words that would rip their tenuous relationship apart.
Zanta’s tongue moved, hands gripping her ass cheeks, and Nia cried out.
The woman wasn’t much of a talker but damn, she could use her tongue.
Nia pressed her face to the cushions, muffling her moans as Zanta took her apart, body and heart, little by little.
Zanta hummed against her, and even that shook her apart in the most terribly delicious way.
She clutched at the sheets and let the fire wash over her and settle in her chest.
When had her plan of seduction for the sake of her treasure turned into this? Why had she let herself catch feelings?
Pleasure and guilt and love warred in her as Zanta’s expert tongue brought her closer to the pinnacle. If she fell, she was afraid she’d blurt out everything she’d been holding inside, not only her secret motives, but the feelings neither of them wanted.
“Fuck…” Nia moaned into the pillow, silk soft against her lips. She wished it was Zanta’s skin. She wished Zanta would stop the truth from spilling out. Fire curled around her spine, and her mind blanked out as she reached the peak, and fell.
She didn’t have time to catch her breath before Zanta’s mouth left her. Nia’s hips twitched back to chase the sensation, but Zanta flipped her onto her back.
“Zanta…” It wasn’t the right time, but Nia couldn’t stop herself. Zanta stopped her instead, climbing into her lap, cum-soaked mouth crashing into liar’s lips. Zanta’s eyes smoldered like coals, and she moaned, wanton and needy as she devoured all Nia’s unspoken secrets. All Nia’s unwanted love.
Zanta grabbed Nia’s wrist and brought her hand to her pussy.
No words passed between them, only fervorous kissing.
Zanta lowered herself, trapping Nia’s hand between her pulsing heat and Nia’s leg.
Nia ground her palm up against Zanta’s clit, producing a moan that shot straight to her core.
She repeated the action, curling her fingers up to circle the soaked entrance.
Zanta whimpered, tongue lapping into Nia’s mouth.
One hand came up to cup Nia’s cheek, the other taking a wandering journey down the mounds and planes of her bare body.
There was nothing else but this. No mercenaries trying to kill them. No storms on the horizon. No secrets between them.
Zanta pressed down onto Nia’s waiting fingers, moaning into Nia’s mouth, and began to rock.
Her own hand found Nia’s pussy once again, deft fingers eagerly circling her clit.
Zanta rocked faster, movements fevered and fast, fucking herself on Nia’s dainty fingers.
She was stunning, coming apart through Nia’s touch. A magnificent surrender.
Lightning crackled from Zanta’s fingertips, searing through Nia’s nerves.
She tried to focus on Zanta’s pleasure, on the hot tightness clenching her fingers, the swollen bud rubbing the heel of her palm, but her mind was hazy with the honey ginger taste of Zanta’s moans, the silk of her body.
Bit by bit, she lost herself to their mutual pleasure, until finally, with one last stuttering roll, Zanta cried out her name.
Nia saw stars, her name passed from Zanta’s lips to hers, the last catalyst for her own orgasm to tumble her off the edge into a haze of pleasure.
Zanta rode her fingers for another moment, desperate, whiny.
Her skin prickled with goosebumps as she shuddered again, clenching so deliciously around Nia that she could feel Zanta’s pulse racing through her fingertips.
Nia wanted to continue, to give Zanta as much pleasure as possible. Not only to exhaust her, but to imprint Nia’s fingerprints into her core. To give her everything, because she couldn’t give her the truth.
Zanta sighed against her lips. Grinding once more on her slick palm before collapsing to the mattress beside her.
Eyes closed, long lashes resting like feathers against her cheeks, she pulled Nia to her.
Not kissing, just shared breath, and comfort.
A warm glow cradled them close among the sumptuous blankets and cushions, and Nia had almost dozed off when Zanta spoke.
“What was it you wanted to talk about?” Her voice was slurred, sleepy.
The glow dimmed, shadowed by the outside world.
This was Nia’s chance to come clean. To spill everything and beg Zanta to turn west away from the storms, even if it meant facing the mercenaries head-on.
Her heart clenched so hard, she was sure Zanta could hear it crumbling.
She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bring herself to shatter this illusion.
Nia petted Zanta’s hair, soothing. “It’s late. We can talk tomorrow.”
One brown eye cracked open. “You’ll stay, won’t you?” She snuggled closer into Nia’s side. The crumbling pebbles of Nia’s heart disintegrated into dust, only held together by Zanta’s contented embrace.
She wasn’t asking her to stay forever. She didn’t know Nia planned to leave. She just wanted a warm body in her bed.
Nia dropped a kiss on top of her fluffy, sex-frizzed hair. “Of course.”
Zanta sighed, snuggled into Nia’s chest, and slept.