Chapter 16 #2
Ai threw the remainder of her food in the fire and rested her arms on her knees.
“Even if you had, you can’t promise things would have turned out differently.
But I appreciate your acknowledging that you should have said something.
Because I don’t know if you’ve figured this out yet, but you’re kind of stuck with me and I would have gone along with it. ”
“I would have too,” Rafe said.
Finley’s breath hitched at this, and her face grew warm.
She hoped neither of them noticed, but if they did, she would blame it on the fire.
She dared to catch a glance with Rafe, and his golden eyes looked so deeply and intensely at her that she couldn’t hold his gaze.
But then her eyes fell on the Shadow Slayers and they seemed to pulse and hum with magic, calling out to her.
“And we’re going to Luana’s Castle tomorrow,” Ai went on.
Her tone held no room for argument, and Finley didn’t dare.
Ai didn’t willingly take charge often, but when she did Finley knew better than to get in the way.
“We’re not going to let what happened be in vain.
So, we’ll go to the castle and get the Chalice whether Princess Eira wants us to or not.
If she imprisons or kills us in the process, then at least we went down fighting.
Then, when we get the cure, we’ll save The Mystic. ”
“And I’ll be there too, even if it kills me,” Rafe added with a slight curl of a smile to his lips, knowing fully well out of the three of them he was the least likely to be killed even with the odd smoke seeping out from him intermingling with the fire.
Finley raised a brow. “Do you really think Princess Eira will kill us?”
Rafe cocked his head to the side. “She probably wouldn’t, but I can’t say the same for the dragon.”
They decided to get some rest shortly after that and made themselves makeshift beds out of random leaves and plant life around the beach.
It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but they were used to not having the most luxurious of accommodations.
Oddly, Finley awoke in only a few hours.
She’d slept most of the day after the attack and now couldn’t get herself to shut her mind off.
There was too much going on and too much at stake for her mind and body to get the rest they likely needed.
Ai slept soundly nearby, but when Finley sat up she couldn’t see Rafe where he’d made his bed.
She looked around and then saw his silhouette sitting outside near the mouth of the cave, a small stream of smoke still emerging from his wound.
Finley padded over to him and took a seat with the fire at their backs and the sea before them. “Does it hurt?” She looked at the cut on his arm. There wasn’t blood dripping from the wound, but it didn’t appear to be healing over either. She shuddered at the odd sight of the gaping hole.
“I suppose,” he answered, unsurprised at her appearance at his side as though he expected her to be there. “But not in the usual sense. I can move it and I feel an ache and I’m growing tired like something is being pulled out of me. I can tell something is missing.”
None of that sounded like it was a good thing, but Finley didn’t say anything. If he wasn’t going to worry, there wasn’t any sense in her worrying either. Or at least not mentioning it out loud until necessary.
“How are you feeling? Odd to see you awake.”
“Drained. Wondering how I can get my power back.”
Even in those few moments sitting on the beach with him, Finley had been trying to reach for her magic and find the connection between her and the sea.
It hadn’t grown any stronger since resting and arriving in this cave.
How was she supposed to do anything with such weak magic?
When she’d been cursed at her dedication celebration, she knew her magic would likely be weaker but managed to make do and work around it.
But to have it sucked out of her with hardly any left?
It had been so long she’d forgotten what it was like to not have any magic at all.
Her tattoo peeked out from under her sleeve, and it had a fading glow much softer than usual as it tried to reach for the water. But it wasn’t enough.
“How am I going to do this?”
“You can do anything, Finley.” Rafe spoke as though it was the most logical thing in the world.
Like it was a known fact, as easy as the sky was blue.
“You’re the youngest Pirate Queen in history, and you’ve gotten this far all while being cursed.
If anyone can get the cure and their ship back without magic, it’s you. ”
“But not without help.” For the first time since they’d escaped Amelia and Dusan, Finley was brave enough to truly meet his gaze and not just for a few moments.
His face was open and intense like he could see right through her.
It was both exciting and terrifying. “I should have trusted you and told you my plan to kill Dusan.”
So many confessions coming out of her mouth these days. What was wrong with her lately?
“When I saw you with Dusan and he attacked you…” Rafe paused and took in a deep breath.
There was something distant in his eyes like he was reliving the moment and his jaw clenched.
“I was terrified I would lose you. Then when I got this,” he twisted and moved his injured arm.
“I’d never had an injury like this before, and I don’t know what it means.
I thought about Stula and what she might do to me if we somehow manage to break this bond.
I don’t know who I would be without it. But I don’t want to know if you’re not there. ”
The world stilled as Finley took in his words.
She’d had lovers and conquests in the past and never had they cared if she was around the next morning, and she hadn’t cared either.
Crew members came and went save for a select few.
For so long, her only constant had been Ai.
Even before they’d stowed away on The Mystic.
Never had she thought someone else would care.
Not even when she became friends with Myra. She hadn’t dared to.
“Then what have we been waiting for?” Finley asked. “I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I do want you there. Let’s be with each other and belong to each other, damn any curses or bonds. Tonight, you belong to me, not her.”
Finley didn’t wait for him to respond as she leaned over and pressed her mouth against his in a slow steady kiss.
Then she pulled away to see what he would do, and to her delight he cupped her face in his hands and brought her back in.
She relaxed into the kiss and gave herself to it.
This wasn’t curiosity or an itch to scratch or something to get out of her system.
It was need and comfort and… something. Finley wasn’t sure what, but she was tired of ignoring it.
Their kisses grew hot and desperate, and Finley moved so she was practically on top of him.
Every part of her was on fire and wanting.
Already the place between her legs grew wet with need and she ground herself against him.
His hands clawed at her body and unbuttoned her shirt so it was left open.
He grasped her breasts and kissed and sucked both of them, each in turn.
His mouth covered her nipple and his tongue danced across it before he bit her.
Finley cried out and pushed his head even closer.
In the distance, something stirred, stopping them both. Finley leaned forward to peer into the cave, her breasts pressing against his chest and she felt him suck in a deep breath as his erection grew even stiffer beneath her. She gave a little wiggle just to see what his reaction would be.
Rafe groaned and squeezed her thighs. “Finley, I swear to Diar and all that is holy…”
She placed a finger over his lips. “We don’t want to wake Ai, do we?
” She did another swirl of her hips and Rafe groaned again.
“And if you do, Ai will politely decline our offer even though I’ve told her it would be fun but…
what can you do? I guess you’ll have to settle with just little old me.
She would probably ruin the moment anyway. ”
An all too wolfish growl rumbled out from Rafe. “Then what do you suggest?”