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Milo
Each morning for the next three days, I would watch Katrina stand at the front of the ship. I knew she was thinking about diving down to fetch the trident. She was our only hope of acquiring it, but I didn’t want her to feel that weight alone.
I’d finally accepted that Thane wasn’t going to abandon his chase, and we’d eventually have to fight him off. That thought terrified me, knowing it was just us four against however many men made up his crew. And he himself was more than a formidable opponent. I knew if he were to reach our ship, we’d have quite the fight for survival on our hands. But I decided if he tried to touch Katrina one more time, I’d spill his worthless guts at the helm of his own ship and make his men watch. Even if Katrina only ever saw me as a monster afterward, I’d never let him hurt her again.
The evening of the third day, Noah had offered to steer the ship a bit longer, and the sails needed little adjustment, allowing me a few extra hours of freedom I couldn’t normally afford. Katrina and I worked together in the cabin to create a plan for when we arrived at the supposed location of the trident. As we talked it over, discussing the hows and whens, I found myself losing focus as I watched the way she spoke, my gaze lingering over her rose lips as she spoke about diving down into the water.
I squared my shoulders, trying my best to keep my concentration as we leaned over the small corner table in the cabin, but something about her in that moment held me captive and refused to let go. Perhaps it was the way she spoke so bravely, and willingly intended to do whatever she needed to get the trident. Or perhaps it was her beauty alone that called to me like a siren’s song. The harsh days at sea and on the island created a radiance about her that couldn’t be explained. Her skin glowed with a deep sunkissed glow of warmth, enhanced by the way her dark, windswept hair framed her face and slender neck in full waves. I watched the way her chin tilted as she spoke, and I noticed the delicate dips in her collarbone. I recalled every divine curve of her underneath the loose tunic she wore. God, I wanted her right there and then.
If it wasn’t those things making me lose my focus, it could only be one other—the fact that I didn’t know what awaited us ahead. And I couldn’t protect us. I couldn’t stop what was coming.
“Can I ask you something?” I finally blurted out, interrupting Katrina as she spoke about how she would swim down and find the trident and reemerge once we’d cleared away Thane’s ship.
She looked at me with a confused expression. “ Yes, what is it?” She raised her eyebrows. “Go ahead.”
“How much do you love me?” I asked, leaning forward. “And consider it long and well before you answer.”
She looked around, obviously taken by surprise at my question. “Well,” she sucked in a deep breath. “Why are you asking this? Do you think I don’t—”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I know you love me. But just for fun, if you had to put it into words, how would you do it?” I nodded with a gentle smile for her to go on. If she thought the question was forward, I’d make it seem like a game.
“I... I’d say I love you with all my heart. And...and I couldn’t imagine my life without you. I wouldn’t want to imagine that life. You are...you’re everything to me.” She blushed, looking down at the ring I’d given her and adjusted it gently with her fingers. “Feel better now?” She laughed.
Damn.
I never knew a confession of love could be so painful. I could only hope she was lying. Maybe there could be something else she cared for more...maybe. Perhaps she should have just fallen for Bellamy. I would’ve wished it. Because I was so afraid if it was true, then her answer meant something detrimental. Something I didn’t want to think about yet, though I knew I’d have to face it sooner rather than later.
Later would do for now. Because right now, in this rare moment with just the two of us alone, I only wanted to pin Katrina against the wall and love her senseless. I wanted to see the stars with her one more time.
She stood watching me with her back to the wall, a longing in her eyes just as overwhelming as mine. I reached for her hand, drawing it to my lips. I kissed each one, suckling gently as I caressed my mouth across each fingertip. She drew into me, her other hand touching me gently along the ridges of my muscles. She roamed my body, leaving no area unclaimed.
“All the time in the world with you could never be enough,” she said in a gentle breath.
“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” I whispered, tracing the perfect curves of her beneath her shirt and navigating my hand across her hips to the warmth between her legs. “I’m tired of being on borrowed time with you. So, I’m going to steal it instead.”
“In true pirate fashion,” she snarled softly with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. Those deep brown eyes that I would willingly drown in until my last breath.
She closed her lips over mine, teasing me and plunging her fingers into my hair. Her hands tugged at my shirt, lifting it over my head as she lowered her mouth to kiss my chest. In me, a surge of desire swelled so that I couldn’t help but touch every part of her, undressing her with careful movements.
Her skin felt so perfectly delicate against my rough hands. I touched my lips to her shoulder, mouthing her softly as I worked toward her neck. She smelled sweetly of the sea. I wanted to tether her to my very soul so that we were one. And the way she wrapped me within her legs assured me she wanted the same.
Fire pulsed in my veins; my heart raced as she unbuckled my belt. I lifted her onto the edge of the table we’d been talking over, pushing aside whatever else was on it to make room for her. Gently, slowly, I moved to her. Her soft gasps against my ear made my head spin, and I whispered her name over and over so that she knew she was the master of my fate, here, now, and forever.
Our bodies might’ve followed the sway of the ship, with some moments slow and smooth, and others swift and deep. With each soft groan from her lips, the craving for her hammered harder in my core. I stood, holding her firm as she pressed herself against me. We were two oceans meeting, merging in riled plumes of seafoam. She gripped me, stroking my back and neck between wild kisses and teasing licks before she shattered beneath me with quaking breaths.
“Milo,” she whispered, tracing the North Star tattoo on my body with her trembling fingers. At the sound of my name on her lips, I became undone, swept into a current she controlled.
The cresting desire in me grew into an animalistic need, a dam of feral thirst I could not hold back any longer. I moved faster, squeezing Katrina’s fingers that had now laced themselves between mine, and a wave of bliss cascaded over me as my knees threatened to buckle.
I held onto it, treasuring the sensation that escaped me in moans, because I feared there would be little more in the way of pleasure in the hours ahead. But I refused to let that worry steal this moment from us.
Both dazed and sweat-drenched from the stuffiness of the small cabin, we collapsed together amongst our strewn pieces of clothing. As I caught my breath and regained my senses, I pulled Katrina near and nuzzled her shoulder.
“I do feel better now,” I uttered into her damp hair, wishing it could last forever. Because more than anything, I dreaded leaving this cabin to face whatever came next.
35
No Quarter Given
