I fought to take the advice I’d given Kye. To not react. To swallow the feeling of tar rippling in my belly. The pounding in my ears echoed in my head, and I fought for breath among the chaos of my own rage.
“But you already know her taste, don’t you?” Burian swerved his mouth against my collarbone, his lips streaking from my shoulder to my ear. “Thesemalá rybaare all whores. They’ll seduce any man for the taste of pleasure. Spread your legs,” he cooed softly into my ear, fingertips digging between my thighs. "Not to worry. I will make it fast."
I forced my knees together, barricading his roaming hand.
Burian threw a glance out the doorway window.
No one was there.
I lifted my eyes to the ceiling, listening to the migrating boots over my head.
If he was worried about the other pirates catching him, I should scream—
Burian released my hair, using both hands to wrench my knees apart.
I opened my mouth, but Burian dove in, encasing my lips with his. He burrowed his hips between my legs, splaying me wide. The seam of my dress ripped to my waist.
He thrust his tongue deep enough to make me cough. I wrenched my chin away, but he pushed into me, teeth scraping my gums as the taste of stale liquor raided my mouth. I snapped my jaw closed and felt him jolt as the tip of his tongue caught between my teeth. He drew away, spitting blood and saliva on the floor.
Across the cabin, Kye chuckled.
Burian glanced back at him, then shifted his eyes to me, blood pooling in the crease of his mouth.
He raised his hand in the air, and the flat palm of his hand laid into me like a brick.
My ear popped. Pain split across my cheekbone, the taste of silver sharp on my palate. My hair flew as my skull cracked against the wall. A ringing filled my head, a scream aimed directly into my ear. The room blurred, shapes vibrating together and apart.
The cabin air lit with fire, molten iron cloying in my nose. Strangling. Suffocating.
Kye laughed again.
“Your prince’s mind has addled,” Burian murmured, staring at me through the hair caught in my eyes. I didn't answer. My vision swam between sharp focus and muddied fog. My skin stung, but it was the gently unfolding agony in my ear canal that pierced me where I sat.
Burian’s knuckles grazed my inner thighs as he fumbled with the ties of his pants.
He reached into his waistband, exhaling as he stroked himself, wrist curved and straightened with leisure.
Of all the ways tocordaewith a man, this was the last I’d have imagined. Chained to a wall in a pirate ship. With Kye watching.
What would happen when Icordaed? I realized I’d never given it the thought it deserved—likely because I never thought it would happen. Selena’s voice echoed through my head.
Humans tend to become enamored with the Naiads that cordae them. And you will as well. Naiads are…sensual beings. Once you start the act, the shyness or hesitance will drop away. It’ll be you and him, and nothing else in the world.
My skin crawled with the very idea of Burian’s touch, but even worse was the fear that in a few moments, I’dwantit.Desireit. Would I arch into his hips? Wrap my legs around him and pull him deeper? Moan and writhe in pleasure as I coaxed him on?
Would my body betray me so deeply that binding to him would force all other feeling out?
I stifled a sob. I should’vecordaedto Kye when I’d had the chance. I should’ve never brought a knife to my wedding bed, and I should’vebeggedhim to take me there, even though he’d hated me.
“That’s it?” Kye taunted, snapping me out of my thoughts. “That's your cock?”
Unwilling to look down, I shifted my gaze to Kye, but he wasn’t looking at me.
“Ship full of weapons but I'm worried I’m going to have nightmares about sewing needles.”
Burian wrapped his fingers around my chin, rotating my vision back to him. He wiped hair from my eyes as he pumped himself.
“I thought you had two belly buttons at first,” Kye said. “How do you come? Does it exit single file, one drop at a time?”
