The ink between my toes shocks me like a spell broken. I look at him, his chest rising and falling, eyes sharp with hunger, the outline of his thick cock beneath his leathers unmistakable.
I grin. “What do you want to do? Take me here, now, on this table?”
He nods, not missing a beat. “It’s one of the things I plan to do, yes.”
The haze of climax still hums through me, loosening my limbs, giving me a boldness I hadn’t expected. I tug down the hem of my gown, slowly stepping toward the door, and watch his expression shift.
“That’s enough,” I murmur, teasing. “I think I hear our daughter.”
He straightens from the table, slowly stalking after me. “You hear nothing. She’s asleep.”
“Still,” I say, fingers curling around the door handle, “I should really check.”
“Amara,” he growls, head lowered, gaze burning up at me beneath his brow.
But I’ve already twisted the handle. The door creaks open.
“Another time.”
I slip through the doorway, closing it firmly behind me, just as I feel the thud of his body against the other side and hear his low, agonized groan of frustration.
A laugh bubbles up and I smother it with my hand, pressing my palm to the wood, almost as if I can feel the heat of him radiating through it.
The aftershocks of him still spark across my skin. My lips part with the memory. His mouth, his fingers, the exquisite torment of his touch.
A cough breaks the moment.
I turn to find Zyphoro still there, watching me with a grin she doesn’t bother to hide. Reon stands beside her, his brow pressed to her shoulder, laughter caught in the curve of his smile.
“Just a little something to take the edge off, sister?” Zyphoro asks.
Reon snorts, trying and failing to stifle another laugh.
For the first time in days, they’re not wary. Not watching me like I might explode.
They’re just... grinning.
“I have to check on my daughter,” I say quickly, clearing my throat and dragging a hand down my flushed face.
“Oh, don’t be embarrassed,” Zyphoro calls after me. “We can smell it a mile away.”
Reon bursts out laughing, louder this time, but I don’t stop to fire back. I turn and hurry toward my cabin, leaving my mortification and the lingering scent of lust trailing behind me as I shut the door and seal myself inside.
Chapter 28
Daed
The wind claws at our sails, snarling through the rigging as the sea rears and bucks beneath us. Lightning rips across the sky, blinding and crooked, followed by a thunderclap that shakes the bones of the ship.
There’s no doubt now. We’re close. Baev’kalath is calling us home.
And still, my wife torments me.
She let me touch her. Taste her. She let my mouth worship her body, my hands draw sounds from her that haunt me even now. But since then, nothing. No kiss. No release. Only the cruel seduction of her nearness. Her body brushing past mine. Her scent in every breath I take.
She is ruthless in her restraint, and I am unraveling beneath it. Gods help me, I never knew I could want someone like this.
Another bolt of lightning flashes, and this time, in the distance, I see them.
