CASPIAN
The sharpened needle penetrated my sensitive flesh for what felt like the millionth time, its searing nip confirming that I was still somehow alive. Every muscle in my body ached from purging the poison, my head throbbing with the same persistent drum. But it wasn’t human fragility that threatened to suffocate my sanity.
It washer.Rohen Levitte.
She was supposed to remain a random woman I purchased, a whore from Seirdra’s Veil who was merely meant to fill a gap in my crew, to serve my men. Yet my thoughts on the matter clashed. Where a deep part of me loathed her beyond understanding and didn’t give a damn what happened to any aspect of her life, another wished to gut anyone who came near her.
But neither feeling made fucking sense. It’s as if I were being pulled in two different directions, commanded by unseen forces I couldn’t understand.
She was a godsdamned dangerous little thing—the growing and nearly undeniable influence of my undoing.
Mylittle siren.
MyMizani.Whatever the fuck that meant.
When I opened my eyes and found her standing there with Syoran, the stone wall I’d built around myself cracked. The care painting her expression, and the pleas buried within her stare, a beautiful emerald green that even the finest jewel would never compare to, had sent me reeling. Buried in the recesses of my heart, a flicker of hope had ignited, a desire for a potential life I knew the fates would never grant me. It was one where she’d join our crew of her own volition, not because of forced circumstance. Where she would sail the unexplored expanses alongside me, not as a captive, but as a…
Fuck.
In that moment, I knew I had no other choice but to slip on the cold mask I’d perfected, because if I hadn’t—gods if I hadn’t—I would’ve taken her right there.
She was addictive in a way I knew would destroy me, but I would be a lying man if I claimed she hadn’t become my newest obsession. I wished to taste her intricacies, to dip my fingers in her waters and relish in her sweetness. She’d become a craving I would never satiate, and that recognition was near-maddening. If I didn’t get my hands on her in the ways I wished, ways in which she consented to, I would undoubtedly lose myself.
She was intoxicating and just as fiery as I was; I wanted nothing more than for our blazes to join so we could watch the world burn beneath us. She’d become the single most irreplaceable treasure on my ship, for there was a reason I called her my siren: she’d drawn me in with her melodic essence the moment I laid my eyes on her.
“Cas—”
Cutting Syoran off, I shook my head as a hiss of agony escaped me. “Don’t.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.” He smirked, amused by my irritation.
“Bastard. As if your cheeky grin doesn’t give away every thought running through your mind.”
“I don’t have a single clue what accusations you have elected to cast my way, Caspian Vayne.”
“As if the eye-fucking you tossed my direction the moment she stormed out of this room wasn’t word enough,Syoran Kao.”
“Oh, are we talking about the redhead?”
Running a hand down my face, I groaned. “Youwere talking about the redhead. For the gods’ sake, you were scolding me like a child. Don’t tell me you’ve grown soft for our prisoner.”
“Where I’ve grown soft, you’ve grown hard.” He shrugged indifferently, his body swaying dramatically with my pathetic attempt at a punch. “What? You don’t like my double-edged joke?”
“I am not interested in a woman likeher.” I lied.
“Right.” He dipped his chin with irrefutable amusement, tying off the thread he’d used to stitch my wound shut. Freeing a serrated blade from his waist, he sawed off its remnants, his near-black eyes lifting to meet mine. “And there isn’t a depiction of ‘North’ on a compass.”
“You’re a prick. You know that?”
“And you’re a prick who’s in denial, Captain.”
Exhaling, I couldn’t help but allow a smile to bloom across my lips. “It seems you’re merely taking advantage of this moment because I am bedridden.”
“Bedridden or not, I still easily put you on your ass when we spar.” He swatted my hand away as I reached for the tray, specifically the alcohol bottle that adorned it. “And, bedridden or not, we all know who wishes to be rode.”
“If you are jealous of my adventures with Saph, you could just say so.”
“Sorry to be a kick to your ego,” he hummed playfully, pushing himself up to stand and wiping his bloodied hands on his breeches. “But you aren’t exactly my type.”
