Page 112 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

He banked left, wings tilting, and we curved toward the mountains that rose beyond the forest, their peaks white. He picked the highest one and landed on a flat ledge near the summit without a sound.

A shallow cave opened into the rock face. Calroy ducked inside, toward blankets and a lantern stored at the back. He lit the small firepit and laid out the blankets. We sat side by side, the flames crackling between us and the stars framed just outside the mouth of the cave.

“I used to come here alone when I needed to think.” He tossed sticks into the flame. “This was my solitude. A place where I could hide away from the world.” He looked at me and those eyes glistened. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’m so sorry.” I reached for his hand. “I can only imagine how difficult that was.”

“Don’t be. You’re here now.” His thumb moved across my knuckles. “That’s all that matters. I would wait a thousand lifetimes for one with you in it.”

His words settled over me like the warmth from the fire. To have someone love me the way he did made every hardship worth the wait.

The wind drifted inside from the open ledge, carrying with it the smell of the sea. Beyond the cave mouth, the kingdoms lay spread, the distant lights of ships moving across the dark water, and the weight of everything waiting for us down there settled between us.

But not yet.

Up here it was just us. And I wanted this moment for a little while longer.

Calroy looked at me the way he had on the ship that first night, like he was reading my face in a way that only he could see. I’d thought he was judging me then. I understand now that he was searching, hoping with everything he had that he’d finally found the one he’d spent years looking for.

“I love you.” He brushed his thumb along my jaw. “More than life itself.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, leaning into his palm. “And I you, my love.”

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I will do whatever it takes to bring peace into our lives. We’ve been separated too long, my Little Star.”

He lowered his hand and turned toward the flame. “I need to tell you something about Selene.”

I didn’t want to know, but I let him. We had to have an honest start.

He cleared his throat. “I don’t have feelings for her.” He tossed a stick into the flame and watched it catch. “She became my anchor when I was losing myself. The searching went on so long—years of ports, faces, and nothing—and I started to unravel. I became irritable, picked fights, drank too much in taverns.” He exhaled. “She grounded me. Kept me from disappearing into the worst version of myself.” He looked at me then. “I know how it must have seemed. I’m not proud of it. But I need you to know it was never what you are to me.”

The fire crackled between us.

I said nothing for a moment. I believed him. And more than that, I understood. He had been alone for years, carrying what no one around him could see or share. Who was I to judge what kept him standing? I had Jina and Minha. I had Nam. Even in the worst of the cavern, I had never been truly alone.

If someone had kept him from breaking apart in the meantime, I felt grateful.

“Thank you for your honesty,” I said. “You found me.” I took his face in my hands. “That’s the only part that matters.”

No more words were needed. I knew what he meant and he knew what I felt. I leaned closer and kissed him instead.

Our lips met soft and slow. Then I kissed harder, climbing onto him, the fire crackling warm at my back. His hands found the hem of my tunic and pulled it higher, giving me every opportunity to stop him as he lay me down. Then he tugged off my pants.

The cold air hit my skin as the fabric fell away, replaced by his warm hands tracing my shoulders, my waist, the curve of my hips.

“You are stunning, Yeri.” His eyes moved over me with a reverence that had nothing to do with the goddess and everything to do with the new me. “And in every dream I still remember your true face, but you are still the woman I love, just the same.”

I reached for him, my fingers finding the buttons of his pants, undressing him, his wings half open, the firelight catching the dark feathers and turning them bronze at the edges. I spread my palms flat against his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart beneath my hands.

Then his mouth found my jaw. The curve of my neck. Collarbone. The soft skin of my stomach. His hands followed where his mouth led, mapping every inch of me with a patience that dismantled my thoughts completely.

Then lower still.

Oh gods.

My back arched off the blanket, pleasure crashing through me in waves. I gripped his hair, fingers curling tight, hips rocking into his mouth as he took his time. He licked and tasted and lingered until I was trembling, until the sound that left me echoed off the cave walls and came back to me, ancient and untamed.

“Calroy,” I breathed.