Page 86 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

“Little Star.” His voice was barely a whisper now, rough at the edges. “You are going to be the end of me.”

“No.” The word came out quiet but certain. “I think I’m going to be the beginning of you.”

I had no idea why I said that. It simply came out of me, like something I’d always known.

His eyes widened—surprised, stunned, I couldn’t tell which.

Then he kissed me.

Slow. Soft. Tender in a way I hadn’t expected from him. His kiss and the gentleness undid me. My hands found his hair and I pulled him closer, pressing into the kiss with a certainty that surprised me. It felt natural. Like a memory. Like my body had always known.

His hands roamed the curve of my waist, my ribs, mapping me like the way a pirate does on a mission.

“Gods.” His voice came out rough against my mouth. “You taste even better than I imagined. I want you under me, Little Star. I want to explore every part of you.”

My breath came heavy. I didn’t let go of his hair.

He lifted my leg, hooking it at his hip, and I felt him—all of him—and the sound that escaped me was a sound I’d never made before.

He pressed me harder into the wall, rocking against me in a rhythm that dissolved every thought I’d ever had. His mouth never left mine, the kiss deepening until I forgot where I ended and he began.

Something built low and bright inside me, tightening with every movement until it broke— warmth crashing through me in waves, pleasure so unfamiliar and complete that I gasped against his lips.

He pulled back just enough to look at me, chest heaving, eyes dark. Not the cool blue of moments ago.

“Don’t stop.” I kissed the curve of his neck, my hands roaming the planes of his bare chest. When I touched his hardness, he groaned and felt emboldened.

I had him.

I, who had been bought, sold, and commanded—I had him undone. It felt like power. Like a language my body had never been given permission to use. But I wasn’t ready to give him everything. Not yet. Not when trust still sat unfinished between us.

I should pull away.

I didn’t. Not when my back met the mattress and he settled over me, not when the ache between my legs became urgent and throbbing, needing to be fulfilled.

“I’ve wanted you since the day I saw you at the auction.” His voice came rough against my ear. “I don’t understand what spell you’ve cast on me, Little Star. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

I felt the same but I didn’t tell him.

The more he spoke, the more his words worked their way through my defenses.

“I’m not going to do anything you’re not ready for.” He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, his own still dark. “But I will give you something to think about every time you look at me.”

His mouth went lower. He didn’t remove my pants, but he might as well have. His fingers moved between my legs in slow strokes and I fisted the blanket, hips rocking into his hand, matching his rhythm.

“You know,” he murmured against my skin, his fingers moving faster while his other arm snaked beneath my neck, “you still owe me that dagger.”

“I — I —” What had he just said?

My back arched off the mattress, pleasure crashing through every nerve, toes curling as wave after wave broke through me. Then he lowered himself and his mouth replaced his fingers while his hands cupped my breasts.

His mouth—gods, that mouth—did things I never thought impossible. I gripped his hair, then his broad shoulders, fingers raking down his back taking in the pleasure he gave.

And then I wasn’t in his chamber anymore.

We were somewhere else. Somewhere that felt like a distant memory that didn’t belong to me. The sea and a cavern mouth open to the sky. The rocky walls were slick with spray, the air thick with salt. And Theron, wearing dark wings folded at his back. Our bodies tangled just like this, only nothing between us. Skin and starlight and the sound of the sea.

I called his name but it didn’t sound familiar. What just happened?