Page 6 of Darkest Dredge

Now, I wasn't so sure.

I more than gave a damn about her.

Since meeting as college freshman in our Lovecraft studies group, she'd become my everything.

Hell, if I had it my way, I'd stay out here with her forever like this and dock only for supplies we couldn't pull from the sea.

"Don't you want to go back now?" I asked.

"Well, yes..." Her hesitance had me sitting up straight in my seat.

"But?"

"But, I don't know. Maybe we should do some more field study. On the mask. Think about it. We don't know anything about it. What proof do we have of where it came from and what it is? We need more data. Without it, who's to say they won't try to discredit us by accusing us of buying it from one of the local village craftsmen or something. And we won't have any proof to back our story up."

"Yeah... More research..." I nodded. I wasn't sure if she wanted to stay to do more field testing, or if it was just an excuse to stay out here longer, just the two of us. Maybe both. The reason didn't matter.

She wanted to stay, and that was enough for me.

"So, we stay?" I asked to clarify.

"Food supplies are good for another three weeks or so. No need to rush back so soon. We can stay and research. Gather data."

"Right. Gather data."

No sooner than the words left my mouth, my lips were on hers in a heated kiss that tasted of spiced rum and something that was uniquely her.

Her lips were immediately responsive, and her hands were on my chest in an instant. "Fuck. I've wanted this for so long, Noah."

My arms banded around her, and I scooped her into my lap. The connection was urgent, from years of the torturous question lingering between us. What if?

I always suspected it would be like this: fireworks at first kiss. The validation, knowing just how perfect she fit in my lap, was a hundred times more cathartic than finding proof of the sunken city's existence. Proof of my god's existence played second fiddle to finally holding her in my arms.

"Fucking hell, you feel so good."

Bae leaned back in my arms to hit me with a devious grin that had my cock swelling beneath her. “That's what she said.”

Chapter Four

Beatrice

The moment I uttered those fateful words, my captain's shoulders tensed and something dark and thrilling gleamed behind his amber eyes. "If you want me to zip tie you to my bed. All you had to do was ask."

Why would I when this was so much more fun?

Noah lifted me into the air as he rose to his feet with a dark smile curving his lips. My heart skipped a beat at the sailor's drunken cadence. It was strange... stoic and sure. Then again, he was always like that.

He carried me to our sleeping area. Quarters were tight, with only a narrow walkway separating our bunks. It was funny how close his bed was to mine, yet before now it had been forbidden territory.

He playfully tossed me onto the mattress, and instantly, I was swaddled by his masculine scent, salty and spicy, with just a hint of the cigarettes he sometimes smoked after a storm.

I sat up with a nervous giggle dropping from my lips and grabbed his pillow, holding it in my lap while I watched him drop to his knees.

"Oh, time for some Cthulhu worship? Can I watch?"

I was only half joking. While I didn't share Noah's religious practices, I found it fascinating, nevertheless. I was invested in finding the sunken city because of its effects on ocean life. He was interested in finding proof of the cosmic god. Proof meant more followers of Cthulhu. Which meant more people to pray and keep his evils at bay.

That's what I'd always admired about religion. It wasn't devotion to prayer out of some blind sense of dedication. It was out of necessity to keep these waters safe.