AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Smee crosses her arms, her brow furrowing. “Care to explain?”
Nelvin sits back in his seat, touching his fingertips together in a wavelike motion. “I saw Sebastian leaving her room last night before the storm hit. And then he abandoned Zephyr and me on the deck right after the beast attacked because his witchling got horny. He’s like a teenager.”
I grit my teeth, shooting a glare at Nelvin. My face flushes with heat, but there’s no use denying it. Scarlet has wormed her way into my thoughts and desires, making it impossible for me to focus on anything else. I haven’t been able to resist her urges—or whatever he wants to call them.
“Nelvin! There were so many better ways to put that,” Zephyr shouts, lifting from his chair. Lorian holds his arm out, holding him back.
“It’s the truth! As our new captain, she has a right to know,” Nelvin says, gesturing wildly with his hands. “You all saw him. The guy popped a boner on the deck. Do you think the barnacles on the wreckage gave that to him? No.”
“Thanks,” I mutter sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at Nelvin.
Smee turns to me, her posture oozing attitude, “Tell me you did not fuck her after we’d just found out she was a blood witch.”
I avoid her piercing gaze, instead focusing on straightening the papers on the table. “I... I did not have sex with her immediately after.” I shake my head, jutting out my lower lip.
“Let me be more specific. Have you since we found out?” Smee snaps, and I clear my throat, unable to answer.
“Gods, Sebastian...” She rolls her eyes, her entire head following the motion.
I still can’t bring myself to look at her when I answer, “Yes, but you gave her that book—“
“There are no buts!” Smee interrupts, silencing me with a wave of her hand. “You knew the woman was a hag and still decided to fucking play with it?”
My anger flares in an instant, and I glare daggers at my sister. “I’d like to advise you to refrain from calling my wife a hag. Her name is Scarlet, and I just told you that I believe she was wrongfully marked. So does Zephyr.”
Smee stares at me, her eyes wide with shock. Then she picks up the captain’s hat from the table and looks away. “In that case, I’m listening. How do you tame the raging hormones—emotions, whatever this is? I feel like that’s the priority while we get the sails up...”
“Clearly he and the princess are into each other,” Nelvin says, teetering his weight onto the back legs of his chair. “Maybe they should just get it out of their system. Sure, he’ll still be smitten, but it’s like a new toy. Once you’ve played with it once or twice—ten times, whatever—you still like it, but you’re not as obsessed with it as you were.”
Smee narrows her big brown eyes at Nelvin. “And that’s precisely why you’ll be sleeping on the deck tonight.”
Nelvin holds up his hands in surrender, a smirk playing on his lips. “I wasn’t referring to you, love. You’ll always be shiny and new to me.”
Smee’s glare intensifies. “Oh, cram it up your arse.”
He licks his lips and mutters a playful, “Yes, milady,” before falling silent.
I’ll never understand them or the dynamic they share. I love them both, but they fight more than anyone else on this ship.
Zephyr rubs his hands together. “I think Nelvin’s right,” he admits reluctantly before glancing at me. “Sorry... or maybe I should say congrats?”
Smee turns her attention back to me. “You going to comment?”
“I don’t know... I’m not sure that would work. Every time we’ve been intimate, it’s like the need becomes stronger. It’s like a craving that I can’t shake.”
Zephyr chuckles, drawing his hand down his face. “That’s because it’s a mate bond—well, essentially. It gets better, but it takes time. In the beginning, you want to live, eat, and breathe your other half, but it does settle and like Nelvin tried to say, there will come a point when you just know they’ll be there when you need them, and not so much like you have to do things now because you won’t get a chance later.”
“It’s actually customary to spend weeks alone when a couple bond. You only got a night, and since then it’s been chaos. And if the bond isn’t reciprocated, she’s not going to understand that she needs to avoid certain things while the bond is still new,” Lorian says, squeezing Zephyr’s hand and casting him a sideways look.
“I don’t even know which feelings are hers and which are mine, but I’m starting to think they’re all hers? While she was under the ether, I got to experience just mine again, and it’s nothing in comparison. The only thing I can truly feel to her extent is anger. But it feels real, like they’re mine. It’s hard to explain.” I twirl my rings around my fingers, trying to avoid their eyes as much as possible. This conversation can’t get any more embarrassing.
“Give me an example,” Smee demands, crossing her arms. I stand corrected. Now it can’t.
“Before the storm,” I begin, my mind racing back to the vivid memory, “she decided to read the book you left her and it just... Her mind ran with it. Next thing I know, I’m in her room, pinning her down with my shadows. I literally couldn’t fight myself anymore. I knew going in there was going to give her the wrong impression and I tried not to, but even after things were said and done, I had to drag myself from her room. It wasn’t easy. I’ve never had a thing for tying women up. Ever. I don’t even understand why people want to do it to their partner, but for some reason...” I trail off, not wanting to finish that sentence out loud.
The crew exchanges glances as they take in my confession. I can feel the weight of their judgment in the air, just as I could the lightning from that storm.
Smee shakes her head, her lips pursed in disapproval. “Gods, help me. I swear I’m having the birds and bees talk at this point, but sometimes, people don’t want to be in control. They want to just have someone else do it for a change, but they don’t know how to not be in control all the time. Tying them up forces them to do so.”
