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“Damn the hells,” Erik cursed under his breath, then lifted his gaze to me. “I must go. Tidecaller will come for you soon.”
A frigid surge cooled the heat in my veins as he reeled back. There was a distinct absence without him near and I hated it in a way I couldn’t explain. A bond. We were unwittingly bonded, that was all.
But it wasn’t. I’d never wanted a man the way I wanted Erik Bloodsinger, and I did not know what sort of woman that made me.
He refastened his belt. For a long moment, Erik hesitated, then he leaned over and bruised my lips with his kiss. When he pulled away, he whispered, “Still hate me?”
“Always,” I said, desperate to either shove him back or pull him close. I gripped the quilts.
Erik’s mouth turned up in a half grin, but his words were rife in something soft, something vulnerable. “Hate me all you want, but don’t regret me. Promise me that.”
Then I was left alone and wanting.
Don’t regret me. If I were wise, that was exactly what I should do. I ought to regret letting my enemy put his mouth on my skin. I should retch at the idea he’d drawn out pleasure and sounds I didn’t know I could make.
I should regret Erik Bloodsinger, but I didn’t. I wasn’t certain I ever would.
CHAPTER26
The Serpent
I’d lost my damn mind.
Long after the crew went to sleep belowdecks, I stood alone on the main deck and wiped my thumb over my lips. I could still imagine Livia’s pleasure there and had to swallow the damn moan that wanted to slide free at the thought of her heat, her taste, her scent buried in my tongue.
I could spend the rest of my days with my mouth on her body, and I’d consider it a life well lived.
She’d never been touched, but I’d never done that to a woman.
Any females invited into my bed were kept turned away, never considered a lover, more a body to relieve the ache in my cock when I tired of my own hand.
A bond. Livia had taken on the power of the mantle, and unknowingly bonded to me as the king. Itcouldn’tbe more. Weaknesses were made when the heart opened its weeping sinews and let sweeter feelings inside.
A wretch named Hans Skulleater manned the helm tonight, and his deep timbre hummed the song. The moon was at its highest point and cast a cold light over the black laths of the deck.
I tore into a dry oat roll, leaned over the rail near the bow, and watched the dark water lap against the hull. How was I to manage the truth of my beautiful captive once we reached the royal city?
Not many of the crew had borne witness to Livia’s bloom, and I wanted to keep it that way. Desperation had grown into the bones of Ever Folk. It would take one slash of a blade from some poor bastard who believed spilling her blood might heal it all.
I wouldn’t be able to hide the truth of what Livia was from the house lords for long, but she needed to be claimed, she needed the respect and prestige of being the king’s first.
The woman was prone to tumultuous thoughts and unease, but tonight it was me who could not calm the race of my pulse. I closed my eyes. Long ago, I dashed any limits of morality I would cross to save the Ever. It didn’t matter who had to die, what twisted spells I needed to create, I’d do it.
The points of the swallow wings dug into my palms.
For the first time, I considered I might’ve reached a limit I couldn’t cross. I could imagine killing her father, mother, even the pup. But now, the thought of watching light leave Livia’s eyes because of my actions left a rancid burn in my stomach.
It was a good thing my father was dead, or he’d tear out my heart for being such a weak link in his long line of brutal kings.
“Dammit.” A soft curse came at my back.
Livia rounded the mast dressed in a canvas coat too big for her body. The braids in her hair had been taken out, and wind blew the dark curls wild and free around her cheeks.
I couldn’t look away, yet at the sight of me, she frowned and spun back the way she’d come.
“Songbird,” I said, grinning. “What has you wandering about so late at night?”
“No reasons I’d tell you.”
