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Croygen took my hand, pulling me into another pub. And I let the devil take me…
Willingly.
Chapter 13
Katrina
The tavern held a reckless type of hopelessness. Some were sitting at a table silently staring off in grave contemplation, a drink away from stumbling home drunk or pulling out their gun to end it all. Others were boisterous and loud, drinking away the weight of the world and pretending all was okay, but their anger walked a high-wire act the more they consumed. Prostitutes threaded through, finding their mark among the drunk and willing.
“Two whiskeys,” Croygen ordered at the bar, his gaze moving over the room, assessing everyone in the place the same way I was. We didn’t get to be where we were without knowing every player, threat, or potential target in the room.
The barkeep slid our drinks to us from a non-labeled bottle, the harsh scent already telling me the so-called whiskey was barely that.
Croygen tapped his glass against mine, downing a gulp, his brows flinching at the taste. “Fuck.” He coughed. “I miss the Scotsman’s stash. This is shit.”
Trying not to cringe, I swallowed mine down.
“I miss Moses’s rum. He made his own, and it could knock you on your ass without even knowing it.” Grief arrowed through my chest speaking of him. I tried to keep my mind off what my crew was going through, to not imagine how they were suffering. It did me no good right now, but they snuck in more than I let on.
Croygen watched me, his body turning to me. “Tell me how you met them. How you became captain.”
Staring out, I watched the people in the bar, unable to look at Croygen.
“Gage, I met on the streets after I ran away from school,” I said. “Part of a street gang which got rounded up by the constable. They were all sentenced to die because of their crimes, though I think it was because, deep down, people knew they were different. Feared them. They were put in holding stocks until their execution. I picked the locks, getting a few of them out before they were hung.” I sipped more of the alcohol, my tongue spilling out the story. “He stayed by my side from there on out. I saved Typhoon and Hurricane from a slave-trading ship heading to the Caribbean. Dobbs and Polly I got when I claimed a trading ship, and they chose to stay on after. Zuri and Moses found me. And little Ruby.” I swallowed. “Well, I spotted her trying to steal some food, and she reminded me so much of Kill and me…” I tapered off, Killian’s name sticking in my throat.
“Of you andKillian,” Croygen finished for me, his gaze steady on me. “I’m gonna ask once again, where is he now? Why did he leave you?”
“I told you why.” I shifted against the bar, my head turning away like everything else was much more interesting.
“And I think there’s more to it.”
“I think you want there to be more to it.”
A rumble coiled into my ear, my skin prickling at the vibration. “Look at me, Kitten.”
I huffed, not giving in to his demand.
“I said look at me.” His fingers clasped my chin, tugging my face to him, his body looming over mine, his gaze searching. “He loved you, wanted you more than anything, andallyou thought about wasme, isn’t that right? You let him walk right out of your life.”
“Because I vowed tokillyou,” I snarled. His fingers burned into my skin, sparking down through my legs.
“If youvowedto kill me?” He smirked. “I’d already be dead. But not only am I not…” He moved in closer, his body heat covering mine like a blanket, his voice low. “Against all your so-called values and promises, you’ve ridden my cock like it was your only obsession in this world. Your pussy gripped me so tight I could feel you fuckin’brandingme. And you want more. Admit it, Kitten.”
Fire licked up my muscles, my breath puffing out. I felt seen. Vulnerable. Defenseless.
“Fuck you.” I jerked away from his hold, fury blazing from every syllable. “There is nothing to admit except I made ahugemistake,” I spat. “And you don’t know me. How I feel. I loved Killian. He’s ten times the man you are. At least he’s honest and faithful.”
“Like a fucking dog.” He gripped the back of my head, yanking me back into his frame, his fingers digging into my hair, pointing my face to him, his eyes darkening. “Killian never stood a chance because I’m all you’ve wanted,” he growled against my ear. My body lost all fight when his thick cock pushed into my stomach. “All you’veeverwanted.”
There was truth in his statement. Since I was a teenager, Croygen had been the only man I wanted. To kill or fuck, sometimes all at once. I thought of no one else but him.
“And you are my curse, Katrina.” His mouth brushed my ear. “But fuck… When I was inside you, you felt like my savior.”
His words evaporated the last of my rationality, and I let the devil take me down.
I gripped his shirt, yanking him to me, my mouth crashing into his with a vengeance. The moment our lips touched, every wall between us shattered like glass.
A noise rattled in his throat, and his grip on the back of my head tightened, flattening my body completely against his, allowing me to feel every inch of him. My brain was already hazy from drink, but kissing him made everything melt away, as if I reached inside, touched his mind, and invaded his soul.
