Page 19 of Hijack the Seas: Seismic

Skin-tight trousers hugged muscular calves and thighs as if he was wearing a scuba suit. They were black, with a faint green iridescence when the light hit them just right, and a subtle pattern of fish scales. Nothing hugged the equally impressive muscles of his chest as it was bare under a floor-length, sleeveless, open-front tunic in the same material. Golden armbands circled bulging biceps, probably because the fey tended to be more slightly built than humans, so that was more salt in the wound.

And there was a cape because, of course, there was.

It was made of the same almost black material and lined with matching fur that looked like sable but was probably from an aquatic creature like a beaver. These folks had a theme, and they were going with it. It also swept the floor when he carelessly threw it on and attached it in the front with golden chains.

There were no boots to finish it off. Just that blinged-out Aquaman suit and bare feet, like he was headed to some billionaires’ beach wedding. And while it should have looked ridiculous, somehow, it didn’t. It left him a pared-down, gold and black figure that resembled a cross between a merman and an ancient king.

An ancient king with a hairy chest, something else the fey didn’t usually have, but which added to the slightly barbaric air. And with the fur caressing his shoulders and the way those trousers fit, all together it was . . . it was. . . Yeah.

I needed another shower.

Pritkin noticed, and his lips quirked. “We don’t have time for that. You still need to get dressed.”

I blinked at him because I was dressed, only to notice some filmy thing lying on the bed.

I walked over to have a look, and no. Just no. In fact, hell no, I thought, holding it up.

Its weave was so fine that it was practically transparent despite having about ten layers of material. It was pretty, in a soft blue to match my eyes, and floaty enough to make my armor’s alter ego look like heavy wool. But it was still a no.

I dropped it back on the bed.

“Why did I think that would be your reaction?” he murmured against my neck.

I turned my head and there he was, eyes sparkling with mischief because he was enjoying this. “I’m not doing girlie-girl today,” I told him.

“What are you doing?”

“Wartime Pythia. It’s a look.”

“It is indeed.”

Lips found my neck, quickly followed by teeth. They didn’t bite down, at least not hard, but it was right over the mark that Mircea had left when he claimed me. Pritkin deliberately traced it with his tongue, taking his time, learning every slight ridge and dip in the skin.

And causing a shudder to shoot through me like lightning.

It reminded me of the one and only time that all three of us had been together . . . like that. It had been a desperate attempt to fully utilize our power, which was linked by incubus energy, and fight off a god, and it had worked. But I’d been so busy not dying that I didn’t remember much of it.

Probably just as well, I thought, as liquid heat spread through my body, rushing down my spine, arms, and legs until everything tingled with it.

Everything.

Then he bit down, still not hard, but enough that I felt it. Enough that my body jerked several times and then kept on trembling as sensation after sensation crashed through me. Okay, I did remember a little bit, I thought, my mouth going dry, so much so that I had difficulty getting words out.

“I thought . . . you said . . . we didn’t have time,” I gasped as strong arms came around me.

“We don’t.”

“So, what—”

“So, let them wait.”

***

We were late. We were, like, seriously late. Maybe an hour or more, I didn’t even know. I was still trying to slick my hair back down and hoping that the trip through a bunch of broad, cool corridors had faded some of the blush from my cheeks.

I didn’t even know why I was blushing. I didn’t have anything to blush about! Pritkin and I had been together before, and it had always been, uh, memorable.

But today had been even more so. To the point that I’d started to wonder if there was something in the water around here when we suddenly arrived. And I do mean suddenly.

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