Page 174 of Her Blood Revenge

I worry that he Shaw has found his freedom and decided to keep it in his own way and not share it with us.

With me.

I lean back into Dorian and look out at the endless blue before us.

Below deck, I have kept Shaw’s body safe inside a silk-lined coffin. I want him comfortable. I check on him every day. There’s not a hint of decay to be seen. It’s like he’s simply sleeping.

But he’s cold, unbreathing and unmoving.

‘How long until we arrive?’ I ask.

‘Who knows,’ he groans. ‘A day. A year. We’re going off of Archie’s directions here, so we may end up in the southern poles encased in ice.’

I know he can feel the ache in my heart. I try to hide it, but I know I can’t. He feels what I feel through our link. He holds me closer.

‘I may have saved you from hell. But what he’s done has secured your future. When he’s finished, I know he’ll come back to us.’

‘He can’t kill everyone.’

‘I’m pretty sure he could if he really wanted to.’

‘Then I don’twanthim to.’ I sigh. ‘Iwanthim to come home. What if he’s forgotten about us? What if he doesn’t want to come back?’

He kisses my neck and sighs deeply, releasing his own grief in that breath. It travels the length of me, makingme shudder. I know he has thought the same. It’s crossed all our minds.

‘He’ll come back to you,’ he repeats.

Archie joins us on deck, stretching his arms wide and yawning heavily.

‘Morning.’

He reaches around us and slams his lips on mine, claiming his kiss before peering up at Dorian.

‘And good morning to you, a giant swarm of terrifying shadows with a twelve-inch cock.’

‘Why must you speak?’ Dorian groans. ‘You’re so nice to look at until you speak.’

‘Why must you blush,’ Archie grins. ‘Catch anything for breakfast yet?’

‘Not yet.’ Dorian grabs him and tosses him overboard. Archie yells with a whoop and a deep laugh as he falls and lands in the water with a splash. ‘Let me know how you get on, though,’ he chuckles, watching Archie perform a leisurely backstroke as he looks up at me.

‘The water is beautiful,’ he calls back up to us as we laugh, watching him over the edge of the ship. ‘Come join me, my earth goddess.’

‘I told you to quit calling me that, wolf boy!’ I chuckle back.

‘That’s wolfmanto you, Pix. Or wolf lord. Maybe Wolf Master? Or perhaps even ‘Wolf-oh harder, harder, harder!’ he teases, his voice high as he mimics me. ‘Now get in here, and let me fuck you senseless.’

Dorian grips my hips and tosses me overboard. As I let out a yelp, falling to the water, I can’t help but feel a rush of excitementcourse through me as fast as the wind whips past me.

I land with a splash, and Archie is quick to pull me into him. My legs wrap around his waist, and I laugh with my whole heart as he peers up at me.

‘Don’t let her drown, Arch.’

‘Not in a million fucking years,’ he says softly, looking up at me.

‘You mentioned some senseless fucking, My wolf lord.’

‘I think you’ll find my name…’ He slides my skirt up and bunches it around my waist as I free his length from his trousers. ‘Is actually‘Lord Wolf oh harder. Harder. Harder!’