Page 22 of Onyx Realm

“You have thirty seconds, prinkípissa.”

I sprinted from the waves as though a great white was hot on my heels. The soft sand sank under my feet, but I made it to him in record time. Just as I reached to snatch the garment, he lifted it higher.

“Hey!” I protested.

“Twenty-eight, twenty-nine—”

Oh, holy mother!

“Thirty.” He turned. His smile was slow, predatory.

“You cheat,” I hissed, covering myself with my arm and hand splayed low. “You said you wouldn’t look, and there was no way that was thirty.”

“Why would I deprive myself when the view is so...captivating?” he drawled.

Heat seared my skin as he dropped his gaze.

Something about his bold, unrepentant look brought out a fire in me. I dropped my hand, and then my arm, bearing myself to him. He wanted to see his captive—fine.

I wanted to see him.

This close, it surprised me again how large he was. Not only taller than me, as most people were, but he was broad, the muscles visible through his linen shirt. The heat flowed south, concentrating between my legs. What would it be like to have that body pressed into mine? Part of me, some insane little fiend, wanted him to pin me to the sand.

“May I have my gown back?” I snapped.

“Say please,” he murmured, voice velvety and seductive.

My pussy pulsed at the sound.

“You’re intolerable!”

He shrugged. “One thing you should know about me is that I don’t play by the rules.”

A word flitted through my mind, the description too perfect not to use. “May I please have my nightgown, pirate?” I hissed through clenched teeth.

“You’re beautiful when you’re angry,” he mused softly.

But he handed me the gown.

I ripped it from his fingers and tugged it over my head. The white material soaked up the water and clung to my skin—doing nothing to cover me. His gaze dipped again, this time focusing on my tight nipples.

“I warned you about going out at night,” he drawled.

“I haven’t seen a single monster out here.” I took a step past him, but his hand shot out and gripped my wrist hard.

“Haven’t you?”

My stomach did a little flip—but not from fear.

Oh...Oh!He wasn’t warning me about the village. That warning was about himself.

And here I was, caught alone with him on the beach. I should be frightened. This man had me kidnapped, not on purpose, but if he was capable of that, what else would he do?

And yet I let him pull me close.

His scent—sandalwood and something darker, earthier—enveloped me as he pulled me against his chest. My damp nightgown might as well have been nonexistent; I could feel every hard plane of his body pressing against mine. He bent low, closing the distance.

“Do you know what happens to little mermaids who swim after dark?” he whispered, his lips brushing my ear.

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