Page 27 of Of the Stars and Sea

Distracted, I don’t see the final cannon blast that sends an attack to one of the masts behind me. The wood turns to lethal slivers and before I have a chance to duck, one of them slices through my cheek.

“Agh!” I groan, lowering beneath the cover of the railing as I reach for my face. Drawing my hand away, bright red blood shines in the sunlight. I reach for the wound again and wince as I try to feel around to see if any of the wood is still wedged into my skin. At first touch, the wound is smooth.

Wiping the blood onto my already soiled tunic, I turn to peek over the railing and immediately feelhimat my back.

“Maybe staying in your room was the smarter choice.” Grayson’s deep voice is smooth and melodic, despite the insult.

I whirl around and shove him with my good arm. He doesn’t budge an inch, which frustrates me even more. So I do the reasonable thing and shove him again.

He tilts his head back and laughs at me.

“Ah! You are awful!” I scream at him, the heat of the sun no longer a rival to the fire that sings in my veins.

He takes a step toward me. Another. And another, until I’m caged in. He has me cornered against the railing and there’s nowhere for me to go.

Refusing to look at his face, I’m forced to stare at the sliver of bronzed skin peeking through his tunic. The swell of his chest muscles drive me mad. Loathing rips through me. Why does such a hateful creature have to be sculpted by the gods? No normal male looks this good.

Turning my head to the side so I’m not tempted to reach out and see what his smooth skin might feel like beneath my fingertips, I squint against the small ray of sunlight that beams between us. His hands move to my hips and I try not to gasp as his fingers delve into my flesh. He shoves me against the railing.A jolt soars through my body and it’s not from the impact of hitting the firm wood behind me.

Grayson dips his head low until the entirety of the sun’s light is cast out in his shadow. Keeping my edge, I turn my face to the side. Not allowing for his lips—those fucking perfectly shaped lips—to get anywhere close to mine.

He runs his nose along the side of my cheek, moving further back still until he buries his face in my hair. The hairs on the back of my neck rise as he takes a deep breath in.

His lungs are full, but I can’t breathe. Can’t move a fucking inch with him this close for fear that I might lose control of my sanity and do something reckless.

Cannon fire blasts. TheCaelestia’s guns roar beneath us, but Grayson pays no mind as his lips tickle the cuff of my ear and he says, “Did I not tell you that the next time you put your hands on someone that they’d have a right to put their hands on you?”

“If you weren’t being such an ass then I wouldn’t have shoved you.” I try to lace each word with a threatening tone, but they come out breathless instead.

His laughter is warm against my skin, making my toes curl in my boots. “Oh, Little Pearl, I haven’t even shown you the worst of what I can do. You’re in for a brutal awakening if you thinkthatwas me being an ass.”

I buck against his hold, but his hands are like a vice on my hips. I try not to think about the heat budding within me as his hands splay wider, his fingers pressing firmly against me. I finally look at him, our noses nearly touching. The scent of the sea and warm cedar surrounds me, threatening to pull me under his spell.

But I won’t have it. I won’t allow this brute the satisfaction of knowing just how badly he’s getting under my skin.

“I can take care of myself,” I hiss. “I don’t need some overbearing male telling me where I should be when we’re in the middle of a fight.”

His head tilts as he assesses me. That damn smirk he wears reveals his true thoughts about me—I’m nothing more than an amusement to him.

But then he does something I don’t expect.

With a tender touch, he runs his finger close to the wound on my cheek. I wince from the contact, my skin stinging like wildfire. “Would this not suggest otherwise?” his voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it.

Blushing, I feel the creep of embarrassment. “It’s nothing.”

His eyes are wholly trained on me. A cascade of fallen stars shines amongst the churning ocean—sapphire blue and sparks of silvery white swirl in his irises. Staring into them feels as though I’m falling through some endless bound of time with nothing to hold onto except for him.

Somewhere in the distance, another round of cannon fire sounds and Grayson breaks our connection, looking above my head. In a frenzy of motion, he pulls me close to his chest, my shoulder screaming at the impact. Then we trulyarefalling. The world is a blur of browns, blues, and whites as we’re spun around and my back finally lands against something hard.

Grayson’s arms are wrapped around me, his hand cradling the back of my head as his face finally comes back into view. A parade of wood pieces rain down on us as he covers my face with his chest, bringing me closer once again.

The strong smell of gun powder and oak lingers in the air from the blast. The sound of men shouting cuts through the haze, along with the sound of boots running over the deck.

Grayson rises onto his forearms. The weight of his lower body pressed against mine feels oddly comforting as I shake myhead side to side, trying to ward the dust of the explosion away from my eyes.

In one smooth motion, Grayson lifts us both up to standing. Somehow, he avoids my wounded shoulder and I’m on my feet again.

“They’ve waved the white! Prepare to board!” a voice that sounds much like Zaos’s bellows across the deck. The sharp ringing of swords being drawn sends a chill down my spine.

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