Page 112 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
“I wish you would let me put you in navy blue, I think it would look so good with your complexion,” Noe mumbled before scribbling upon the paper she was inspecting.
“Asher is wearing white, I need to be more subtle so she can shine. It is her special day after all.”
“It is more your special day than mine, you desperate demon. Plus, I will look fantastic regardless, thank you very much.”
“Blue goes great with white!” Noe shouted.
“Just put me in black, please. You can wear blue instead,” I scoffed. No way was I wearing the color of fucking Maliha.
“I am not the groom, dumbass! You are so, so annoying, Bell.”
“I will toast to that,” Damon shouted with a snort. Soon, everyone—even Asher—was raising their glasses before dumping them back.
Stories began, and I was lost in the sounds, my focus solely on the canvas before me. That was, until Asher reached up and grabbed my hand, placing a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth that was still swollen from her affection earlier. I noted the new tattoo on her wrist, my heart breaking at the meaning behind it. Sterling had an exact replica on his left wrist, the two of them having snuck off to see Shah the other night. Together they made a particularly fucked up pair.
Then again, so did we all.
“I love you,” I whispered against her lips after turning my head.
Laughing, she mumbled, “I love you more.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Perdita
Dima had been difficult to find.
I had used the conche she gave mefive fucking timesand received no response, until suddenly, the crew heard her. She sang to us, drawing Bek into her web like a spider on the hunt. My right hand took us to the creature beneath the sea, steering us to what would be our doom if not for the fact that Dima would never kill us. She had no one else.
Within minutes, Dima boarded the ship. She was fully nude, her lavender eyes sharp as they took in my crew. Her crew, in a way. She still had a place with us, even if it was not necessarily at my side. Accepting that might be difficult, but she could manage.
“Storm,” I signed as she slowly approached me. My lips split in two, a yawning chasm of delight at the sight of her. She knew how much I loved her body, but she secretly delighted in how desperately I needed her magic. And, at the moment, I was prepared to beg for it.
In no reality could I do enough damage and cause enough trouble to warrant Blue’s involvement without her. So, when she slapped me across the face, I took the slight with dignity and little to no anger. Kicking her off the ship had not been a good idea.
“Dima, my love. I would like to apologize for how I acted—how awful I was. Incorrigible. Heinous. Outright undeserving of life.” Okay, maybe I was laying it on a bit too thick. Clearing my throat, I pulled out a tangle of red roses that I had wrapped up in white string.
Storm took them with little to no interest. But her eyes gave her away. She missed me. The longing in her slouched face and wide stare was obvious. Like any good pirate captain, I seized the moment.
“What do you say to eating a few weak sailors and then letting me devour you?”
“Fine, but I am sleeping in your quarters and you are not allowed to finish,” she signed back, her movements slow from disuse.
“You drive a hard bargain, but deal.”
***
I would never get over the jaw dropping sight that was watching Dima consume living beings. Clearly she was in a mood, because she did not bother to kill them first. She just started ripping off chunks of their skin with her teeth and swallowing the pieces. Fitting, seeing as they had refused to tell me where their goldwas. I had spent a whole three minutes searching. That was wasted time that completely fucked with our schedule. The utter audacity.
Dima stood, drenched in the blood of the male she had eaten cock first, and turned to me.
“We make a great team,” I signed. Storm smiled at me, her teeth nearly black from the blood. “You truly are a queen.”
“By blood. On these seas I am merely death. Now come make me scream in ecstasy.”
***
Days passed with no word from her. Lian was far less predictable than Dima, but I knew she would find us. She had to. I was staining the seas around her realm red. Prince Bellamy Ayad would not stand for it, and she would be the one sent again.
