Page 33 of Ruthless Scoundrel
The pounding rain fades into the background as I remember my mother’s kind, strong face. I wonder if the spots down the side of my little sister’s face faded as she aged. She’s eighteen now.
I’ve missed so much.
They’ve missed so much.
I picture them in our home hard at work. My father hones his rune-writing, drawing the scrawling symbols of the gods into a coral knife for my first deep-sea hunt. My sister weaves her dark hair with nimble fingers, tying it up and away from her face. Mother returns from a council meeting with a fresh kill she picked up on the way back.
But then wails of fear carry over the rushing sound of the sea. Mother pushes me against the wall and I slip into the crack. They swim away, leaving me stuck in the dwelling. I pull on my tentacles and squirm to escape.
The fearful cries transform into pained screams. I rip and tear at myself to get free, finally falling from the crack in the wall. I swim toward the sounds of selkies being captured, but I’m not fast enough. I’m just a little octopus.
Ki’ah Ohn in thick suits made of gold metal descend from above. Bubbles expel from their joints as they descend. Theyraise harpoon guns and fire nets that bind my family and shimmer like orange crystals. For a moment I’m fascinated, but that wonder quickly turns to dread.
There’s something about the nets that prevents selkie magic because my mother can’t create jets of water to push the enemy away no matter how hard she tries. Something is preventingmymagic, too. I can’t shift into my selkie form.
I crawl across the rocks and coral as fast as my tentacles will take me toward them, but the golden Ki’ah Ohn are dragging them away so quickly. Up to the surface they disappear, while I’m stuck on the ocean floor.
Inky purple blood swirls on the current above me. It reeks of greed and desperation. I can’t get it out of my gills. It’s surrounding me, blocking out the rest of the sea. I’m suffocating.
I wake with a start, gasping on the thin air around me. It smells like the sweetest lust, causing dissonance. My heart pounds as I feel the body curled up with me, so warm and beautiful. She’s rolled in her sleep, putting her back to me like I’m shelter. I will be her shelter.
She’s so precious. So rare.
Ohksana’amai.
Her hair is soft and messy. It’s easy to push my face into it and disappear.
So I do.
Chapter ten
Reina
Consciousness grips me from a deep sleep. It tastes like I mouth-breathed all night. Jasper’s arms are tight around my stomach and shoulders, holding me against him. I hate that I don’t hate the way it feels.
Something twitches against my backside. It happens again, and suddenly I realize what it is. I shove out of his arms and pull away.
Jasper glares at me. “What’s this about not getting up before dawn?”
“You. Have. An erection!” I yell, unable to stop myself from pointing at the thick outline of it in his pants.
“What of it?” he says, his voice tired and bored.
“You…you’re…” My face is getting hot just thinking about the word.
He grins. “I’m dashingly handsome? Well-hung?”
“Aroused!” My voice squeaks out of me weakly and I’m so ashamed. Where is the daughter of the rebellion who faces downdeath with a steady hand? What happened to the fire in my stomach that made me powerful?
Jasper chuckles. “I’m notaroused. Every man gets an erection while sleeping.”
“Well, make it stop,” I say, arms crossed.
His grin transforms into a leer. “Is my hard cock making you uncomfortable, princess?”
“Don’t call it that! Don’t talk about it. Just…put it away,” I say, my mouth growing drier by the second.
“That’s not how dicks work,” he says, closing his eyes with a sleepy smile.
