Page 40 of The Pirate Queen of Ruin
“You are my mate, my human, my wife.”
She grabs me by the front of my stay and slams her mouth onto mine before the words even register. This round of cheers is explosive, and my body is alight with need. Love’s tentacle curls around the two of us until our bodies are pressed together. Her palm presses into the mark on my chest as both my hands cup her face.
Her wife.
The last thing I should be thinking about is how right the word sounds. Weddings and marriage are the reason I’m here at all. Not wanting to be in one is how she found me at the bottom of the bay. I should hate that she has called me that, but my mind is swimming with how the words sound on her lips. From her, the soul mate I have been fighting for, it doesn’t sound so bad. It sets my heart fluttering and giddiness actually has me smiling into this kiss.
Orthia bites my lip hard until I can taste blood again.
Instead of pulling back, this time, she thrusts her tongue into my mouth. It isn’t a tongue. Her mouth parts and a slick tentacle teases my teeth. A sucker pops against the inside of my mouth and I moan. The cheering gets louder before it morphs into something more heated. The bath activities are starting again in front of us, and it’s just egging me on. I twirl my tongue around hers, feeling every difference in her anatomy.
Only when I suck on it does she pull back, and I catch a glimpse of the thing between her wet, swollen lips. A small, teal tentacle that swipes away the evidence of our kiss.
“Go to your rooms, Delphini, you need your rest.”
“Yes,Captain.”
When I call her that this time, my meaning is different. There is no subtle annoyance or challenge. Pure desire to please guided me to say those words and I am rewarded with a pink flush to Orthia’s cheeks and a darker hunger in her gaze.
She wants me.
Chapter fourteen
Delphini
3 Days
Ithasbeenimpossibleto get a moment alone with her since she pronounced me her wife.
Aoife assigns me a new post on Wednesday morning. I am now selling the tickets for the tours, which means for eight hours a day, I am holed up in some kind of old timey ticket booth dealing with humans. She explained the role pretty basically. The one thing I have to be vigilant about is rude customers. If anyone steps out of line in any way, their ticket gets a stamp so the girls know who they can really sing to and feed off of on deck.
It’s an easy job. There is a large fan to keep me cool, and every time the ship docks between tours, someone comes to check on me. They bring me water, and after finally asking Cookie about it, the kitchen stocks matcha and coconut milk. So if I need a boost in the afternoon, someone will bring me one of those. There are also an abundance of snacks brought to me.
It gives me too much time to think. My fingers twist into the fabric of my shirt until I can feel Love’s mark on my chest. I miss myYiayia, and I want to hear her voice, but I have been too scared to call. Instead, late at night, I pull out the wedding rings she gave me and contemplate if I will ever wear them.
I have learned more about monsters in three days than I could ever have imagined. They are all so happy to explain this uncovered world to me. Everyone wants to know about me too. What my life was like and what I plan to do after my revenge.
My gut instinct is to be hesitant with telling them anything. What if they use it against me, but every mealtime, someone new is opening up, being honest about their trauma and their healing. Nobody here is hiding away from how they got here, or if they are hoping to leave at some point.
I’ve thought about that realisation a lot recently. There are no secrets, no one is using the other to get a step up on the ladder or to gain favour with Orthia. They are all here because they want to be. This is their safe space, and they want me to be a part of it.
“I want to visit myYiayiain Greece.” I admit to my regular dinner table of Nargol, Lakelynn, and Neela. “She has always been-”
“Delphini!” Orthia barks my name from the entrance of the dining hall. “Get changed and meet me in the training room.”
My body burns.
The training room in the ship is sweltering and the dagger in my hand feels like it weighs a metric fuck ton. Where there aren’t blisters all over my hand, there is sweat. I am that sweaty, my hands are slick with it.
In front of me is a magic self-healing jelly dummy who the crew uses to practise stabbing. Every time I pull the long dagger I wield from him, he fixes himself like my knife was never in his guts. Orthia and I have been at this for what feels like hours.
I want to talk about this soulmate thing with her now that we both are acknowledging it. What are her expectations? I know she wants to fuck me, but how? Does she want to be touched by me like that? I have seen how she flinches away from the touch of the others. Does she want to watch Love fuck me?
“Delphini,” she shouts my name as she paces behind Jelly Man. “Arms up, c’mon. Where are you aiming?”
“Lungs,” I groan.
“Then why did you stab him in the stomach? Again!”
