Page 10 of Pirate Witch
Ry turns over in his sleep as soon as I’m out of his arms, but doesn’t wake. My vampire is a surprisingly heavy sleeper, and I smile as he lets out a light snore.
Goddess, I love that male.
Kier releases my hand as soon as I’m on my own two feet. For a second, I almost mourn the loss of his cold skin against mine, but the fae isn’t letting me go. He sweeps one arm around my waist, pulling me into him until our hips brush. Of all my mates, my fae is the closest to me in height, and I’m grateful for that, because it means there’s less distance between our mouths as he descends on me.
Kier kisses me with such fevered reverence that I almost want to cry. The kiss is a thank you, a promise, and a heartfelt apology all in one. His lips move on mine with a hint of desperation, made bittersweet by the chill that coats both of us from his loss of control. I press my thighs together, trying to alleviate the ache that’s growing by the second.
When we pull apart, we’re both breathing heavily. I’m not going to object if he wants to take things further. Yet my fae releases me with a small smile. It could just be the frost of his powers, but I swear for a second I see wetness gathering at the corners of his eyes before he blinks it away.
“After,” he promises.
I nod, biting my lip. I’m horny as hell, but I can respect his decision. If he doesn’t want to go any further until the bargain is broken and his curse is lifted, then I won’t push. It’s probably sensible of him, even if my ovaries can’t appreciate that right now.
My fae presses a final kiss to my forehead, then turns and starts to leave. Only the instant he opens the door, Opal zooms in with her hair standing on end. My familiar heads straight for me, clawing her way onto the windowsill with an angry hiss and pacing along it as she shoots distrustful glances at my two mates.
Kier looks between us, frowning, but I smile and shrug, letting him know it’s okay to leave.
“They tried togroomme!”Opal hisses at the closing door.“That stupid siren distracted me with tuna. I wastricked! The moment my back was turned, BANG, your mage came after me with abrush.”She hasn’t stopped hissing or pacing, and I can’t help my grin.
I can’t wait to see what Klaus’s and Val’s arms look like now.
“We need to remove our sigils from that mage immediately!”Opal continues.“I couldn’t even defend myself becausesomeonedecided to protect him from harm!”
“Youareshedding,” I point out.
“That has nothing to do with it. They’ve been planning this, scheming behind my back. Plotting. How else would they have a brush?”Opal is in full rant mode.“I can’t trust any of them. Even the vampire might be compromised.”She shoots a look at Rysen, who is still somehow asleep despite the racket she’s making.
I sigh and carefully approach her, drawing her into the moonlight so I can at least fill her with magic while she wears herself out. The silvery glow overtakes the two of us, but Opal doesn’t even seem to notice.
“To make it worse, they went after the dog next, and he just stood there! What self-respecting steed just stands there and endures such torture?”
I can’t help snorting at that, but Opal is too caught up in her rant to notice. The moon’s glow leaves the two of us, and I scoop her fluffy body into my arms. My familiar stops her ranting just long enough to rub her face affectionately across my collarbone before continuing.
Snuggling her, I bury my face in her fur and wait for her to rant herself to sleep. It only takes a few minutes until she’s snoozing in my arms.
ChapterFour
CASIMIR
Three days of sitting beneath the foremast with Klaus, trying to think about breathing is all it takes for me to give up. Nilsa and I worked at it, we really did, but meditating is clearly not for the likes of us. We fidget, peek, open our eyes, yawn, and pretty much do anything and everything to accidentally piss off the siren and my twin.
At least Nos does well at it when he’s not glaring at me. My twin makes sitting on the deck, thinking about breathing, seem like the most natural thing in the world. I swear he’s already as good as Klaus. Sometimes, he’s so peaceful that we don’t even notice he’s having a vision until his eyes start moving behind his lids.
He still falls into visions outside of meditation here and there, but they’re shorter—less strenuous—and he doesn’t seem to be as groggy when he comes out of them.
All in all, it’s a success. It helps that we can practically feel the approval of the rest of the crew. Shifters are pack animals, and their encouragement does a lot to help our own drive. On the second day, Val judges us both stable enough to join in when we’re attacked by yetanothervessel. His only condition was that we keep to our human forms.
Nos’s hold on his beast is still rough, but he managed it. Without his leviathan challenging mine, I didn’t even lose control of my scales.
His hold on his other half is better now than it has been in weeks. So we’ve agreed it’s time for us to deal with our mate’s second request. Sorting out the issue of which of us is dominant.
That’s why the whole crew is gathered on the deck, staring at the ocean with a range of expressions. Kier and Ry look pensive, Klaus and Nilsa worried, and Val is downright pissed—or maybe that’s just his resting face, it’s hard to tell. He’s already given both of us a lecture about what hell he’ll unleash on us both if we damage his ship.
It’s dark, and the light from theDeadwood’storches flickers over the calm waves. Normally, it’s a beautiful sight, but I can’t appreciate it right now.
Beside me, my twin is shaking, and I don’t blame him. I feel like an asshole who’s about to kick his younger, blind brother in the ass for the sake of our beasts’ archaic demands.
“We don’t have to do this now,” I offer, because I’m just as nervous as he is.
