Page 37 of Shellshock

“You can forget that idea,” he growled. “If I get on your ship, ending things will be the last thing on my mind.”

She jerked. A hot, hard line of fire cut into her as if to make her drop the notion by force.

“I’m banking on you being a pirate,” he said as he adjusted the surge. “I don’t really care what you’re hiding… because Iwantto board your ship and do terrible things to you. Give me a reason.”

Her gut went tight, knowing instinctively what he meant.

But because she was a masochist, she asked him what he meant so she might hear that voice that poured straight out of her nightmares. “What do you mean,terrible things?”

“It depends.”

The belt bit her like a fiery whip.

“If you’re a pirate, I could keep you in a cell. Or, if you’re the voracious kind of pirate, chain you to my bed.” His words had her control slipping sideways.Chained to bed,she heard. She likedchained to bed.

“It depends on what you’re hiding…” he said ponderously.

She didn’t know what the fuck to say to his threats.Yes? But…

She bit her lip and adjusted herself on the sheets—but another hard lash made her collapse. Made her tear at the bedsheets as if they could help her.

“You could come clean right now.” His tone was soft and dangerous. “I’ll go easier on you if you do.”

Fuck if that energy in her belly didn’t tighten. Shelikedthe sound of him interrogating her. Threatening her. It was like he’d sensed her shame and twisted it into something even more depraved, bringing her to her knees and feeding it right back to her.

And he wasn’t done.

Good god, he was not done.

“Do you engage in acts of piracy?”

He timed it so that her reply aligned with a particularly sharp stroke, cleaving her breath in half.

“N-no.”

“Do you smuggle illegal wares?”

“No!”

He tutted. “That’s too bad, Lucca. It would have been an easy crime to atone for.”

“I’m not committing any crimes!” she insisted. Pled. She could feel him making a meal out of her—slow, thorough, relentless.

He hummed thoughtfully. “No… You’re up to something. I’ve felt it from the start.”

“What?”

“Are you running? Does that explain the secrecy?”

No… yes. Kinda?She didn’t know.

She settled on, “No.”

He kept the heat on her skin, making her sweat and ache for him. She’d twisted the sheets straight off the mattress and now she was tangled among them, caught like prey. And her poor clit felt so tight she thought it might explode if he kept this up for too much longer.

“I could keep asking questions, Lucca. I have yet to see these maps you’re making.”

“I’ll send you a fucking map tomorrow.”

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