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I step inside my cabin and sit down on the bed, the top of my head just grazing the bunk above. He stands in the doorway, looking around.

“Do you like it in here?” he asks idly.

“Very much. I do wish there was a mirror above the basin. I’d like to see how I look before I start the day.”

“I can be your mirror,” he says, leaning against the doorframe. “And I’ll be the first to tell you that you look prettier than a peach. So, what can I help you with?”

Suddenly I feel very small and very awkward. I point at the seat at the desk.

He’s about to sit down but I jerk my chin toward the door. He goes and closes it then sits down across from me. Now that guarded blasé look on his face fades a bit and his brows come together in concern as he leans forward, elbows on his thighs. “What is it?”

“I wanted to apologize for acting strangely lately,” I say, staring down at my hands in my lap, wincing at the dirt under my fingernails. “I know I’ve been short with you and I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“Maren,” he says, waiting a beat. I glance up at him and he gives me a smile that’s both soft and lopsided. “I really don’t like it when you apologize. In fact, I’d wager you apologize entirely too much.” I open my mouth to say I’m sorry but he raises his finger. “Ah, see. There you go. Please, do stop that. There is no need, especially not with me. You understand that, don’t ya?”

“I do,” I say, warmth flooding through my chest, making me feel lighter. The idea that I don’t have to say sorry to this man is liberating. Not that I will listen, not that I won’t need to, but compared to my years of apologizing for even breathing, it feels like a tonic to the soul.

“But what I do want to know is why you were short to me to begin with. Every time I looked your way, luv, you acted like I wasn’t even there. Just a ghost on the ship with you.”

I chew on my lower lip for a moment, trying to figure out how much to say, if anything at all. With his gaze on me so intensely, it makes me feel that much more vulnerable. “I guess I’ve been…” I start, still avoiding his eyes. “I’ve been scaring myself.”

“How so?”

I manage to look at him, caught in his gray gaze. “You told me many wonderful things the other night.”

“Aye,” he says, running a hand over his chin, his beard grown in and making a scratchy noise. “I don’t know whether you found them wonderful or not but I did. And I meant it, too, if that’s what you’re worried about. I make no false claims when it comes to you, luv, you belong to me body and soul, heart and spirit.” He pauses and gives me a breathtaking smile that makes my stomach flip. “Monster, Syren, princess, and pirate.”

I feel my cheeks going red.

“And now I’ve made the lady blush,” he says. “How I’ve missed that particular color of pink. Same as your nipples and your cunt when I’ve had my tongue on them.”

My skin burns even hotter now and I have an urge that I’ve never had before.

A sinful, deviant urge.

I get off the bed and down on my knees.

I crawl to him.

Ramsay eyes me in surprise as I make my way between his legs.

“Don’t tell me you’re teasing me, luv, I couldn’t bare it,” he says roughly.

“I’m not teasing,” I tell him, my heart starting to beat louder. I reach for the waistband of his breeches. “I’ve been wanting to pleasure you this way for some time now.”

He swallows hard and blinks, his strong hands sliding over mine and holding me in place for a moment. “Promise me you won’t be using those teeth,” he says. “Unless I happen to like it,” he adds, clearing his throat.

“I promise,” I say, giving him an innocent smile. He lets go of my hands and I undo the buttons at the flap of his breeches, my hands shaking slightly with excitement. While his member has been inside me numerous times, I’ve yet to handle it with my own hands, let alone my mouth.

I glance up at him and he’s staring at me with so much raw energy that I feel lightning crash down my spine, my nerves crackling throughout.

I take in a deep breath and reach into the flap, my hands closing over his hard length, and I pull him free.

I gasp. I can’t help it. I feel the heavy, warm weight of his cock in my hand, surprisingly soft, and absolutely menacing looking.

He lets out a low hiss, his shaft twitching in my hands, making me grip him and I swear he gets even harder under my touch.

“Oh, my luv,” he whispers hoarsely, his head going back.