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Just as I tracked, my tiny frame rammed into a wall, or what felt like one, toppling me backward and scattering my brain. Unable to get up fast enough, I felt a man’s hand pinch the skin behind my shoulder blades, and he lifted me to his face.

Dark, almond-shaped eyes the color of a moonless night stared into mine, the edges flickering with the stars. They were pure dominance, evoking many feelings.

At one time, I had loved them.

Worshipped them.

Shock knifed through my gut, adrenaline pumping fear into my blood and shifting me from my cat shape to human. The sudden weight between his fingers caused my naked body to crash to the ground at his feet.

“A cat thief.” His gaze slid over me, not at all shocked that a naked girl was before him. “How cliché.” His voice was deep and smooth, though the power stung my skin like he poured whiskey over me. The timbre stirred up all the things I recalled about him. Calm, sensual, carnal, and slightly cheeky, he could ruin your world in all the right—and wrong—ways. “Do you know what I do to thieves?”

I peered up at the man I had been hunting. The captain who destroyed my life. The pirate who killed my father.

“No, but it can’t be any worse than what you do to your friends.” I clenched my teeth. All the emotion he whipped up in me turned into abhorrence.

Revenge.

I had finally found him.

My nemesis.

Croygen.

The Silver-Tongue Devil.

Chapter 7

Katrina

Dusk outlined his tall physique; the man was even more broad and toned than in my memories. He was a greater thief than I was. The kind who stole your thoughts, your breath, and your sanity. I had forgotten how sensual and rugged he was, my heart pounding at his nearness.

Shadows cast his face in darkness, his eyes sparking like the stars were waking up. He loomed over me, making me feel like I was still a child. A girl easily enraptured by the seductive pirate.

I had experienced his rare moments of kindness, the times he’d teach me something about sailing or fighting, opening my eyes to what the world could offer, the power I could wield. He showed compassion to a young boy starving on the streets, making him part of the crew, giving us both a family, a home, a place in this world.

And then he shattered all my illusions, waking me up to the reality of this world. The cruelty. Not only turning his back on me but murdering my father. Killian had seen Croygen standing over my dad, using my father’s own blade to stab him through the heart.

That kind of betrayal was unforgivable.

“Who do you work for?” Croygen tilted his head, his arms folded over his black T-shirt, his long hair knotted back. He wore black boots, cargo pants with a leather belt, and even in this heat, he wore a signature pirate coat, looking modern, but even sexier. “Who sent you here to spy on me?”

“Work for?” I blinked up at him, my hand covering my bare breasts.Did he not recognize me? Did he not know who I was?

For a split second, Croygen’s eyes dropped to my chest, his nose flaring before he jerked away, searching out behind me.

“Her clothes.” He grunted the order at Zidane. He came up beside me, handing me the tank I had left behind when I shifted. Zidane’s lids narrowed on me with annoyance.

I swiped the tank from his hand, pulling it on as I stood up, my head only coming to Cryogen’s chin.

Tugging the fabric to my thighs, I glowered back at the Devil. “What makes you think I’m not trying to rob you?”

“And where, may I ask, are you stowing away these treasures you are pilfering from me?” The side of Croygen’s mouth quirked up, his hand motioning to my mostly naked body, the rest of my clothes still in a pile near the Scotsman. “Will I have to pat you down and make sure you’re not hiding anything in secret places?” The tip of his tongue glided over his lip, his gaze sliding over me with a smug smile, letting me know exactly what he would do. “You know they call me the Silver-Tongue Devil for a reason.”

A deep, pounding pulse struck between my thighs, heat suffusing my cheeks, my nipples pebbling. My spine went ramrod straight at my body’s needy reaction, opposing the disgust seething in my head. At one time, all I wanted was for him to look at me like he did the older women. I didn’t understand the simpering looks they shared between them until I was much older—the language of desire, of sex. A wordless consent that left claw marks down his back.

Croygen’s attention traveled to my breasts, a heated glint flickering in his eyes at my body’s response.

Keep calm, Kat. You know the power he has with his words. Play the game he isn’t even aware he’s in.