Page 78 of A Storm in Every Heart (Enchanted Legacies #2)

KASTIAN, FIVE MONTHS LATER

I wake up to the sound of singing.

It’s not normal singing—there are no words, and hardly any melody, but nevertheless I recognize the horrible screechy sound.

It’s mind-numbingly painful to listen to, so I roll over and pull my pillow over my head to drown it out.

When that doesn’t help, I grab Odessa’s pillow too and pile them on top of each other.

Of course, Dessa isn’t in bed.

I knew the moment I heard the wailing, which I can’t understand but she swears has meaning, that Dessa was outside “ talking ” to her sisters…or subjects? I’m not entirely sure what the sirens are to her. She doesn’t know yet either, and until she decides we’re living in this strange limbo.

The “ pack ” are used to following their queen across the ocean, and they like to swim alongside our ship.

Most of them have regained their independence now that the last queen has lost her hold on them, but they still remain close.

Occasionally, when we sail into a harbor, the pack will transform into their other shapes and sit on the rocks waiting for us—or, rather, waiting for Odessa.

The appearance of so many sirens in broad daylight has caused the sort of chaos and rumors that I’m sure have already made their way back to Vernallis.

I’m sure everyone will have a lot to say about it when we see them again in a few weeks. We’ve already changed course, and are heading back in the direction of Vernallis. We should arrive by yule, and when we arrive, we have a lot of questions for them as well.

The horrible shrieking sound continues and I groan, burrowing my face further into the mattress.

If I didn’t already know I was bonded to Odessa, I would have known instantly the moment I heard that grating, excruciating sound. It’s like metal on metal, and it’s hard to imagine how it could possibly be hypnotic or beautiful. At least, it’s hard to believe until I hear Odessa answer.

Whichever siren was shrieking stops and Odessa replies in a tone so persuasive and hypnotic I find myself climbing out of bed. Not because I have to—she’s not compelling me—but just because I want to.

I pull on pants, but don’t bother with a shirt. The tattoo of Odessa’s face that Magnus sliced open has healed as if nothing ever happened, and I know Dessa likes seeing it. I like it too, and go out of my way to make sure it’s visible whenever possible.

I climb the wooden stairs from the captain’s quarters and step out onto the sunny deck. A few crewmen nod at me. “Morning Captain.” “Nice day, isn’t it Captain?”

I nod back, not speaking as I know they can’t hear me. They’ve all got cotton shoved in their ears, and at the moment I envy them.

I’d thought Odessa and I would sail the ship on our own—between her knowledge of ships and my water magic, it hadn’t seemed so hard. She quickly dispelled me of that notion, and we hired a small crew in the first port we stopped at.

Having the crew is an adjustment, especially for me who would prefer to do every single job myself, but I’m growing used to them. The unpredictability of the sea has quickly taught me that no one man can be an island.

Granted, right now, I’d prefer the crew to disappear.

I reach for the nearest sailor and spin him toward me, then tap my ear for him to take the cotton out. He eyes me dubiously, and shakes his head. “I can’t. Sorry sir. I’d rather miss Odessa not have to jump after me again.”

Oh, right. This is the man who heard the sirens a few months ago and flung himself overboard, forcing Odessa to go after him. We were more careful after that.

“Go inside,” I mouth, pointing toward the door leading to below the deck. “All of you, go inside.”

To my relief, he understands, and gathers the other men, all of them disappearing below deck. Only when I’m sure they’re all gone do I finally approach Odessa.

She’s wearing tight trousers and what looks to be my shirt, and leaning over the railing of the ship, her hair blowing in the wind.

I come up behind her and put a hand on her lower back to alert her that I’m there.

She looks up. “Oh, morning, Captain.”

I shake my head. “Please, I’m begging you to stop calling me that.”

“No,” she says pointedly, then jerks her head toward the sea. “They told me the wind is shifting, we should change course or we’ll blow too far south.”

“Could they have told you that without all the screaming?”

She scowls and blows her hair out of her face. “They’re trying to help. I feel responsible for them, it’s my fault they’re all adrift.”

In my opinion she’s looking at this all wrong. It’s not her fault the sirens are disorganized, they should be thanking her that they can all think for themselves now…but this isn’t the time to talk about that.

“Can you send them away?”

Her eyes narrow. “Why?”

I reach around and grip her ass to pull her closer, her hands falling flat on my chest. I press my face into the side of her neck, my answer getting lost in her hair. “Because I heard you singing and now I can’t think of anything else but making you scream for me.”

She sucks in a sharp breath, her fingers curling against my skin.

I trail my lips down her throat, and at the same time Dessa cranes her neck, singing something over her shoulder to the sirens.

Her voice catches, the sound coming out choked, when I reach between us to stroke her tight nipples through the thin fabric of my shirt.

I shove her—my—shirt up, and find she’s not wearing anything underneath. Her bare breasts tighten when exposed to the air and I groan, pressing my already painfully hard cock into her stomach.

She leans back against the railing, hands braced on the wood, and tips her face up to meet mine, her eyes gone dark and hungry. “Here?” she teases. “You realize the crew could come back any second.”

I smirk, nuzzling into her neck. “I told them to go inside. They know better than to interrupt me when I’m busy.”

Odessa snorts, biting back a laugh as I run my tongue up her throat. “So I’m a distraction now, am I?”

“You’re the only thing I want to be distracted by.”

Odessa doesn’t need more encouragement than that. She likes being out in the open air, and I’ve discovered I like it too. Ever since that rowboat in the swamp, and later on the beach, it’s just not the same in a bed—not that we haven’t tried that too.

She lets her head fall back, exposing more of her throat, and I take gentle advantage, kissing the delicate skin until she squirms. With one hand, I grip her hip to steady her, while the other roams down to undo her belt. “I miss when you wore dresses.”

She chuckles. “No you don’t, because when I wore dresses I wore underwear too.”

“True.”

She’s right, of course. She always is. I growl—a real, involuntary sound—and slide my hand down to her waistband, fingers dipping beneath the fabric.

She’s already wet, and I draw my fingers slowly through her, savoring the heat and slickness, before lifting them to my lips and licking them clean. She watches, transfixed.

“I want to feel you come on my tongue,” I growl, and it’s not a suggestion or a request. It’s a promise.

I drop to my knees without hesitation, ignoring the hard planks digging into my shins. I push her trousers down her hips, and she steps out of them with practiced grace, leaving her standing there in nothing.

I wrap my arms around her thighs and pull her close, burying my face between her legs. I lap at her slowly at first, relishing every gasp and stifled moan, but soon she’s writhing, gripping my shoulders with desperate fingers.

She leans back even further over the railing. I suck on her clit and she cries out, her legs shaking. “Enough. I can’t…it’s too much.”

“Once is never enough.” I say, kissing a trail along her thigh. “I want you to drown me.”

She lets out a breathless gasp as I move my mouth back to her core, and her answer comes out strangled. “As you wish.”