Page 15

Chapter 15

Scarlett

I t was hours later, the sun setting over the water and casting the sky in oranges and pinks, when Eliza said, “The ?rst time I ?nally bested Nakoa in sparring was the ?rst time I’d ever seen him smile.”

Scarlett hummed. “I am quite certain you are the only person Nakoa ever smiled at.”

A soft huff of laughter came from Eliza. “That’s not true. They just had to be earned.” There was another long stretch of silence before she added, “He never went easy on anyone. Always demanded your best. Always demanded excellence.”

“I’d say his teaching style rubbed off on you a little bit,” Scarlett teased gently.

Another small breath of laughter came from her friend before the quiet settled over them again.

Need anything, Love?

Sorin had done this periodically throughout the day, seeing if they needed anything. They’d agreed to talk to Cyrus and Cassius tomorrow, that everyone needed this day to... do whatever they needed to do to grieve and process everything that had happened.

Most of the Fae had gone back to rest more, still nursing depleted power reserves. Everyone had looked exhausted— both from the battle and the emotions of the day. She knew Sorin had slept for a few hours, but she hadn’t asked about his power reserves yet. That was something she wanted to ask him about when she could see his face. She knew he wouldn’t lie to her about it, that they’d agreed to that, but she still wanted to be with him when they discussed it.

To be safe, she had checked him for a draining Mark. She knew it wasn’t likely, that there was no point in time someone could have given him one, but she was at a loss. What else could be affecting his power? They hadn’t told the others yet, again agreeing to tackle that tomorrow. Today needed to be about grieving and healing as much as they could before jumping back into war preparations.

“I know Briar claimed Haniel’s death, but I am the one who killed him,” Eliza said suddenly, her tone so low Scarlett barely heard her.

She stilled, thinking over her response before she said, “I am sure Briar understands.”

“He does. He saw it. When he came to get Sawyer to help you.”

“Did it... help?” Scarlett asked, ?nding herself desperate for the answer. Would it help this mania that crawled beneath her skin to get the revenge she was aching for against Talwyn?

“No,” Eliza said simply. “Don’t get me wrong. It was satisfying, but it did not... It still hurts.” Her voice cracked on the last words, and Scarlett was pulling her hand from Eliza’s and sliding her arms around her shoulders.

“I told myself I would not cry today,” Eliza whispered, her tears soaking into Scarlett’s white tunic. “When I stepped out of his cabin today, I told myself that was it. There would be no more.”

“Grief doesn’t listen to ultimatums. Life would be so much easier if it did,” Scarlett answered.

“This isn’t who I am, Scarlett.”

“You can remember to be strong tomorrow, Eliza. And if not, that’s okay too. I’ll be here either way. We all will be. You are not alone.”

Scarlett didn’t know how long they sat like that. All she knew was that the night sky covered them when they ?nally climbed down from the lookout platform. Sorin was waiting for them at the bottom, immediately reaching for Eliza and pulling her into him.

He was speaking low into her ear when Scarlett brushed her hand down his back, retreating to their cabin to give them a moment. When she got there, she went straight to the bathing room, stripping off her tunic as she went. She froze in the doorway, ?nding an oversized barrel taking up nearly the entire bathing room. It was so large, she could easily sit fully submerged in the thing. There was a ?re message ?oating beside it, and Scarlett reached up, plucking the note from inside.

It’s the best Luan could do on a ship, Love.

Enjoy.

Scarlett looked up, staring at the makeshift tub. He’d gone to Azrael for this, asked the Earth Prince for help to get her this.

She wasted no time using her water magic to ?ll the barrel, then sending her ?re to heat it. She left her boots and the rest of her clothing strewn about the main room of the cabin. She had to use the sink to boost herself up high enough to climb into the thing, but the moan that left her lips as she sank into the steaming water would have been embarrassing if anyone else had been in the room. She went below the surface, creating a pocket of air so she could breathe and just sit in the warmth.

Gods, she would sleep in here if she knew her magic would keep her breathing all night.

She knew she was using her magic unnecessarily to keep the water heated and to allow herself to breathe under the water, so she indulged another few minutes before she washed her hair for the ?rst time in weeks. It took everything in her to climb out of the makeshift tub, carefully stepping down off the sink and wrapping herself in a towel. She wiped the condensation from the mirror with her hand and sti?ed a scream as two dark eyes glared back at her from over her shoulder in the re?ection.

“He is quite unhappy with you, my pet.”

“The feeling is mutual,” she retorted, tightening her grip on her towel.

Sorin...

“Mordecai returned with a fraction of the units he had with him.”

“Guess they didn’t like ?re after all,” she simpered with a pout.

“Do you think you are going to ?nd aid in Avonleya, Scarlett?” Mikale asked, his hand coming up and ?ngers tracing along her neck, her bare shoulder.

“Who said anything about Avonleya?”

His hand clamped around her throat. “We are not fools, -Scarlett. We know why you sail west, what you seek. You will not ?nd it.”

Sorin!

She tried to suck in a breath around the grip on her throat, but the phantom ?ngers ?exed, squeezing tighter.

The Mikale in the re?ection leaned closer, and she could feel him behind her. She could feel his chest pressing against her back. She could feel his breath feather across her cheek as he spoke quietly into her ear. “Since you ignored his last message, you can expect future messages to be more persuasive.”

Sorin! I need you!

Mikale smirked at her, as if he could hear her screaming down her twin ?ame bond. His next words were a whisper. “When you get his next message, remember, my pet: you brought this down upon these innocent people. You cannot escape the curse you are on them.”

Then he was gone, and Scarlett was gulping down air. Her hands were gripping the sink, her towel falling to the ?oor. She didn’t hear the door to their quarters open over the roaring in her head.

“Love, if you are still in the bath—”

There were hands on her shoulders, spinning her, and she ?inched, Mikale’s phantom touch still lingering. Then hands were gripping her face, frantic golden eyes searching hers. “Scarlett? What is wrong? What happened?”

He was brushing wet hair off her brow, and her nose scrunched in confusion. “I called for you, Sorin,” she whispered. “I called for you down the bond, and you didn’t answer. You did not come.”

“You...? No. I did not hear you, Love. I didn’t... ” He was stumbling over his words, trying to process what she’d said, tugging her naked body into his chest.

She could feel his confusion and panic down the bond, mixing with her own trepidation. First there were oddities with his ?re and magic, and now this? It couldn’t be a coincidence. It had to be connected.

She felt numb as he held her, arms at her sides, freezing despite the warm bath she’d just soaked in. He was tugging her into the main room, and she followed automatically, letting him slip one of his shirts over her head.

“Scarlett?”

She looked up to ?nd his face pale, worry etched along every feature. “Why couldn’t you hear me, Sorin?”

She watched his throat bob with a thick swallow before he said, “I do not know.”

“Mikale was here. In the mirror.”

She felt rage and guilt and terror ?ood down the bond, his ?ngers digging into her upper arms where he still gripped her.

“Where?” Sorin demanded.

And she knew what he wanted to know. Where had Mikale touched her? What did he need to erase?

Her hand drifted up, ?ngers brushing along her throat. Calloused ones followed hers, trailing along the path she made.

“Sorin, he said their next message will be worse.” She looked into his golden gaze. “How could it possibly be worse than dismembered bodies of innocent people from our Courts?”

But they both knew the answer to that.

Alaric could and would do so much worse. And with Talwyn working with him now? Would she protect her own Courts? Would she protect Ashtine? Would the Witches and Shifters be able to stand against them on their own until they could return with help? Would Avonleya even hold the answers they were seeking? What if this was all a giant waste of their time and resources?

“Hey, Love.” His voice broke through her spiraling, his hand on her cheek drawing her back to him, grounding her. “We will ?gure this out. One thing at a time.”

“And if we don’t? If what we are doing is not enough?”

“We deal with things as they come, Scarlett. We do not worry about things that have yet to pass. There is no control or value in that, and it is a waste of our time and energy to fret about what ifs,” he replied, tucking wet hair behind her ear. A moment later, the strands were dry.

“What are we going to do, Sorin?”

“We are going to keep planning. We are going to keep preparing as best we can. Right now, we are going to go to bed. In the morning, we are going to talk to Cassius and Cyrus. One step at a time, Love. That is what we are going to do.”

She nodded, her ?ngers curling around his forearm where his large palm was cupping her cheek. “And your magic?”

“We will speak with Beatrix tomorrow.”

She nodded again. Sorin bent, brushing his lips across hers before he led her to the bed. He undressed before climbing in beside her, and as he tugged her back into his chest, she asked, “Eliza?”

“Is grieving, Scarlett,” he said gently, another kiss pressing to the top of head as he tucked her under his chin. “We all are.”

She fell quiet, but her mind wouldn’t stop. No matter what she tried.

Her thoughts were a whirlwind, cycling over and over. “Sorin,” she whispered into the dark of their cabin.

“Mmm?” he hummed.

“How long have you known Rayner?”

She felt him tense for a brief moment before he said, “My entire life.”

“He is older than you?”

“He had been in service to my father for a decade when I was born.”

“Where was he before that?”

Sorin was quiet for so long, she thought he may have fallen asleep, but then he said, “He was hunting, Scarlett.”

“Hunting? For what?”

“Not what. Who. And that is something you will need to ask him. His past is his story to tell.”

“Where is he?”

“Not right now, Love,” Sorin sighed. “Sleep.”

“I can’t.”

“Scarlett... ”

“It’s too loud right now. Everything is too loud.”

He shifted slightly behind her, his head dipping to speak into her ear. “Are you asking me to consume you, my Love?”

Was that what she needed right now?

His hand brushed her hair off the back of her neck, lips brushing across her nape. His other hand was already on her hip, slipping under the hem of the shirt, ?ngers brushing across her torso.

“I don’t think that will work tonight,” she sighed. “I have too much on my mind.”

“Oh, Scarlett,” he chided, a low chuckle rumbling through his chest. “After all this time, you underestimate my distraction skills?”

“No, but—”

“You think if I buried my face between your thighs, you would be thinking of anything else?”

Gods .

Said thighs squeezed together under the blankets, wet heat instantly pooling low in her belly.

“No, but—”

“You think if l licked you until you couldn’t speak, you wouldn’t be thoroughly distracted?”

By Saylah.

“That’s not what I’m saying, Sorin—”

“You think if I ?ipped you over.” His hands slid to her hips, and she found herself on her stomach. “Hauled your ?ne ass into the air.” His shirt was shucked up over her hips, the cool air sliding over the bare ?esh and making her skin pebble. “And consumed you until you screamed, you would not sleep well afterwards?”

She opened her mouth to protest again, but what came out was a moan as she felt his hot tongue slide along the entire length of her center. His response was a dark laugh against her skin as he found that bundle of nerves and sucked hard. She gasped, arms stretching out in front of her, ?ngers curling into the bedding.

“How am I doing so far, Love?” he whispered, dropping kisses along her ass.

“Could be better,” she replied breathlessly.

Sorin laughed before she felt his teeth replace his lips, and she yelped. “You are not thinking of anything else now, are you, Love?”

And she wasn’t. She was only thinking about the pleasure ratcheting up in her body as his mouth moved back to her center, and he did exactly what he said he was going to. While his tongue and lips consumed her, he slid two ?ngers in her wet heat, and her hips were thrusting back, grinding against his hand, desperate for the release that was coiling tighter and tighter.

And then his hand and lips were gone, and she whimpered, burying her face in the pillow in frustration, already knowing how this was going to go.

“Love, I promised to consume you, to drown out all other thoughts,” Sorin said, his voice low and raspy as he climbed up her body, lips and tongue taking turns along her spine. “If I let you come now, I don’t think I would be delivering on that promise.”

“You would be,” she said, not caring how needy she sounded. “Please, Sorin.”

“Those beautiful manners,” he crooned, hands sliding the shirt she was still wearing over her head. “Tell me, Scarlett, what is consuming your thoughts now?”

“You,” she panted. “You are, Sorin.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, whispers of touch skating along her ribs, her torso, her bare breasts. “You are going to need to be more speci?c.”

“What?” she asked in confusion, trying to understand what he was asking of her, but his ?nger was drawing slow, taunting circles around her nipple. His thumb and ?nger suddenly tweaked that same nipple, and the sound that came out of her was half-groan, half-yelp.

“Speci?cs, Scarlett,” he ordered. “What speci?cally is consuming your thoughts?”

“Right now it’s that you are being an ass,” she snapped, her body immediately writhing against him when he draped his body over her, his hard length pressing against her ass. His hands gripped her hips, holding her still.

“Tell me what you want, Scarlett,” he said, and she could feel him smiling against her skin as he kissed her shoulder before he nipped at the skin there. He continued that torture along her arms, shoulders, across her back. Kiss and nip. Bite and suck, and gods, she was a trembling mess beneath him as he held her still, not allowing her to seek out what she truly wanted.

“Scarlett,” he encouraged, low and sinful in her ear. “I am -waiting.”

“Sorin, please,” she begged, feeling him shift against her again.

“Please what, my Love?”

“Gods, Sorin,” she ?nally snapped when his lips found their way to that spot behind her ear. “Just fuck me. Please .”

“How?” he breathed, pure lust dripping from that one word.

“Hard. Fast. Just like this,” she demanded, jerking her hips free and grinding back against him.

“That’s my queen,” he murmured into her ear, and then he slid inside her in one hard thrust.

“Gods, yes,” she gasped, propping herself up on her elbows and giving herself over completely to him. His ?ngers dug into her hips as he gave her exactly what she’d asked for, slamming into her over and over until the scream he’d promised her came from her lips. He consumed that too. Pulling her up onto her knees, back ?ush against his chest, he gripped her jaw, turning her head so he could capture her mouth. His tongue plunged in, tangling with hers, devouring every sound as she went weightless in his arms.

He pushed her back down, his hand pressing to her spine and holding her to the bed as he thrust into her a few more times before a deep guttural groan came from him, and she knew he’d found his own pleasure. He rolled off of her, gathering her into his chest, soft kisses peppering her brow, her eyelids, her nose.

“And now, my Love? What is consuming your thoughts?”

“You. Only ever you,” she sighed before sleep ?nally claimed her, just as he’d said it would.

“Why are you awake before the sun?” Sorin groaned, his ?ngers grazing over her bare ?esh as she slipped from the bed.

“I want to talk to Rayner before we ?nd Cass and Cyrus,” she answered, pulling on undergarments and pants before slipping a tunic over her head. This one had ties that criss-crossed along the top, and she quickly pulled them tight.

“He is still sleeping, Love. Like you should be,” Sorin grumbled. “Like everyone else is. Come back to bed.”

She was working a braid into her hair. “Then let’s go spar.”

He lifted his head, golden eyes seeming to glow in the darkness of their room. “It is still dark out, Scarlett. We are not sparring in the dark.”

She was slipping her feet into boots, but she paused as something occurred to her. “Get up, Sorin. I want to do something.”

“We did something last night,” he grumbled again, his face falling into the pillow. She smirked at him, sending her shadows to glide along his body, and he groaned. “Keep that up, and I am pulling you back into this bed, Princess.”

Her smirk turned to a scowl. “Come on, Sorin. I have an idea.”

He looked up at her at the words, and she could just make out the look of resignation on his face as he pushed to a sitting position along the edge of the bed.

“What idea?” he asked, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“It involves Traveling,” she said, more and more of the details of this plan falling into place.

Sorin was on his feet, reaching for pants on the ground. “And where are we going?”

“Right now, we’re going to look at some maps.”

“Maps,” he repeated.

“I told you what I learned about the tracking Mark, but until we ?gure out the details of that, we should use this to our advantage.”

“So we are scheming again?” Sorin asked, brushing by her to get a fresh tunic from the armoire.

“I never stop scheming, Prince,” she returned sweetly, getting a little lost in the ripple of his muscles as he shrugged on the shirt.

He smirked at her. “I am getting mixed messages this morning, Princess. Are we scheming, or am I taking you back to bed?” She bit her lip, seriously contemplating her life choices at the moment, and Sorin laughed, slipping on boots. “Too late, Love. You already got me up and out of bed.”

“Oh, I will get you up all right,” she muttered.

“Such a dirty tongue before dawn,” he tsked, dropping an arm around her shoulders and leading her to the door.

“Which is what I would use to get you up,” she returned, stepping out of their quarters.

“You are going to make this a very dif?cult day, aren’t you?” he sighed.

“One could say it will be very hard,” she agreed nonchalantly.

He spun her, pressing her up against the wall. He bent down, speaking softly into her ear, “I want you to remember this moment, Scarlett. Tonight, when you are begging me to make you come, and I hold you right on the edge of bliss, my cock buried deep inside you, I want you to remember this exact moment in time. Because tonight, my Love, more than begging will be required of you and that tongue.”

He pressed a hot kiss to her mouth, nipping sharply at her bottom lip, before he pulled away from her and continued onto the main deck.

Fuck. Me.