Page 149 of Liar Witch

“Thatlook.”

“I’m not giving you a look.”

“Witch…”

“Mage,” she retorts, eyes twinkling with mirth.

It’s a much better look for her than pity, second only to the fire in her gaze when she argues with me. Somehow our faces have gotten closer together. Her breath fans over my face in a gentle caress and she nibbles at her lower lip as she notices the change as well.

I want to kiss her. The thought springs out of nowhere, and I’m not sure I have the willpower to resist.

Will she let me?

Only one way to find out.

Fuck, her lips are soft. She parts them on a tiny gasp of surprise, and I can’t help but take advantage. I’m too raw to kiss her like a gentleman, so I take her mouth without mercy. Tasting her for the first time and revelling in the rightness of it.

She tastes like perfection. I was an idiot to deny myself this for so long.

Nilsa’s not gentle either. As soon as she recovers, she nips my lower lip in punishment, then soothes away the tiny sting with a stroke of her tongue that makes my permanently hard cock pulse in answer. Our teeth scrape as our tongues duel. My hands fist in my witch’s hair as she clings to my shirt. The kiss is like a crucible, forging something new out of the fear, desperation, and anguish we just went through.

“Ahem… If you’ve quite finished mauling one another…”

Klaus’s amused voice is a bucket of ice water that sends us springing apart.

Nilsa’s cheeks are beet red, her eyes refusing to meet either of ours.

But I can’t focus on that.

On the horizon, a very familiar silhouette waits for us.

“Thank gold,” I moan, tracing the lines of her masts with my eyes. “Please tell me you brought a boat. We’ve had enough fucking swimming to last both of us for at least the next decade.”

“The others? The twins?” Nilsa demands, flinging herself off the sand and into her siren’s arms. He looks fine. A few rapidly healing red lines mark his waist and his calf, but otherwise he’s in better shape than I expected.

“All on board, if a bit worse for wear,” he answers, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Losing their minds over you, but Rysen and Kier were struggling to keep the ship in one place. Cas and Nos are both out cold.”

When the twins wake up, they’re going to wish they’d stayed in the Cove. I have some choice words for those assholes. Mainly: what the fuck were they playing at, getting into a dominance battle around so many people?

Klaus releases her and starts the walk towards the longboat on the sand. How did we miss him dragging it ashore? I smirk as I fall into step beside Nilsa, following him. My mate takes one look at my face and blushes, sensing the direction of my thoughts.

“I should thank you,” she whispers. Low enough that Klaus won’t hear.

“You go around thanking everyone for kissing you?” I know it’s a smart-ass answer, but I can’t help it.

“Not for the kiss, you asshole.” She mock-punches my arm. “For not letting me drown. For getting us out of there.”

I shrug. “Wasn’t like I could leave you without dying myself.”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine. I won’t make the mistake of thanking you for anything ever again. I suppose you did get us into that situation when you dragged us away from the rest of the group, anyway…”

When she huffs off ahead, my eyes fall back to her sand-covered ass and I smirk. She’d kill me for saying it, but she looks so fucking hot striding away from me.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Casimir

Everyone can tell the instant the Captain makes it back to his ship. The ropes Kier was wrestling tug free of his hands and start curling themselves into place. The wheel spins Rysen away so violently he’s almost tossed overboard, and nearly every cannon on the deck swivels to face the centre of the ship, where Nos and I have collapsed.