Page 38

N ot even the heavens could rival the magnificence that Grayson unleashes upon me with his kiss. He is everywhere at once, taking every part of me as his and I bow to it.

Slowly, he takes his time exploring. His lips moving gently over mine like we have all the time in the world and there isn’t a single threat lurking beyond the closed door to our room.

Teasing me with the sweep of his tongue against my teeth, I open for him. Delving my fingers into his hair, I bring him closer. That fire within me rises beyond anything I’ve ever felt before. Like a star in the darkness, I burn for him. Ignited with every touch of his tongue against mine.

Never parting from me, he grasps both my hands in one of his and pin them above my head against the wall.

Fully exposed, I have no way to get to my weapons—and there’s a flicker of something oddly peaceful about it. I am safe with him . The thought blooms, settling beneath my ribs and taking root.

Pressing himself against me, I moan into his mouth as he deepens the kiss, meeting every stroke of my tongue with his own. Everything he is and everything I am melts away. There is only this. Only us.

Hating all the clothing that separates us, I start moving my hips against him again, chasing that longing desire to be filled by him. He groans against my mouth and I can’t help the satisfied smirk that tugs at my lips.

“You wicked little thing.” He nips at my bottom lip and the quick sting of his teeth on my skin drives me mad.

“Still so much talking,” I murmur. “When there is so much doing to be had.”

He seals his lips to mine again just as a knock raps against the door. Neither of us pause, too consumed by one another. He releases my arms and they drape over the back of his neck before he wraps both of his arms tightly around my waist, pulling me away from the wall.

Delving my fingers into his hair, I stroke his scalp in long swirling movements, relishing in how soft his hair feels against my palms.

Another knock bangs against the door—this time louder than the first.

Grayson snarls as he breaks our kiss and calls out, “It better be fucking important!”

Zaos’s voice carries through the door. “It is, Captain.”

He looks to me again and there’s a hunger in his eyes that rivals my own. “We’ll finish this later.” There is no questioning in his tone as he slowly sets me down to my feet again.

Before he moves toward the door, he threads his fingers through my hair and pulls me in for a chaste kiss that does nothing but leave me wanting more.

“I’ve never hated Zaos more than this very moment,” I mutter beneath my breath, earning me a chuckle from Grayson as he turns the doorknob.

The door swings open and Zaos’s assessing eyes scan over the both of us and there’s no doubt in my mind that he knows what had just transpired between his captain and me. But he gives no tell as to what he thinks about the matter.

“What is it?” Grayson asks.

Zaos rolls his shoulders once like the news he’s about to deliver might earn him a strike across the face. “It appears Blythe has become indebted to the sailmakers of Silvermoon Landing by working them overtime. Our scouts just informed me that the Reaper is just outside the bay.”

All the warmth Grayson left me with trails out of my body. “Blythe is here ? Already?”

Zaos nods curtly.

“I all but destroyed his mainsail,” I comment. “He must have paid a fortune to have the sailmakers repair it so quickly.”

Grayson crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the door frame. “Or he made a promise they would share in the prize he’s after.”

I snort. “That’s a big risk knowing that we are in possession of the one thing he needs to find it.”

“Blythe has always been pompous, but he’s not stupid,” Zaos says. “There’s another ship sailing with him toward the bay.”

“Do you know who he recruited?” Grayson asks.

Zaos hesitates for a moment before responding. “It looks to be Malihaim.”

“Fucking hells,” I breathe.

Blythe recruiting Malihaim is the worst possible scenario.

Born of a sea witch and high pirate lord, Malihaim has made his fortune by hiring out his services to other pirates.

He’s never been in it for the treasure. Malihaim is a vile creature who relishes in the downfall of others and he just happens to be very skilled at sinking ships.

Zaos’s eyes flick to me for a moment and I can still see the disdain he has for me simmering beneath the surface.

“What aren’t you telling us?” Grayson asks.

Zaos looks to him now, any traces of hatred gone in an instant. “They sent a raven to the news teller to share that there is a bounty of fifty thousand pieces for Rowenya Stone.”

All the air leaves my lungs. Fifty thousand pieces .

Every pirate—no, every person and creature with a damned kitchen knife—will be looking for me for that high of a reward.

“Has word spread?” Grayson asks, but his voice sounds far away as my mind still whirls with this new information.

“By the time I left the meeting with our scouts, there were murmurs on the streets at every turn. They know she is with us and it won’t be long before we have a line of people waiting out the door to rob her of her head.”

I step back, the feeling of being trapped taking over my body. My legs burn with the need to run. To hide .

“Give us a moment.”

“But, Captain, we need to?—”

“ Give us a moment .” Grayson shuts the door and comes to stand in front of me. I feel his hands move to the sides of my face and he tilts my head back gently so I have to look at him. “Don’t let fear do this to you. Don’t let it win.”

“Grayson, there are two formidable ships out there”—I point somewhere behind him—“and we . . .” I shake my head in his hands, but he doesn’t let them fall away.

“How are we supposed to get off this island? And how in the hells are we supposed to keep running from Blythe when we have nowhere to run to?”

Grayson looks at me, really looks at me, and the calm he provides shatters through my panic. He’s not rushing for the door. He’s not hurrying me to pack my things. No. He is standing right in front of me with all the patience in the world, even though our foe is waiting just beyond the shore.

I take a deep breath and Grayson rubs my cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. I let the soothing motion of his skin against mine settle my frayed nerves.

“That’s it,” he breathes. “Let the fear wash out of you. Let your mind clear and just think for a moment.”

I do as he suggests and my shoulders drop.

I feel the tension start to roll out of my muscles.

For so many years, I’ve always been on the defense.

Assessing every single thing as a threat to my survival.

After what happened to my father, there was no time for me to ponder over what my next move would be.

I’d lost my safety net and when the world opened up before me, and the monsters came to claim me as their own, I ran.

That was until Red Beard’s tight leash found its way around my neck, pulling me back.

I’ve been chasing after my freedom ever since.

I take another long inhale and then sigh it out. “Good, Rowenya. Very good.”

He doesn’t know all the reasons why this very moment affects me the way it does.

Yet, there is an understanding. Grayson possesses an uncanny ability to know exactly what I need.

I’ve often been the one to bring solace to others, but in this moment, Grayson gives me the time I require to settle back into myself.

I’m not sure why it feels so significant, but now that my mind has cleared, an idea blooms.

“They will keep chasing after us, Grayson.”

“I know.”

“Fighting off Blythe is one thing, but Malihaim is a born tracker. And he’s too skilled at taking down ships. With the two of them on our tail, we won’t have enough manpower to strike them both down without the Caelestia taking serious damage—or worse.”

A shadow passes over his face. “I know what you’re about to ask.”

“My crew can help,” I offer and he pulls away, my face suddenly feeling cold from the absence of his hands against my cheeks.

“This is no normal hunt, Rowenya. If you allow your crew to join the fight, I cannot promise their safety.”

I cross my arms over my chest feeling a flicker of frustration. “It wasn’t that long ago when you were threatening to kill them yourself.”

The heat of his gaze alone would scare any sane being, but I don’t back down.

“That was before,” he snarls.

“Before we kissed?” I toss my hands up then let them fall down with a slap against my thighs. “Grayson, it was just?—”

“Don’t say it.” He puts a hand up. “Don’t say it didn’t matter.”

I clamp my mouth shut because he’s right. It did matter. It still does. In such a short period of time, so much has changed that I’m fighting to keep my head above water. Grayson loathed me as much as I hated him when I first arrived on his ship and now . . .

Now things feel complicated. And there’s no time for us to sort through all of it.

“They will fight with us.”

“No.” There is no hint of the Grayson I’ve come to know behind that word. He’s been replaced with the mask of utter defiance. The impenetrable stone he so expertly crafts around himself.

“You are such a pigheaded bastard,” I remark, seething.

That earns me a glimmer of a smile that breaks through his icy exterior.

Zaos bangs on the door. “Captain! We need to move! Now!”

“This discussion is over,” Grayson says, his voice low and menacing.

“For now,” I toss back, and I feel the heat of his gaze boring a hole through my back as I turn away from him and head for the door.

There are only a few patrons at the tables downstairs and none of them seem to look my way more than once.

Good. That means the news of the bounty on my head hasn’t spread this far inland yet—but it will soon, and once it does, there won’t be a safe place in the entire Southern Realm for me to hide.