Eira’s steps slowed, but her heartbeat and breathing didn’t catch the message. Heart still racing, breaths still ragged to the point that her chest nearly brushed against his as he held her, she stared up at him. His head tilted, not enough for him to kiss her, but enough to narrow the world only to him. The night fell upon his face like a curtain, narrowing everything down to every breath he drew. To the glistening of his gaze.
“Was?” he repeated, demanding an answer. Everything around the question that was left unspoken was so loud it nearly screamed.
She opened and shut her mouth, unsure of what to say—of what was real. Did she still love him? After all this time?
“I didn’t love you,” she said carefully, throat thick. There was that same, burning feeling, racing from her core, all the way up.I love you, the words she dared not say, but part of her wanted to more by the day.
“For how long?”
“What?”
“How long did you fall out of love with me?” The opposite corner of his mouth drew up into a coy smirk. “And when did you fall again?”
A flush raced over her body. She wanted to punch him as much as she wanted to kiss him for his boldness. She whispered, “Let me go, forever. Or take me now.” She would give him her body—her pleasure. But not her heart. Not just yet. There was still a fearful, broken part of her that had yet to mend. But maybe…with the right touch, and the right words, that part could finally heal.
He blinked, brows darting up. But then they settled into a relaxed smugness. “Then we should leave, because I want you all to myself.”
25
Abasket of stars had been overturned and scattered across the pitch canvas of a moonless sky. The moment they stepped beyond the warm glow of the torches that lined the docks, the music fell away. Brisk wind tumbled down from still-frozen mountaintops and ran through the town like the central river. It pinched at her cheeks, bringing a flush to them that Eira couldn’t, and didn’t want to, fight.
Cullen glanced over his shoulder, leading her by the hand back to their collection of houses. Or so she thought. He turned in the opposite direction, crossing the river on a rickety bridge before guiding her into a narrow alleyway.
“Where are you taking me?” There were the edges of laughter between the words. She didn’t feel unsafe in the slightest. In fact, her feet bounced off the cobblestone streets as though Cullen was sneaking bursts of wind underneath her heels.
“Somewhere no one will find you.” He threw a smirk over his shoulder.
“Oh? Sounds dangerous. Should I scream for help?”
Cullen unexpectedly stopped short, the crunch of pebbles on cobblestones under the balls of his feet the only thing that alerted her. Eira nearly ran into him from the momentum. Thehand that was holding hers was quick to lace its fingers, moving her right where he wanted—pulling her in close. His other hand tangled itself with her hair, guiding her face to tip up to his and give him full access to her lips.
Her back hit the wall with a soft thud, but Cullen lessened the impact with the positioning of his hands and by easing his body against hers. For a second, he held her. Mouth so close that with a quiver their lips would meet. As if he were savoring every shallow breath.
Then, he kissed her with an urgent need that rendered her breathless. His tongue explored every inch of her mouth in a way that promised to do the same beyond. Eira willingly gave him full access, responding in kind. How long had it been since she’d kissed him like this? Since she’d given herself to reckless passion? Not since the first time they’d been together.
His knee worked its way between hers and his thigh pressed up hard against her center, their bodies completely flush. She could feel every tensing of the strong muscles as she explored every inch of his broad shoulders and back, him pulling her even tighter still. Eira grabbed a fistful of his shirt. There were suddenly far too many clothes. It was suffocating—every hasty kiss more breathless than the last, as if their need was squeezing out room for the air itself around them.
“I need you. Now.” She rasped the desperate plea against his mouth. Half kissing. Half speaking.
A low rumble rose up the back of his throat as an amused hum, suggesting he knew exactly what he was doing to her—as if this was all going according to his plans. “Good. Wait.”
The moment hung for a heartbeat as he pulled away enough to lock eyes with her, his hair mussed from the earlier winds and tickling her forehead. Just when she was about to lean in and kiss him again, he pulled away. A whine of frustration became a yelp of surprise as he tugged her forward.
They were moving again through the darkness. The buildings condensed further around them, as if they, too, were physically trying to squeeze their bodies together. Right when she was about at the point to tell him to take her against the wall if it meant he’d stop stalling, Cullen paused and opened a door, revealing a small, one-room abode that wasn’t unlike the one Eira had selected for herself.
However, unlike the one that Eira had picked, there was a lantern already burning in this room. Cozy blankets had been piled thick on a bed. Everything looked…tidied.
Eira blinked, processing what was before her. Cullen took a taper and lit one end on the lantern, proceeding to move throughout the room to light a dozen candles across the few shelves, the mantle of the hearth, the table that held a pitcher of water and a small bowl of food.
“You…prepared this?” It was the only thing that made sense. Yet her tone was disbelieving of what her eyes showed her.
“Yes.” He didn’t dance around it. “I knew that it was unlikely I would find time with you,alone, for a while. Perhaps as long a stretch as this past time has been.” Cullen paused, snuffing the taper and waving it until the thin curl of smoke disappeared. The room was cast in a rosy light. Bright enough to see by. Dim enough that the harsher details were softened. “If I managed to steal you away, I wanted to make it worth your while. Something you would be…deserving of.”
“Deserving of?” she repeated softly. “What do you think that is for a pirate queen in training?”
He chuckled at her questions. She drank in the sound, as thirsty as a woman lost at sea.
“Yes, a piratequeen,” he emphasized. Cullen set down the taper, shifting to face her. As he spoke, he closed the distance between them and his nearing proximity emphasized each wordmore than the last. “You, Eira, are deserving of the entire world. Any morsels I can offer you, I do so gladly.”
