I shake my head, jaw tight. “I don’t even want to know.”
Her eyes find mine. “Did you get the key?”
I nod once, my heart still hammering in my chest. “It’s safe.”
We both stand there, hands hanging by our sides as we lock eyes, saying a million things at once with our silence. Then I can’t hold back anymore, and neither can she as we leap for each other. Her hands tangle in the hair at the backof my neck, while mine grip her face. I crush my lips to hers in a kiss so heated it could set the world ablaze.
Teeth, tongues, lips. All of them together. Biting, sucking, tasting.
With a low growl in the back of my throat, I walk her backwards until she slams into the trunk of a tree. The bark is rough against my hands as I pin her there. The kiss is sharp, hungry, all want and need—vicious love poured out in a single breath. I drag my hands from her face and grip her hips, grinding into her with mine. For a heartbeat she matches my energy with fire, as she drags her fingers up my back, nails biting my skin.
Then she melts—just for a moment—her body softening against mine, her mouth yielding under the force of my desire. Her fleeting surrender undoes me. I’m lost in her, and I never want to be found.
Odi rips her lips from mine, chest heaving and eyes dancing with venom. “I can’t believe you made me do that!”
I hate that she’s not in my arms, so I reach out, curl my fingers around her wrists and tug her back into my chest. “Sorry, but I really didn’t feel like getting impaled today.”
My head drops down and claims her mouth once more. She whimpers softly as my tongue brushes the seam of her lips. She opens for me, and I feel my knees weaken.
She shoves at my chest, tugging free again. “Rune—I nearly died back there.”
“But you didn’t,” I mutter, leaning in, lips brushing her jaw before she can dodge. “You’re still breathing. Proof I was right. You can do anything.”
Her hands slam against my chest again, but they don’t push as hard this time. “That’s not the point! I thought—I thought I was gone. The water, the dark—”
I cut her off with another kiss, gentler this time, lingering. “Butyou’re safe now.” I whisper as I pull back.
She exhales, shuddering, torn between fury and something else as she runs her eyes over my face. “You can’t just kiss me every time I’m frightened.”
“Why not?” I murmur against her lips. “Seems to work.”
The corner of her mouth ticks up in a smirk, then she grabs the damp collar of my shirt like she might shake me. “You’re infuriating.”
“And yet,” I grin, pulling her in again, “you’re still standing here.”
She reaches up to brush hair from the side of my face as she flicks her eyes to my lips. “Can we go back to the ship now?”
Looking up at me isn’t the vicious ghost of Nisse. It’s not the violent pirate who shares the Ivor blood. It’s not the wet dog that I dragged spluttering from the sea. No. It’s Odi . . . little doe. Fierce, loyal and brave. The keeper of my heart.
I huff a gentle laugh. “I thought you’d never ask.”
I WANT TO WASH YOU
36
ODELIA
By the time we make it back to the ship, the sun is set. Tavi drops the ropes down as Rune rows us to the hull ofThe Gilded Hart, which sits high and proud on the dark, quiet water. At the top, Elio stands from where he was sitting with his back to the main mast.
“We were starting to think we’d have to go after you,” he says. His eyes are tired as they flick between Rune and I, then to the dagger still at my waist.
Rune doesn’t pause to chat, and we all fall into step as he moves towards his room. “We got lucky. There were only two tunnels this time.”
“Oh goody.” Elio still limps but the pain doesn’t colour his voice. “And what sort of beastie was it? Giant bird? Basilisk?”
“Flesh-eating monkeys,” I answer, which turns his wry grin to more of a grimace.
Rune’s smile is brighter than I’ve seen it in days, and it cracks my heart wide open. I can still feel the burn of his song beneath my skin, like a magnetic pull between us. “The important part is we got the last key,” he says. “Expect to waitfor any other juicy details in the morning.” He opens the door to the captain’s quarters and gestures for me to go in first.
