He watches me with that too-discerning look again, like he’s picking the words apart. Like I don’t see how the knucklesof his hands have gone white where he grips the arm of the chair. “Are you feeling breathless out of the water too?” He smiles. “Here I thought you were an honourable pirate, never taking more than you need.”
My cheeks flush. “I’d argue your greed rivals my own. Unless you’ve chosen to forget what happened in that water?” I suppress a shiver as the memory of his taloned hands on me, his tongue brushing my lips, asking for more. Red crawls up his neck as his eyes go dark. I know he’s thinking the same.
“Just because I kissed you . . .” His voice rises, rough, his body going still like a predator waiting to strike. “. . . doesn’t mean I want to bed you.”
I take a step towards him, drawn by the taunt in the words and by his gravity, the way his presence takes up the entire room.
“Just because I tolerate you”—I brace each of my hands on the armrests and lean over into his space, letting my voice drop to a murmur—“doesn’t mean I don’t want to kill you.”
Fast as a viper, he hooks a hand around the back of my neck and yanks me so close I can feel the kiss of his breath. On instinct, my hand moves to the bone dagger at my hip, and I catch myself with a leg over his waist. A thrill runs up my spine at the firm press of his cock on the inside of my thigh, even as, again, I press the blade to the base of his throat.
“Do it,” he says, grinning now, the metal glinting between us. His other hand embeds in my hip, squeezing hard enough I can’t help the whimper of need that escapes me. “I’ll wait.”
I just grin back as the hand on my hip releases to peel the dagger from between us. I don’t fight it. Thebone clatters on the floor, and then his hand is back on me again, searching, while the other is a vice around the back of my neck. His touch moves over my leg, ghosts over my ribs, and stalls on the dull kitchen knife I’d tucked beneath my wraps. “You’re a menace,” he says fondly, and fire follows the trail of his fingers as they slip under my blouse to tug the weapon from its hiding place.
“You didn’t really expect me to go into that forest completely unarmed, did you?” I breathe, pulse racing. I let my fingers hook and drag under the collar of his shirt, while his slip beneath my thigh, tugging me closer.
“I’m learning I’ve no idea what to expect from you.” His hand stops, his thumb tracing circles around the sharpened duragan bone tucked low in my pocket.
Victory shines in his eyes as I pull up on my knees so he can grab it, then settle the rest of my body on top of him, molding to him even as he holds my face still. The grip wars for my focus. The heat of his body is a caress on its own. My nipples ache for attention and I’m already a puddle where his length thickens further between my thighs. Immediately, his other hand lands on another weapon—a throwing knife wrapped and tucked by my ankle. It was easy to nick from the mess of the second deck.
“Really, Odelia?” he asks, but there’s nothing but amusement in his tone.
“Viper, Rune.”
“I didn’t know vipers could be so eager to be unarmed.”The words vibrate in my chest.
I bite back a whimper as his fingers finally circle the peaks of my nipples in turn, sending an electric arc of need shooting low, then they slide up, and I gasp as they dip down the front of my shirt, snaking past my wrap to snatch the bundle secured between my breasts.
“You ass!” I spit, trying to push away, but he doesn’t let go.
Instead he slips the most recent key into his shirt pocket and pulls me closer, wrapping an arm around my hips and grinding our bodies together. My breath hitches so sharply my back arches, and he takes the opportunity to nip at the taut bud of my breast through my shirt. “I told you I’d get it.”
I suck in a breath, but wrap my fist into his shirt, shoving him back into the chair. He just pulls me down with him, grinning as his mouth crashes into mine.
My knees sink into the cushion as he pulls us closer, every inch of his firm chest crushed into me down to where our hips meet. I grind into the sweet pressure between my legs as his tongue slips over my lips, begging for entry. I open for him, flicking mine into his mouth, there and gone again. He groans, and the sound vibrates through my entire body.
One of his hands slips under the back of my pants to cup my ass, while the other makes it under my shirt, palming my breast over the cloth that binds my chest. His pinky finger brushes against the blunted end of his letter opener and he pulls away, his chest heaving against mine. “Fuck Odelia, where do you even keep all these weapons?”
“Keep going and find out.” I pull him back into me, sucking his lower lip into my mouth to nip, letting my hipsgrind over him in invitation. He tangles his fingers into the fabric of my blouse, lifting it up over my head.
Then there’s a knock.
We still, chests heaving. His pupils are blown wide, nothing but iris in the dim light.
“Yeah?” Rune calls, his eyes pinned to mine.
“Storms coming.” It’s Elio. His voice is strained, muffled by the wooden door.
Rune sighs, letting his head fall back to rest on the back of the chair. “What do you mean?” The storm should have continued far past us.
“Just come see,” Elio calls, his voice fainter, as if he’s already walking away.
We shift, untangling our limbs and freeing ourselves from the grip of the chair. His lips are pink, and his eyes flick over me as I reach for my shirt.
“I’ll be back.” He moves to leave, but stops. His voice is gravelly, but low. “You should get some rest. It may be a rough evening.”
The door whines as he goes, then closes with a soft click. Then it’s just me, the heat in my veins, and the knowledge that I am absolutely, undeniably, completely willingly fucked.
