“You’re ready, Risa,” he says, his voice so sure that I almost believe it. He lifts my fingers to his mouth, then kisses them once, the brief touch of his lips against my skin making me shiver. “Tomorrow, you sing back the shadows of the crew. I know you can.”
None of us dares to say what we both think. That I might not have enough power to actually save them all, even with the echo and the power radiating within the cave.
“Sable—”
“Don’t,” he says, his voice sharp. “Don’t apologize for something that hasn’t happened yet, little siren. We are still here. We are alive. We are breathing.”
He takes my hand and gently puts it on his chest, then lays his fingers on top of mine. His heart drums behind his ribs, a steady rhythm that soon syncs with mine. The contracting muscles pump blood through his system the same way that the power is pumped through mine. Closing my eyes, I follow the urge to lay my head on his chest, to not only feel, but hear the beating of his heart.
Alive. His body is warm, not cold. He is not going to be climbing over the railing in the Sea of Shadows, and he is not going to drown. His bones will not become part of the collection that rests at the bottom of that seabed. Not if I can help it. With a quiet exhale, Sable curls his arms around me as I do him, and we lie there, counting the synchronized beats of our hearts.
In this very moment, I decide that I will do anything not to lose him. I will not accept a fate in which he is not here with me, a fate in which he is not made whole.
“There’s something else I want to tell you,” he says, his voice suddenly unsteady.
I lift my head slowly to take in his face, his grey eyes now look hazel in the subtle glow of the lantern.
“If you fail to sing my shadow back tomorrow,” he takes a deep breath. “I want you to know that I have never regretted the kiss. I have never regretted touching you on that little sandbank either.”
I open my mouth to say something, but he squeezes my hand, making me close it again.
“Not for one single second have I regretted you, Risa,” he continues. “In fact, you had me in your hold from the very first moment you stood there, in your white night gown, so otherworldly, so… beautiful.”
Adoration flashes through his eyes, and I forget how to breathe. His eyebrows knit together as the drumming of his heart becomes faster.
“While I tried to resist, tried to avoid you, to make you hate me,” he says and glances away, only for a brief second before our eyes meet again. “My shadow couldn’t. My soul was drawn to you, and I knew I was doomed to want someone I could never have.”
“Don’t you dare say goodbye to me now, pirate.” I sob, tears falling off my cheeks freely and onto his chest. “Don’t you dare, Sable.”
“I wish we had more time, my little siren. How I would love to see the world with you and shower you in dresses and gold. I’d bring you men to drown if you asked for it, and more.”
I sniffle as he places one hand on my cheek, brushing my tears away with his thumb.
“I want you to know,” he says, his gleaming eyes locked with mine. “That on some days I forgot my name, but I never forgot yours.”
The world slips out from under my feet like sand washing away from the tide. My mouth wobbles, the tears still streaming down my face. He catches every single one of them as they fall and brushes them away before they reach my lips. All this time, he didn’t loathe me. He didn’t fear me. He was trying to withhold, knowing his fate would take him away in the end.
“Then kiss me,” I whisper. “We are still here. We are alive. So kiss me.”
His eyes widen in surprise as he leans back and releases a long breath. He smiles. With one hand at the back of my head and one at my hip, he turns us in the sheets. His head is now hovering above mine. He bites his lip, waiting for permission.
I curl my legs around his body, hooking him closer. Whatever leash he had on himself seems to snap, and his mouth crushesagainst mine in a hungry kiss. It isn’t gentle, it is devouring, as if he wants to make up for the time we likely will never have.
As his teeth scrape over the bottom of my lip, I moan into the kiss. My mouth opens for him, and his tongue slips in, caressing my own. Strong hands move over my hip, stroking me above the thin fabric of my gown, before moving lower, lower, lower, until his fingers slip underneath.
Sable tears away from the kiss, pressing his mouth against my shoulder as his fingertips brush the bottom of my chest. Each feather-light touch of his lips against my skin feels like little bolts of lightning shooting through my system. His hand moves further up until he cups my breast, all while planting kisses upon my shoulders, my collarbones, my throat. I arch my back into the touch, wanting more. Desperate, I thrust my hands into his thick hair and tug.
The sound he makes almost causes me to lose control. I am about to beg when he removes his lips and finally lifts my gown above my head. Sable pulls back to look at me, to devour me with his eyes, before leaning down to cover my nipple with his mouth. As his tongue circles around it, I gasp and tense and wiggle underneath him.
Within one swift movement, Sable grabs my wrists and pushes them into the mattress above my head. I gasp and test his hold, but he has his hands firmly locked around them, keeping me in place. When I glance down at him, our eyes meet.
“We will do this one time,” he says, a devilish smile now spreading on his face. “So I’ll make sure we do it right. Keep still for me.”
Biting my lip to hold back a whimper, I give in and nod. Whatever I want to say to him dies on my tongue as he sucks on my nipple, and I roll my hips against his body.
“So eager,” he murmurs between kisses, his teeth now scraping against sensitive skin. “We have all night, love. And I intend to use every last minute. Because I’m selfish like that.”
He kisses my stomach now, my belly button, until his hands leave my wrist to grab my thighs instead. His dark curls sit between them now, his lips hovering over the skin of my thighs, but never touching.
