Silver Tongue Devil (Devil in the Deep Blue Sea #1), page 18
Embarrassment flushed my cheeks at the moment of weakness. I hadn’t thought. Instinct had kicked in. I had worked hard to control my changes after the mortifying incident on his deck so long ago. A lot of shifters could partially change, but I learned to fight without doing it, so I didn’t need to. But tonight, that had been lost in seconds. A single threat to him and I forgot it all.
“Yeah, so?”
“Just an observation.” He sunk down in the pillows, drinking until about two inches were left, handing it back to me. “Takes skill to do that. I was impressed.”
He didn’t know that was a slipup for me.
“Think you need to rest.” I finished off the bottle, dropping it on the side table.
“You never answered my question.” His lids were lower, but the intensity of his gaze became even more powerful.
“What’s that?”
“Last time you got laid, Kitty-Kat?”
A few words and he had me boiling, my body telling me it had been far too long, intuitively knowing he could make me purr.
“Full truth.” His expression was full of trouble.
“Been a little busy lately.”
“Still not an answer.”
“A while,” I stated. “And leave it at that.”
“And did they make you come?”
Flustered, I changed positions, unable to look at Croygen, everything in me screaming how badly I needed sex now, the craving spinning my already drunk mind.
“Obviously not good enough.”
“Takes a lot for me.” Shut up, Kat. Shut up. “I’m not like other fae. It takes the edge off, but…”
“But no one has made you come so hard you blacked out?”
“No, I’m too busy robbing them.”
“If you can even move after, they weren’t doing it right.”
My nipples hardened under my damp shirt, his shirt, arousal curling my hands as if I wanted to shift again.
“Let’s not talk about this.”
He shrugged, wiggling down further onto the pillow. “You asked first.”
“Well, now I’m asking you to shut up and go to sleep.”
He grinned, loving that he was needling me.
“Just letting you know.” He nodded down at his trousers. “I don’t sleep with clothes on.”
I slanted my head, needing to get back on even terrain, my expression derisive.
“Me neither.”
Chapter 16
Croygen
That completely backfired on me.
My jaw locked as I watched Kat slip out of her wet pants, trying to cover the fact that I was fully staring. She was trying to act smug, but I could sense her nerves, the line we were poking at, trying to play each other.
I shouldn’t be participating in these games. It was wrong, but I couldn’t get myself to stop.
She removed the empty dumpling basket, turning off the lanterns before clambering onto the bed wearing only my shirt, still damp from the rain.
“Move over.” She crawled in next to me, flopping down on the pillow, our bodies far too close to put me at ease.
So we were doing this. Pretending we were unaffected, lying next to each other. As if we did this all the time.
Skirting the edge of the bed, I flinched at the tug of my healing wound. My pants chafed my thighs, and my cock painfully pressed against the wet fabric. I didn’t usually sleep in anything but boxer briefs. The logical part of me understood it would be inappropriate to undress. The inebriated part didn’t give a shit.
I was uncomfortable. Toeing off my boots, they dropped to the floor with a plunk. I unbuttoned my pants, trying to tug them down, as a wave of pain struck me. I hissed as my head dropped back.
“You okay?”
“Fine,” I gritted, trying again. The wet material gripped my skin, making it harder to pull down. “Fuck,” I grumbled, my lesion breaking open again.
“You need help?”
“No,” I shot out quickly, grinding my molars, giving up. “Screw it.”
Kat exhaled. Sitting up, she moved over me, the air in my lungs halting.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping because you’re too stubborn to ask for it.”
I scoffed. “Like you should talk.”
She rolled her eyes, her small hands gripping my waistband. Her fingers glided over my hip bones, sliding down my V-line. The simple touch was an electric shock going straight to my cock. Biting back my groan, I forced my gaze from her. The intimacy of this act in the dark overwhelmed my senses, taking all the blood and logic away from my brain.
“Up,” she whispered hoarsely. My hips lifted at her command as she peeled my pants down and off, dropping them to the floor. Her chest hitched, eyes blazing bright, locking on my erection. The tip pushed out of my boxer briefs, wet with pre-cum. Her attention on it only made it twitch more. The need to toss her on her back, spread her legs, and thrust into her rocked at my willpower.
I was on the verge, ready to snap if she even breathed my way. “Kat.” My tone was angry, warning her to back away.
She didn’t budge, her chest heaving violently, desire filling the room. We were both on the cusp, ready to fall over. The only things stopping me were the voice in the back of my head, Rotty’s face, and knowing the truth of what happened that night. How this girl had always been my downfall, even then.
Karma was a bitch.
Because I was about to break, I climbed off the bed, brushing past her, needing to move. I strolled to where the tray was, wiping away the fresh blood with a swab, my shoulders rising and falling with each breath.
I hadn’t slept with anyone in a year—and before that, it was more a transaction than anything—because I had lost my drive. My “magic.” After Lexie’s death, nothing felt right or real. I no longer wanted to seduce for the fun of it. I didn’t have the energy or need to put in the effort. No one sparked my interest. I thought something was wrong with me.
Nope… karma was out to punish me. Picking Katrina out of all the women in the world my dick throbbed to be inside of, needing it more than air, was cruelty at its finest. My magic swirled in me, dizzying me as it woke up, sizzling up my spine. I tried to ignore it, but from the moment she stepped onto my ship, she roused everything in me, including anger.
“Croygen?”
“Go to sleep, Kat,” I ordered, finishing the tiny bit of alcohol left, craving anything to dull what I was feeling, what I wanted to do.
She scoffed. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
“For the love of the gods!” I barked, rubbing my head. “For once, do what I ask.”
“You first.”
A groan bubbled up as I slammed down the empty bottle. “Boarding school sure didn’t work for you.” I glanced back at her. She sat on the edge of the bed, her arms folded.
“Guess not, since I was barely there for two years.”
I swiveled all the way around. “What are you talking about?”
“You think pirates are cruel? The school was horrendous. They beat me, locked me in the basement, starved me, and encouraged the girls to bully me. I was suspended eight times. I hated it there, and the feeling was mutual with the students, teachers, and headmistress. So I ran away.”
“But your father got letters from you…”
“Yeah, I let him believe I was still there. I knew he’d talk me into going back if he found out.” Her lip lifted. “And I was never going back to that nightmare.”
“Where the hell were you the whole time?”
“Surviving with other kids my age on the street. Getting better at thieving, fighting, at being a pirate, so when I came back, there would be no way you could turn me away again.”
My mouth parted in shock. I believed she had been in school that whole time. Safe. Fed. Warm. I knew life on the streets and how much more she had to fight being a petite, pretty girl.
“I had just received word from Father that he would be coming to visit me. I thought then I could show him how much I had grown, gained control over my shifting. I hoped he would be proud of me.” She stared at the ground, swallowing hard. “He never came.”
Because he died. I wasn’t sure how to respond or what to say now that I knew how she had been living at such a young age.
“Killian found me not too long after.” She wouldn’t look at me. “From there, it was all about becoming the best pirate who ever lived, no matter what I had to do.”
She desperately wanted to avenge her dad. To make me pay for all she lost.
She sniffed, quickly wiping at her eyes. “I’m tired.” She slipped under the covers, her back to me, ending the conversation.
I didn’t know how long I stood staring at her, the weight of guilt and fatigue weakening my legs. With a heavy sigh, I quietly went back to the bed, crawling in next to her. Lying still, I listened to her breathing.
“He was always proud of you, Katze,” I whispered. “Don’t ever question that. You were his entire world. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for you.”
She didn’t know how true my statement was.
And I didn’t want her to know.
My lids popped open, an itch at the back of my head dragging me from a deep sleep with alarm. The darkness in the room told me it was still deep in the night.
The consciousness of not being on my ship, alone in my own bed, barreled into me. I was in a cramped room, on a small bed, surrounded by the scents of raw meat and fish. And a warm body pressed into me, a purr coming from the figure engulfed in my arms.
Holy fuck.
My hand was up Kat’s shirt, my palm cupping her bare breast like it was the most natural thing to do. Panic poured into my bloodstream as I realized how calm and content I was snuggled into her, my cock cradled between her ass, happy as shit.
I didn’t cuddle. Ever. Especially with someone I wasn’t supposed to be touching. Not like this. The only time I ever laid next to someone without sex was Lexie on her last night. And then, unlike now, I hadn’t had the urge to slip her panties to the side and enter her while she slept, waking her up with an orgasm.
A noise downstairs nipped at the back of my neck. I twisted my head to the door, my stomach knotted up at the realization that the warning bells came from something other than Kat.
Staying still, I listened, anxiety clawing at my throat. My heart started to slow when nothing reverberated, thinking it was all in my imagination.
I became aware Kat had awoken; her body locked up, my hand still holding her boob, my dick still nestled in her ass. Before I could move away and apologize, her head popped up, nose wiggling, eyes going to the door. Her reaction had nothing to do with me.
“Kat?” I knew she could smell and hear far better than me.
She took another sniff, her head swiveling as if her ears were tuning in.
A creak of wood from the stairs below sounded like a scream in the silent house.
Kat scrambled out of bed, flaring terror into my veins. It wasn’t Mrs. Yang coming up the stairs. I scrambled up right as the door slammed into the wall, banging on the wood. Four men dressed in dark clothes rushed into the room, crowding the already tight space. My survival instincts kicked in, and I attacked with no hesitation.
Katrina sidled up to me, and we worked in unison as Master Yukimura taught us. It felt like more than that, as if something connected us outside our teachings. It was beyond anything I could explain, but with each spin, punch, kick, and block, it was there. We worked in tandem, a harmony I never had with anyone else, which felt more intimate than it should have.
She could take care of herself, but the connection made me more possessive, growling with retribution when one man lunged for her, his knife ready to cut her.
My heel struck his chest, tossing him back. His body flew into the window, shattering the glass as he fell through, his cry ending when he hit the cement below.
Kat blinked at me before going back to fighting. Her elbow rammed into the neck of one, hurtling him back, his fingers grasping at his throat as he gasped for air. Ducking out of the way of another strike, she punched another man in the crotch, dropping him to the ground in agony.
“That’s my girl.” I grinned, winking at her as I fought the last guy, realizing a moment later what I said.
I slammed my knuckles into the largest guy, a bottle shattering near me as I took him to the ground. Kat came up next to me, the jagged edges of the liquor bottle touching the man’s neck, her heavy breathing in my ear.
“Who the hell are you?” she seethed, her force only turning me on. “You know what happens to those who go against Yeo? I am under his protection.”
“You didn’t say that when I was attacked at the pub,” I exclaimed.
“Because you deserved to get your ass kicked.”
“Brutal.” A huff of laughter came up my throat, my head wagging.
“Please tell me you’re not here because he fucked your wife?” She turned back to the man. He was fae, but I couldn’t feel a lot of magic.
His dark eyes narrowed, spitting at her.
Snarling, I gripped his throat harder, forcing him to gasp for air.
“Answer her, motherfucker.”
“Gǔn kāi.” Fuck off.
Kat squatted down, cutting the glass deeper into his neck. “You answer or you join your friend out the window.”
Hatred flared his nose, his lips pinning together.
“Alrighty, here we go.” I yanked him up, pulling him to the window.
“We were paid,” he spat.
“Who paid you?”
“I don’t know. We never met face-to-face.”
“For what?”
It took another push to the broken window to get him to speak again.
“To dissuade you.”
“Dissuade us from what?” My patience thinning, I dragged him over the broken glass on the sill, cutting into his back, his head hanging outside. He cried out in pain, sweat dripping down his head.
“From going after something called the nectar,” he croaked. “That’s all I know.”
Cement pooled in my gut. Not only did someone else know about the substance, but they somehow knew we were after it too.
“Fuck,” I muttered, peering over at Kat. She had the same trepidation in her eyes.
“You broke!” a woman cried out, jerking our heads back to the doorway. Mrs. Yang stood there, her arms flaying, her expression pinched. “You destroy my place again! Blood all over. You buy!” She motioned to an upended side table and broken glass on the floor, not caring about the men’s bodies strewn over the ground.
Ignoring her, I looked back at Kat. Without having to say a word, she understood. We had to get back to the ship. Yeo’s protection no longer helped us.
The one thing I was certain was fictitious at one point was becoming very real.
And so was the threat on our lives.
The morning sun rose, the humidity only slightly decreased after the storm, and the streets puddled with water as we slipped through the alleys. People were setting up market carts, the streets cramped with horses and wagons jaunting down the lanes.
Katrina stayed close to me, both of us on alert. We hadn’t talked much after we left Mrs. Yang’s. The old woman was shrewd as fuck, and we left her purse heavier than the damage we did. But to be fair, we also left her to clean it up.
My nerves were coiled, ready to react to anything. I kept us moving, paranoid we were being followed. Ducking and weaving through the city to lose any tails, we took longer than I wanted, finally getting back to the dinghy when the sun was high in the sky.
My shoulders relaxed at my ship in the distance, knowing it was still there. Drifting our small boat next to it, Scot tossed us down a line from the deck.
“Hey, Captain.” Scot leaned over, hauling Kat up the rope ladder with no effort, a strange smirk on his face.
“What?” I climbed up, another prickle of energy running up and down my spine, his strange grin unsettling me. I climbed aboard, my gaze darting around nervously.
“We’ve been boarded.” Scot stepped out of the way, gesturing to two figures behind him.
Shock stilled me in place, my eyes taking in the two blonds. The tall, ripped man appeared like some Californian surfer with an easygoing grin and chiseled jaw.
The small girl next to him had waist-length, wavy hair the color of soft gold and a face you’d picture on an angel. She was a punch to the chest, cracking it open with memories and love.
“Annabeth?” I croaked.
Her blonde hair floated in the wind like a halo. A smile of pure joy spread over her face, her blue eyes filling with tears as she ran for me.
“Croygen!” She leaped into my arms, and I felt like a piece I had been missing slotted back in place. A part of my family returned. “I have missed you so much.”
I held her so tight as she sobbed, threatening tears of my own. Annabeth was like my little sister, part of the family Zoey had created. Zoey had met AB after the devastation hit Seattle. She had lost her parents and had been kidnapped and put in a fighting/sex ring. Zoey saved her from that life and made her part of our “found family.”
Annabeth and Lexie became like sisters, Zoey adopting them and adding her baby to the growing family. I had watched AB grow up alongside Lexie, then witnessed her fall in love with the Dark Dweller, Cooper, standing behind her.
The problem was that AB was attached to almost every memory of Lexie, bringing that part of my life back in a wave of emotion.
“What are you doing here?” I put her back on her feet, flabbergasted that she was standing in front of me. She wiped at her tears, still trying to calm down.
“Hey, man.” Cooper approached, shaking my hand, his other one rubbing her back. “Good to see you.”
Returning the handshake, I nodded. “It’s good to see you guys too, but seriously, what the fuck are you doing here?” My attention jumped from AB to Cooper. “How did you even find me?”
“Lars has eyes everywhere.” Cooper gave me a knowing look. “And since you are here, you probably know why we are too.”
