Silver Tongue Devil (Devil in the Deep Blue Sea #1), page 9
But this room was humble. No table for private guests, only an old desk, two chairs, and a wall full of books and charts behind shatterproof glass. There were closets, a door to a private bath, and a platform king bed lined up along the wall of windows, giving stunning views of the sea outside. No silks or tapestries, nothing to suggest Croygen was the king of pirates. Though I would not be fooled. One can change their outfit, but not their spots.
Creeping closer, I spied Croygen asleep on his back, his arm tucked under his pillow, his head turned away from me. The thin white cotton sheet pulled up just above his hips wasn’t hiding anything.
Involuntarily my breath sucked in, my body responding to what I was seeing. Heat slid down from my cheeks, pulsing hard between my thighs, making me very aware I had no underwear on. For a moment, I couldn’t move, my twelve-year-old crush transforming from innocence to something completely different. Grown-up. Filthy.
Croygen was gorgeous. His face was angular with a sharp jaw; the beard only added to his sensual appearance. His features, especially the shape of his captivating eyes, suggested he had some Asian ancestry, though I knew almost nothing of his childhood, only bits and pieces he let slip over the years.
His body had always been tall and lean, but he had bulked up a lot during our years apart. His muscles corded over his figure, leaving no fat. Tattoos covered his arms and chest, most of them new. My attention trailed down his torso, a deep V-line disappearing under the sheet. His cock, thick, long, and hard, was outlined clearly under the cotton.
My innocence back in the day would have turned me away with an embarrassed squeal. I wished that was how I felt now.
Desire surged, along with the sudden need to climb over him, slide my pussy down his shaft, and ride him until I couldn’t breathe. My body trembled at the notion, drowning me in the craving. The yin of my hate battled with the yang of my need.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I had been so enamored with him. Boldly wrote in my diary that I would be the one to marry him. When I grew up, he’d be mine.
Now I was grown up, and the only thing I planned to do was kill him.
Yet, I stood still, watching him and wasting the precious seconds I could have used to execute him and escape.
Out of the corner of my eye, something glinted off the moonlight. I twisted my head to a hook on my left. Hanging from it were his jacket and belt, which displayed the gold handle of my father’s dagger.
All the desire I had experienced a moment ago turned to pure, red-hot rage, coloring my vision. My blood boiled with fury, striking out everything else. Pain and grief set fire in my gut.
It called to me, the perfect end for the pirate. To die by the very blade which killed my father. My revenge complete. Just.
I reached for the dagger with my free hand, the gun in the other, the decorated handle fitting into my palm like it was made for me. Ripping it from its holster, I swung around, ready to bury the blade in Croygen’s throat, giving him only a few moments to understand who I was before I sliced his neck all the way through.
I swung with precision, the tip of the blade about to kiss his neck, when the sound of a gun cocked against my ear, a barrel pressing into my forehead.
Shock froze me for a moment, my attention shifting down to the man on the bed. His dark eyes stared into mine, a cheeky smile hinting on his mouth.
As if he had been waiting for me.
“Nuh-uh,” he tsked, his throat bobbing against the blade. “Not so fast… Katze.”
Chapter 8
Croygen
Sleeping with my door unlocked over the years turned me into a light sleeper. It might be easier to just lock my damn door, but the panic of being trapped inside with no way out harbored in my chest, rattling around like a ghost, the screams that would never go away playing in my mind. A rogue wave took my family—everyone but me—that fateful night. As though I was kept alive to be punished for eternity because I was the one who wasn’t trapped in my room. The one who disobeyed his father.
I’d rather sleep light than not at all. Not that I was sleeping tonight. My brain had been buzzing around insistently.
The girl’s eyes. So unique and stunning. I remember being entranced by them even when she was a small child. Her face, voice, and mannerisms were altered, but the more I dug into my memories, the more I saw her.
I tried to push it away, the tight sensation in my gut, disgusted by what I had said to her, what I was thinking, while my dick was still hard as a rock.
To be fair, I didn’t know who she was. Then I saw her jacket. My jacket. The one I still tried to match centuries later, never finding anything that fit me like that one had.
I had been furious when it disappeared, ripping the ship apart trying to find it.
Yet I still couldn’t reconcile the tiny child I used to know with the woman locked up in my brig now. The one who had my entire body standing on end the moment she rammed into me. Her curves, her face, and her voice… the sultry feline way she moved.
There was no fucking way it was the same girl.
It couldn’t be.
That’s what I wanted to believe anyway. Especially because she acted like she knew my reputation, but not me. That told me she was a liar or just a common thief. I trusted neither.
But I trusted myself less.
Whatever temptation I felt for the sensual woman needed to be bled from me. I would not let her see she had any power over me. I decided not to go to the brig and find out for sure who she was, no matter how badly I wanted to.
All night I fought against a current, not daring to drink since my inhibitions would crumble. She stirred up old feelings, memories I tried to forget. Guilt and remorse I buried deep.
Lying here, my cock throbbing, I was absolutely repulsed by myself. I tried to go to sleep, ignore the temptation below me.
When my door squeaked open, I was certain it was her. Her magic skated over my skin, twitching my cock with excitement. My mind skimmed back to her thin, muscular legs, her thighs barely hidden under her tank, her hard nipples exposing themselves under the fabric. Her stunning face and eyes, and the hair my fingers twitched to thread through.
My response pumped anger through me. I was sickened by my indecent thoughts. No matter what she had grown up to look like, at one time, Kat was a twelve-year-old I thought of as a niece. A young brat, full of vigor and gumption.
You’re a sick fuck, Croygen.
Aware of every move she made toward me, of the heat coming off her, I ground my teeth together.
When she reached for Rotty’s blade, she erased all doubt about who she was. She recognized her father’s weapon.
The little kitty had come for retribution.
Because I slept with my door unlocked, I always kept a weapon under my pillow.
She swung the knife for my throat. When the blade touched my jugular, I whipped out my gun, cocking it and pressing it to her forehead.
“Not so fast…Katze.” I looked into her yellow irises; the vivid green rings around the black pupils widened in shock at her pet name. It was what Rotty called her. “Do you really want to do this? Drop the gun.” I nodded to her other hand, swallowing against the blade as it cut into me, surging adrenaline through me. Which only hardened my cock, making it almost unbearable.
Her breath stilled in her lungs. “Ho-how?”
“You think I didn’t know who you were?” I fudged the truth a little, acting like I had been one step ahead of her the whole time. “Katrina Roth.”
She inhaled sharply, her expression shifting from disbelief to anger.
“Good. Now you know why you are dying tonight.” Her voice was low, the vibration rubbing over me like it was her entire body while she pushed the knife in more firmly.
“I don’t think you’ll do it.”
“You want to challenge me, pirate?”
“I prefer to go by tradesman now.”
She blinked at me with confusion, hitching a grin to the side of my mouth. “I can pull this trigger before you could even break my skin.” I pressed the gun harder to her head. “Drop your weapons and let me get up, or drop the gun, keep the knife, and climb into bed with me. Your choice.” The last statement came out of my mouth without thought, and my body stiffened as I tried to act like I didn’t just say that to her. What the hell was I thinking? She was a little girl when I last laid eyes on her.
Her nose twitched, her throat bobbing, and for a second, she seemed to consider the options.
“You think you can talk to me like all your other common whores?” she hissed. “That I don’t know exactly who you are?”
A strange, uncomfortable sensation tightened my gut, the judgment of my past flowing over me.
My nose flared. Pushing against the blade as it cut shallowly into my neck, I sat up, lowering the gun in my hand, my lids narrowing on her. “You got it wrong, Kitty-Kat.” She stumbled back as I rose to my feet, my naked body towering over her petite frame. Faster than she was expecting, I yanked the gun out of her hand, tossing it across my bed where she couldn’t reach it. “They weren’t the whores…” I leaned closer to her face, the blood from the knife trickling down my neck. Her eyes widened as I stopped barely an inch from her mouth. “I was.”
I never slept with actual prostitutes. Not that I had anything against their profession, but I didn’t see the purpose. I had hundreds and hundreds of wealthy women of all ages, races, and influence begging me to be in their bed. I was the one who profited, stealing or receiving huge donations, which made me the whore. And I had been fine with it for a long time. It was who I was, my signature, my moniker. I had no guilt, no shame, and I still had manners.
Then I lost everything, going down a dark path where I met a woman with even fewer morals than I did. I fell for her hard, loving that she had no scruples and wasn’t bowing at my feet. We were Bonnie and Clyde before they even existed, stealing, running dirty deals, always onto bigger and better payouts. Until I realized her having no ethics meant her feelings for me were also on that list. Amara had me on a tight leash for years, giving me enough to keep me holding on while she was in a relationship with another man.
I was thankful she was out of my life, but I still hadn’t forgiven myself for allowing her to take so much of it. For making me hate who I’d become.
Then Lexie came into my life. Beautiful, fierce, and loving. Like Kat, I had seen her grow from a kid to an adult. And for one brief moment, I thought I could find peace again.
When she was brutally killed in front of me, any hope or light I had left disappeared.
Now with Kat, I was further reminded of the pain and guilt I carried for my sins.
“Cut me, Katze.” I grit my teeth, suddenly okay with the idea that she would be the one to end me. She had every right to. “If you are going to do it…” I grabbed her wrist with my free hand, pushing it harder against my throat. “Then do it.”
She swallowed, her chest rising and lowering rapidly, not moving a muscle while fire danced behind her eyes. The desire to watch me bleed out was written on her features. “What did I teach you?” I regripped her arm, more blood trickling down to my chest. “If you hesitate…” My fingers pressed down hard on her tendons, weakening her hold. In a blink, I whipped her around me, her ass slamming into my cock, my hand forcing hers to hold the knife against her own neck, my mouth skimming the back of her ear. “You die.”
She let out a gasp, a shiver running violently through her. Everything right and wrong slipped away, my body reacting to the feel of her. Her tank had pushed up, and my cock nestled against the seam of her ass.
Fuck.
Lust washed over me like lava, scorching through me until I couldn’t think. I went still because, with only one tiny motion, I would be inside her. I knew how fucked up and wrong that was, but my cock ached to move, to thrust into her pussy and take everything out on her, letting her punish me back.
She remained still, our chests heaving together in a static frenzy. I could feel her heat pulling me in like magic, her wetness, and I struggled to keep from acting on my desires, which was rare for me lately.
Since Lexie, I had felt nothing. Even with some woman wrapping her mouth around my dick or riding me, nothing ebbed the pain. Filled the hole in my chest. Brought me back to life.
“Captain,” a voice bellowed. Scot pushed through my door, half-dressed, a gun in his hand. Vane was right behind him, his eyes black and blue, nose crusted with blood. Weaponless.
Scot came to a stop, his eyes widening at the scene before him. Then his shoulders eased, his head shaking like he expected this. Vane almost looked like he was ready to collapse with relief.
“Captain—”
“Vane, shut the fuck up,” I muttered, not moving an inch from her. They could see I was naked, but from this angle, they couldn’t tell I was about an inch from sliding into her. With the way Vane and Scot both looked at her, I wanted to do it. To fuck her in front of them. Bury inside her and release.
Marking her.
As if she could feel my thoughts, sense the alpha need in me, a puff of air only I could hear hit the back of her throat, her muscles quivering against me.
What the fuck are you doing? Get your dick away from her. She’s Rotty’s kid!
Sucking in, I pulled away. My blade was still against her neck, but I wasn’t pressed into her.
“Sir, I’m sorry. I was just going to let her go to the bathroom.”
“Vane, I’m about to use this knife on you,” I growled, my cock angry, craving to settle back into her heat.
The faster I got this girl off this ship and away from me, the better.
“Scot, take her back to the brig.” I lifted the knife, pushing her toward him. Everything changed in a beat. Twirling around, Kat wrapped her foot around my calf, whipping me off my feet. My ass hit the wood with a thud, the knife falling from my fingers. The tiny girl leaped onto me, snatching up the weapon. I sucked in as her bare, wet pussy slid down my torso, making me groan. She pointed her father’s blade right at my heart.
In a blink, her body went up, hissing and clawing at the air as Scot lifted her off me. The blade clanked next to me.
“I will fucking kill you, Croygen, for what you’ve done!” she bellowed, thrashing in Scot’s grip, trying to get back to me. “I will slice your throat, dagger your heart, and then eat it like catnip!”
Dragged kicking and floundering, her hollers echoed back to me all the way from the belly of the ship.
“See?” Vane exclaimed. “She’s a lot more powerful than she looks.”
“Vane.” I clenched my jaw, staring at the ceiling. “Get. The. Fuck. Out. Now.”
Vane reacted instantly, hustling through my door, giving me a moment.
I continued to lay still. My mind and body were at war. Taking in a deep breath, I tried to rein in my emotions. To get a grip on myself.
Kat had almost skewered my heart… And I had never been harder than I was right now.
Centuries earlier, I had ordered Katrina off my ship because she was starting to wreak havoc with my crew.
It seems nothing had changed.
Fifteen minutes later, my crew sat around me in the galley, minus Corb, who stayed above on duty to watch the horizon as dawn breached the sky. Scot was on my right, Tsai on my left, while Zidane, looking bleary-eyed and irritated, shook his head at Vane.
“Tonight we had a breach of duties,” I stated. All eyes swung to the man in the back holding a bag of frozen peas to his face. “My direct orders ignored.”
Vane slunk down in his chair, a frown on his face, placing the icy bag directly on the growing lump on his forehead and eye.
“And I was attacked in my personal chambers.” I had thrown on a shirt and pants, but every inch of my skin still sensed the “attack” and itched with awareness.
“Not my fault!” Vane held out his arms, the thawing bag dripping in his hand. “She bewitched me, I swear!” Vane’s Spanish accent grew thicker when he got upset.
“A coatrack would bewitch you,” Tsai huffed.
“She had to go to the bathroom. What was I supposed to do?” Vane grumbled, placing the peas back on his eye. “Let her pee right there, smelling up the place?”
“You are seriously the worst pirate.” Zid rubbed at his forehead.
“I don’t think I’m to blame for this at all.” Vane sat up, motioning around. “You are the ones who put me in charge of a beautiful, half-dressed woman. You know I have no willpower against them.”
Scot chuckled under his breath, his arms folded, his head bowed and wagging. “He has you there, Captain.”
Agreement rumbled through the rest of the skeleton crew.
“Yeah,” I blew out. I had pretty much asked for it. Vane actually was a good pirate, but beautiful things were his Achilles’ heel. Normally, he leaned toward women but was open to all pretty things, especially when they were flattering him.
“Zid and Scot, you will both take turns seeing to our prisoner.” It was strange calling her that. Katrina had been once part of my crew, my family, but I couldn’t trust she wouldn’t try to kill me again.
“Wait, you’re taking me off?” Vane exclaimed. “I swear I will do better.”
Laughter boomed through the room.
“She swishes her tail in your direction and Captain will have a dagger in his gut by noon.” Scot shook his head. “We can’t trust you alone with your own reflection.”
Vane huffed, slumping back. His bruises were starting to heal, but his pride would take a bit longer. He knew he fucked up and was lucky to be left only with the punishment I’d be assigning him this week, like swabbing the deck, cleaning toilets, and working kitchen duty.
In the past, I might’ve marooned a crew member for this kind of mistake. I had even killed one for less. In this new era, humans were aware of the existence of fae, and it was causing more hate, violence, and division in a world already struggling. Trustworthy people were few and far between, so you held on to them. Fought for them. Something Zoey had taught me.
