Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
That thought is enough to have me lifting my head. “I’ll miss you, Evelyn.”
She worries her bottom lip. “You could come with me, you know. I realize that’s a wild thing to say when you’ve known me for a week, but I like you a lot and I don’t like the idea of you getting yourself branded a traitor and murdered just because you’re trying to do the right thing.”
I think I love her a little bit in that moment. For the offer, but also for caring about my future. This woman drives me up the walls, makes me question everything I’ve taken as fact, and … I care for her. A lot. I am enticed by her kindness and her passion and her insatiable curiosity. “I can’t go with you, love. My place is here.”
“I thought you might say that.” Her smile trembles a little, but even as I search for the right words to banish her sadness, she gets control of herself and brightens. “Well, no reason we can’t have one hell of a goodbye, then. When do you figure a ship will come through here next?”
“Hard to say. This island is right in the middle of several trade routes, so it likely won’t be more than a day or two.”
Her smile drops for a beat before she reclaims it. “That quickly? Well, guess we better make it count, then.”
“Evelyn.”
“Bowen.” She mimics my serious tone. “Do you have something better to do for the next day or two? Somewhere pressing to be that isn’t pacing the beach and brooding while you glare at the sea.”
Considering I had been planning on doing exactly that, I can’t help but flush. “Wanting a plan of action isn’t a bad thing.”
“No, it’s not.” She hooks a leg around my waist. “But in this case, your plan is simple enough. Hitch a ride on the next ship that comes through. Head back to report to your Council or whatever and then pick a crew to join.” She nips my jaw. “Start as a cabin boy. Work your way up to captain again. Maybe toss a giant rock at Miles’s head the next time you see him.”
That surprises a laugh out of me. “Miles was within his rights to call for a vote. He had the crew’s confidence.”
“Doesn’t mean what he did was right.” She shifts restlessly against me. I have her pinned too effectively for her to angle my cock to her entrance, but I can feel how devastatingly wet she is. How ready. “Either way, I don’t want to talk about him right now.”
I don’t want to talk about him, either. But there’s one last thing to say before I can give in to her desire and spend the next day or two buried inside her. “Before I go, I’ll help you find the portal.”
She freezes. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Bowen, I’m pretty sure helping someone break their vows is treason. If they find out—”
I brush her hair back from her face, stilling her words. “If you’re leaving, then I’ll ensure you exit safely before I move on. You can argue all you want, but it won’t change anything.”
“You’re a stubborn ass.”
“It’s been said before.” My voice deepens with desire. It’s taking everything I have not to shift down a little until my cock notches at her entrance. I need her to agree first. “Promise me, Evelyn. Promise that you won’t try to go without me. I give you my word that I’ll see you safely through the portal home.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You went and gave me your word, so now I’m going to look like a big asshole if I sneak out.” She sounds put out, but amusement warms her green eyes. “If you’re going to insist on seeing me through the portal, then I guess I’m going to have to insist on sucking your cock.”
I blink. “What?”
Instead of answering, she shoves on my shoulders to get me to roll onto my back. Evelyn wiggles back until she’s kneeling between my thighs. She strokes the twisted scar on my right thigh. “What happened here?”
“Kraken.”
Her brows wing up. “No shit?”
“No shit.” It had been an ugly fight that almost killed me and everyone onboard. It was only by working together that we managed to send it to the deep, and even then, I’m not entirely certain we killed it.
There were no more deaths attributed to the creature, at least.
She shifts her touch to my hips, dancing her fingertips over the sensitive skin of my lower stomach. For a moment, it looks like she might ask me another question, but instead she dips down and takes my cock into her mouth.
Last night was a frenzy, a need to get closer to her, to have nothing between us, to escape the horrible thoughts in my head and finally—finally—get my fill of this wicked little witch.