If you knew how to please a woman, you might already know.
My stomach flips, hoping he doesn’t sense my false bravado as he reads the message. I hate how I can feel so torn between pushing him away and pulling him close.
Erik’s face clouds when he reads my words, and I am left in awe for the second time in moments. Half-concealed by the mist, he looks like a water wraith sent to drag me into the depths of the sea. My scowl falls away. Looking like that—tall, dark, and handsome—I might just go with him willingly.
“Ah, Princess. You wound me,” he whispers. He steps closer as I press myself harder into the railing. In a way that only Erik can, he puts his hands on either side of me and leans in. I retreat, my back bending over the rail. Heat spreads through my core and I am desperate for him to touch me again. Traitorous body. “You have no idea what I am capable of.”
My toes curl. Every inch of my skin tingles in anticipation. I’ve never felt so aroused, so alive.
End it,I remind myself. But all thoughts evaporate with the space between us as he draws me in. When his lips meet mine, my brain empties of all rational thought. We are lost in each other, kissing in the fog.
The protective cloak of the mists makes me abandon all semblance of self-control, and grab at him with the same force that he grabs at me. Something hits the ground with athud,but it’s soft enough that I can’t bring myself to care.
I want more,andI want to run. I want to dive into the water and extinguish the fire Erik has lit inside of me. I want to burn for eternity with him by my side. He makes mewant. He makes me feel powerful. Power and strength overcome loneliness, giving him more power than I should.
A silent giggle escapes my lips as I imagine changing Erik’s contact picture to the mist wraith shot from moments before. His new name would be “Pyromaniac.”
Erik draws back when he feels my laugh on his lips. “What?” he asks. A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth and amusement glitters in his eyes.
How in the nine circles of hell am I ever going to walk away from this?
Our lips barely brush against each other again when a shout breaks the silence.
“Captain?” Anders calls. “Has anyone seen Erik?”
With lightning speed, the captain steps back and straightens his clothes. I am left there with frizzy hair, and my sweatshirt twisted around in a weird way.
I try to fight it, but I touch my fingers to my swollen lips. His eyes follow the movement as he says breathlessly, “Coming!”
“Captain?” Anders asks again.
“I said ‘coming’, man,” Erik calls back, vigorously tucking in the shirt I had untucked moments before.
“Right, it’s just, we are nearing the port and the water’s riddled with rocks. We can’t find the map of the larger rocks,” Anders says.
Erik pulls at his cropped hair and lets out a guttural sound. “I told you: look in the drawers on the left of my desk. It should be in the bottom drawer.”
Just like that, Erik disappears in the mist, and the voices fade. I am left alone on the deck of his ship, staring at my foreboding future.
But, even though I am terrified, I cannot deny that there is an undercurrent beneath the fear. As if the way to my uncle’s tower is paved in gold-gilded destiny, Iknowthat is where I am meant to be. The Fates are known for being impossible to understand, but they are guiding me now.
I can only trust that I will not end up dead at the bottom of my beloved sea. Either by the hand of my human lover or malicious family. When I make to leave my position by the railing, my foot connects with something and the object slides across the polished deck. I look down and find Erik’s FaePhone at my feet.
Hmm. That must’ve been what fell.
When I pick it up, the motion makes the screen light up. My hand flies to my throat when I am greeted with an artistically taken picture.
It’s a picture of me… sleeping in Erik’s bed.
Shit. No no no no.
I unlock his phone to take down the picture. I don’t want anyone to see this. My fingers fumble across the glass. Before I can go back, the screen changes. I find myself in the messaging app.
My eyes scan the thread between Erik and “Unknown.”
My vision tunnels as I read each word. Heat envelops me, pounding in my ears and burning my throat. Cargo.
What in Fortuna’s hell is this?