by King, Bella
“You little liar,” I say with a tinge of admiration.
Even in the darkness, I can see her smile. “I was listening in on you and Javelin from here. We should be able to see who’s in the bridge through the vent, but we’ll have to be quiet.”
Perhaps I shouldn’t put so much trust in Zella, but she’s gotten me this far, so I won’t hold the past over her head. She didn’t know that I wasn’t out to get her or Olesya. The truth only came out this morning.
“Follow me,” Zella whispers, taking my hand and pulling me forward.
I accept her lead, wrapping my fingers around hers and savoring the softness of her skin. Even in these tense and uncertain times, there’s comfort in the way that she touches me. The truth can be known from that alone, just like I felt it the other night in my bedroom.
The connection between us is real, but it can’t be explored in full now. We’ll have to wait until we’re out of danger, but I’m aware that that time might not come. The universe hasn’t guaranteed us a way out of this mess.
I stop suddenly, pulling Zella back toward me. Even in the dark, I can sense where her face is, and I land my lips on hers before she has the chance to question what I’m doing. I need this kiss because it might be the last one that I ever get.
To my surprise, when I pull away, she doesn’t scold me. She touches my arm and whispers, “Thank you.”
We have no time to soak in the moment before the distinctly gruff sound of Javelin’s voice catches our ears. We both turn at the same time, looking toward a vent in the back of the room where thin strips of light bleed through onto the floor.
“Where’s Clay?” Javelin asks someone in the control room.
“I don’t know, sir. Shouldn’t he be down with the prisoner?”
“He should’ve been back by now,” Javelin replies. “I want you to go check on them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And if you think something funny is going on, I want you to sound the alarm.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get out of here,” Javelin barks.
I hear the sound of footsteps quickly leaving the room and the door opening and closing. I don’t see javelin through the vent, but he’s probably closer to the front window than the back of the room. Nobody else seems to be with him now.
I turn to Zella, keeping my voice barely audible so as not to alert Javelin. “They’re going to sound the alarm in a minute. Shall we just shoot him?”
Zella grabs my gun, shoving the knife into my hands in return. “Let me do this,” she says.
I’m too amused by her eagerness to be annoyed at her for stealing my gun. Besides, I also like watching her in action. There’s something incredibly sexy about a woman who can take care of business. The Devil’s Kingdom needs more poeple like her.
Zella squints through the vent, aiming the gun as best she can through the slits provided. After a moment of struggling, she curses under her breath. “Fuck it,” she says out loud and takes a step back.
“What are you do–”
I’m interrupted by the clatter of the vent as Zella kicks it out of the wall, clearing enough room for her to duck through it. I’m not even out behind her when she starts shooting.
“That’s for Olesya,” Zella shouts over the sound of gunfire.
I stumble out after her, looking up to witness Javelin’s hefty body falling backward as he’s peppered with bullets. She pumps his chest full of them before aiming for his head with the kill shot. In a blast of glory, Javelin crumples to the ground, crimson spilling out onto the floor around him.
I pull another gun from my jacket as a flash of movement in the corner of my vision catches my attention. One of Javelin’s cronies, a crewman with misplaced loyalty, runs through the door, pulling his gun on Zella.
He’s pitifully slow, and by the time he realizes his mistake, I’ve already blown his brains out the back of his head. I’m sure there will be more of them, but I’m relieved that we’ve taken out so many before the whole ship was alerted. There can’t be more than a few left on board, but we’re either going to have to hunt them down or let them come to us. This isn’t over just because Javelin and Clay are dead.
In fact, we have a whole lot of work to do before we’re completely in the clear. There’s a whole island that awaits us, and I’m unsure of what will be there when we arrive.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Zella
Most of the crewmen came to us, receiving gifts of bullets and bloodshed when they entered the bridge. The rest gathered together and surrendered, but they were met with a similar fate. Betrayers of the Devil’s Kingdom get their own special place in hell, and Diavolo showed no hesitation in sending them there.
Now, with business taken care of and an entire cargo ship at our disposal, Diavolo and I have some talking to do.
“We should turn this thing around,” Diavolo says, dragging a corpse out of the pile and positioning it on the edge of the deck to be shoved over into the steady morning waves.
“I don’t think so,” I reply. “My sister is on that island, and we’re going to rescue her.”
“Alone?” he asks.
“Together.”
He places his boot on the body of a dead crewman and shoves it overboard. “Don’t you think they’ll have more people there waiting for us?” he asks.
I shrug. “It’s better than letting them find out what happened to Javelin and killing off my sister when their operation crumbles.”
“How would they find out? We killed everyone.”
“They would.”
“How?”
I scoff. “I don’t know, Diavolo. Maybe someone sent a message before they got killed.”
“They can’t do that without the communications center, and we were there the whole time.”
“I’m sure they can,” I mutter, but I don’t see any way in which they would. We’re in the middle of the ocean, and it’s not like you can get a phone signal out here.
Diavolo pulls another body from the stack, smearing a substantial amount of blood over the deck. Hopefully, the rain will wash it off, but for now, the skies are clear.
“We have to go to Javelin’s fucked up island and get Olesya,” I say. “I’m not going to wait.”
“Oh?” Diavolo replies, lifting his head. “And you think that I’m just going to let you do that?”
“Yes,” I reply, crossing my arms. “We have to.”
“We don’t,” he says. “Listen, I want to go there too and blow his operations out of the water, but we need a team of people to do that. We can’t just waltz in there by ourselves and –”
“But what about my sister?” I blurt.
“Zella,” he says, softening his voice. “It’s been five years. Javelin has been playing with your mind. I hate to say it, but the chances that she’s alive are pretty damn low.”
“You hate to say it, but then you go and do it anyway,” I say, heat coming up to my face and tears saturating my eyes.
“I’m just being honest with you.”
“You don’t know the truth,” I say, glaring at him as my bottom lip trembles. “I didn’t come all this way to turn around just because she might be dead, and we might not be able to overtake the island. I did this to save Olesya.”
“You did this to get revenge on me,” he replies.
I narrow my eyes at him. “I wanted to know the truth. If I wanted revenge, I would’ve already killed you.”
He laughs. “You wouldn’t have been able to.”
“I have your gun,” I reply, pulling it from my waistband. “Do you want to test that theory?”
He stands up all the way, puffing out his chest. “Sure.”
I point the gun at him, fully expecting him to jump out of the way, but he doesn’t. He stays stoically calm and still, his eyes fixed on me and a slight grin on his lips.
I bite my lower lip, my hand trembling as I hold the gun.
For a brief moment, I actually consider killing
him, but what would that achieve? I need him to get to Olesya, and I don’t want to see him dead. I care about him more than he might think. We make a pretty damn good team when we’re working toward the same goal.
I lower the gun, letting out a sigh. “Fine, I wouldn’t have killed you,” I admit.
He steps forward, tilting his head to the side. “Do you really think that Olesya is alive?”
I shake my head, looking toward the ground in defeat. “I don’t know.”
“Then let’s find out,” he says, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I lift my head, meeting his gaze. “I thought you said you wanted to go back.”
“If you think there’s a chance, then there’s a chance. I won’t waste any more time, but if we get to that island and it’s swarming with enemies, we’re turning back and getting a proper crew to take them on.”
I nod, tears coming to my eyes again. “It’s a deal.”
He smiles, pulling me closer and letting me hide my face in his chest. “You’re going to be fine, and so is your sister,” he says softly.
I don’t know whether to believe him, but I enjoy the sound of his words and the way that he speaks them to me. I feel like he cares, and that’s something I haven’t encountered since I lost Olesya. It’s been five years of cold, heartless colleagues, and somehow, I’ve found warmth in the worst of the worst.
Diavolo rubs my back, using his hand to smooth out the tension between my shoulder blades. I hug him harder, pressing my nose into the softness of his muscles. I soak up the heat, enjoying it against the coldness of the open ocean. I needed this more than I realized.
Diavolo pulls his head back, looking down at me with great care in his eyes. “This isn’t going to be easy, Zella. I hope you understand that.”
I look up at him. “I know, but we have to do it.”
He nods. “Then we will, and not a damn thing in the world is going to stop us.”
I smile, squeezing the final tears out of my eyes. “Thank you, Diavolo. You’re a good man.”
He laughs, letting me go and stepping back. “That’s not anywhere close to being true.”
“I believe it,” I reply.
He returns to the body lying by the edge of the deck and looks back at me as he shoves it off with his foot. “I’m only good for you.”
I shrug. “I’ll take it.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Zella
“We have some time to kill,” Diavolo says, throwing a peanut into his mouth and biting down on it with a solid crunch.
“A whole two days,” I say. “I never thought I’d get so much time off.” I’m not even being sarcastic. I haven’t taken a single day off in the past five years. This feels like more of a crime than the actual crimes I’ve committed.
Diavolo chuckles. “I think Slate can handle business until we’re back.”
I’m sitting next to Diavolo on the bridge, looking out at the ocean ahead of us. The bodies have been dumped for the sharks to enjoy, and the coordinates for Pleasure Island have been set. The only thing left to do is wait, and the only way to do it is in each other’s company.
Diavolo slides his hand onto mine, and I take it, placing my other hand on top of his. The warmth of his touch gives me the much-needed energy to make it through the next couple of days. I don’t know what we’re going to find when we reach the island, but no amount of mental preparation will cut it for the occasion. The best thing that I can do is to find something to take my mind off of it.
And that would be Diavolo.
“I hope we don’t disappear on the way there, like the other ships did,” I say, only half-joking.
Diavolo laughs, tossing his head back as though he enjoys the possibility. “Javelin was behind all of that. Thank god that rat got what was coming to him. You sure did a number on him.”
I shrug. “I was angry.”
“You should be angry more often then,” he says. “I like that level of passion from you.”
“I’d be careful what you wish for, mister,” I reply.
“Try me.”
“Well, I don’t think you want to get stabbed.”
He laughs, but it dies in his throat as his eyes grow serious. “No, Zella, but I would like to see more passion out of you. I haven’t forgotten what happened in my bedroom… and how wet you were.”
Like the ghost of my innocence passing through me, a chill occupies my body for a moment before its replaced by the heat of arousal. Just by bringing up the instance in which we were wrapped around each other, Diavolo has reminded my body what he did to me, and my body isn’t about to waste an entire two days without getting it again.
“You don’t need to promise me anything, Diavolo, but I want to know that you actually care about me,” I say, looking into his eyes for permission to fall for him.
He doesn’t smirk. There’s no cockiness running through his lips. He just smiles, plain and honest as he can be. “I really like you, Zella. I know that much.”
“That’s all I needed to hear,” I reply, knowing that it’s the truth.
He leans toward me, and I match his movement, falling into his kiss like a golden autumn leaf swept into a storm. The world is quiet around us, but inside of our hearts, the passion is raging with feverish intensity. Nothing can stop us now.
Hand holding changes to an embrace and our lips slip over each other, tongues dancing in the fire in our mouths. I can taste the raw urgency in him, and I want more. I want to taste everything.
My legs part on their own as we stand up together. I accept the shape of Diavolo’s body as he backs me into the control panel. Something beeps, my ass presses a switch to the side, but neither of us cares. We’re far too wrapped up in the moment to think about anything else.
“Fuck me,” I demand, jumping up and wrapping my legs around Diavolo’s waist.
He chuckles. “Not just yet, darling. I won’t let it be over that easily.”
“I don’t want it to be over,” I reply. “I just need you inside of me.”
“And you will have me,” he says. “But first, I want to taste you.”
He sinks down in front of the control panel, pulling down my pants as he moves. I lift my ass to help him get the tight fabric over it. My legs are already overgrown with goosebumps.
“My treat,” he says with a smirk.
“I assure you,” I reply as he places his hands on the waistband of my panties. “It’s all mine.”
“We’ll see about that,” he says, pulling down my panties and tossing them across the room.
My chest tightens with anticipation as he lowers his head to my thighs, breathing hot air onto my sensitive skin. That alone is enough to get my juices moving. I’m sticky wet between my legs before he even has to chance to wet my pussy with his tongue.
I push my hips up as his mouth meets my mound, feeding him my womanhood with an eagerness I never imagined I would have for such a thing. Diavolo has changed me, and I like this new Zella. She’s more adventurous, and a whole hell of a lot sexier.
I push my hips up more as I feel the sweet sensation of Diavolo’s tongue on my clit, clearing enough room off the control panel for him to slip his hands under my ass and hold me in place.
He drinks from me like a bowl, lapping up my juices and making a show of it in the process. He wiggles his head over my pussy, playing with the pleasure he gives me, thoroughly enjoying my essence. I never knew a man could be driven to that level of obsessiveness over my body, but it’s obvious that Diavolo is.
I feel the same way toward him. I want to grab his cock and put it inside of me. Anywhere will do, whether it be my mouth or my pussy, as long as he’s there. I just need him inside, and I’ll be happy.
I grip his short curly hair, riding his face as he pleasures me. I look down at him, and his eyes flicker up to mine. I would be embarrassed about my flushed cheeks and contorted expression if I wasn’t so utterly consumed and mesmerized by the pleasure rolling through me.
&nb
sp; I soak up the sensation and the view, knowing that I’ll have plenty of this as the days roll by in the ocean. We have time to kill, and plenty of extra to spend in each other’s arms. I won’t waste a single moment that I get to share with Diavolo.
After all that I’ve been through, I deserve this.
Diavolo uses his tongue to bring me higher and higher with each passing second. My mind is warped into a sludge of pure bliss, and my legs tingle with nervous excitement as to what’s coming. I’m going to ride it out and then have him inside of me, giving me another orgasm.
I’m not even sure that I’m ready for the amount of pleasure that I’m going to experience, but now that I’m on this ride, there’s no way I’m getting off. It’s too fucking good.
I toss my head back, feeling my hair dangling across my back and shoulders as I give up my body to Diavolo fully. My palms brace against the control board, mashing keys, and setting off little bells and alerts. Nothing I do will stop this ship from getting to its destination or me getting to mine.
“Oh fuck,” I gasp, clamping my thighs over Diavolo’s head like earmuffs. The soft padding between them covers his face, pressing his mouth harder into my pussy as an orgasm tears through my core.
The spring uncoils, bursting with colorful confetti and declarations of success as my body writhes to the tune of my orgasm. I feel the expansion of my cells and the gentle contraction that follows in a spectacular wave of satisfaction.
Diavolo pulls his head away as I unclamp my legs, licking his lips and looking up at me with an intensity I’ve never seen from him before. I want to look away, but I don’t. I take in his gaze for all that it is, unsure if this is the last time that I’ll get to see it.
“I want you inside of me,” I say.
“I’m way ahead of you,” he replies, standing up and moving his hand to his belt.
Chapter Forty
Diavolo
The expression on Zella’s face is priceless, but I’m about to twist it into something even more enjoyable. Her sweetness lingers on my tongue as I unbuckle my belt, pulling it out all the way before dropping my pants. I watch her reaction with captivated amusement.