by Eve Langlais
The big man shrugged. “We might have kept a wee stash for emergencies.”
“Is there any point in giving you orders?” Darius exclaimed, despite the fact the disobedience might very well save them. “Make sure Clyde is watching the engines and Aquata is manning the cannons.”
“Everyone is already at their stations, Capn’.”
“Prepare to get out of here, first mate.”
“Me?” Jorah’s eyes bulged. “Why me? Whatcha doing?”
Darius grabbed a machine gun from the locker and checked the ammo magazine. “Hopefully not murdering any of your relatives during our escape.” He stepped out onto the deck as the chains holding them docked let loose and began rattling as they were coiled back inside.
They were noisy enough to mask the noise of the soldiers sloshing onto the docks. A whole troop of them. Twenty at least, in four rows of five. The first rank of soldiers dropped to a knee and raised their guns, ready to fire.
What morons. As the ship began to move, the wake caused those kneeling to lose their grip and balance. Those standing struggled as well.
And still the water rose.
A soldier stepped out of the formation and held an amplifier to his mouth. “Captain of the Ocean Avenger, you are to hand over the Princess Shereen and surrender yourself.”
“Or else what?” Darius shouted, keeping his gun tucked low out of sight as he sauntered to the side of his boat.
“We’ll shoot.”
Darius looked at the soldiers, who’d managed to regain their feet and aim their weapons. Not as many as expected and more than a few had dunked their guns, meaning they might not fire. Even if they did, the angle, increasing distance, and the rain would impede them.
To waste more time, Darius shouted, “I don’t want to decimate your ranks, but I will if you try and stop us from leaving.”
“You cannot leave, as you must answer for the crime of killing Doctor Pomme.”
“It wasn’t a crime. He attacked the Sapphire queen. As her servant, it was my duty to avenge her.”
“She is not a queen yet, nor has she paid the price for her cure.”
“Call it a gift from your government to hers because she will be queen, and when that happens, wouldn’t you rather have her as an ally?” Darius was screwing with the guy royally, because every second wasted took them a little bit farther.
A disturbance in the water turned into Tanzie, sluicing through the waves, holding on to the Ripper—a water-powered machine that propelled a person. He could see her sluicing through the rocking waves. It meant she’d done her job.
The soldier kept arguing. “Doctor Pomme says—”
“Pomme is dead. Anyone who tries to get in my way or touches the princess will die, too. So the question is, how many of you want to live?”
The subtle warning resulted in the soldiers retreating to confer, which meant Tanzie made it on board and, dripping water, approached him to report.
“I placed the explosives on the gate, Captain,” Tanzie announced.
“How long until it blows?”
“How’s now?” She turned from him to face the gate and held up the trigger. She mashed her thumb. Nothing happened. She hit the button again and again. Frowned. Cursed. “Fucker sold me a dud,” she grumbled. “Wait until the next time I see that vendor. He’ll be reimbursing me with blood.”
All the vengeance in the world wouldn’t help them right now. The gate blocking them from the river wasn’t coming down. Darius racked his brain as to what they could do.
“How many cannon shots do we have?”
“Not enough to make a dent in that thing.” Tanzie pursed her lips.
“What about infiltrating the control room and opening it manually?”
“I tried that first. The whole thing went into lockdown and won’t open for at least twenty-four hours. I doubt they’ll give me the time I need to cut my way in with a torch.”
Another idea shot down. They needed a new plan.
They’d already chugged a fair distance from the dock before the soldiers made up their collective minds and yelled at them to come back. Darius might have offered an obscene gesture in reply.
The dumb soldiers stupidly sent a small ship after them, which Darius sank. The Lazuli stayed clear after that.
While the docks teemed with soldiers, for the moment they were safe. However, they couldn’t remain floating in the middle of the bay forever.
“We need a way through that gate,” he grumbled, racking his brain, trying to find a solution.
“Maybe if it keeps raining, we’ll float over,” Jorah remarked.
While slower than before, the water was still rising, just not enough to help them.
The concern over the gate got shoved aside as the dock suddenly cleared. As in every single soldier vanished. Had they given up? It seemed unlikely.
“Captain, get out here!” Ralf yelled. “Something is happening.”
Diving through the door, Darius emerged onto the deck, Jorah at his heels.
His first mate muttered, “What da fuck is dat?”
A good question given they could hear crashing and roaring. Something massive moved out from between the buildings on the wharf and stood on the dock, undisturbed by the water. A giant monster with a lizard-like head, a long serpentine tail, and webbed front feet. All the better to swim with.
The thing dove into the water, and Darius cursed. “Load the cannon. Incoming bogey.” What he called those that liked to attack underwater.
Aquata was paying attention. He felt more than saw the missiles that streaked from his ship. Heard the watery bellow as at least one of them struck. But it didn’t stop the tunneling of the water as the monster headed for them.
“Brace!” he yelled, grabbing hold of the mast.
The monster hit them, glancing off the hull hard enough to rock them. The moment the beast went past, Darius began shouting commands. They didn’t have much time before it turned and came back for them again.
Darius ran aft for the giant harpoon gun bolted to the rail. He cranked the handle, drawing the tension in the spring taut. Standing in the stirrups, he aimed it over the side.
The beast was tunneling back at them for another run.
Click. The harpoon went flying and missed!
Fuck. He reeled it in, knowing he had little time. The creature might have veered to avoid, but it was coming back.
He’d just managed to seat the harpoon when the monster emerged from the water, bursting upward in a wet spray, its mouth open and displaying impressive teeth. The blinking light from the collar around its neck distracted him for a moment.
The Lazuli kept giant lizard monsters as pets?
More like a weapon. Darius turned the harpoon quickly and, while not fully cranked, hoped it had enough oomph to punch through that skin.
As the thing began to fall on an angle that would ensure it hit the boat and put it within chomping distance, he fired. The harpoon barely penetrated. He dove to the side just as he heard a scream.
“Darius!”
A wave of something—pure force if he had to call it anything—punched into the creature.
Splat. The wet thud of meaty chunks made him grimace. The Avenger would need a bath, but a bit of cleanup beat getting bitten in two.
He glanced over at Shereen, who had collapsed. As he reached her side, there was a rumble and then a groan of twisting metal that resulted in the ship rocking as the water agitated.
Tanzie crowed from her spot atop the bridge housing, “The gate is open! Turns out I had the wrong signal.”
“Jorah, get us out of here!” Darius yelled.
They wasted no time going through the opening to the river and weren’t alone. Darius noted more than a few large shapes heading in the opposite direction, swimming into the harbor. Perhaps a few Lazuli pets come to pay a visit to their old home.
Not his problem.
While Jorah raced them up the Crocanile, Darius carried to Shereen to
his room, peeling the blankets from her, as well as the clothes, still damp from the rain.
The storm had abruptly halted right about the moment Shereen collapsed. If he had to guess, he’d say she overloaded when she killed the monster.
Shereen slept for two days, and yet it was almost as if she were in a partially aware state. She ate if spoon-fed. She went when placed on the privy and given a moment alone. But she didn’t open her eyes.
When she finally did, within them, he saw the ocean, tossing roughly in a storm.
Chapter 19
The first thing Shereen saw upon waking was Darius.
Impossible.
Darius was dead. She’d seen him die. Mourned his passing.
Tell that to the familiar voice. “About time you woke your lazy ass up, princess.”
“Darius, is that really you?” She blinked at him.
The familiar smile wrenched at her heart. “Expecting another man in our bed?”
Our bed? She turned her head side to side and noted she did indeed lie inside the cabin. “How?” She frowned as she tried to make sense of her memories. “You died on the roof. The doctor got you.”
“None of that was real. All just a bad dream caused by a Lazuli drug that fucked with your mind.”
“So I did go see Pomme for the treatment?”
“Don’t you remember?”
Her nose wrinkled. “I remember all kinds of things. Pomme injected me, and you rushed in, killed the doctor, and then we fled but were chased by a two-headed monster.”
He shook his head.
She frowned. “You didn’t kick in the door to save me?”
His lips curved. “Not quite.
“What really happened?”
“I found you lying asleep in a bed, drooling with Pomme rubbing his hands and cackling.”
“Was he really?”
“No, but he was smug.”
“I’m surprised he let you take me.”
Darius smirked. “He didn’t. We had a bit of a disagreement on that.”
“Given I am on the Avenger, I assume you won?”
“Let’s just say Pomme and the other Lazuli probably won’t be bothering you for a while.”
“You killed him,” she stated.
“Are you mad?” he asked cautiously.
“Not really. The man was quite rude. When I told him I changed my mind, he forced me to go through with it anyway.”
Darius growled. “Now I wish I’d taken longer to kill him.”
For some reason, this made her smile. “You saved me again.”
“I did. This is becoming a habit, princess.”
“Apparently,” was her wry reply. “In my dream, you kept coming to my rescue.”
“And died?” he prodded.
She ducked her head and nodded.
“That’s why you were so sad. Fucking Pomme. He told me you had to experience extreme emotions like grief to unlock your power.”
“My power?” she repeated. Then the more important question. “Did it work?” She almost feared the answer. In her dream, she controlled the skies. What if that turned out to not be true?
He grinned. “You throw a hell of a hurricane.”
“And you’re sure it was me?”
“Pomme said you’ve been causing storms since we met.”
“And I never knew.” She glanced at him. “What else did he tell you?”
“He was convinced you could wield your father’s water power, too.”
“Pomme thought I inherited two powers?” Even her brothers hadn’t managed that. Both had taken after their father. “Did you see me manipulating water as well?
He shook his head. “Not unless you used it to try and flood the city. I’ve never seen it rain so hard.”
“I don’t remember.” She rubbed at her brow. “It’s all so hazy.”
“Pomme said that would happen. That you would forget the nightmare.”
“Did he also say I’d sleep two days?” she grumbled, her body sore from lying in bed.
“I could have told you that would happen given how hardcore you went using your ability. You have to pace yourself with magic. My brother can’t use his too much at once, or he’s in bed for hours and, in really bad cases, days.”
“Hold on. You said I slept two days.” She sat up and wavered as she swung her legs over the edge. “Where are we?”
“Almost to the Crimson Sea. We would have made better time, but we stopped to get some fresh produce for Clyde in the jungle. Apparently, the kitchen was bare.”
“And the whirlpool?”
“Was gone by the time we went back through.”
“Once we reach the Crimson Sea, where to?” For some reason, a strange shyness infused her, making her unable to ask the real question: what about them? He’d yet to touch her since she’d woken. Had what Lazuli done changed his feelings for her? She was afraid to ask. Afraid of rejection.
Over the next two days, Darius was a perfect gentleman with her. Courteous, funny, witty, attentive. But he didn’t kiss her, nor did he share the bed.
As they sailed away from the poisoned waters and the ruined remains of the keep, she paced the room and wondered what had changed. Was it because she’d finally come into her heritage? Perhaps he couldn’t handle the fact she’d become Aunimaa. Or he’d never truly liked her at all.
Except, she didn’t believe that. There was something in the way he looked at her. A smoldering passion, as if he stifled it when around her.
They hit the open sea with him standing legs akimbo on the roof of the bridge, and she confronted him about it.
“Why are you avoiding me?”
He glanced down. “What are you talking about?”
“You haven’t come to bed.” She brazenly said it and hoped she’d not read him wrong.
He jumped to the deck, landing with a hard thump, and stalked to her. “Do you miss me, princess?”
It seemed stupid to pretend that she didn’t. “You’re warm to snuggle.”
“Is that the only reason?” He stood in front of her.
She tilted her head to look at him. “Was I wrong in thinking there was something between us?”
“You know how I feel about commitment.”
“I’m not asking you to make a promise.”
“Then what are you looking for, princess?”
Given everything she’d gone through, and what might still lie ahead, she uttered the most heartfelt truth. “Pleasure. Even if it’s but for a moment. I want to feel good. To forget all the bad that’s happened.”
He drew her into his chest. “I wasn’t avoiding you, not exactly. More like trying to give you time to heal and process everything.”
“Since when are you a considerate pirate?”
He offered her a lopsided grin. “I never said it was easy. Do you have any idea how hard it was to stay away from you?”
“How hard is it?” she asked in a husky murmur. Then squealed as she was tossed over a brawny shoulder.
“I’ll show you how hard,” he muttered, stomping to the rear of the ship.
It was the height of dominance for him to just carry her off, and not make any bones about the fact he planned to ravish her. It was also strangely arousing.
They no sooner entered the room and shut the door than he’d flipped her to her feet and dipped his head to claim her lips.
Mmmm. He had a way of kissing that weakened her knees and quickened her pulse. He coaxed her lips to part by teasing the bottom one. Her tongue met his in a lithe, wet dance that had her sagging until her back hit the door. She might have slid down if he’d not pressed into her, his weight holding her in place.
She clasped him tight, wanting to feel every inch of her body against his. Given he had to lean to kiss her, she wasn’t surprised when he lifted her off the floor, using the door as a brace to pin her. The height was perfect for the grind of his pelvis against hers. Parting her legs, she loosely put them around his hips, moaning when he pressed e
ven more firmly. Her blood boiled, and she ached.
“I need you,” she whispered against his ear before nipping the lobe.
That resulted in some fumbling and tearing as he shoved at his pants and hers. With their passion unleashed, she was hungry in her kisses. Demanding in the thrust of her tongue. His hands spanned her waist and held her aloft. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and the core of her pressed against the cock pinned between their bodies. She couldn’t help but rub against it. Gasping at the hardness that teased her. Digging her fingers into his shoulders when he groaned and leaned his forehead against hers.
“Shereen.” He whispered her name.
Sexy. She reached between them to touch him. Delighted in his shudder. She managed to get her hand around him, and he growled. “Don’t. I’m too close.”
More words that only served as a tease. She wiggled her hips enough to guide the tip of him to the spot she wanted. He was so tense. Holding himself back.
She locked her legs around him, drawing him deep into her snug sheath. Reveling in how he stretched her. Gripping him tight, she kissed him as he thrust into her, the curved tip of him just perfect.
With her back pressed against the door, and his big hands cupping her butt, he had the leverage he needed to pump her hard and fast. It had her panting. Mewling. He slammed his cock in and out of her, and she was close, so close…
He slowed.
Right down.
She might have protested except he chose to push deep. To the hilt. Grinding the head of him against her sweet spot. Holding it there and then he began to grind.
It was too much. Too good. Too…
She came hard, and she squeezed him tight. Her climax rolled, wave after wave, intense enough she couldn’t even scream. Or breathe.
He came with her, his body rigid, the heat of him bathing her womb.
When he collapsed to the floor, panting, careful to ensure she landed on him, she smiled.
At least the passion between them remained unchanged. But would it be enough? Because she was beginning to realize she wanted more from him.
Like his heart.