Page 39 of Tik-Tok

Tik-Tok’s eye twitched with annoyance.Calm down. It wasn’t her fault he’d pissed off the sea witch. If anything, what had happened between them washisfault. He should’ve realized North wouldn’t have come all over his fingers and begged for more without external help, even if she had planned to seduce him. There was a difference between luring someone in for personal gain and luring them in due to genuine desire. Today had been the latter. So CelynaknewNorth was untouched and that he would never stick his cock in her once he found out.

“Your magic,” he said in a tight voice, pushing away the memory of how good it felt to have her on his lap. The heat. How wet she’d been. Each little noise she made when he touched her. He cracked his knuckles. “What does it feel like?”

“It feels…” She paused, brows lowered as she seemed to ponder how to put it into words. “It feels like the sea itself is inside me, like the waves are a part of me. Both calm and thrashing. It’s different than anything I’ve ever experienced.”

Tik-Tok paced back and forth a few times before perching on the edge of his bed, leaving a large space between them. “And what brought the sensation to the surface?”

She shifted uncomfortably on her feet. “Is that important?”

“Of course.” He set his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, looking up at her from beneath his lashes. “If you know how to tap into that feeling, we can work on manifesting it into something useful.”

“Like opening a portal?”

He grinned. “Like opening a portal.”

“Can I have a minute?” She rubbed at her chest. “To see if I can find it again?”

Tik-Tok watched her intently as she focused internally. The small line of concern that appeared on her forehead made him want to run a finger over it, to smooth it out. Her silver hair was windblown, strands sticking to her cheeks, and the buttons of her bodice were fastened unevenly—his fault. He hadn’t wanted to lower his gaze as he closed the fabric over her supple breasts. His palms tingled as if begging for another chance to hold them.

Stop.

But it was too late—his skin warmed with desire, the sand inside his own shirt suddenly itchy against his too-sensitive skin. He stood, crossing to his chest of drawers, while pulling his shirt over his head. The sand hidden inside the material rained to the floor. Dropping the soiled shirt, he opened the top drawer and dug through his clothes for a fresh one.

Cool fingers traced down his back. Down one of the more prominent scars. And Tik-Tok froze. “You’re supposed to be testing your magic,” he grumbled, shifting away from the touch. “Not seducing your captain.”

“You’re not my captain,” North whispered. “What happened to you?”

“What does it look like?” He yanked on a black tunic, hiding the marks given to him by the King of Ev. Of the thousands of lashes he’d received, only a dozen had scarred, compliments of healing potions. But there was a reason these remained. They had been deep, bloody, and gotten infected. He hated that North had seen them—that he’d been too preoccupied with thoughts of her to remember to keep his back turned, like the other night when she’d seen him without his shirt. Facing her now, he kept his gaze on her chin so he didn’t need to see the pity likely swirling in her eyes. “Figure anything out yet?”

“Yes.” She stepped closer, hand hovering near her mouth, and stared at his chest. “What happened to your back, Tik-Tok?”

He grunted in frustration. Even the densest fae would recognize lash marks and dare not ask about them. Yet he spoke, regardless of how much it bothered him. “I was the ward of the King of Ev for a few years before becoming a pirate. Being young and alone, I was an easy outlet for his frustrations.” The faint echo of a cracking whip sounded in his head and he tensed. “Happy now?”

“No,” she breathed. “Why would I be happy about that?”

Because she’d gotten her answer. “Stop changing the subject. Your magic—”

“Let’s make a deal,” she said quickly. “If you tell me why you want to open the portal, I’ll tell you a theory about my magic.”

“Aren’t you the conniving one, my star?” He smirked and stepped back, finding a seat on the edge of his mattress again. Only Respen knew his full past, and that was only because they’d both found the bottom of too many bottles one night. There was nothing she could do with the information to damage his reputation or put him in danger—no upstanding fae thought highly of him anyway andhewas the one to be feared. He didn’t want to divulge his secrets nor relive his pain. He would though—if it meant unlocking North’s power. Even if he had to force it out. “Sit.”

North padded to the bed and took the empty space beside him. The faint scent of her from his bed didn’t compare to the source. Her nearness left him drunk on it.

“There are chairs,” he said, throwing his hand out toward the three seats around his desk.

“Do you think that’s safer?” she asked, crossing her arms. “If I remember correctly, we slept uneventfully together in the bed, but your chair—”

“All right, all right,” he said, wincing.Stars above. Did she have to remind him? Twice in one day, he’d gotten worked up, only to have his cock soften, unsatisfied. The ache in his balls grew heavier by the second. “Point taken.”

“So…” she prodded.

“Why do I want to open the portal?” He twisted toward her, taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger so she had to look him in the eye. With a deep breath, he answered, “I need to kill my father.”

Her lips parted on a gasp.

Tik-Tok chuckled ruefully. “Not what you expected?”

“You… But…”

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