Page 52 of Of Magic and Rum
“You realize there’s no fraternization rules between crewmates, right?”
Anne pauses, her hands still resting on my skin, and blinks. “I guess I assumed—I mean, you’re thecaptain.”
“The only rules—” I trail my hand up her back, pressing it between her shoulder blades and groaning at the sound of her sensual whimpers. “—are the ones you swore by. And not claiming what’s yours in public wasn’t one of them.”
“Don’t worry, we heard you staking your claim all of last night,” Glog says in passing, carrying a basket of bread and snort-laughing.
Anne’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink, but otherwise, she doesn’t seem embarrassed. “Icanbe a tad loud, can’t I?”
“Ididpromise you a ravishing.” I point a stern finger.
Anne runs one of the thin braids in her hair between two fingers. “I have a confession.”
“Oh? How scandalous.” Playing along, I lower my ear to her mouth.
“You—” After licking her lips, she lowers her voice. “—you were my first.”
Unintentionally, my spine zips straight. “I—hold on.” Catching her by the elbow, I lead her into my cabin, checking for snooping ears before closing the door. “I’m your first? Don’t tell me you’re a virgin. Your age. How is that?—”
Anne laughs and grabs my biceps. “No, no. I’m not. You were my first—” Her gaze pans to my chest, and she hesitates. “—human.”
“Hold on. Wait. Then what the bloody hell have you been with? Dolphins?”
The idea sounds absurd, but I cannot think of any other explanation, and I pray I’m wrong.
Anne’s nose scrunches like Truffles left a heaping pile of shit on my desk. “By the Seas,no.”
“You’re going to have to level with me here, Annie. Though I believed in all of this—” I circle my finger in front of her. “—long before we met, I only recently found out I wasright.”
Anne wraps her arms around herself and taps her foot, her gaze darting from one side of my cabin to the other. “Mostly—mermen.”
Heat prickles the back of my neck, and a peculiar mix of confusion and jealousy fills my mind. “Mermen?” I repeat, in case she said something other than grown men with fishtails served as her previous lovers.
“Yes,” she answers, wincing.
I nod questioningly. “And so does that entail doingsomething,or do you release eggs into the water that they’re intended to fertilize or—?” The thoughts plaguing me are enough to turn my stomach into the world’s most complicated sailor’s knot.
“Oh, my—no. Fertilize, Jack? Really?” Anne’s face reddens, and she rubs her forehead before continuing. “It’s like how dolphins or sharks—” she pauses, scratching her head as if mulling over the proper word “—mate.”
“And it’s—” I point at my pecker. “—different?”
Anne bites the inside of her cheek to avoid showing she’s amused by my discomfort. “Yes.”
“How different?” The frown that distorts my features is unavoidable now.
Anne saunters toward me, her fingernails walking the length of my stomach. “Let’s just say I now know why other nymphs would go on and on about their mortal escapades.”
My cock is superior to ethereal men fish—a stroke to my ego if there ever was one.
I clear my throat and flex my arms. “And you were never curious to indulge?”
Anne stays silent and shakes her head.
“Why’s that?” I inch closer, trailing the back of my knuckles over her cheekbone.
“I’ve never met one who could keep up with me.” Those jade eyes fall to my mouth, her tongue skirting her bottom lip.
“And how, pray tell—” Sliding a hand over her hip, I massage her there. “—do I compare to thesemermen?”
