Page 66 of Of Magic and Rum
His words make my scales hum and blaze with vibrance. I turn to face him, smiling at the sight of him soaking wet, his hair falling in tendrils of wavy onyx over his eyes. “You haven’t evenbegunto feel it, pirate.” Placing one hand on his chest, I give him a light push, coaxing him to lie on his back.
Jack doesn’t fight me, willingly settling on his elbows, his muscular, tanned legs spread wide, waiting for me. He bites his bottom lip, caramel eyes roaming my face, breasts, and hair. I straddle him, positioning myself over him, and slowly sink, whimpering at the feeling of fullness the lower I get until finally, our hips meet. Jack growls, his head dips back, his toes digging into the sand. He grabs my hips, and I sway on top of him, pulling the thrumming heartbeat of the seas into my veins. Jack’s lips spasm, and he flares his eyes open, staring up at me as if to ask if what he’s feeling has to do with me.
Grinning, I press our chests together and kiss a trail over the hair on his jawline until I reach his ear. “You’re as much a part of the seas as I am, Jack. Only now can I formally introduce you.”
Jack grasps the back of my neck and kisses me, unleashing a masculine moan against my mouth. Another wave stirs, and we don’t pull away once it plows into us, soaking us to the bone. Jack finishes the kiss as the tide ebbs, water droplets still hanging on his lashes. His gaze drops to my mouth, tongue licking salt from his bottom lip, and then he’s flipped us in one swift motion. I’m beneath him, his body above mine, forearms caging my head. The seas drip onto my cheeks from his hair, and he drives into me—deep and all-consuming.
“You say you can talk to the ocean?” Jack rolls his hips, hitting against that sensitive spot, rubbing it just the right way. “You tell her—” he lowers his face, brushing his nose to the tip of mine and over my cheeks “—she has toshareyou now.”
The declaration makes me clench around him, and I can’t help but dig my fingernails into his back. There’s a path that neither of us would have to share with the seas—a version where we could live in and out of the waters as we please. But it’s a fever dream. He’s not of my world, and the only person who couldmake it possible, evenifJack chose to become a part of it, is eons away.
He's thrusting faster now, our eyes locked and never faltering, even when my back arches from the sand as blissful release overtakes me yet again. Jack still pumps into me through my climax, using his knee to hitch my thigh, going deeper. A tic forms in his cheek, his cock throbbing several times inside me. He goes to pull away, to expel himself anywhere but here, and I grab his ass, keeping him put.
Jack’s gaze searches my face, his lips parting to question my actions, but I press a finger to his mouth. “Trust me. Come undone inside me,Captain.”
Like many deities’ fates with others are spun by the universe, so are children. And I’ve yet to seek blessing for our union, let alone offspring from it.
This makes Jack’s gaze grow feral, and he crashes his lips against mine, pounding into me several more times before he finds his release. I pinch my knees at his ribs, grinning once he comes up for air.
Supporting his weight on one arm, he lets most of his lower half rest on top of me, and I love the heavy feel of it—safe and comforting. “And now, that was a first forme.”
It takes a moment for me to realize what he means. “You’ve never—ins?—”
Jack slips a gentle palm over my mouth. “I havenot. The last thing I need is a bunch of random little Jacks running around that I didn’t know about.”
For whatever reason, the idea of Jack having children with other women makes me sad, but hearing it isn’t possible raises jubilance in the same instant.
Smiling, I part his hair from his eyes, securing it behind an ear. “But they’d be so cute.”
“Well, that’s a given.” Jack lifts his chin, the moonlight creating shadows over his features, making the sharpness more handsome. “Have you seen this jawline? The well-angled nose?” He keeps a straight face for several seconds but cracks a smile.
“I’m certain I have sand in places I never deemed possible.” A laugh bursts from my chest—fluttery andalive.
Jack grins and takes a handful of said sand, trickling it over my shoulder before lightly rubbing it against my skin. “You get used to it. It ironically makes your skin smoother. Besides, can’t you—” He snaps his fingers, wincing as some sand flies at his face.
Skirting my knee up his thigh, I take his hand in mine and trace the lines and patterns on his palm, laughing. “I have aquatic powers. That doesn’t include making sand disappear from crevices.”
“Noted. But in my defense, I’m quite new to all of this.” A warm smile edges Jack’s lips, and he lazily traces one of my nipples.
The thrum of the sea thunders in my ears, and despite how happy I’ve been since the catastrophe in Atlantis, I still can’t stomach the thought of my family searching for me with no idea where to look. Or worse, they don’t know if I’m alive. This sends a chilly current washing over me.
“Jack,” I beckon softly.
He must hear the change of tone in my voice because his gaze snaps to mine, a cinch forming in the skin between his eyes. “Yes?”
“I have another favor to ask of you.” Lifting his hand to my lips, I kiss each knuckle and trail the dark scattering of hair.
“The way you say that sounds like you think there are to be no more favors after this one.” Jack trails a finger down the length of my nose. “Ask away, Annie. Anything.”
“I wish—” I sit up, grasping Jack’s hand, but my eyes turn to the sea. “I wish to send a message to my family.”
Jack delicately touches my jaw and returns my gaze to him. “But how do you intend to do that? Parchment in a bottle? Tossing it into the waves and hoping it makes it where it needs to go?”
“Yes. But acharmedbottle.”
Jack scratches the back of his head. “I don’t quite follow. Spell it out for me as if I’m a child.”
Sighing, I sit up straight and take both of his hands. “There’s a sea witch. I can sense her grotto, which is not far away. She’d possess the power to enchant the bottle and guide it home.”
