Page 16 of Reign of Light
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It was better that I didn’t have to explain.”
“Does it bother you that there’s only been you?” I ask.
He tilts his head and presses a kiss to the side of my neck, his lips moving up the column as he speaks the words between kisses onto my skin.
“Does it bother me that only my cock has been inside you? That my tongue is the only one that’s ever made you scream? That I’m the only one that’s ever gotten to watch you come apart, and that I’m the only man that ever will?”
I squirm as memories of each of those things flash before my eyes, and my body heats, shuddering as his lips press a kiss into the corner of my jaw. They drag over my skin, and his breath tickles, sending shivers coursing through me.
“No, Lennox. It doesn’t fucking bother me at all.”
“Does it bother you I slept next to Dane?” I ask, breathless.
“No, it doesn’t. I assumed you had, but I didn’t know for sure.”
“Only once. The night you took Fin.”
“Ah,” he says with a nod. “You don’t hold any blame for how he manipulated you. None of that was your fault, nor was anything you did while under that coercion.”
My chest swells, even though I knew he didn’t look at me any differently because of how I had acted before. He’s never seen the Dane-influenced version as my true self, but it doesn’t hurt to actually hear him say it.
“I got nightmares around him,” I admit, twining my fingerstogether. “I never had them back home, but once I was here, after I almost fell through the bridge on my first real day, I had them every night. It was almost like…”
“Almost like what?”
I had thought little about the nightmares since they stopped, but now with all this talk about the past, especially after everything that happened, the memories are vivid, and something about them becomes even clearer.
“Almost like the magic was telling me not to trust him. A lot of them were about him attacking me.”
A low grumble vibrates in his chest. “You had them in the brig.”
I nod. “The day you came in was the last one I had until I was back at camp. They went away the first night I slept next to you, like deep down I knew you would keep me safe.”
His shoulders sag, seemingly in relief.
“I told you,” he says as his hands wind under my ass, squeezing the muscle there and making my stomach clench. “You belong in my bed.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Footsteps approaching behind me catch Weston’s attention, and I glance over my shoulder to find Veck stepping onto the quarterdeck.
“You wanted to see me, Captain?”
Weston nods, then looks down, eyes sliding over the weapons sheathed in my vest and his fingers flex on my thighs.
“Be ready. I’ll be busy for a little while longer until we leave,” he grumbles.
“Come find me when you’re ready,” I say, leaning forward and pressing a kiss into his cheek, my lips barely brushing the corner of his, then pat his chest twice. “Be the captain.”
His chest rumbles, and I smile sweetly, sliding away from him until I can lift my leg over his and hop off the barrel. Sending Veck a quick wave, I shuffle down the steps back to the main deck and spot Stassia, stillpacing wildly.
Very few of the crew are on deck, and Stassia is the only one who looks agitated. I glance around, looking for Sig, hoping she can enlighten me before I walk into a Stassia tirade, but there’s no sign of her. Sig would never miss the collection crew meetup with Mara, but after breaking the news to her last night and all the change that comes with it, I can imagine she wants some time to herself.
My approach does nothing to slow Stass. It’s as if she doesn’t even see me until I lean against the rail, watching her boots tread soapy prints through everything Taril continues to mop.
“What’s wrong, Stass?” I try to sound normal, but even I can hear the wary undertone to my question. She looks coiled and ready to strike at any moment, but does a double take when she finally notices me standing there.
“That fucking asshole!” she shrieks. Her hands stay planted on her hips as her steps pound into the wood beneath her. Taril looks over at me with what looks like sadness or disappointment in his eyes, and I glance between them, trying to figure out if it is Taril she’s talking about, or someone else. I know Stass is direct, but if it was Taril that made her upset this early in the morning, would she really be pacing in front of him, calling him names?
