by Rachel Grace
He turned and walked with long, sure strides, her in his arms. Her back was still bouncing off the fluffed mattress when her boots hit the floor. Bodhan raised his lower body so his fingers could spar with hers on the buttons of her pants before he dragged them down her legs, revealing the bare flesh beneath.
Bodhan inhaled sharply. “Now I just might have to kill them. Unless you kill me first. Did you not think to ask for underthings?”
Dare had no ability to argue. She wanted him too much, was overwhelmed by the ferocity of his actions and the strength of his need.
She could use left over exposure to Seraphina’s pheromones as an excuse, but that would be a lie.
Bodhan had been seducing her from the moment she’d fallen—literally—into his lap. The days spent surrounded by guards who spoke freely of pleasure, her time with Phina and Bodhan, every moment on board the Siren had led her here. Into his arms.
This time she wanted to do more than pretend. More than watch. And this was her last chance before she was set off the ship. Her last chance for Bodhan to be her first, if not her only. Who knew what would happen if she couldn’t fulfill her vow? Couldn’t find the Deviant.
He gripped one of her wrists in his fist, guiding her hand to the hardness pressing heavily against his pants. Against her. She didn’t need to be told what to do. Her fingers trembled and slipped in their rush to release his erection.
Coral had described it to her when she’d brought her food, or rather, when she’d come to visit James Stacy. The heat and smoothness of a man’s phallus. How well it responded to the slightest touch. She’d laughingly teased Dare, saying, “Long and slender, short and stout, all men love when you tug it out.”
Bodhan lifted his mouth to study her when he felt her lips quirk upward. “Something funny, princess?” he growled. “I warn you, laughing at a gentleman in my condition is unwise.”
Dare’s hand reached in to the now-open panel of his pants and wrapped her fingers around as much of him as she could. “Oh my.”
His eyes narrowed to heated slits. “You are forgiven, and those are swiftly becoming my two favorite words. Let’s see if I can make you say them again.”
She was melting from the inside out. The feel of him in her hand was burning her palm, making her ache. None of the women had mentioned that touching him would do anything to her.
Were these his feelings inside of her or her own? It was insanity, wherever, whomever it was coming from. They were connected, skin-to-skin, emotion-to-emotion, yet it was not enough. The only coherent word in her head was more. She needed more of him. His smell. His touch. His mouth on hers.
More.
“You should never confine this. Never have to hide this beauty.” He reached up to loosen her hair and huffed out a rough chuckle at her surprised expression. “There is no reason to. We have established that you would never succeed as a spy. You are too much of a distraction, even without all these maddening curls.”
She moaned as he lowered his head and closed his mouth over her nipple, his tongue dampening the cloth that she wished would disappear. “Please.”
He nipped her with his teeth. “Love that word as well. The next time, I will have enough control to draw this out. Long enough that you will be hoarse from your pleas.”
Dare struggled to gasp for air at the first thrust of his fingers inside her. Yes, that was what she wanted. What they wanted.
Bodhan’s mouth kept returning to her breasts, his fingers slipping through her sex, making her squirm. Dare squeezed his shaft, marveling at the sensation of iron swathed in silk. Physically, she could feel every ridge and vein, the beat of his heart. Emotionally, she could feel his impatience.
It was an emotion she shared. With her free hand she reached up and tugged on his hair until she got his attention.
Those eerily beautiful blue eyes looked into hers, dilated and unfocused with arousal, and she smiled, knowing just what to say.
“More. Please.”
The vein throbbed at his temple again. And again. And then he shuddered. A fine tremor that sent a matching vibration through her entire being.
“Good girl.” His growl was close to indiscernible, but she understood. And so did he.
He reached over her head, slipping beneath one of his pillows and pulling out something strange. She tried to focus, but it was hard to see. “Another invention?”
“Think of it as my way of protecting you from breaking Theorrean law.” He sighed as he took her hand away and lifted himself off her. Dare whimpered in regret.
She watched Bodhan take a thin sheath of clear material and slide it over his shaft, and was reminded of a hand being covered with a glove. Her heart stuttered at the sight of his erection. She’d known its impressive girth from touch, but the full view filled her with a sense of excitement… and trepidation.
He paused, his hand gripping the base of his shaft, even now giving her a chance to change her mind. She had no intention of letting him stop. She may be intimidated, but she knew Bodhan would take care of her. She trusted him. With her body, if not her secrets.
Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him down for a speaking kiss. She wanted him, no holding back, and he would know it before she was done.
He hummed against her mouth and gripped her hips in his hands. Dare inhaled sharply with the first press of his erection at the opening of her sex.
“Dare,” he muttered against her mouth. “You’re so wet. Relax, princess, and breathe. I have to—”
She cried out as he stretched her, slowly filling her as he stared into her eyes. Dare’s gaze clung to his, and she allowed his utter satisfaction to wash over her, easing her body’s own tension. That sharp prick of pain that was no match for her arousal.
She never realized… never knew it could feel like this. This was more than a tool for procreation. This was life. Some pain but mostly pleasure. Indescribable pleasure. All-consuming and as necessary as breathing.
When his hips were flush against hers he buried his face in her neck. “Dare… Dare you feel…”
She knew. She could feel everything. “Bodhan…”
There were no more words once he started to move. It was a rhythm she seemed to know despite her inexperience. Her thighs tightened on his hips, her own lifting off the bed to meet him. Each thrust was made easier with the slickness of her arousal, intensified by the clenching muscles of her sex.
She was perfection. He’d never felt so lost in a woman. Never been so close this swiftly. Only her.
His thoughts. If they were powerful enough, feelings often found their voice in her mind. Did he truly think that? About her?
He slung his hips with enough force to drag her halfway across the bed and she lost the ability to think entirely. Dare’s fingers curled into his back and he snarled, closing his mouth over her shoulder.
Shameless cries and groans of need sounded around her, whether from the movement of the bed, the surfacing of the submersible, or her own throat, she could not guess. She didn’t care.
“I knew you would be like this. Knew you would feel like this,” Bodhan rasped. “Dare, please—”
He was begging her? He was the one making her wild, the one rocking deep inside her, his rhythm escalating. Yes… deeper. She never wanted it to end, wanted to stay connected to him forever. But how much longer could her body take this? She felt charged, inflamed. Combustible.
“Bodhan.” What was happening to her? To them? Her voice broke as she called out his name again.
“Let go, Dare. I’m here.” He braced his hand over her head and pressed his forehead against hers. “Come with me.”
Feel me.
She did. She was. His adrenaline, his arousal, spiked and shattered in shards of raw passion around her. His strong body pumped against her as he groaned his release, taking her mouth in a ravenous kiss that sent her flying out of the salty water and into the atmosphere.
Not one feeling, every feeling. Every sensation. For one blis
sful moment she was everything. With Bodhan.
Her body was still shaking with the power of it when she felt him move. For a moment, she tightened her arms and legs around him. Unwilling to let him go.
“Shh, Dare. Let me take care of you.” He lifted her off the bed long enough to pull down the covers.
Through vision blurred by the power of what she’d just experienced, she watched him finish undressing. Her hand lifted to her breasts and she sighed. She was still wearing the muslin and Bodhan had still been in his boots. How could her world have been so radically altered that swiftly?
A cool cloth between her legs made her flinch. Bodhan took the hand that rose in protest, kissing the back of her knuckles as he washed her. Soothed her. “Trust me. This will ease you. Make you more comfortable.”
A few moments later he’d set the cloth aside, sliding in beside her. He kissed her fingers, her chin. He was sated. Solicitous. “Do you need anything else, Dare? Did I hurt you?”
She shifted on the bed. She ached, but it was not unpleasant. Her skin, her sex still tingled, and jolts of desire continued to pulse along her nerve endings. “I feel lovely.”
He laughed softly. “You are lovely. Of course, I haven’t seen all of you yet.” His fingers went to her waist, making her giggle and teasingly resist until she allowed him to turn her onto her stomach. He began to place soft kisses up her spine until he reached her nape, pushing her hair over to one side.
One of his fingers started to trace a featherlight design along the left side of her back beneath her shoulder blade and she sensed a small jolt from him. Surprise? Bemusement? The feelings made no sense, so she focused on the physical sensation of his touch on the small raised area of skin.
Her birthmark. She had tried to glimpse it more than once, when she knew she would not be disturbed, but to her it looked like nothing more than a blurred circle of blue.
Her father had been adamant that she never let it be seen by another living soul. “You have many strikes against you in the Wodes’s eyes, Demeter. Your size disturbs the other shield guards. They whisper that your inheritance is flawed. If they knew you were marked as well, you would not be able to fulfill your destiny. They would not accept you as a Senedal. As a Chalice for Queen Idony.” He had patted her head, his expression grim. “You will hide this as you hide your ability, daughter, or I cannot protect you.”
“Lovely, Dare,” Bodhan whispered, bringing her back to the present. “You are not what I expected at all. How did you stumble onto my Siren?”
They both knew what had brought them together. Chance. An accident of timing. An opportunity for greed. Dare buried her face in the nearest pillow. The real question, the one she had no clue how to answer was, why was there a part of her that did not want to go?
He curved his warm, muscular body around her, tugging the plush coverlet over both their bodies in the lingering silence.
Dare bit her lip, fighting back tears. Had she ever felt as safe as she did at this moment? As full of life?
But what right did she have to feel this way? She was born for one purpose, to be the queen’s companion protector, her Chalice. Idony could be suffering far away from Two Moon Bay, from Centre City. She could be in pain and suffering… though not dead. Dare would have sensed it.
And within the palace? A betrayal of which the magnitude was still too enormous for Dare to completely comprehend was fomenting. In more ways than she could count, she was running out of time.
Knowing that truth, bearing that burden, had not stopped her, if only for a heartbeat, from thinking that she never would have felt this, would have met Bodhan, if Idony had not been in danger. If Cyrus had not gone missing.
Perhaps this moment with him, this taste of pleasure, had been the greatest mistake of her life. Because now she knew what she was missing. What her blessed, isolated life in the palace had lacked. As she let herself relax against him, Dare knew this was something she should not allow again, yet she could not bring herself to regret it. There would be time enough for that once they’d surfaced.
Chapter Seven
She wasn’t sure how long she’d slept when a strange noise woke her. Not the external machinery of the Siren. It was footsteps inside the room. Several pairs.
Tension. Impatience.
Footsteps and emotions that did not belong to the man sleeping heavily beside her.
“Had a feeling she would do the trick. I am good, but Bodhan was made of stone until she came on board. Who knew he had a fetish for virgins with secrets?”
Seraphina? Why did she sound like she was talking through a teakettle? Dare tried not to move, feigning sleep along with Bodhan. She hoped it was pretense. How could he sleep through this invasion? She supposed it was up to her to determine whom Phina was talking to, and how they had gotten past his guards.
A hard female voice spoke in hushed tones. “Phina, we have to hurry and we are out of options. It’s not here. There’s nothing here. You still aren’t sure where he keeps his high-profile imprints. The bribe-worthy kind.”
Phina sounded defensive. “How dare you doubt me? I found the imprints, even fondled the sweet guard who never gets to leave his post. There is nothing in them we don’t already know. He must have hidden it when he disappeared from the Siren.”
The other woman sighed. “Then we have no other choice. Freeman will bring him with us, and I can get it out of him on the move.”
It’s not here. What Phina had been looking for when she broke into the room? They were taking him. Whoever they were, Dare could not allow them to hurt Bodhan. She tensed, alert and ready to move if they took one step closer.
Phina’s chuckle was delighted. “Fair Dare of the bright blue hair. You may have held the boss’ sword, but I have his gun aimed at your pretty head. Do not think you can fight me. I like you, you tasted sweet, and I have no desire to use it on you, but I will. Now sit up and turn around. No need to cover up on our account. You look scrumptious.”
Dare did as the Felidae asked, though she dragged the sheet with her to cover her breasts, her back still to the intruders.
She was angry. And sick of being taken places against her will. “You’ve been a part of the abductions all along then, Seraphina? Are you the reason Cyrus was smuggled off the Siren? How many victims did you seduce for them?”
She felt the pistol against her back. “I could kill you for suggesting that.”
“Wait.” The other woman swore. “Something you forgot to mention, Phina? How could you not tell me about her? Do you think this is a game?”
Phina’s voice was sober, every trace of amusement and ire gone as the gun fell away from Dare’s back. “I swear I had no idea. I mean, I knew she was something, but her scent is confusing.” She paused. “I assume we have another passenger?”
“We do. Get her dressed, and swiftly. The gas you released into the crew’s quarters only works for a few hours. That goes for the head knocks I gave to the outside guards. It’s nearly dawn. They could wake at any time.” Dare heard her sigh. “Freeman, get that fancy bastard to the Deviant. Leave the note on his desk and keep your masks on.”
Phina hummed. “I love a bossy woman. And see how she worries. Come now, Dare. I will forgive you if you forgive me and get dressed.”
The Deviant. That was the name of the ship she had been looking for when Lucy Thrice interrupted her search. The name of the ship she’d been planning to seek out when they’d surfaced. Had it found her instead? And was it filled with more criminals?
Despite the queen’s seal, Dare was beginning to doubt her messenger. These people were thieves who could not find an object on an enclosed submersible. Why would she believe they could help her find her queen?
Unless she had been wrong about Bodhan. Had she just had the most profoundly powerful experience of her life with the man who had taken Idony?
No.
She did not believe she was wrong. Not this time. This man was what James believed him to be, what they all believ
ed him to be, she would stake her life on it. She picked up the jacket Phina had thrown over to her side of the bed and spoke without turning to face them. “I demand to be taken to the Deviant’s captain.”
Phina tossed her boots, just missing Dare’s thigh as they bounced off the wall. “Lucky Dare. That is the plan. Just promise you won’t give me any trouble on the way. I have grown rather fond of you, you know, despite your accusations.”
She nodded, adding a silent caveat. No trouble. Unless they hurt Bodhan.
Dare studied the two dimly lit figures in the distance. The man was the size of a mountain, with hair that glinted gold in the breaking dawn. He had a Bodhan-sized bundle over his shoulder, making her imposing lover seem no heavier than a sack of grain.
His slow, rhythmic glide kept him even with the woman beside him. She had dark hair that fell straight to her waist, her long black coat billowing out behind her to reveal a silver shimmer. She wore a sword at her side.
Dare wished she had a weapon.
These were crewmembers of the Deviant? And how was the Felidae beside her, the one still holding Bodhan’s unusual pistol, connected to them?
Dare took in her surroundings. The Siren had surfaced off an isolated cove, a long metal gangplank extending from the submersible to the shore. She could see the lighthouse used to guide sailors that was perched on a jetty along the sharply curved shoreline that gave Two Moon Bay its name. She could hear the birds that followed the ships at sea pleading for scraps nearby, but she could see no people. She’d surmised the women and other employees of the Siren were either knocked out by the gas they’d spoken of or by the hostile woman striding ahead of them. But where were the paying clientele? The guards who were supposed to be ready for any eventuality?
“Why is he unconscious?” She glanced at Phina. “If you aren’t connected to Lennis, why would you need to do this? Is he hurt?”
“Bodhan? No, he’s just resting. Trust me, it is the only way he’d leave his ship for ours. See this?” Phina lifted the arm not holding the gun and shook her wrist, the jangling sound directing Dare’s attention to her bracelet. At first glance it seemed like an ordinary trinket. A slender copper bracelet layered with thin gold and brass cylinders creating a unique design.
