Page 80 of A Reckless Indulgence

“Don’t tell me about sirens. Tell me about you.”

He can’t take watching her suffer for some rule she’s been told to follow. He reaches for her hands, smoothing his fingers over the pulse in her wrist.

“It’s always ‘sirens can’t,’ but never ‘I can’t.’” He cups her face and holds it between his hands. “Tell me what you feel. Tell me what’s real for you.”

Her lip trembles, and Cav swears there’s a storm brewing in her eyes. Bewildering and wild, threatening the certainty she’s always clung to, the laws of nature she’s built her life around. Maybe it’s all in his head. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but her voice does crack. “You’re wasting your time with me.”

“Then let me waste it.” His thumbs brush her cheeks. “Let me help you. Even if you can’t feel the same, I do. I’m still here.”

She lets out a shaky breath. Her gaze flicks over his face like she’s standing at a cliff’s edge – and then, she jumps, grabbing ahold of him and rushing to meet his mouth. It’s as all-consuming as the rest of her. Fire roars up his throat and heats his mouth when she presses him back against the wall. This time, she doesn’t kiss like she needs to claw her way inside. She kisses like she’s already there, entwined with his body and soul. She kisses like they’re being swept away, fingers clutching his shirt, knee hiking over his hip, doing everything she can to keep him close.

He leans into her, clings to her, molds his mouth against her neck to suck a bruise under her jaw. It doesn’t satisfy her. She tugs at his shirt and fumbles with the laces, sliding her hand down to the waist of his trousers. He doesn’t want to deny her, but something isn’t right. There’s a frantic insistence that vibrates off of her, a panic running out of time, like she might vanish into thin air if he lets go of her.

“We need to get back,” he breathes against her mouth. “The ship’s going to leave.”

When he pulls back, her eyes are wet. He thumbs at the tears.

“What’s wrong? What is it?”

He’s not sure he’s seen her like this. She looks over his face like she’s memorizing every detail. “Stay with me tonight. Please.” It’s the first time she’s asked him to come closer. The first time she hasn’t disguised her want with barbs or sharp edges.

“Of course,” he murmurs.

She pries her fingers out of his shirt, and he takes her hand to lead her back through the winding stone walls. She keeps a tight grip on him when they reemerge, scanning the nearby ships until they reach the Indulgence. Colt is loading the last of the supplies and frowns when he catches sight of Cav.

“Hey, what happened to —” Colt spots the hold Lyx has on Cav, the mark blooming on her neck, the disheveled look of both of them. He smirks. “Shit, never mind.”

They push past him and descend to the cabin. Cav’s heart thuds. He has always wanted Lyx so badly, and now, they’re racing toward a place they’ve never reached before, one he’s only been able to find in his dreams.

He wants to go there with her.

As soon as the door swings shut, she tears at his shirt. It rips down the center, and Cav jerks the rest of the fabric apart so he can touch her again. She gasps into his mouth, her hands roaming his breasts, his waist, his hips, and leaving a scorching trail behind. He wishes her palms could burn him. He wishes he could have a map of everywhere she’s touched him, scar tissue rising from his skin and reminding him that she was here.

They land on the bed, cursing when it keeps them from freeing their clothes. Lyx tugs at his belt, but her shaking hands can’t finish the job, urgent and clumsy.

His hands close over hers and guide the buckle open. “It’s ok.”

“It’s not enough,” she pants. Her nails rake his stomach. “It’s not enough.”

“What’s not enough?”

“You’re not close enough.”

He works his trousers down his legs before he tugs off her dress in one motion. The full lengths of their naked bodies press against each other. It’s the first time they’ve been together like this. Nothing between them. Not even water.

His fingers skate over her body. He finds the scars that rope her torso, the iridescent scales at her clavicle, the juncture of her thighs where her tentacles formed. She wanders over him with the same reverence, her cool skin against the heat of his.

He understands what she meant. Even with their naked bodies wrapped together, there is a desperation to be closer, a longing to be entwined in something deeper than skin. He feels that same hunger to be consumed, to be devoured, to become part of each other.

He drags his mouth against hers. She molds against him, gasping when he drags his teeth into her bottom lip before he speaks. “What if we could be closer?”

Her eyes open, heavy and wanton. She kisses him again, her tongue curling into his mouth until his brain sparks. It’s so hard to pull away, but he wants more. He needs it.

He forms the words against her lips. “What if you ate me?”

THIRTY-THREE

Cav