Thane DrogosI watched as Evelyn's cheeks darkened, almost as crimson as her silk blouse clinging to her shoulders. The blush climbed up to her ears, visible from between curls. On top of the blouse was an emerald corset. The combination brought out the depth of her freckles. So fucking lovely. And she was mine. All mine."Suits you," I stated, my eyes gliding across her garments. It was like I saw her for the first time, who she wanted to be under her fancy dress that night at the tavern. At my words, Evelyn beamed. I could never comprehend how much I loved her smile. There was nothing I wanted more than to touch her. Watch her lips part with every sign. Her eyelids fluttered with every brush of my fingertips.Lust swept across my skin, heat flushing inside me, hardening my cock. God, I wanted her. I wanted to take her into my arms and remind myself how perfectly she fit against me.I tightened my hands into fists. Evie needed to heal, and if I touched her, I wo
Evie StantonWith a pair of familiar leather cuffs, Thane restrained me to the headboard. Fire blazed against my skin, begging to be touched. I complained, wiggling against his grip, but not actively trying to break it. My gaze devoured Thane's naked body. Black, coarse hair sprinkled along his torso, hiding pebbled rosy nipples that I liked to pinch. The ripped curves of his muscle accentuated the areas my fingers craved to touch. His cock stood long and thick against my stomach, the heat of his body pressed on top of me as he cuffed my wrists above my head."I told you if you kept pulling my hair, I'd tie you to my headboard." Thane's velvety voice washed over me, warm as summer rain. "I like pulling your hair," I teased, twisting my wrists in the bindings. He laughed, pressing a kiss against the hollow of my ear. "I noticed." Leaning back, his stark blue eyes gazed at the bindings, a deep reverberation vibrating in his chest. A smirk pulled at the side of his lips. He liked see
Thane DrogosFinally, after two days, we were less than an hour from safehold. Evelyn leaned against the half-wall. Mentally far away. Dreamily staring at the lapping waves. Sea birds chirped above us. Sparrows guiding us home. Her dark brown ringlets curled down her back, over a fitted doublet. A tricorn fathered hat on top of her head. She turned around, striking me down with her wide brown eyes. Freckled cheeks pinkening.The blouse unbuttoned halfway, showing off the gauze on her chest like a badge of honor. Like she had proven herself. To see Evie so confident in her skin, not caring that the wound would scar. She smiled at me.A warm, heart-splintering smile. Evie could make me crumble at her feet, and she wasn't aware of the power she held over me. An infatuation so deep it pained me. My heart fluttered in my chest, but at the same time, I felt so empty without her touch.Her pinky curling around mine would be enough. The desire to be close to her…terrified m
Evie StantonI refused to cry.Even as I thought of the horrible visual of Desmond laying in the puddle of his own blood, Bells crying and trying to hold him. Thane looked utterly helpless as everything crumbled apart around us. Crewmen shot.Rio slashed.Katarina hiding behind the half-wall. I knew Robert would recognize her. He was a friend of my father and perhaps played a part in the insurrection. I wouldn't risk it.And who knows what happened to Samara? The children living there. The old, retired sailors that liked to fish off the pier. Homes were ransacked. Farms burned. Livestock slaughtered. The rage in Thane's eyes when he watched Robert take me away. I saw the determination. Right then and there, I knew he would do anything for me. I saw how badly he wanted to shift. Absolve us of the immediate enemy. And bring up a whole slew of others.I couldn't let him.Not at the expense of everyone else in safehold. It wouldn't be over.He knew that. I knew th
Thane DrogosI stared out at the open ocean. Our ships beckoned me to chase her. Find her. Bring her back to me again. Evelyn Stanton had wedged herself into the cracks in my walls. She was there. Holding onto me, hooked into the delicate fleshy part of my heart. Evelyn was the adhesive. Finding a place for herself within me, keeping me together so subtly that I didn't know she was doing it.With her gone, I felt everything crack, the fissures rupturing and falling apart.Empty.So much fucking emptiness, like an abyss taking up residence in my soul. My hands were covered in blood as I leaned against my mother's cabana. I sank down against it, unable to look away from my crimson hands. Desmond's blood felt as piercing as his wails from inside. Gunner had taken point, checking the damages. I felt like a ghost, everything moving in slow motion. Heavy emptiness consuming me at an alarming rate. Eating piece after piece of me until I had nothing left.Crewmen found
Evie Stanton"Go on, my darling. Give us a spin!" My mother encouraged with excitement that didn't reach her eyes. She was as empty as I was. If I cared, I wonder when it happened. Who broke her and when. I stood there on the platform while a seamstress pinned a white gown around my hips. The cream lace flared at the waist in a ballgown silhouette. It felt too large. Too heavy.The corset pinched my ribs. I nodded, lifting the skirt and swishing it to please my mother. "Now smile! Robert will love it," my mother added.Gulping down a hard lump, I couldn't even force a smile. I fought the urge to take the seamstress's scissors and tear them across the lace. I wanted Robert to hate it. I wanted him to take one look at me and feel just as disgusted as I did. But I refrained. My mother would call me hysterical and lock me in my room like she had the first week I was back. Handmaidens and guards stayed in the room with eyes all over me while I bathed. No sign of M
Thane DrogosFirst stop: Rapier Port.Where would a pirate who just came into a shitton of money go? Men like Charles Burmingham were predictable. Deplorable. He would go to the largest pirate colony, brag about defeating me and my crew, and then fuck his way through an entire brothel.While we were en route, Sam spent the entire time hunched over the side of the ship, hurling her guts out while Rio rubbed her back. Gunner had taken up the role of first mate while Desmond recovered. Bells waited on Des hand and foot, doing everything in her power to help him heal. We still didn't know if he'd walk, but we'd cross that bridge when we got there. Doc was optimistic though, but that didn't hold much leverage in the mouth of a drunk.One-Eye's husband was a miracle worker when it came to farming. Even in scorched dirt, he manages to get seedlings to form. Hope. Seedlings gave us hope for a future at safehold. My mother stood beside me, excited almost. As if she couldn't
Evie StantonWedding bells.The day every girl wanted, or so I was told. A big, extravagant wedding. Flaunting status in the faces of the common people. Everything my mother thought a girl should want.I hated all of it.The too big dress, petticoat lined with white lace and a steel cage to hold up the weight of it. None of it felt like me, except for the open neckline where it revealed my scars. I wore them proudly. Proof of adventure. A part of who I am.And my mother would hate me displaying them. Good. Fuck her.Fuck everything about this day.But I would go through with it.I'd step down the aisle, Richard guiding me and giving me away. Not my father, he didn't deserve that title. I'd kiss Robert's thin lips and taste his tobacco-stained breath. I'd sign that fucking paperwork, selling my soul to this life.And then I'd rock the entire fucking kingdom.During the toasts, with my new mantle as Queen, I'd detail every single thing they did for power. Watch in