Save the Sea (Saved by Pirates #3)(18)

“I’ve always known it. It’s the only way to stop my father. Ryland knows it, too. We have made a plan and we will do it together. She deserves to have her sons with her as she dies,” he says, but his voice catches on his words. He can’t even say them, let alone do it. I won’t let him or Ryland put themselves in that position. No one should have to kill their own mother.

“I know Laura is gone, and that you feel alone, but you are not. You have me, and you have a family that loves you,” I say, and he grabs my hands, pinning them to the wheel on each side of my head and pressing his body into mine.

“Say it, little bird,” he demands, moving his face close to mine, so there is nowhere else I could look. Not that I could look away from him right now, not when he is showing me this vulnerable side to him.

“I love you,” I say each word slowly, but his lips part subtly, his eyes closing like my words alone are pleasurable to him.

“And I love you, my little bird,” he says when he opens his eyes, and seconds later he slams his lips onto mine. I lose any control of my emotions, my desires, as he rips my clothes away. He kisses his way down my naked body, taking his time to kiss each nipple thoroughly, before gently biting and mixing the pain with the sweet pleasure. I gasp when his mouth finds my core, his tongue swirling around my nub with a skill that send me over the edge in seconds. Hunter rises up, shoving his trousers down and lifting me up, pushing my body against the wheel as he slides deep inside of me.

“Hunter,” I moan, having no control over my voice as he pounds into me again and again, filling me in a way that I know I will never forget.

“Cassandra,” he groans, biting down and sucking on my neck as he finishes, sending waves of pleasure through me at the same time. We stare at each other, both of us breathless and trying to gain our breaths back.

“How about we go down to my cabin, and really make this ship rock?” he whispers against my lips, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth and biting down before releasing.

“Good plan, my dark pirate,” I grin, and kiss him as he carries us away.





9





Chapter Nine





Ryland





“Ryland?” Chaz’s voice comes over to me, and I look up from the tree I’m leaning against to see him walking over. His gaze drifts from me, to the stone wall next to me, and down to my hands. Blood drips from my knuckles onto the grass, but the pain is almost soothing at this point. Laura, the only real parent I have ever had, is dead. Her soul is at peace, but all I feel is anger. His hands are tucked into his pockets, his blond hair pushed all over the place. He stops next to me, silently supporting me without saying anything. I’m glad Cassandra didn’t follow me, I couldn’t deal with anyone near me for a while. I’m not sure I even want Chaz near me.

“Is she with Hunter?” I ask, needing to know my brother isn’t alone.

“Of course she is, but I’m sure she will be on her way to find you soon,” he says, and I laugh hoarsely.

“I’m in no state to see her,” I reply.

“Do you think she would judge you?” he asks,

“No, but she deserves better,” I respond.

“You are better,” he tells me, his voice firm, but I don’t know if I can completely believe him.

“When we die, do you believe we go to the sea god and then have peace?” I ask Chaz, wanting to know his opinion.

“Come with me, I want to show you something,” Chaz says and walks off. I follow him, ignoring the stares of people we pass. He opens a door near the entrance to the mountains, though not one I’ve ever entered before.

“What is this place?” I ask Chaz when I follow him into the oval cave. There are hundreds of lit and unlit candles on the floor, high lightening the drawings on the walls.

“History of Calais, more specifically, of the gods. These are some of the earliest drawings anyone knows of,” Chaz explains and lifts a candle up, holding it to the wall to my left. There are drawings of a man walking out of the water, streams of water flying everywhere. Next to it is a drawing of a man kissing the forehead of a baby lying in a mother’s arms.

“I’ve examined these drawings many times, and this is what they say about death,” Chaz says, nodding his head right to the middle of the cave. There’s a drawing of a woman on the floor, an outline of a body flying out of her. The next drawing shows a choice, with two men holding out their hands. One looks like he is in the sea, and the other looks like he is in flames.

“This is the sea god, but who is that?” I ask, pointing at the man in the flames.

“The sea god wasn’t the only god born, they say he has a brother. The god of souls, that is who is standing there,” he explains to me. I’ve never heard of the god of souls, but it would make sense there is more than one god if it’s possible to have one.

“More gods? Don’t we have enough problems with just the one?” I muse.

“Yes,” he chuckles, “but there isn’t proof that the god of souls actually exists, just drawings.”

“What does the god of souls do?” I ask.

“Drags the evil and undeserving souls into the deepest fires so that they may never be re-born, never know peace,” he says, and there’s a cold chill in the air as I think on his words. It’s probably wrong that the first thing I think of is how I hope when my father dies, he meets the god of souls.