Page 32 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

“You should name yourself Pearl then,” his voice lowered.

I didn’t have a response. I wasn’t sure if he was being honest. But it was the kindest thing he’d said since the cave, which wasn’t saying much. But it settled warm somewhere in my chest.

Footfalls padded across the deck. A woman giggled, flinging her arms around his chest from behind.

“There you are. Come to bed.”

So that was his type—beautiful, tall, a blonde with a voice that could seduce any man in the room without trying.

He kissed her in front of me, deep and passionate, a low groan leaving him that sent a funny feeling down to my stomach, and lower, warmth rising in my face. His hands roamed her body, unbothered by my presence.

Time for me to look away.

I didn’t know if he loved her, and I didn’t care. But I wished someone would kiss me the same way, just to experience it once. To know what it felt like to be wanted. But love was something I couldn’t afford, and I might not live long enough to ever feel that with someone special.

I looked back up at the stars while those two walked away. Their laughter faded below deck, swallowed by the sound of the water and my hopeless wishes.

Chapter Eleven

I made my way down to the lower deck toward the spare room I shared with Jina and Ranis. But I took a wrong turn on purpose when I heard sounds. Low and rhythmic, coming from behind a door barely ajar.

My instinct told me to leave. Mind your own business. Keep walking. But I peered through the crack anyway.

The blond woman lay on the mattress, naked, her head tilted back, arms planted behind her, fingers twisting into the sheet. I had heard pain sounds my entire life. That noise from her throat was not it. This was something that made me hot and bothered, curling low in my stomach.

Theron had no shirt, just his pants riding low on his hips. I had seen the size of him, but his tunic had hidden the hard planes of his chest, the muscle across his stomach, the kind of body that came from years of hauling rope and swinging a sword.

He had his mouth between her legs, and I forgot how to breathe.

My face went hot.

I should leave.

What was he doing to her? I couldn’t even form thoughts.

“Oh, Theron.” Her voice came out raspy.

I pressed my back flat against the wall beside the door, out of sight, heart hammering.

I had no frame of reference for any of this. None. The cavern had given me oysters, cold floors, Agusto’s whip. Nam had never once mentioned what a man and woman did together behind a closed door. None of them had. Perhaps they didn’t know either.

I peeled myself off the wall and peeked in again.

Theron was on top of her now, his hands gripping her hips, her body moving with his like the rhythm of the waves beneath this ship.

“You feel so damn good, Theron,” she cooed, her fingers trailing up his thick arms, then to his hair. “I’m going to make you forget you ever loved another.”

“I’ll make you feel even better.” His voice came out low and rough in a way that sent a jolt through my stomach.

He rocked into her faster, his mouth closing over her breast, and the woman screamed his name.

My face burned and a low throb built between my legs. It was as if I could feel everything, as if somehow he was—No. Absolutely not. I was not finishing that thought.

I pulled away from the door and walked quickly down the passage, panting, that image now branded in my mind, one I was never going to be able to forget. I shouldn’t have watched. But I did anyway. My curiosity would get me in trouble one day.

“Lady?”

I spun, my face burning even hotter. Had she been following me? If she had witnessed me peering through that crack like some kind of—I didn’t even want to finish that thought either.