Orthia freezes and I pull back. Her eyes are glazed over white again, her lips glisten from our kiss, and her skin has turned a subtle shade of teal. What is Love telling her? There is a soft glow all around her, from under her clothes to behind her teeth. She blinks, her eyes clearing, and suddenly she is on me.
In a frenzy, her lips crash into mine. As our bodies collide, warmth eases every part of me. My thoughts slow, my body sings with how fucking good she feels on top of me. Her knees spread on either side of my hips and the warmth of her pussy presses into my tummy. I kiss her as hard as she does me, my hands moving to grab her hips, but she stops me.
“Know that I want you, Delphini, desire you more than the sun on my skin and the salty breeze of the sea,” she groans, her hips grinding into me. “But you aren’t ready for what I have planned, and when you are? I want you to beg me to fuck you.”
She’s off me before I can even scoff at that suggestion. I don’t beg.
“Go clean up,” she says. “We have an errand to run.”
“Yes,Captain.” I flutter my eyelashes at her and she blushes. I may have a thing for praise, but Orthia enjoys a bit of power exchange. “I’m washing my hair, though.”
“Fine,wife. Nargol should have already dropped off your packages outside your room.”
She walks out of the room before I can thank her again for ordering everything I needed. It was a minimal amount, basically nothing compared to my usual shopping sprees. There would be time for more frivolous shopping after I got my first paycheck. I shuddered at the thought. The wages are unfair to me, but Neela said that this was the best paying job she’s ever had.
I bought the basics, mainly underwear and then most budget self-care supplies I could justify. GoodbyeYiayia’smagic cleanser, and hello five-in-one cream.It’s about being clean, Del, not about brands.
As I drag all my boxes into my room, I reminisce about my old life. Specifically on my times in Greece. Would Orthia even want to visit Paxos? I have put together that she is Greek, but she doesn’t get homesick in the way some of the crew do. We have all been cast aside by our families and our friends, and in joining our crew, we have done the same to them. But the captain never talks of home. Only life on the ship.
I rip open the boxes.
Clothes? Check. New towels? Check.
The last one must be my products. I tear it open and tip the contents out, but it’s not what I ordered. They are the products I wanted, but not what ended up in my basket because they were too expensive to justify.
“She is trying.”Love sounds so pleased in my head that I know it can only mean Orthia changed the order.“We are as well.”
There are tears in my eyes when I gather everything up and get ready to shower. They did this for me. The familiar scents cling to the steam in the shower as I get to work detangling my curls. God it feels like a dream getting to do this with something so familiar. I work through my routine and feel at peace when I’m stepping out of the shower. Diffusing my hair takes longer than I remember, but when I look in the small mirror of my bathroom, I feel more like myself than I have in ages.
Getting dressed is quick after that. I pull on a pink tennis dress and cropped, matching sweatshirt I bought on sale. The pirate uniform I have to wear for the tourists sucks the life out of me, so everything I bought is pink. I’m not worried about repping a brand or whether something looks chic enough any more. I want to look good, but I can also think about comfort. What I feel nicest in, and right now I want my pink armour back.
I slide on the pink tennis shoes that I got from the clearance outlet and stop. Am I supposed to get Orthia, or will she come to me? I haven’t been to her quarters since she healed my hand. As I look down the length of the hall, most of the doors are closed. A nervousness settles in my gut. I’ve never felt like this before. It’s an odd sort of excitement that I imagine is what picking up a first date is like.
Though, that’s not what this is. It’s a chore.
With that thought in mind, I square my shoulders and walk towards her door. We really need to have a talk about expectations and needs. I can do the whole platonic soulmate thing if that is what she really wants, but I have romantic needs.
I raise my hand to knock, but my knuckles don’t even touch the wood before it creeps open silently. There is slick-sounding pop on the other side, followed by a low, feminine groan. That should be my sign to leave. I know exactly what those noises are. I can hear them every night coming from the bath, not just because I have experienced Love’s tentacles in action. It’s a slippery, hot mess.
Instead of doing what I should, though, I peer through the crack of the door into her room. Its lamp lit, and how I remember it. The screen is on the far side of the large room, the huge bed is next to it, and the raised platform is where Orthia is currently sitting. Her back is to me while she leans back in her old chair. One booted foot is placed on the desk, and the other is hidden underneath. Both of her hands are in front of her. A large tentacle pierces the floor in a soft glow of pink and wraps around her, holding her in place.
“Fuck. Love,” she moans, and I swear all my blood turns to fire.
Orthia is having sex with Love. Every bone in my body is urging me to join them, but I can’t. The moment she knows I am here, it will be so awkward. Fuck. Shit. I need to leave.
“Stay put, sweet one.”They whisper in my ear.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Shit, this is so wrong. Does she know I am here? Would she want me to watch her?
“I want her. You know I do.” Orthia moans and there is another wet pop.
“Yes. Yes,” she whines. “Yes, gods, Love, stop teasing.”
I should cover my ears, but instead I press my palm over my mouth to muffle my sounds. We are at the end of the hall, my back to the rest of our world, but I don’t care. My focus is completely on listening to my soulmate. My clit throbs as she groans again.
“Because-” Orthia gasps and I want to swallow that noise. “I want her to beg for my touch, crave me.”
Her words put a spell on me. I do crave her touch, but could I beg for it? Orthia growls something I can’t make out but then something inside of me moves. I nearly double over at the sensation. It isn’t painful, but my breath stalls in my throat like it is.
