Healer's Song Ch. 08

She was moaning in her sleep. It woke him up nearly as soon as she started. He rose himself up on one elbow to watch her. Her face, illuminated by the early morning light, was flushed, and her skin was no longer cold. In fact, she had grown decidedly hot.

Another moan, and she lifted her chin, drawing attention to the graceful white neck, and he couldn't resist touching it lightly. As his touch trailed down her neck to her collarbone, she arched against his hand, as if begging for more. He drew his fingers in patterns over the patch of sensitive skin above her breasts, drawing a gasp and another moan out of her when he dipped them into the hollow between her breasts, before traveling slowly, languidly up to her face.

Her eyes were still closed, but her breathing seemed a bit more irregular. He traced the outline of her chin with his fingers, and drew one finger across her lips before bending down to kiss her.

As his mouth closed over hers, her eyes flew open, a shock of green underneath dark lashes. He didn't stop kissing her immediately, waiting till her lips softened and her tongue came out, as if to tentatively taste him. He drew back slowly and gazed down at her. Her eyes were wide with shock, and her mouth was still open from the kiss.

She let out a breath, a whisper of sound that seemed to form the words "you're real" and two small white hands came up, tangling themselves in his hair and pulling him down for another kiss.

Her hands started exploring his body, tentative, curious touches that seemed an attempt to drive him insane. He returned the favor, trailing his fingers over her silky skin, enjoying the way she arched against his hand. His fingers found a cold, stiff little nipple and she gasped, eyes going huge. Her hands forgot their motions and fisted at his back as he continued the flicking, pinching, and twisting. She moaned, a plaintive sound, and ground against his leg where it rested between her own.

That motion made it glaringly clear to him just how wet she was. His leg was slick with her juices where she continued to grind against him. As much as he enjoyed watching her slack eyed look of happiness as she pleasured herself, he wanted her on his own terms. She stared at him in dazed annoyance as he shifted to place both knees between her own, and carefully lowered his weight down on top of her.

She couldn't quite grind against him like this - though not for lack of trying. Her writhing managed to place her further down so that the tip of him touched wetness, and she smiled at his sharp intake of breath. She let out a moan that was almost a whine.

He had an amazing amount of self control, was quite adept at drawing out the moment until a woman became putty in his hands, but he wasn't a god. He couldn't wait any longer to enter her.

Her voice came in between her panting breaths, "Be careful - I haven't - I've never - Oh, gods! Don't stop--" and her hands digging into his ass made sure he wouldn't try to pull away--"Just be gentle please--" It took every ounce of his self control to follow her request, once he pushed inside her incredibly tight, hot, wet depths. He heard her small cry - it could have been a cry of passion rather than pain - but he waited till her body relaxed underneath him before pulling out and sliding back in slowly.

He continued the slow rhythm, savoring her ragged breaths, her tiny, impatient whines each time he paused before pushing inside her again. Then she lifted her hips once to meet him and he lost it. Thrusting into her with ruthless abandon, he barely registered her gasping moans, her fingernails raking his back. It wasn't long before she tensed, entire body shuddering, clenching around him--and he'd thought she couldn't possibly get tighter--then she went limp, panting as he continued to pound her.

She began to moan once more, and he could feel it coming. He thrust hard, and deep, exploding inside her just as her body clamped down on him for the second time. He collapsed on top of her, both of them breathing heavily for a few minutes, then he rolled off, thinking it might be easier for her to catch her breath without a man on top of her.

"Wow. Should have done that a lot sooner," she let out a light laugh and he glanced at her. She sent him a smile of sated, amazed happiness. "Although I have the feeling it would have been a bit different with someone else..."

Her eyes clouded over with a million questions, and she seemed to be having some trouble thinking which one to ask first.

"How did I end up here?" she finally asked.

"I was hoping you could answer that question."

She sat up, delicate brows drawing together as she pondered. "I remember being at an inn. I was supposed to meet Kali downstairs, and - what was that?!"

The ship had lurched a bit. Her eyes flew to the porthole. "We're moving?" We can't be! I have to get back to the Revenge!"

"Calm down. We will, don't worry. Can you try to remember anything else? Why were you at the inn?"

"Guards were searching the ship. They were hiding me there so they wouldn't find me. I went downstairs to meet Kali, and... Oh! That despicable man!"

"I take it you've remembered."

"The inn keeper and a couple of other men shot me with something. Darts with something on them that made me sleepy. I sang them to sleep, or at least, I started to. I can't remember anything else."

"And I'm guessing you somehow managed to stumble onto my ship as it was taking off, though I still don't exactly know how you wound up naked on my bed last night."

She mumbled something, he could have sworn the words were "apparently my subconscious knows exactly what I want," but when he turned to stare at the strange little ex-virgin she was grinning at him, still naked, without a shred of self-conciousness, sitting cross-legged in his bed. He forgot whatever he had been pondering earlier.

"So where are you headed exactly?" she asked.

He glanced at the light streaming in where the sun was just beginning to rise. "Lede. We should be there within the hour actually. We can go back to Dal from there and try to catch up with Alex."

"No - I think I'll get off there and make my way back to Dal on land. I don't want to inconvenience you any further."

It was true he was already late, and it was true he would get yelled at even worse for altering his course, but he couldn't possibly abandon her to make her way back alone. "Not an option. I--"

She interrupted him with a hand on his arm. "I'll be fine. I'm not exactly helpless you know. I've got a sack of costly jewels to sell and it isn't far. You've got cargo to pick up or deliver, don't you?"

He ignored the question. "You won't be fine. You weren't fine last night, otherwise you'd be on the revenge instead of my ship. Think what might have happened had you stumbled onto another of the ships here-"

"I was careless last night. I won't be again. Don't even try to convince me, I won't listen. I'm getting off at Lede and that's that!" And she narrowed stubborn brows over stubborn green eyes and slid out of the bed to search for her clothes.

He kept silent. She seemed to expect that all she need do is smile at him reassuringly to convince him it was ok to fuck her and abandon her, but he wasn't buying it. He wasn't sure how to sway her from her chosen path just yet, but he was certain of one thing, she wasn't leaving, even if he had to tie her to the bed.

"Crap. My clothes are soaked." Her words tore his mind from certain images provoked by the thought of her tied to the bed. She was wrinkling her nose at the dripping, transparent mess. "Could I maybe borrow something of yours for now? I don't suppose there is a woman on board?"

He almost felt relief at telling her no. "Now you can't expect to leave the ship, with no clothes. Here." He tossed one of his white shirts in her direction and turned to pull on his own clothes. When he turned back around, she had managed - just barely as it appeared - to put on the shirt without losing herself in it. It hung nearly to her knees. Combined with the obstinate look on her face, it was quite hilarious.

"I'll be fine. Silk dries quickly. I'm not letting you turn this big ship and all these people around just for me. And I have to get back to Kali and the others! They must be so worried about me--Wait a minute." her eyes widened in understanding. "I get it. I forget you're human. I know human women want to be married and taken care of and all that. I'm a Siren, it's different with us. It's okay, it was just sex. I wanted it, and you gave it to me, that's all. You have no responsibility toward me."

Okay, so maybe it seems like it would be every guys dream - sex with absolutely no responsibility, no strings attached, but to have the woman who has just given herself to you - her first time no less - calmly tell you that it was nothing beyond fleeting pleasure, was infuriating. Pretty fucking infuriating, actually.

"You're not going anywhere," he said, moving to stand in front of the door as if to block her.

Her eyes narrowed and she stood there, seeming to contemplate for a moment, before she shot forward. She tried to dart under his arm, but he was too quick for her, grabbing her squirming body and forcing her back to the bed. She stared up at him, eyes full of anger and wild desire. She licked her lips and he stood and turned abruptly, narrowly stopping himself from doing to her exactly what her eyes seem to request, actions which would use up half the time to Lede and get them both nowhere. Nowhere closer to coming to an agreement that didn't involve her tied to the bed, anyway.

When he pushed away the thoughts that had again risen enough to turn around and look at her, she was still sitting on the bed. She had drawn her knees up to her chest, hugging them. Her eyes were still defiant, but her small size in the way-too-large shirt awakened every tender, protective instinct in him.

"Wait," he said as inspiration came. "The load I'm picking up in Lede is bound for Insula. We can send a messenger to Alex, telling her to continue to Insula, and she can meet us there. Will that work?"

He could see the wheels turning in her head. Anger was slowly replaced with acceptance, and maybe a spark of something...else. "Ok," she said simply. "I am getting off at Lede though, to buy clothes and things I need. All I have with me is the jewels and those robes."

He agreed gladly, happy to have won so easily. He watched as she untied her robes, extracting the bundle of jewels from inside. He left her to begin his responsibilities as captain, hoping she would remain entertained sorting her jewels and see fit to follow his instructions not to leave the room, at least not in his shirt. Though his crew members were all trustworthy, decent men, they were still sailors, and he didn't like to think of the havoc a half clothed siren could wreak on his ship.