Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

SEPTEMBER 7TH, 1666

" W e're leaving in six days."

Yves stopped in his tracks. They were in the middle of the village, on their way up to the house from the docks. Rowan stopped too, looking back at him. Waiting.

"What?" Rowan asked when Yves didn't respond. The man seemed rooted to the spot. His facial expression remained impassive, but Rowan thought he could see a storm building behind his eyes. Rowan hoped that when the storm clouds broke over him, he'd only get wet instead of drowning.

"Why so soon?" Yves finally asked.

Why was he acting so strangely? They'd both known this was coming since the beginning. This small bubble of relative peace they'd carved out here on Illusion was just that, an illusion. It was always meant to be temporary. Just like everything in the life of a pirate, it had to come to an end. Rowan wouldn't pretend he wasn't sad about it, nor could he deny that it was necessary. Unavoidable.

"It's not soon," Rowan hedged. "We've been here for almost three weeks. The Siren 's repairs are done. And I think it would be better to get Fox out of here sooner rather than later after what happened."

All solid reasons. Practical reasons. But the main thing was that Rowan grew increasingly restless the longer he lingered here. He needed to get back to pirating the same way he needed air in his lungs. Being on land for so long, hour by hour, day by day, he felt like he was losing some vital part of himself. A part that needed to feel the roll of the ship beneath his feet. A part that craved action and the thrill of the hunt. Though Yves had certainly given him plenty of thrills in his time here, it wasn't enough to quench that burning call to return to the sea. He needed to leave Rowan Faine behind and become the Ghost Hawk once again.

It was a pity that meant leaving Yves behind as well.

Yves just looked at him, and behind those fathomless black eyes, Rowan saw a multitude of thoughts and emotions flicker past. Gone in an instant. As much as he thought he knew Yves—as many intimate moments as they'd shared—the man was still a mystery. And that was partly what attracted Rowan to him. He could not guess what he would do next. Yves was as changeable and dangerous as the sea.

Yves strode forward suddenly, taking Rowan by the arm and dragging him up the lane toward the manor house. Rowan stumbled after him, trying to catch his balance.

"Yves, where…" Rowan tripped over an uneven patch of road and would have fallen, but Yves caught him, arm tightening around his waist. Rowan grabbed the front of Yves's greatcoat to rebalance himself. He could feel the eyes of a few passersby on them, and his face flushed at being so publicly in such a position. But Yves's arm locked around the back of his waist, and he couldn't escape.

"What are you doing?" he panted.

Yves cocked his head to the side, his gaze sweeping over Rowan's face. Searching.

"If you're leaving so soon, we should make the most of the time we have left," Yves said darkly. The words themselves were sweet, but his tone was almost threatening. A shiver ran through Rowan's body head to toe. A sort of morbid anticipation pooling in his groin.

"Do I frighten you?" Yves asked, amusement edging his voice.

"You terrify me," Rowan confessed breathlessly. He punctuated the statement by releasing the top button of Yves's white shirt.

"Is that why you're leaving?"

The genuineness of the question stopped Rowan's fingers on the second button, clearing his head enough to realize that he'd essentially been undressing the Demon in the middle of the street. He thought he heard an edge of uncertainty in Yves's voice, but that couldn't be. Yves had no such vulnerabilities. He wouldn't be unbalanced by something so simple as his sexual fling leaving.

"I'm leaving because I have to," Rowan answered honestly.

Yves black eyes hardened to gleaming obsidian chips. He released Rowan. But before Rowan could step away, Yves bent and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder as easily as if he weighed nothing.

"Yves! What the hell!"

The bystanders watched openly now.

"Put me down!"

"No."

Yves strode up the lane with Rowan struggling on his shoulder.

"Put me down!" Rowan demanded again, ineffectually thumping Yves's back with his fist.

"Hush." Yves smacked Rowan's ass lightly. From somewhere high above, Nephele screeched in indignation on his behalf.

They made it to the front door of the house, and Rowan felt sure Yves would put him down, but Fox happened to be exiting at that exact moment and held the door for them. He smirked at his captain.

"Help me!" Rowan ordered.

"Are you in danger, Captain?" Fox asked innocently.

Was he?

"No, but…"

"Then you're on your own I'm afraid." Fox made to close the door, then turned and added with a sly smile, "Have fun."

Embarrassed heat climbed up Rowan's cheeks. His ears burned. Fox was never going to let him live this down. All the fight went out of him, and he let himself be carried up the stairs.

Rowan's shame turned to anticipation as they crossed the threshold of Yves's bedroom. Yves dumped him onto the bed unceremoniously and began undressing him without a word. He started with the boots and socks, then moved on to Rowan's jacket. Rowan let himself be handled like a doll. He couldn't figure out what Yves was thinking. He almost seemed angry, yet there was something else there too. Rowan knew that he would never understand Yves. No matter how hard he tried. No matter how long he stayed. No matter how intimately their lives and bodies were entwined.

Rowan lay in the luxurious bed stark naked. His cock was flushed and already weeping for attention. He should have felt vulnerable with this man who'd carried him here and undressed him in silence. He hadn't been lying when he confessed his fear, but it was the kind of fear he craved. The kind he felt chasing his quarry across the water, battling a storm, fighting an enemy that was much bigger and stronger than he was.

As always, he was going to let Yves do whatever he wanted to him. Wreck him. Ruin him. Split him in half. Because their time together was almost up.

Yves shucked off his own coat. Folded it and set it aside. Rowan watched him. The way the afternoon light played across his face, the elegant slope of his shoulders and taper of his waist—no one had ever been more beautiful or more deadly. Yves unbuttoned his shirt halfway, the lace cuffs of his sleeves partly hiding his elegant hands.

Finally he looked back up at Rowan's face. They hadn't even kissed yet, but Rowan felt breathless anyway from just the promise in those eyes. Yves removed the blue silk scarf that had been hanging at his collar and knelt one knee on the bed beside Rowan. He leaned down until their noses nearly brushed, warm breath wafting across Rowan's ready lips.

"You're my prisoner again for tonight," Yves said in a tone that brooked no argument. Yet Rowan found himself nodding eagerly anyway.

"Before your imprisonment begins, give me leave to use you however I wish. You need only say the word ‘siren' to stop, but until then, you are mine. Body and soul."

Rowan swallowed past the sudden dryness in his mouth. His mind whirled with the possibilities of what Yves might have planned that would necessitate such an escape. But at the same time, his pulse pounded loudly in his cock and head.

"Yes," he managed.

A small, vicious smile twitched the corners of Yves's mouth.

"What is the word?"

"S-siren."

"Very good." One hand lifted Rowan's head, and he tied the scarf over Rowan's eyes so Rowan could only see the faintest shimmer of light through the folded silk. The bed shifted as Yves left it. Rowan stayed still, listening to his own breathing.

Yves returned. He ran his hand down each of Rowan's arms lightly, then lifted them up over his head and tied his wrists together with something that felt like another scarf.

The usual way this started was a spark of passion, moans, the sound of lips meeting. But this was so slow, so quiet, that it almost overwhelmed him.

Yves ran the backs of his fingers lightly down Rowan's cheek. Rowan twitched, startled. Goosebumps broke out across his skin. Without sight, even the lightest touch was heightened, every moment was laden with anticipation.

Yves touched him again, fingers skimming his collarbone and dancing over his ribs. Each touch satisfying and light on its own, yet together building into a sensation that left him shivering.

"So sensitive," Yves murmured. His fingers moved down over Rowan's stomach, tracing the rim of his navel.

Rowan endured this teasing for what seemed like an age. Yves's hands roamed over him, drawing close to his cock, then pulling away just before giving Rowan the relief of his touch.

"Yves, please…" Rowan finally gasped. He felt like he would burst if Yves didn't kiss him right now and end this unbearable anticipation.

"Impatient," Yves scolded. But he complied. Rowan felt Yves's breath on his face. He strained forward, longing for a kiss. For anything.

Yves's teeth sank sharp and painful into Rowan's bottom lip. He groaned at the first real sensation. When Yves captured his lips in a kiss it held the promise of the night to come. Rowan's tongue slipped between Yves's lips, exploring his warm mouth. Yves's hands roamed over his body, his touch firm and grounding now. And finally. Finally, his warm hand closed around Rowan's eager cock.

"Ah…" Rowan gasped. His back arched, already overstimulated by the lead up to this moment. Yves stroked him slowly. He relished the slide of Yves's palm on his sensitive shaft. All the while, Yves continued kissing him. Rowan's arms tensed. He wanted to touch Yves too. To make him feel good. To make him moan. Besides the few words he'd spoken, he hadn't made a sound. But Rowan's hands were still bound.

Yves broke the kiss. His lips moved down Rowan's chin to his throat and then his chest. He lingered there, nipping at his skin, then moved down to his stomach .

Rowan almost sobbed when Yves's lips finally wrapped around the tip of his cock. The glide of Yves's supple mouth down over the shaft was agonizing. His long tongue swirled across Rowan's fevered skin, and he heard the lube bottle uncork, smelled the delicate scent of coconut. Slick fingers found his entrance and pushed inside without waiting. Yves immediately set to work opening him up. His long fingers stroked Rowan's tight walls. Rowan's breathing was harsh in his own ears as Yves found his prostate and massaged circles into it. His mouth still worked around Rowan's cock, and Rowan realized that he was not going to last. After so much buildup, the pleasure coiling in his belly was already overwhelming. It was enough to make him come, but he wanted more.

He would always want more of Yves.

"I need you," Rowan gasped at a particularly deep stroke, his cock hitting the back of Yves's throat. Yves's teeth dragged lightly against his shaft. "I need you inside me. Please." He wasn't above begging when it came to Yves. But Yves didn't respond other than to press his fingers to Rowan's prostate firmly. Rowan could imagine Yves looking up at him with those hard, dark eyes, lips smirking around his cock. Rowan pressed the back of his head into the soft mattress, mouth open and gaping. This image of Yves in his mind's eye was enough to finally push him over the edge. He came hard into Yves's mouth, back arching, muscles straining against his silken bonds.

But Yves wasn't done. He swallowed Rowan's cum effortlessly without breaking his rhythm. His mouth continued to devour Rowan's softening length, and his fingers carried on massaging his back entrance. Rowan's skin tingled with overstimulation. The blood rushed to his head, dizzying, then back down to his cock as it began to harden again.

Rowan realized suddenly that Yves had no intention of letting him go any time soon. Of just having sex and going on with their day. The thought both terrified and thrilled him.

He arched his hips up off the bed, and Yves's throat constricted around the head of his cock. This was all driving him crazy, but he just wanted more. His skin was already hot and sweat-slicked.

The pleasure built a bit slower now, weaving itself sinuously through his body.

Suddenly, the warmth of Yves's mouth disappeared, and his fingers withdrew. Rowan clenched around nothing. The air felt cold against his fevered skin.

"Yves…" he whined, too far gone to hate how needy he sounded.

Yves didn't answer. Rowan felt the bed shift as Yves left it. He was alone, and the silence was as deafening as the scarf was blinding. Rowan fidgeted on the bed. Impatient. He turned his head towards where he thought he heard the rustle of Yves's clothing. Rowan was sure he looked desperate and needy lying there naked and tied and blind on Yves's bed. He wondered what Yves thought of him right now.

The silence stretched, and Rowan grew more restless with every passing moment. He squirmed again. Was Yves watching him? Enjoying his discomfort?

The mattress dipped beneath Yves's weight again, and Rowan's breath caught. Yves's fingers gripped his hip and guided him to turn over onto his stomach. Rowan complied, propping himself up on his knees and elbows, ass in the air. He was sure he looked ridiculous, but he didn't care.

One of Yves's fingers dipped inside him, jolting him. Rowan heard the clink of a belt buckle.

CRACK!

Pain seared across his backside, and he instinctively cried out, jolting away from the pain, but Yves's fingers inside him kept him in place. And with the pain came pleasure. Yves rubbed the sore spot with one hand and massaged his soaked hole with the other.

"Y-Yves…" Rowan moaned shakily.

"Did you like that, darling? Do you want more?" Yves's voice was husky with desire. His fingers squelched as they moved in and out of Rowan at a punishing pace.

CRACK!

The leather snapped across Rowan's ass cheek again. Then again. Yves's fingers pumping deep inside him all the while. Rowan's nerves were on fire. The pain radiated through him, but he loved every minute of it. Every moment suffered at Yves's hands was exquisite.

Finally he felt the press of Yves's heavy cock against his stinging skin.

"What do you want, darling? Tell me what you want me to do to you," Yves ordered.

"Fuck me. Please. I need you inside me," Rowan begged .

Yves's fingers retreated and were replaced by the tip of his cock pressing to Rowan's throbbing opening. There was a breathless pause. Rowan turned his head to the side as if he would be able to catch a glimpse of Yves's beautiful face despite the blindfold.

Another smack landed across Rowan's ass, this time from Yves's open palm. Rowan's cry of pain turned to pleasure as Yves thrust into him up to the base. Rowan rocked forward on his knees with the force of it, Yves's hip bones hitting the sore curve of his ass. Yves withdrew and thrust in again just as hard. Rowan's cock throbbed and dripped precum onto the rumpled sheets. He bit his knuckle to stifle his guttural moans as Yves's thick length pounded into him over and over. He was breathless. Lightheaded. The intense pleasure and pain lanced sharply through his body and mingled at his core. He desperately wanted to reach back and stroke his own cock to relieve some of the pressure. But he didn't try to escape his bonds. Even though the silk now chafed his wrists, he didn't dare disobey Yves.

"F-fuck…more…please more," Rowan pleaded.

"Such a greedy little brat," Yves growled. "Who's going to fill you up like this when you're gone, hm? No one can fuck you better than me."

The buzzing ecstasy in Rowan's head muffled the words from his understanding. Any meaning behind them was lost on him. All he could do was moan Yves's name and hang on like hell.

The next orgasm crashed upon him suddenly. His cum spurted weakly onto the white sheets. Yves smacked him again and didn't slow his pace even a little. Rowan bit down on his knuckle again.

After a few more hard thrusts, Yves pulled out. He scooped a fingerful of Rowan's cum off Rowan's inner thigh and flipped Rowan onto his back. Yves's cum-slathered fingers dipped into Rowan's entrance, lubricating him with his own juices. Then his hand went to Rowan's throat, and his throbbing cock penetrated him once again. Rowan's back arched as the overstimulation hit him in waves. The sounds that fell from his lips no longer sounded like him. Yves's fingers tightened fractionally around his throat. Rowan gasped, little colorful stars spangling at the edges of his already restricted vision. His cock struggled to harden again, pathetically soft after coming twice already.

He could still breathe. Just barely.

Rowan was hit with a sudden, primal urge to see Yves's face. To look upon the man who held his life in his elegant hands while fucking him dumb. Rowan brought his bound hands down to tug at the edge of the blindfold.

Yves's hand tightened further, eliciting a choked sound from Rowan's throat.

"Leave it."

Rowan obeyed, hands shaking. Yves's hips rutted into him, and he bent low to kiss him. The pressure on his throat eased. Rowan inhaled Yves's breath hungrily as Yves's delicate fingers stroked his throat. Rowan was intoxicated by the taste of his lips, the hard heat inside him.

Even though Rowan's erection was only at half-staff, he could feel another peak ready to shatter him. He wondered if he had anything left in him. He'd come twice already, and Yves hadn't even finished once. The man truly was a monster.

Yves broke the kiss but remained close. Their strained breathing mingled between them. Then the muscles in Rowan's abdomen tightened, the strokes reaching some new, unexplored angle of divinity as Yves shifted positions. As quickly as blinking, Rowan was so far gone his own voice sounded separate from himself, moaning incoherent nonsense as Yves railed him.

More. Fuck me. Wreck me. Yves. Please. Please. Please.

He had no idea what he was begging for. He leaned forward, trying to stifle his cries on Yves's lips. But found Yves's shoulder instead. He bit down hard, tasting salt. Yves moaned in his ear, voice deep and resonant.

"Say my name," Yves demanded.

Rowan released his shoulder, sweat still salting his lips.

"Yves…" he moaned.

Yves's thrusts were getting faster. Sloppier.

"Again." His voice was husky.

"Yves…" Rowan was dissolving in a raging, rapturous sea. He said it over and over like a litany of lust. And finally he drowned in another orgasm. His semen dribbled weakly onto his stomach as Yves rode him through it. But after a few more strokes, Yves came as well, hot release gushing into Rowan's clenching walls. His hips slowed and stilled, still buried deep inside.

Shockwaves shuddered through Rowan. His whole body shook uncontrollably, and he realized that the edge of the blindfold was wet with tears.

Yves's breath wafted hot on the side of his sweat-slick neck. He was still seated deep inside, and Rowan reached out blindly to brush Yves's cheek with his knuckles.

"Let me see you."

Yves's lips brushed Rowan's jaw just beneath his ear.

"Oh darling, we are far from done."

Rowan didn't want to stop. Though he was exhausted, his body hurt, and he had lost track of the hours long ago. He was keenly aware that his time with Yves was short. The Siren was seaworthy, and soon he would be free on the open water once again. So he wanted to savor every moment he had left in Yves's arms. Because truthfully he didn't know if they would ever see each other again. Or if he would ever return to this bed or kiss these lips again.

Another orgasm rippled through him, and he came dry. The scarves still restricted his vision and bound him. He'd run out of semen long ago. Yves however, seemed to have an endless supply of both cum and energy. Rowan was drenched head to toe in sweat and sticky with ribbons of both his and Yves's cum.

"Coming again, darling?" Yves purred as he rolled his hips languidly forward. "How many times is that now?"

"I d-don't know," Rowan stuttered. He had truly lost the will to count after the fifth or sixth time. Yves had contorted him into every imaginable position and railed him until his limbs were too weak to hold himself up anymore. So now he was on his back again, legs wrapped around Yves's slim hips. Rowan's lips were kiss-bitten, skin red and tender. He'd been whipped, spanked, choked, bitten—and done his fair share of biting in return.

But he couldn't stop. He wouldn't stop until Yves was satisfied.

"Do you want more?" Yves asked.

"I'll always want you." The words left his lips without thought. Too honest by far. But his nerves were raw, and his mind was hazy with lust and afterglow.

The tear-soaked silk was torn away from Rowan's eyes .

Silvery moonlight sliced across the darkened room. Rowan blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. Finally Yves's ethereal face swam into focus. He could have cried to finally see it. The pale light glinted off Yves's dark hair, his smooth skin. His obsidian eyes flashed with a wild passion, and a spark of lust rekindled deep in Rowan's core.

"You're beautiful," Rowan breathed.

Yves's hips rolled forward again, making Rowan gasp.

"Let me touch you," Rowan pleaded.

"Needy." But Yves undid the knot at his wrists. Rowan reached up and cradled Yves's face in his hands. He pulled Yves down and kissed him deeply.

Everything was encompassed in that kiss. Through the weeks he'd been here, stay as long as you need became stay as long as you want , then simply, stay.

And Rowan wanted to stay. He dearly wanted to live in this moment. But he needed to go.

Yves moved slowly and deeply within him. He took Rowan apart piece by piece until all that was left were the small, animal whimpers falling from Rowan's lips. Yves kissed them away.