10.Playing to Lose

10.Playing to Lose

Ramorran stared at Hakan and tried to remember to blink. What in the blue skies and green sea had possessed him to even kiss a pirate? Never mind everything else that had followed. Ramorran's skin prickled, hyper-aware of his crewmate. He was staring. He knew he was staring, he just couldn't wrench his gaze away.

A thrill had passed through him, burning his veins, when Hakan had said Ramorran's heart was worth stealing. His attention had focused on the lips saying those words and all he'd wanted to do was kiss the pirate again. Well, that and a lot more.

His heart was a stupid, weak, wilful creature that didn't know what was good for it. He was very afraid he was halfway in love with Hakan already, and no amount of stern talking to would wedge sense into his foolish heart.

He managed to wrench his gaze up to Hakan's eyes rather than his lips, only to find an amused expression in his crewmate's gaze. He'd caught Ramorran staring. He gave a wink. Ramorran's pulse surged and he stared across the sea in the futile attempt to let it settle.

He was going to go insane by the time they reached Mosbahl.

"I don't mind you looking," Hakan said unhelpfully, in a helpful tone of voice. "We've done more than look, after all." Another wink followed.

All the moisture in Ramorran's mouth evaporated.

Hakan sighed gustily, deliberately. "It could take hours for land to appear." A shiver passed down Ramorran's spine. "If you keep looking at me like you want to eat me up, I have some ideas about how we could pass the time."

Ramorran forced a scoff past his lips. "There's more to a relationship than kissing." He froze, because they didn't even have a relationship – did they?

Hakan's cocky grin just widened. "You're taking this far too seriously," he teased. The pirate dug in a pocket and turned his hand to show Ramorran a pair of bone dice. "How about a game?"

Something about his tone made the desert in Ramorran's mouth even more parched. "What game?" he managed.

Hakan moved his hand so the dice jumped and landed back in his palm. "Throw a six and your opponent has to remove an item of clothing. You want to look? This way there'll be more to see – if you're lucky."

Ramorran wasn't lucky; life had proved that over and again. But he couldn't refuse with Hakan standing before him looking like that. Enjoy his body, protect his heart, he reminded himself. "Fine."

Hakan dropped to sit cross-legged on the deck, waving Ramorran to sit opposite. He complied with indecent haste.

"You can go first," Hakan offered with another wink.

He didn't trust his voice, so Ramorran simply swiped the dice off Hakan's palm, shook them in cupped hands and threw them across the planks between them. He realised how hard his heart was beating; how much it mattered when disappointment swept over him: a three and a four.

"Bad luck." Hakan took his turn. A six and a one. He grinned, bracing back on his hands as he looked Ramorran up and down. "Don't keep me waiting."

Ramorran's heart thumped in his throat as he got to his feet. "What do I take off?"

"Dealer's choice." Hakan stared deliberately at his crotch, then lifted his gaze to Ramorran's face with a smile.

Well, he wasn't removing his pants as a first step. And it made sense… He kicked off one of his boots.

"And the other," Hakan prompted.

"I suppose they're a pair." He complied, realising as he sat back down that Hakan was barefoot. They were equal, now. Pants, shirt, underwear.

"Your turn," Hakan prompted.

Ramorran threw again. A five and a four.

Hakan smiled as he picked up the dice. "Are you sure you aren't playing to lose?" He threw. Six and five.

"Are you sure these dice aren't loaded?"

Hakan simply grinned at his irritable question. He spread his hands. "We're both throwing the same dice."

Cross that he couldn't argue, Ramorran reached a hand over his shoulder, grabbed a handful of fabric and pulled his shirt over his head in a single movement, throwing the garment aside.

Hakan whistled slowly. "Trying to distract me, eh? Smart move." His gaze dragged across the planes of Ramorran's chest.

His skin heated. If he was trying to distract Hakan, he was distracting himself far more. He grabbed the dice and threw haphazardly, letting out a cry of triumph when they landed: two sixes.

"Lulling me into a false sense of safety, I see. Well played." Hakan rose slowly, Ramorran's hungry gaze travelling with him. When the pirate was standing, bare toes flexing against the boards, Ramorran was reminded again how little the man was wearing.

Holding Ramorran's gaze, Hakan tugged his shirt out of his waistband and bunched it up and up, revealing inch after tantalising inch of his chest until he tugged the garment over his head and threw it to land on top of Ramorran's. "One," he stated, voice low and provocative.

Ramorran's hands clenched to fists, fighting the urge to grab hold of Hakan and wrestle him to the deck. Playing to lose? He wasn't sure who was winning, but he was losing his mind.

Hakan's hands went to the front of his pants. He waited until Ramorran was looking, smirking as he unlaced his pants, pushed them down to his ankles and stood straight again.

He wasn't wearing underwear. The beautiful sight of his heavy, uncut cock seared onto Ramorran's eyeballs. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He shut it before he drooled down himself.

Hakan spread his arms wide, grinning at Ramorran as he stepped out of his rumpled pants. "I guess I lose. I suppose there should be some kind of a forfeit. What prize do you want?"

"Kiss me." Ramorran spoke the need soaring through his blood before he could think better of it.

Before he could reconsider his plea, Hakan stood over him, then almost dropped into his lap, warm and naked and right there. His thick fingers cupped Ramorran's face and he ravished his lips. There was no other word for it. Ramorran was left breathless and more needy than before. He gave a mew of distress when Hakan finally drew back.

"I want to fuck you," Hakan whispered against his lips and Ramorran nearly came in his pants.

"We don't have—"

"Osman sent oil," Hakan said, guessing his objection.

"He – what?"

"To cook, but it serves our purpose just as well. Can I?"

Lust short-circuited Ramorran's brain. "Yes. Please, yes."

"Get undressed."

By the time Hakan returned with the small, corked jar, Ramorran was naked. Hakan also trailed a blanket behind him which he spread on deck. "Come here." They lay on their sides, facing. Hakan kissed him again, luxuriously and thoroughly. Ramorran's head spun, as though he weren't truly on the deck of the boat, but were soaring through some magical realm. Hakan hitched Ramorran's knee over his thigh and trailed oiled fingers down the crack of his ass, circling the furled muscle before dipping inside. Ramorran groaned.

"Ah, yes, sweetheart, just like that," Hakan encouraged.

The touch, the kisses, the pet name… Ramorran was floating. He grabbed Hakan's shoulders so he wouldn't drift away entirely. "I want to ride you."

"Yes!" the pirate hissed. He rolled onto his back, using his oiled hand to slick up his hard, leaking cock. Ramorran's mouth watered as he knelt astride Hakan's thighs, held the root of his cock and slowly lowered down.

"Heaven on earth, you feel amazing!" Hakan muttered the words, biting his lip and arching his back.

Ramorran panted, nodding. He couldn't find any words while his body adjusted to the delightful intrusion of the other man's cock. He rolled his hips, settling with Hakan fully seated inside him, hot and hard and divine.

Hakan groaned again. Then he gripped Ramorran's hips and began to thrust, meeting the lift and drop of Ramorran's hips perfectly.

Ramorran threw back his head, bracing a hand on Hakan's chest, the springy curls of his chest hair against his fingers; the wild thrum of his heart beneath Ramorran's palm. His thumb shifted to tease Hakan's nipple and the man groaned, thrusting faster.

"Touch yourself," Hakan muttered. "I'm close."

Ramorran gripped his cock, stripping it fiercely in time with Hakan's thrusts. Hakan cried out and the rush of heat inside him tipped Ramorran over the edge, his come striping Hakan's heaving chest.

"Sweet heavens." Hakan rolled them onto their sides, using a corner of the blanket to wipe up the mess.

Ramorran threw an arm around his waist, snuggling closer. "Well, I certainly didn't lose," he mumbled.

Hakan laughed, arm tightening around Ramorran's shoulders. "We're all winners today," he promised, pressing a kiss to his throat.

Ramorran didn't even try to argue.

~

"What happened?"

Hakan was relaxed and sleepy, Ramorran's gentle fingers brushing to and fro pleasantly on his back. "What happened about what?"

"Your back." Captain asked the question at the same moment his thumb slipped over one of the raised ridges.

"Ah. I"m an unruly soul at heart. Got me into trouble when I was younger."

Ramorran hummed doubtfully. "I can"t imagine anyone daring to raise a hand to you."

He snorted laughter and gathered him in a close hug, enjoying the other man"s warm skin against his own. "I was a skinny youth, believe it or not. Not that build has much to do with it. Discipline is discipline," he added, the words tasting sour on his tongue.

Ramorran's fingertips continued their caresses. He didn"t speak, but the question, the curiosity, was right there in every touch.

"I was an orphan. There was no money for an apprenticeship, no family friends to help out. When I was old enough I joined the navy." He lifted a shoulder. "It seemed better than becoming a servant, at someone"s beck and call." He laughed at his own naivety.

"Wasn"t it better?" Captain traced one of the scars across his back, from shoulder blade to where it faded between his ribs on the other side.

"Navy wasn"t the place to be free of orders," he admitted. "And my first captain was far more brutal than any master on land would have been."

"I"m sorry."

"No need to be. The marks haven't troubled me for years. It was a harsh experience, but it"s served me well since."

Ramorran nodded, his hair brushing Hakan"s shoulder. His fingers continued their hypnotic caress. "I wanted to see the world," he said, low like he was confiding a secret. "My people don"t travel. They don"t understand why I"d want anything that wasn"t available at home." He sighed, his chest pressing against Hakan"s with the depth of his breath. "I wanted to see what"s out there."

Hakan"s arms tightened. He wanted to promise he"d show Ramorran the world and all its treasures. He swallowed the words back before they could escape. Captain was nothing to him. This was nothing. A fun way to pass the time. They hadn't made any promises, and he was too old to weigh sex down with expectations it couldn"t sustain.

Ramorran sighed, soft and slow. "What's the best place you've ever been?"

"Best for what?"

"Just because you like it. What's your favourite harbour, or island, or patch of the coast?"

Hakan stiffened, his bedmate's tone sending a shiver of concern down his spine. "I like lots of places. The sea's all glorious."

Ramorran made a demurring noise, his thumb brushing Hakan's waist. For the first time it was irritating rather than pleasurable. "There must be somewhere you like best. Come on, spill." He could hear the smile in Ramorran's voice and it sent cold through him. "We've slept together. You can trust me with a few of your secrets."

The shiver of concern turned to outright alarm. He pulled away from Ramorran's warmth and gentle hands. "I don't trust anyone with my secrets," he muttered. "Especially not bedmates," he added, sitting up and tugging his clothes back on without looking at Ramorran. "There must be some trace of land by now." He pushed to his feet and strode to the port side to find it.

The heavy silence behind him felt like another painful stripe across his back.