31. Chapter Thirty-One

Rahmi awoke feeling whole for the first time in centuries, warmth radiating through him. It took him very little time to remember where he was or why. Kalia was still in his arms, tucked under the blanket he had found overnight in a pile of discarded linens in the corner of the storage berth. The dim light from the hallway was only marginally brighter from the sun that streamed down the staircase in the distance.

The crew tinkered above them, the sound of sails unfurling and yelling amongst the men muffled between the decks.

He soaked it in all in: the feeling of her steady breaths against his bare chest, her hair draped across his shoulder, his fingers on her back. He was sure that nothing had ever been this perfect, was sure that nothing could be this perfect again. He reminisced on the way she rode him, stealing every ounce of control that he so tightly held onto.

And Rahmi let her have it. Gods, he wished he could have given it to her sooner. It would have saved them time and, in his case, physical pain. He chuckled at the memory of the sea urchin in his seat, and Kalia stirred at the rumbling of his chest against her cheek.

Her sleepy, satiated smile carved away at his heart, softening something in him that he didn"t realize had hardened. His hands stroked down her back, drawing idle patterns along the freckles that dotted her skin.

"Ruehi," Rahmi muttered, tenderly kissing the top of her head. She still smelled like cinnamon, and he inhaled, committing the smell to his mind for when he was at the helm of his ship. He already regretted the time he would need to spend away from her.

"You call me ruehi. What does that mean?" Kalia asked, stretching her hands above her head. Her breasts brushed against the side of his torso, and damn if his cock didn"t harden at the sight of it. She curled her hands back to her front, shifting her head to rest on his shoulder.

Rahmi tipped his chin down to look at her, his brown eyes meeting her green ones through her thick lashes. He sighed, running a hand down the curve of her spine. "In my native tongue, it translates as my soul."

Kalia stilled in his arms, though she never looked away from him. "You"ve called me that from the beginning."

Rahmi lifted a hand to place behind his head, the muscles of his core and shoulders pulling with the movement. She let a finger trail down the grooves of his muscled abdomen, and he shuddered at the lightness of her touch. "And from the beginning, I knew who you were."

Her hand wrapped around his cock at the words. It wasn"t long after that Rahmi found himself thrusting inside of her once more, his hand placed over her mouth to dull her loud moans.

When they finally collapsed next to one another, a heap of sweat and panting breaths, Rahmi kissed her hard on the lips before rolling over to grab his breeches. He stood, reveling in Kalia"s approving stare as he tugged them on. His tunic followed.

"I have to go to the helm," Rahmi said, extending a hand to help her. She took it, letting the blanket drop to her feet as she stood. "But remember what I said. You stay with me now. In my bed." He bent down to run his tongue along the shell of her ear, and he smiled at the shudder that racked her body. "I fear you"ve created a monster out of me and—" He trailed off to slide a finger between her legs, sucking her release from the tip of it. "—Tasting you is something I can no longer start my day without."

Kalia swallowed, and from the fire that swept through her gaze, Rahmi had to hold himself back from bending her over the nearest cask, fucking her until she was limp and spent. His mouth collided with hers again, and she bit his lower lip. Rahmi read the promise she planted there, a promise that he looked forward to cashing in as soon as he could step away from his duties to the crew.

Rahmi barely made it away from Kalia, needing to take a series of calming breaths as soon as he walked into the passage to cool the raging hard-on that tented the front of his pants. He knew he would never get enough of her. He climbed the staircase outside the crew"s berth, where the hammocks swung in tune with the ship"s rocking, and emerged on the deck.

The sun shone against the bright morning sky, so in opposition with the darkness of the lower decks that he was forced to squint. The ship was already carving through the sea, the wind billowing through the sails as it picked up speed toward the archipelago that he knew they would reach by tomorrow night at the latest.

They had from the map and knew they were extremely close to the tip of the hidden archipelago.

Even the scent of the ocean was sweeter, the brine evolving into a taste of freedom that he hadn"t thought he would ever get to.

"Captain," Alaric shouted as he clambered over a coil of ropes against the quarterdeck. "I set the compass with Wright according to the overnight reading of the NightWatcher. I tried to find you this morning, but—"

"Very good," Rahmi interjected. He wanted to see the readings and desperately wanted to wash the sheen of sweat that blanketed his body. A change of clothes was warranted, too. "I"ll be back. Keep the crew at full sail."

"Aye, sir," Alaric said, nodding his head curtly. He pivoted on the toes of his boots, stalking back to the nearest mast with sharp taps of his heels against the deck. His shout to the men working the sail was lost to a sudden gust of wind that ruffled Rahmi"s tunic and sent a cold shiver down his back.

Rahmi walked down the passage that lay beneath the stern deck. He made to slip straight through his office, his sight briefly landing on the stack of parchment scribbled with overnight readings of the NightWatcher when his footsteps stopped.

"I felt a soul slide through my grasp last night. The blonde one," Liddros said casually as he leaned against the wall, one ankle hooked over the other. "With Devlin being out of commission and the steady stream of souls I still acquire from Jace, I deduced it to be you." His stone-colored eyes darkened as they pinned Rahmi in place. "Why?"

"She earned it," Rahmi responded stiffly. "What are you doing aboard my ship?"

Liddros"s humorless smirk sent a bolt of alarm scraping along his tense muscles. "Your ship? I loaned you this ship. Let"s not get things out of line, captain." He pushed himself from the wall, stalking toward the desk. He bent his head over the pile of parchment.

Rahmi bristled. "What are you doing aboard the ship that was lent to me?" He wasn"t about to keep the bite of scorn out of his voice, and Liddros glanced up at him at the sound of it.

"Careful, captain." There was a threat behind his stare, a ringing promise that Rahmi had no interest in learning the details of.

"The souls I send you far outweigh the souls that I release," Rahmi said, doubling back to shut the door to the office, cutting off the morning scrabbles of the crew. The last thing he needed was for Alaric to waltz in while the God of the Sea was here. "Why does this one matter?"

"They all matter," Liddros said through gritted teeth, his eyes flashing. "But, if you must know, the king requires more and more souls to remain young. And still…" He trailed off to quietly sigh, shifting on his feet. The painting of discomfort. "His health is failing."

Rahmi quirked a brow. "Isn"t that a good thing? Doesn"t that mean your bond to him will be broken, and you"ll be free?"

"If only it were that easy. Unless we can find a way to break the bond between him and me, my life will be surrendered when he dies."

Rahmi prided himself on being an intelligent man—at least, he was far more intelligent than most. But he still felt as though he were being pulled in different directions by this conversation. "But you"re a god…"

"I"m far more than that," Liddros mumbled. With the haze to his eyes, it seemed to be more to himself. He shook his head, coming back to the present. "And I made bargains that I thought I could remove myself from. Yet, here I am, which brings us to the reason for my visit. What do you know of the Luminaria?"

Rahmi leaned a hip against the back of the armchair, and his arms crossed over his chest. "A bit more than our last discussion. It is being sought out by another captain, who was hired to find it for the king." Liddros snorted at that. "But I could interpret the map with a lunar device a former crew member had. We pinpointed the location of the islands. We should arrive there tomorrow."

Liddros nodded. "And our deal? Is it still your wish to be free of your curse?"

Rahmi opened and closed his mouth, tipping his head to the side. Liddros raised his brows at Rahmi"s obvious hesitation, but the captain didn"t know what to say. His goals had shifted, to be sure. Would it be possible to be free of it entirely? To live as a mortal man? To have a life beyond this ship and the confines of the sea?

"I see you"ve met your match," Liddros said, a smirk growing. "Interesting. Devlin"s hesitation was similar when he finally met Fenna. Tell me, captain, are you willing to change for her?"

Rahmi could say with absolute certainty that he was. "Once she assists us in finding the Luminaria, I expect to pursue her—"

A notch formed between Liddros"s risen brows. "Only a djinn can activate the Luminaria."

Rahmi nodded slowly as though he were waiting for Liddros to catch up. "Yes, I"m well aware. Kalia is the djinn. She"s going to—"

Liddros interrupted him again, and this time Rahmi sighed in frustration. "You don"t have a djinn aboard my ship."

Rahmi opened and closed his mouth, searching Liddros"s face for any hint that he was joking. Rahmi knew Kalia was a djinn. He had seen her magic. He had experienced it for himself… "No, she"s a djinn. She told us herself. I"ve felt her in here." He tapped his temple with the tip of his finger, but Liddros was already shaking his head.

"That isn"t how the magic of a djinn works. And if there were a djinn aboard your ship, I would know. Their power calls to my power; I could feel it." Liddros hung his head, dipping his chin toward his chest. "You don"t have a djinn, do you, captain?"

Rahmi"s mind was reeling, and he was grappling with the knowledge that, perhaps, Kalia hadn"t been as honest with him as he thought. Rage and anger boiled through his veins, lighting him on fire in the worst possible way. And, even worse, it was threaded with an undertone of betrayal. He had bared his soul to her and had thought she had done the same. "If she"s not a djinn, then what is she?"

Liddros shrugged a shoulder, though the edges of his frame had already begun to fade. Rahmi didn"t wait to see the God of the Sea disappear; he was already hurtling out of his office.