Ned

The night we crossed over into the Omega Triangle started off much like any other aboard the Neptune’s Jewel. William—Captain Blackwood, I reminded myself—and I stood at the port bow, watching the ship cut through the ocean.

Above us, the sails flapped, and I glanced up. “Looks like the wind’s changing. Do we need to reef the mainsail?”

William laughed. “Aye. You’re becoming quite a sailor, my lordling.”

I blushed. “Don’t call me that. I’m not a lord. I’m just another pirate.”

The look he gave me at my words sent a bolt of heat arrowing straight down to my cock, and I had to glance away, but I throbbed with how much I wanted him.

“You’re not just another pirate. You’re extraordinary.” His voice was husky with need. I found myself taking a step closer to him, then slowly, reaching up to run my fingers along his cheek.

Gently, I brushed my lips against his, and it was all the invitation he needed. The heat of his lips slanting across mine sent chills racing down my spine. My moan as I pulled back a little echoed between us. He swallowed the sound, capturing my lips with his, his tongue swirling in my mouth.

When he pulled away enough to gaze at me for a few seconds, the moonlight flashed off the ocean and glinted in his eyes. He smiled, remaining carefully restrained—I knew I could walk away at any moment, even as he pressed every part of his body against me. The hard length of him smoldered against my abdomen.

I paused. I wanted him, this gorgeous pirate captain, more than I could even articulate—and yet I still hesitated.

I watched him steel himself against his own desire and pull back. “When you’re ready.”

That had become his refrain, one that I was growing to both love and hate. “I’ll give the order to reef the mainsail.”

His knowing grin told me I wasn’t fooling him. His sailors knew what they were doing with the ship; they didn’t need my orders. I was running away from how much I wanted him. His quiet laugh followed me as I moved aft.

* * *

IT TOOK EVEN LONGER than usual that night for me to get to sleep.

All I could think about was the way William had kissed me on the deck. The way his lips have felt against mine. How much I wanted him.

I wasn’t even certain why I had hesitated, why I hadn’t joined him in his cabin that very night. Except I knew that once we had been together, everything would change. As it was, I could contemplate a future aboard the Neptune’s Jewel without worrying what it would mean to be the captain’s lover. If I let this go much further, I wouldn’t be able to maintain that illusion with myself much longer.

It took far too long, but finally I fell asleep once I let the gentle ocean swells rocking the ship soothe me.

I didn’t know it, but while I slept, we crossed into the Omega Triangle.

I awoke with a start, sitting up suddenly and setting my hammock to swaying.

Every part of me ached in ways I hadn’t ever felt before. My cock was hard and stiff, and more than that, I ached to be filled. It was like my adolescent daydreams of sex, but even more demanding, more urgent, than the desire I had felt then.

I felt like I had been set afire. I needed William. I had to get to him, have him take care of this unholy desire.

I managed to stumble out of my hammock and make my way to the upper deck without waking any of my crewmates.

Even the gentle ocean breeze seemed to scrape my skin raw everywhere it touched as I made my way across the deck to get to William’s cabin. I tried to open the door, but it was locked, latched from the inside. I knocked on the door, clutching the frame and leaning on it.

After only a few moments, William opened it. “Ned, are you well?”

I staggered toward him, and he opened the door wider to let me inside.

“I want you,” I said, my need straining my voice.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, scattering kisses along his cheek toward his mouth until my lips touched his.

It was if the world exploded around us. Every point where we touched seem to light up with inner fire, and I ground my hips against his, feeling my cock bump up against his, suddenly as hard as mine under his clothes.

“Fuck me.”

“Are you sure?” But William was already loosening the belt that held up my pants.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Fuck me. Hard. Now.”

At the eager desperation in my voice, however, William let go of my belt and took a step back. He was entirely still as he gazed at me, his expression hard as stone.

“What is it? I told you, I want you. I’m ready.” I could almost feel him sliding into me, and I rubbed up against him. I turned my back and pushed my ass up against him. “I can feel how much you need me, too. There’s no need to wait. Not any longer.” I bent forward, just a little, to capture the length of him between my ass cheeks and slide it up and down as I thrust back and forth, just a little.

William’s cock twitched in response. He wasn’t unmoved. And yet still he did nothing.

“Please,” I begged, “touch me, fuck me. Do anything. Don’t just stand there.”

Slowly, with perhaps the most deliberate and steely self-control I have ever seen, William placed his hands on either side of my hips. His fingers clenched, gripping me tightly, and I arched my back, expecting him to grind against me.

Instead, he carefully took a step back and held me away from him so that we were no longer touching.

“I can’t.”

I pulled away from him and spun around. “Why not? All you have done this entire voyage is tell me that when I was ready, you would be waiting. Well, now I am ready. You can’t just send me away.”

I took a step closer to him, and he backed away. “This isn’t what you think it is.”

“No? Then what is it?” I demanded.

A deep sadness moved behind his gaze as he answered. “We’ve crossed into the Omega Triangle.”

I stared at him, uncomprehending, until he spoke again.

“You’re in heat.”