Hunt on Dark Waters (Crimson Sails, #1)

by Katee Robert

It doesn’t matter what path you tread in life as long as it’s the right one for you.

“Your starving children. Their names.” He snaps his fingers. “Quickly.” “Dean, Sam, John, and…Cas.”

“Baby, I think we both know you’ve never met a witch like me.” Her grin widens and her uncanny gaze drops to my hips.

It’s best not to do anything to draw their attention or cause them to stir from wherever they reside now. I’m not sure any of us would survive it if they did.

Not that Bowen would consider himself a paladin, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a fucking paladin. Never fall for a paladin, little bird. Their first love will always be their god, and you’ll come a distant second. If that god demands your bleeding heart on an altar, they will weep and wallow in guilt, but they’ll hack the organ right out of your chest without hesitation.

“It’s not right to kill animals just because they’re dangerous. By that logic, both you and I should be killed, too.” Gods above and below, my thieving witch has a bleeding heart.

Who needs bondage ropes when your partner can hold you down with their mind? Can lift you and move you and touch you without lifting a single finger?

“What are you doing?” “The only thing a man in my position can do when faced with a goddess. Worship her.”

And then I kiss my way to her pussy, and I think of nothing at all. She tastes of the sea, which is a strange thing to think and yet it feels like coming home. I know better than to believe this woman is made for me. That’s not how life works. That’s sure as fuck not how my life works. But I don’t know how I’m going to let her go at the end of this.

I’m moaning. Maybe I’m whimpering. Fuck, I might be speaking some arcane language known only to lovers.

“What is the truth?” I don’t know if there needs to be a deeper purpose. Tyrants exist in every realm. Maybe the original Cŵn Annwn set things up this way so they’d have unquestioned power. Maybe there’s some ancient reason for it, but it got twisted by mortals along the way. That sort of thing happens often enough in my realm. Religion and politics exist on a spectrum to be abused by the powerful. If there’s a universal truth across all realms, it’s probably that.

It’s not even surprising that the Cŵn Annwn would overreach. Anytime there’s power to be had, there’s power to be misused. Threshold isn’t exempt from that rule. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and all that.

“Bowen,” she says slowly. “Did you just offer to murder the captain for me? How did you know that was my love language?”

I want a cozy blanket, a racy romance novel, and maybe some hot sex in between naps and reading.

“She offered to take me home, after she reclaims what I stole, of course.” I lean back until I can see his face. “I told her no. I hope she’s right and there is a path back to our realm; for her sake, at least. But I meant it when I said I love you, Bowen. Not just because you fuck like a god, and not just because you hold me like I’m the most priceless thing in existence. I love you for your stubbornness and your honor and your willingness to do whatever it takes to right the wrongs you have inadvertently caused. You’re stuck with me, at least for as long as you’ll have me.”