A Ship of Bones & Teeth

by Karina Halle

but the fact that I was beautiful, nude, and silent. Something he could both show off to the world and manipulate to suit his whims.

I expect her to scream for help or try to swim away. Instead, the princess punches me right in the face.

“You seem awfully cavalier, considering all that’s about.” “It’s the apple, brother. Anyone eating an apple looks like they’ve got nothing better to do.”

I don’t know what it is about a woman that wants me dead, but I swear nothing gets me harder.

Your rage will free you, my sister said. Ramsay said something similar to me, too.

“You are a stunning abyss of a creature,” I tell her. “One that I could spend eons swimming in and never get to the bottom of.”

“Darling, your body would bring any man to their knees where they would be in the right position to worship you. It’s a body carved by god yet meant for sin, and it would become anyone’s salvation.”

“You be a good girl,” I warn her. “Good girls get rewards.”

“My little monster has come out to play again,” I say, grinning up at her. “Don’t you know this only excites me?”

“Good girls get rewards.” “What do the bad girls get?” she asks through a growl. I grin at her. “Bad girls get punished thoroughly. I reckon you deserve both.”

“You can handle me, can’t you luv? Maybe your prissy princess cunt would cower, but you’re a monster at heart. You can take whatever I give you.”

Is it possible that the man who kept me in a cage is the same one to set me free?

“I’m going to fill you with my seed, luv,” he says, his voice low and gravelly as he brings his lips back to my neck. “Not that pathetic prince, but me. I’ll claim you in every way that I can, my essence so deep inside you that I’ll become a part of your blood and bones.”

You were never meant to be a princess, Maren. You were meant to be a queen. Perhaps my queen.”

I manage to move my throat enough to spit in his face. My spit lands on his forehead, a sliver of fish bone in it. He grunts and reaches up with his other hand, wiping it away. “Do it again,” he whispers, eyes dancing darkly. “This time in my mouth, please.” He opens his mouth, showing me his tongue, wanting it.

“I’m giving you a choice, Maren. Choose me,” I implore. “Why can’t you trust me?”

“This is the way it is and there’s no getting around it. I need you. I really, really need you. More than I’ve ever needed anyone. And yes, this is a physical need in so many ways, but you drive me to despair, luv. You make me lose my reason. And I’m not going to give up on you giving in to me. I need your submission so badly that I feel the ache in my bones.”

He grips my hips and I feel him straighten up, exhaling shakily. “I’ve never had an addiction before,” he says hoarsely. “But I think you’ll be mine.”

“I know,” he says. “But you’re my monster, Maren. My fierce little creature.

“Aye. Beautiful and deadly all at once. The only kind of lady I fall for.”

“Then perhaps the both of us are mad, if madness and monsters are one of the same,” I murmur. “But we can be mad together. We can drown in our madness together.”

“Like you’re the moon and I’m the tides, and every thought, every need, every want, is drawn to you, Maren.” I laugh to myself. “You’re right, this is madness and I’m drowning and I don’t give a damn.”

“You still belong to me,” I say gruffly in her ear, my cock so deep in her it’s like she’s squeezing on me like a glove that’s a little too tight. “You’ll always be mine.” “That remains to be seen,” she says, then bites down on my earlobe, eliciting a low rumble from deep in my chest. With a growl I reach down and grab her hip where my brand is. “You wish to see it? It’s right here, luv,” I tell her

“You, my dear,” she says to me, placing her hands on both sides of my cheeks, “are one in a million. And you can make any world your own.”

“I’m getting you your ring, princess,” I tell her. “Just have to wait for the right ship to plunder.” “Is that a euphemism?” “Maren, I think I’ve plundered every hole on your body. Nay, I’ll know the treasure when I see it.”

You are the moon, I am the tides,