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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Clare Sager
Read between
February 18 - February 27, 2025
emotionally”—his
and physically?”
“And you’ve sworn not to touch me until and unless I say my answer in the affirmative?”
“Do you consent to me touching you?”
“You can stop me at any time. A word and I’ll stop.” “I know,”
“Do I,” he said, all wicked and glinting once more, “want to talk to you for hours on end?”
“Do I want to share the world with you?”
“Do I want to touch you here?”
“Do I want to touch you here?”
“Right where it makes you squirm because you enjoy it so much but it’s also just that little bit ticklish?”
“Do I want to breathe your name in your ear”—he ran a fingertip down the edge of her ear, torturously light, and smiled as it reached her earring—“and kiss you here?”
“Do I want to kiss you in the hollow of your neck”—his thumb slid there—“right where there’s a drop of water that’s glistening and just begging me to suck it from your skin?”
“Now, do I want to touch you here?”
“I think you want me to,” he whispered.
“Do I want to cup this breast”—he did it as he spoke, attention now on the other, even as his thumb kept circling—“and knead it and pinch just here”—the nipple, leaving her tight and throbbing—“in that way I know makes you wet?”
“Do I want to trail further south”—his fingers traced down over her ribs to her waist—“and touch every part of you”—her hips and belly—“explore every inch I can get my hands on until you scream my name?”
“do I want to bury myself inside you and make you fall apart in my arms over and over and over again?”
“Yes, Vee,” he said, voice rough, “I want all of it. I want all of you.” And he kissed her.
“Knigh.” She swallowed and looked into his grey eyes. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’m here,” he said, so simple, so raw, his voice a low rumble that filled her body.
“And I missed the taste of you,” he murmured, chest heaving, “but I’ll have that later.” The promise blazed through her, sinful and delicious. “For now, I want to watch you come undone for me.”
And his eyes on her, bright, happy. When she’d returned to Nassau after that terrible trip to Albion and the awful ocean crossing, it had struck her, hard and comforting at once—home. She was home.
Chest full, she pulled him close and kissed him. Kissed him for all the times she couldn’t. For all the times she’d snapped. For all the times she’d been cruel. For all the times he’d shown her the broken parts of himself. For all the times she’d only been able to offer a touch to comfort him. For so many missed opportunities and misunderstandings and misused moments.
He’d never looked so wild, so beautiful, so alive.
“Knigh.”
All the times he’d rolled over in the night and reached out to find the bunk empty. All the desperation and fear when Vane had taken her and Mercia had held her. Every wild want, every aching need, every moment that he’d longed to hold her, to kiss her, to take her…
He’d let it all free. And the moment it had ended him, surging with irresistible, blinding intensity, he’d thought he might die from it. Nothing in his life had been more powerful. It had left him light-headed, and even now, the world on the edge of his vision spun slowly.
It felt right, yes, but that didn’t mean it was pure joy every second. She knew him at his best and his worst and yet she was still here. It was thrilling and bright in his chest. But also perhaps a little frightening.
“You’re the one who’s been working so hard to make me believe in myself more, you didn’t think that would come without any side effects, did you?”
“Having the Pirate Queen stare at you like she wants to devour you would be enough to drive any man to the height of conceit.”
“So you’re the woman my brother couldn’t get out of his head.”
“Huh.” It was Effie or Wynn who made the noise. “Was that a hummingbird?” “A hummingbird?” the other replied. “Really?” “I do love a hummingbird,” Saba muttered. There was a shuffle as they edged away, conversation too bright.
Hahshahaaahhah what a segway guys
“I want you to trust me. To rely on me.”
“Not coddle me or push me away.”
His Royal Slyness, indeed.
Wild Hunt, when she got her hands on him, she would wring his damn neck.
Her rifle hung limp in her grip as she ran across the clearing and flung herself into his arms. Safe. Alive. She was. He was.
“I led him to his death,”
“Evered. And Evans, too. But… I can’t… I can’t lead you. I can’t keep you safe.”
“And today, I left you at the top of a hill, thinking it would keep you safe, and still you had to flee for your life. Whatever I do, you end up in danger.”
“This life is dangerous. It’s the nature of what we do. That isn’t your fault.”
“You say you can’t lead me, that you were a poor leader the day we boarded the Sovereign.”
“Well, let me tell you some things about leadership, about captaincy. A captain doesn’t do it all themselves. And a captain doesn’t take their people into danger lightly, but at times they must ask them to face the possibility of death.”
“The responsibility of a leader is to balance r...
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“Vee, I see so much in you. How incredible you are now, loved by your crew, bold, clever, determined. And how great you could be—such overwhelming potential.
you’ll never become the captain I know is inside if you can’t find that balance.”
“Are you going to stop being angry at me any time soon, or should I stay in my own berth tonight?”
“I’m not angry,” she snapped. “Yes, and you’re doing an excellent job of looking not angry.”
“I’m confused, all right? I don’t know what to… What you said about leaders, it made perfect sense. And yet…” She shook her head. “I can’t risk you, Knigh. I can’t put you in danger.”
“And yet,” he murmured, “you think what happens to you doesn’t matter.”
