"The fleet is prepared to depart, Commodore." Normond walks up to Kinsley, who is standing towards the back of the upper deck of a large warship, looking out as the last of the warships pull out of the harbour. They join the massive armada of perfectly uniform vessels, congregating into an organized fashion like a flock of colossal wooden birds of prey. At the front of the formation is Kinsley's ship, laden with homogeneously attired naval officers.
"Good." Kinsley replies curtly, looking out over the immense military force under his jurisdiction. It gives him a palpable sense of authority, or more so than he was used to.
"Full course ahead!" Kinsley turns to the helmsman, barking his orders. There is an auspicious tension in the air all around him, which simultaneously reassures and uneases the crew as a whole.
~
Eira opens her eyes, the cloistered darkness of the bedroom making it difficult to tell whether she actually opened them or not.
"Morning, princess." Adrulac's euphonic voice cuts through the darkness, quickly rousing Eira from her sleepy state. She turns around and sees his crimson eyes before any other part of him. They had an almost magical quality to them, which made them stand out more in the dark than in the light.
"How do you know it's morning?" Eira snuggles up next to Adrulac, making her way around his body through nothing but kinesthetic sense.
She could've waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark to navigate about, but she much preferred using this method instead.
"You've been asleep about eight hours, so it would definitely be morning by now." Adrulac pulls Eira tight into him, running a hand through her dark locks to give him a more unobstructed view of her face.
"Okay...but how do you know it's been eight hours?" Eira pesters with a jovial tone.
"It's easy to keep track of time when you don't need to sleep." Adrulac responds honestly.
"Oh..." Eira mutters softly. She'd genuinely forgotten about Adrulac's abnormal sleep schedule, and now suddenly felt bad for questioning the legitimacy of his claim.
"You're awfully patient..." Eira says apologetically, nestling her head in the space between Adrulac's shoulder and head.
"What makes you say that?"
"Do you just lay here awake with me for hours on end while I'm asleep?" Eira responds with a question.
"Essentially." Adrulac continues to run his hand through Eira's hair, not for any particular reason other than he liked the feel of it between his fingers.
"You know you don't have to. I can't tell the difference either way while I'm asleep."
"True, but I do it for myself."
"Even still...I feel bad that I can't spend that time with you properly."
"Well, that sounds like your problem. I consider it one of the highlights of my night."
Eira can't help but smile in response to his endearing comment, though she doesn't surrender her point of argument.
"Don't you ever get restless?"
Adrulac pauses for a moment, then removes his hand from Eira's hair and places it upon her back, slowly gliding it down her body. The feeling is muted by the fabric of the nightgown she is wearing, but that is in fact the point of the garment.
Both Eira and Adrulac came to a nonverbal agreement that they couldn't feasibly sleep naked without giving into their mutual lust, and so Eira started wearing a silk nightgown and Adrulac a pair of thin cotton pants to bed.
YOU ARE READING
The Archman
RomanceWhile departing for London to meet with her fiancé, Eira Pryce finds herself taken captive by a living legend, the fabled pirate known only as the Archman. As it turns out, the fables may not have been so accurate in their portrayal of this mythic f...
