"Do you hear that?" Lorcan asks, running his fingers up and down my bare back lazily. I snuggle into him and squeeze my eyes shut, blocking out the rising sun.
"I don't want to get up," I whine, listening to the people wake up in the distance. "I'm enjoying this too much." I stroke my fingers on his chest, trailing loops through his chest hair and feeling the muscles beneath. My head is on his shoulder and we've been resting in a tall patch of grass.
"Mmm," Lorcan sighs. His fingers tickle the back of my arm lazily. "Thank you for last night."
"I think I lied to you," I say, leaning up to look at him. His dark blonde eyebrows raise in question. "I told you last night that I knew how to count, but I lost track after eight or nine."
Lorcan's face cracks into a smile. He shakes his head lightly and kisses me on the nose. I lean back into his shoulder, holding his bare skin tight to mine.
"I mean it though, thank you," Lorcan says. "I've been quite shit at loving anybody for as long as I can remember. I needed that push to turn it into something beautiful."
I squeeze him to me tighter. Lorcan is terrible with affection, that's obvious. But in his words, I understand that he's telling me he does love me, at least in some kind of way. And I felt it last night. As the hours passed, the sex went from rough and demanding to soft and connected. Somewhere along the way he stopped hate fucking me and began making love to me.
"Are you ready to leave?" I ask, feeling anxious.
"Are you ready to stay?" he replies. When I don't answer, he wraps both arms around me tightly, hugging me. "It's what is best for both of us."
"Are you going to visit?" I ask.
Lorcan takes a deep breath, making his body rise and fall. His arms fall to his sides. "Am I allowed to?"
"I would be devastated if you didn't."
His hand goes back to my arm, tickling it slowly and softly, leaving a trail of warmth on my cold skin. "I don't know how often I can come back," he says honestly.
"I know how the life is. I understand." I lean up again, looking into his blue eyes that are reflecting the morning sky beautifully. "You don't have to make any promises, but maybe when you come back, we can reclaim more moments like these."
His smile is small and reserved, but it's there. "I think I can manage that. One night a year we get to be together again. Just you and I, for each other."
I lean in and kiss him slowly. His beard is soft against my face and he smells like sex and nature. His tongue moves with mine. The motions are easy and natural, like we're meant to be doing this.
When the kiss breaks, he leans up. I stand and locate my clothes, putting them on. Lorcan watches me for a minute before getting his own clothes on. His hair is dirty and tangled, despite it being shorter now. The length is still past his jaw line, but he lost several inches from the ends being burned. I run my fingers through his hair gently, getting out the tangles.
He kisses me quickly with a playful smile. He wraps his hand in mine and we begin walking back to the huts. "Y'know, I'm a little offended nobody came looking for us," he jokes.
"Between the two of us? There's no danger we couldn't face."
"I know, love." Lorcan smiles big, squeezing my fingers in his. "We are invincible."
It takes us several minutes to get back to the others. Lorcan drops my hand a minute before we get there, not wanting to announce or spoil our night. When we enter our little home, the whole crew is inside. Dean and Arlo are packing up their belongings into bags.
Dean turns and gives us a stern face. "You were gone all night," he scolds.
"Yeah, we were worried sick about you," Arlo laughs.
Dean shoots him a glare. "I suppose I'm the bad guy for being concerned about them being eaten by a bear."
"No bears in sight, we're safe," I say, holding back a smile. I approach Dean and wrap my arms around him. "I'm gonna miss you."
Dean hugs me back instantly, leaning into the touch.
"I think we're all packed and ready," Arlo says, pulling on Dean's arm. Dean releases me and Arlo takes his place, holding me tight in his arms.
Hadrien picks up the bags around him and leaves the house. Lorcan follows after him, offering to take a couple of the bags with his good hand.
Fenix, Daegan, Arlo, and I follow them out to the beach. Bradley and his family are waiting by the row boats that will take them back to the anchored ship. Hadrien throws their bags into the boat and turns to me.
"I'll be staying with you," he says.
"Really?" I ask, not hiding my excitement. "Are you sure?"
"Aye. I joined your crew all those years ago because I wanted an adventure. Port of Storms seems like a new adventure, and I'd like to go on it with you."
I pull him down into a hug and hold him tight. "We're happy to have you."
When the hug ends, I turn towards the people leaving. Frank, Blake, O'Neal, Bart, Morgan, Totem, Robby, and Adrie are joining The Evocation crew under Lorcan's lead. They're saying good-byes to the others that are choosing to stay on the island.
Jonesie and Zelle are staying on the Isle and have a little home together. Jonesie brought his parents and aunt from Parmenia, who are living in their own little place. Harold brought his wife and four kids. Bart invited his sister's family to live on the Port of Storms, even though he's joining Lorcan. Robby also brought his parents and three siblings to the island, despite sailing away himself. Gould and Becks are living together in a small hut. Gould's dad and brother have built themselves a home next door to them.
The Evocation and the Port of Storms are both healthy and full of hard workers and lovely people. We'll both be well off, but it doesn't make the split any easier.
Arlo hugs me tightly and reveals where he hid some spare mead for me. Dean kisses me unabashedly. Lorcan holds me close, his hands in my hair, breathing me in. Then, the crewmates load into the row boats and quickly ascend on the ship. They board easily and begin pulling the anchor. I watch them slowly sail away. I've never had the pleasure of watching The Evocation in action from afar. She's beautiful, the way she cuts through the water and her sails dance in the wind.
Hadrien, Daegan, and Fenix all hold me as silent tears fall from my eyes, saying good-bye to so many things that I love. I take a deep breath.
Hadrien is right, we're on to new adventures.
YOU ARE READING
Evocation
Adventure"I promised myself the next time I saw you, I was claiming you. Your mouth-" he gazes at my lips while biting his own. "-your body.." he squeezes at my hips. His hands trail up and he wraps his thick fingers in my hair, pulling softly. "Watching you...
