Right Hand of the Pirate Queen

24. IT'S HAPPENING...?!

Milo rubbed his eyes, but no matter how long or how hard, he couldn't banish the vision of Lucianna perched on the bed before him. The lace robe she wore provided little more than a veil between him and what lay underneath. His pulse throbbed in his neck as he licked his lips.

The candlelight danced in her violet eyes. A single bang drooped across her face, as if she had just woken up from a nap. She beckoned him again, curling her finger and giggling.

"Come now. What was it you said? 'Only when we were sober?'"

His mouth flopped open. A knot formed somewhere between his chest and stomach.

(I thought she'd be too drunk to remember!)

Lucianna pouted, her bottom lip glistening with freshly applied lip gloss. She leaned forward and pushed her chest together. His breath caught in his throat.

(That robe is so thin! I can see them!)

"There's something between us, Milo. I think I know what it is."

"O-oh yeah? And, uh, what would that be?"

She stood from the bed, and Milo had never seen such an imposing figure before him. The candlelight gave her outline an almost demonic glow, and as she stepped toward him, her hips swinging pendulously, Milo curled in on himself, hoping to make himself as small as he could.

(She looks like a predator and I'm her prey! No no no! This is all wrong!)

She stopped just in front of him, her smile growing wide. Flames danced in her eyes as she wet her lips.

"Milo, darling~"

He tilted his head up, and his eyes rolled back into his head.

(S-SHE'S REALLY NOT WEARING ANYTHING?!)

Lucianna tilted her head, another strand of hair curtaining across her face. Her lips parted slightly as she stared at him with half-hooded eyes.

"Stand up. Embrace me. I want to feel your touch so bad~"

Milo wanted to stand, but not to embrace Lucianna. He wanted to run as fast and as far away from her as he could. His legs sang with fright, twitching and cramping beneath him, refusing to listen to any command his rational brain issued. The heavy scent of pumpkin and vanilla now made his stomach churn, and he dug his hands into the stone floor.

"T-this isn't funny, Lucianna. I'm not...I don't..."

She squatted down, getting eye-level with him. Her smile shrunk into a playful, cat-like smirk that somehow made his stomach hurt worse.

"Is it because you've never been with a woman?"

His mouth hung open, and no matter how much he willed his vocal cords and lungs to coordinate so he could speak, he could only muster a zombie-like groan.

A familiar pain hit him in the chest, just beneath his throat. Like an icy grip wrapped around his throat. The agonizing chill spread to his shoulders and down his arms. The pain hadn't visited in a while. He thought he had gotten rid of it. Or, at least, buried it deep enough that would never claw its way back out.

Lucianna cooed, reaching out and stroking Milo's cheek. He jerked back, his eyes wide. Tears budded at the corners of his eyes.

"It doesn't matter. It would honor me to be your first~"

(Would I care if she was? M-maybe not...but...I just...I can't...)

Lucianna hooked her hands under his armpits, and with no difficulty, lifted him into the air, carrying him like some sort of large house cat. His toes tingled with pins and needles as she turned and carried him toward the bed. He glanced over his shoulder.