Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 1050: No Longer Graceful

Kaiden tightened his arms around Yunohana as the yacht slid away behind their tender. The bow lifted, silver light flashed beneath the hull, and the little boat leaped forward over the water.

Yunohana’s laughter reached him through the rush of wind.

”Quite right! A little tighter, if you will!”

He braced his feet on either side of hers, grinning against her hair while the boat accelerated.

Who knew this woman could be such a wild one?

The ward split the spray ahead of them, sending white sheets of water past the rails. Air rushed over the windscreen. Loose black strands whipped against his cheek, and he turned his face enough to keep breathing without eating half her hair.

”How’s my bravery doing?” he asked.

”I would give it a moment before forming an opinion.”

She turned the wheel.

The boat banked hard to the right, its lower rail skimming above the water while blue runes blazed along that side of the hull. Kaiden shifted with her, keeping his hold around her middle as the stabilizers carried them through the turn.

”Now this is it!” Yunohana laughed, pressing back against him.

The horizon tilted past Yunohana’s shoulder. Then she straightened the wheel, and they shot out across open water with a long white curve marking their passage behind them.

”Holy shit.”

”Was that a favorable review?”

”Extremely.”

Her laughter broke loose again.

Yunohana eased her thumb off the control, letting the tender coast while she swept her hair out of her face.

”Where did you learn to do this?” Kaiden asked. ”Did you grow up around fishermen or something?”

”Fishermen?”

”You seem very comfortable behind that wheel. I thought there might be a story.”

She glanced back at him, her lips curving.

”Oh, no. I simply like fast things.”

Kaiden looked down at the console, then at the white trail stretching behind them.

”How fast can this go?”

”Would you like me to show you?”

”...I was thinking it might be near its top speed...?”

Her delighted giggle made him tighten his hold before she even touched the control.

”You thought I borrowed this lovely little boat to catch fish?” Yunohana laughed as she pressed her thumb down. The bow rose, and Kaiden braced against the padded support as the tender surged beneath his feet.

”God damn.”

The wind snatched the words out of his mouth. Water raced past the rail, so close he could have reached down and touched it, while Yunohana leaned into a sweeping turn.

Kaiden moved with her, looking past her shoulder as their own wake came rushing toward them. She straightened the wheel just before they reached it.

The bow struck the ridge of white water and lifted. For a breath, the whole hull cleared the sea, leaving Kaiden’s stomach behind.

”What have you done to the most graceful of women I’ve ever met?”

”Is reality disappointing?”

”Hell no.”

She kept the bow straight as they landed. Blue light flared beneath the hull, the stabilizers catching its sideways roll while spray burst against the ward and streamed over their heads.

Kaiden’s startled laugh joined hers. His arms were locked around her waist, and her hair flew everywhere. She was thoroughly pleased with herself.

This morning, she had been sitting beside him so elegantly that he worried about disturbing her dress. Now she was launching them over the fucking sea.

To put things lightly, Kaiden really, really liked this woman.

”Still comfortable back there?” she called.

”Yeah. Gotta say, I’m learning interesting things about you very quickly.”

Yunohana glanced at his hands clasped across her stomach, then smiled out over the water.

”Then this has been a productive date.”

...

By the time Yunohana eased the tender down to a gentler pace, the yacht had become a white shape in the distance behind them.

Kaiden loosened his hold enough to let her turn within his arms. Her hair lay across one eye as she looked up at him, breathless with laughter.

”Well?” she asked. ”Have I suffered terribly?”

He inspected the wind-tangled strands, the open jacket, and the delighted face beneath them.

”Devastating damage. I’m afraid I’ll have to keep looking at you until I manage to get used to it.”

”How unfortunate.”

She made no attempt to move away. The boat drifted while Kaiden tucked her hair behind her ear, taking care around the earring Bastet had chosen.

Yunohana held still for him, her smile growing as he freed a strand caught behind the earring.

”When we return to the yacht, would you sit with me a little longer?”

”You can keep me until we get home.”

”I was rather hoping to keep you after that as well.”

Her own admission made her cheeks warm. Yesterday she had struggled to ask his lovers for a single day. Now she was standing in his arms, trying to find more time before she had even used what they had given her.

Kaiden lowered his hand, smiling at her.

”Then we’ll find somewhere comfortable. You can tell me how badly I behaved on our date.”

”So far, I am having difficulty gathering complaints.”

She turned back to the console, keeping his other arm around her waist.

Ahead of them, an island rose beyond a low fringe of rocks. Trees covered its upper slopes, and the lowering sun brightened the exposed cliffs along its western side.

Yunohana studied the chart beside the wheel, then pointed toward a pale strip of beach between the rocks.

”Would you like to watch the sunset there? We could have a little walk first.”

”Sure. Sounds fun.”

She smiled and touched the console’s communication plate.

The captain answered promptly. Yunohana told him which island they were approaching and asked him to bring the yacht around toward its western side. He confirmed that he had their beacon and would follow offshore.

She slowed as they approached the beach. Kaiden moved to the side rail to watch the rocks beneath the clear water while she guided the boat between them.

”Clear on this side,” he told her.

”Thank you.”

The tender settled into the shallows. Yunohana touched another control, and the mooring line extended from the bow, winding around an exposed rock above the waterline.

She took her bag from beneath the seat and stopped at the rail to look at the water between them and dry sand.

Kaiden stepped down first. The sea covered his shoes, which he decided was a perfectly acceptable loss.

”May I?”

Yunohana glanced at his open arms, then at the shoes she was trying to protect.

”I would appreciate it.”

He lifted her from the boat with one arm beneath her knees and the other supporting her back. Her hand came to his shoulder, and she laughed softly as he carried her up the beach.

”Your shoes, Kaiden...”

”A sacrifice most worth making.”

On the dry sand, he set her down carefully. Yunohana kept her hand on his shoulder long enough to kiss his cheek.

”Thank you.”

He looked at her, then down at his wet shoes.

”See? Excellent trade.”

She slipped her hand into his, and they walked along the cove toward the rocks at its far end.

Their shoes sank into the dry sand until Yunohana guided him closer to the water, where their footsteps held their shape. She watched a wave creep toward them, then tugged him up the beach before it reached her feet.

”Does anyone live out here?” he asked.

”The chart marks it as uninhabited. There is no village or ferry landing, and it is rather far to come for a swim. We should have the beach to ourselves.”

Yunohana looked along the empty curve of sand, pleased with their discovery.

Her fingers shifted between his, and Kaiden closed his hand around hers. They walked farther along the water, slowing whenever she stopped to look into a pool left among the rocks.

At one, Yunohana bent to watch a little crab retreat beneath a ledge. Kaiden leaned down beside her, and she pointed it out with a smile before it vanished.

When they straightened, she stayed close enough for her shoulder to brush his arm.

”Thank you for coming with me today.”

”It’s my pleasure.”

She looked up at him, her smile softening. There was still so much she wanted to ask him, but for a while she was content to walk beside him and feel his hand in hers.

Kaiden matched her slower pace. The sun had dropped toward the water, and he watched its light catch in her loose hair whenever she turned toward him.

Near the end of the cove, the beach narrowed beneath a wooded slope. Yunohana stopped on a patch of dry sand with an open view across the sea.

”Shall we sit here?”

”Looks good to me.”

She set her bag beside a tree and gathered her skirt clear of her heels. Kaiden offered his free hand to help her lower herself.

A motor whined somewhere among the trees above them, followed by the rattle of wheels over stones. Kaiden looked up the slope, keeping hold of Yunohana’s hand as she straightened.

”Didn’t you say it was uninhabited?”

”...Yes.”

A narrow dirt track emerged from the woods beside their chosen spot. Farther up it, a man stood at the controls of a small motorized cargo cart, bringing a load of wooden crates down toward the shore.

”This is...” She was speechless.

Kaiden moved aside with her to give the cart room. As it jolted over a root, a loose crate lid lifted, exposing a severed, hooked foreleg. Its claw was longer than his forearm.

Blood dripped between the boards onto the track.