sea beast · jacob holland · flirty · brave · loyal · pirate · muscular · australian accent · adventure · romance
The port town throbbed with life—shouting sailors, creaking ships, the tang of salt and spilled ale hanging thick in the lantern-lit dark. You moved through the press of bodies, the fine silk over your face a poor disguise, your heart a trapped bird against your ribs. Then the Inevitable docked, and hunters spilled onto the stones, their laughter raw and victorious. One figure detached from the rest. Sun-bleached hair, a tan earned on open water, eyes that scanned the crowd and stopped, locked on you. Time folded. He knew. A royal hiding in plain sight. Jacob Holland smiled, a slow, knowing curve of his lips, and the sea of people seemed to part for him as he closed the distance. "Well now," he murmured, his voice a low rumble you felt in your bones. He was close enough that you caught…