Page 48 of A Pirate's Pleasure

“Not even slightly,” I lied. “I’m not that sort of man. So, they’ll leave me alone? I won’t have to watch my back anymore?”

“Expect so,” Whitby said. He winked. “What was it I just heard Garrick say to Newton?” He tapped his finger against his temple as if struggling to recall something, a move I didn’t buy for a second. “Ah, that’s it. He said you’re…”

He paused for added drama and I rolled my eyes. “Go on.”

“Not that bad.”

I laughed. “Well worth saving someone’s life for gushing praise like that.”

“Exactly,” Whitby said. “Another couple of weeks and they might even like you.”

“Another couple of weeks and we’ll have Zephyr back and it won’t matter.”

Whitby didn’t comment on my optimism, but then he didn’t need to. Not when it was written all over his face. When he turned to exit the cabin, I called his name. “I was thinking,” I said when he turned back to face me. “West mentioned a tattoo or a piercing this afternoon, but there wasn’t time. Maybe I could get one or the other. Or maybe even both. You know, just something to break the voyage up a bit and make me fit in more.”

He grinned. “I’ll tell West to warm his needles up.”

Chapter Nineteen

Zephyr

Three weeks later

Lucretius had left me rotting in the cell for close to a week with only one meal a day, and it certainly hadn’t been the standard of food he’d made sure I’d grown accustomed to. If he’d intended on me learning a lesson about the futility of escape, I’d learned it—most of my time in there spent turning over every eventuality. And it was a lesson that hadn’t dimmed in the two weeks since my release.

The key to the manacles was on his person. It had to be, because I’d searched everywhere else. Therefore, the only way of getting my hands on it was by taking it off him. Which meant getting far closer to him than I had any wish to, with no guarantee that I’d even be successful. And even if I could get the key without him knowing and unlock my hands, then what? I’d already tried to kill him and failed miserably. And if he was dead, that would leave me stuck on this island and slowly starving to death. Either that or swimming an impossibly long way that would most probably culminate in me drowning, anyway.

There was no scenario I could come up with that led to anything but failure. There was only keeping myself in Lucretius’ good books, stroking his ego, agreeing with him, and doing everything I could to be a companion worthy of keeping alive until I could come up with a solution to my predicament. To my surprise, since the kiss on the day when I’d messed up and ended up in the cell, he hadn’t made any more advances. Which was good, and I was more than happy about it, but it also confused me and left me feeling off kilter.

What was he waiting for? Did Lucretius think if he bided his time for long enough, I’d make the first move? That wouldn’t happen. At least, I didn’t think it would. In the past few days, though, things had started to blur together in my head, things that had me questioning what was real and what wasn’t—my mind playing tricks on me. Perhaps it would be easier if I gave in. After all, I wasn’t a pirate, and I didn’t have magic. What was left if you took those two things away? Not much, was the obvious answer. Nothing more than being Lucretius’ toy. Lucretius’ plaything. Why hold out against if it was inevitable? Maybe it was just better to get it over with.

He’d pulled another disappearing act today, but not without making sure I knew that the door to outside would remain locked in his absence. Another reminder that despite a couple of weeks having passed since my release from the dungeon, that I was yet to earn all my privileges back. Privileges! I let out a humorless laugh that echoed through the silent and empty house. What privileges? Going outside? Since when had something so simple as breathing fresh air been a treat? Was this what going stir crazy felt like? I guessed it was. If you took away any stimulus except a volatile harpy, eventually you yearned for his company just to break up the monotony of the day. How fucked up was that?

I moved to the room where Lucretius and I always ate, the table now empty, leaving me relying on his return for more than just company. It was the room that got the most sun during the day, its position, and the floor to ceiling windows, making it the best place to feel some residual warmth. The next best thing to going outside.

Closing my eyes, I breathed deeply, finding a place of calm inside myself, a place where one mistake, one lapse in judgment, hadn’t resulted in me being imprisoned. If only I could rewind time. If I could though, it wouldn’t be that night I’d go back to. It would be much earlier.

Lief’s excitement was infectious, making me smile too, even though I didn’t have the faintest clue what had him grinning from ear to ear. “Let’s go to your room,” he said.

Usually that was code for sex, but I suspected that in this instance, it was the last thing on his mind. Perhaps I could change it, though. There hadn’t been enough Lief in my life recently. Which was mainly my fault for spending so much time at sea, but you could argue it was his as well, for refusing to accompany me on all but a couple of voyages. I was captain of my own ship now, Livingston finally accepting Dax’s lack of interest and agreeing a deal with me that left The Navarino entirely in my capable hands. I was the youngest pirate captain by far, and as captain, I got to decide who came on board.

Those times when Lief had given in to my constant wheedling and come along, had been perfect. I’d had the ship, the sea, and the love of a good man. What more could anyone want? But so far, he’d only agreed to come if the voyage was short. I was yet to convince him to stray any farther than Ocean Fall Landing. Maybe that was what he wanted to tell me. That he’d decided to give up his menial work in Glimmerfield that no one appreciated anyway, and join me in sailing the seas and oceans. With him by my side, I wouldn’t need to keep Glimmerfield as a base. We could explore the world together and life would be perfect. Me and Lief versus the world. No one would stand a chance against us.

I pulled him into my room and backed him against the wall, Lief laughing as my hands crept beneath his shirt and my lips followed the length of his neck on a mission to bringing our mouths together. I managed the briefest of kisses before he pushed me away. Still laughing. Eyes still alight with merriment, but apparently not in the mood for sex. That was fine. I could wait. Lief was always worth waiting for. I dropped onto the bed instead, lacing my fingers behind my head as I rested it against the wall.

Lief frowned. “You could at least take your boots off.”

“Yes, mother.”

He rolled his eyes. “I hope I’m not your mother, given all the things we do together.”

I reached for him, but Lief escaped my grasp before I could pull him down on the bed with me. I let out a groan of frustration. “Come here.”

He stood with his hands on his hips and gave me a disapproving look. “I have something to tell you.”

“Come here. Get naked. Roll around with me a bit. And then you can tell me.”

“Or… I can tell you first. And then we can do the rest of the things to celebrate.”