Page 104 of Stilettos & Secrets on the 7 Seas

OK. Maybe he hadn’t.

“I haven’t been allowed to leave my cabin except for a short walk on the deck. What took you so long?”

“I was gathering information, listening to the pirates chatter among themselves.”

“So, you know Mortas jumped ship to play pirates with Captain Vane.” I crossed my arms and stared him down, wondering what he had planned to get us out of this mess.

“Aye.” Caiyan moved to my washstand. He looked at himself in the mirror. The candlelight bathed him in a golden glow. “What do ye think? I make a handsome pirate, yeah?”

Oh, brother. “Sure.” It wasn’t a lie. Even with dreadlocks and dirty clothes, he was still romance-cover-worthy.

He washed his hands and face. Removing a strip of leather from his pocket, he tied the top of his hair back away from his face. He smiled at me in the mirror, and his sexy pirate ranking soared.

“I’m glad you’re here.” Did those words leave my lips? I was mad at him, but I couldn’t help myself. He oozed provocative pirate fantasy, and my body was all in.

He walked over to me, cupping my face in his palm and skimming a thumb across my cheek. “I missed ye.”

My insides went all gooey. What was it about this man that turned me to mush? I reminded myself I was irritated with his latest mischief, but my eyes drank in the curve of his lips, the line of his jaw, and that place in the hollow of his throat where only my kisses were allowed. I leaned into the soft touch on my cheek. “I’ve missed you, too.”

I tiptoed to meet his mouth and tasted rum and sweet. He’d had the pineapple at dinner, too. He wrapped his arms around me and teased my tongue with his. A fireball ignited down south of my belly button. If I didn’t stop kissing him, I’d be naked on the swinging bed, my secret discovered, and Shrug would be back at duty.

“Caiyan, we can’t.” I wiggled free of his arms.

He glanced at the swinging bed, and the strain against his breeches seemed to lessen. I agreed. It would take some skill to make anything happen there. Not that Caiyan wasn’t up for the challenge, but we were pressed for time.

I moved behind the chair, resting my hands on the back. The smooth wood calmed me and put some distance between us. “What’s the plan?”

“I’ve no plan.”

My jaw hung open, hovering and then snapping shut. “What do you mean you don’t have a plan?”

Caiyan always had a plan. He wasn’t a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of guy. Even when caught behind enemy lines, he was running scenarios in his mind, developing a plan to save everyone. And now, nothing.

“This was never the plan.” He tornadoed his index finger at the room. “I planned to lead Mortas astray, find Marco and Sasha, and locate the King’s key.”

“With Marco’s map?” I asked in my snarkyI-know-your-secretstone.

He sighed. “I might as well tell ye, since yer here and no following orders to leave.”

I cocked anI don’t take orders on my missioneyebrow.

“I meant, leave when I asked ye.” He slid into the chair opposite me. “The map Marco sent ye in the chest is part of a bigger map.”

“I know about the maps.” I crossed my arms and gave him a steely glare.

“Of course, ye do. Yer smarter than I give ye credit.”

“Sashaknows you have a piece of the map. Mortas and Marco know.” I frowned at him and wished there was more rum in the bottle. “Ididn’t know you had a piece of the map. In fact,Ididn’t know anything about a map.”

“Dinnae start with me now, Sunshine. We’re too close to the finish line to be at each other’s throats.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasnae necessary to involve ye. The day Rogue died he let me see Sasha’s map before he gave it to her. He wanted us to work together to find the King’s key. Then Sasha left with the eye. I didnae have the eye or Elma’s map. I’ve no clue where ’tis.”

I knew where it was, but I wasn’t giving up my intel. Not yet.

“After he died, it became more important for me to put the pieces together. Marco rejected the idea at first, until Sasha jumped to Nassau. Mortas was open to it.”

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