Page 67 of Ship of Shadows
I shifted, trying to put space between our bodies that were plastered together, but all I ended up doing was rubbing myself against the pirate lord.
“Bloody hells, could you stop doing that?” Bastian gritted out.
“I’m trying to get comfortable.” I moved again.
“Well, can you do so without moving like . . . that? I only have so much control.”
The low timbre of his voice trailed down my spine.
I took a steadying breath. “You have plenty of control if I remember correctly.”
“You just sent your father’s bones to sea. I was not going to take advantage of you.”
“It’s fine. It was for the best that nothing happened. Besides, you’re the one who wanted me to ride with you.”
“No, I didn’t want Driscoll to ride with me. There’s a difference.”
“Oh, so I was the lesser of two evils?”
“Lesser of three, actually.” He tipped his head toward Leoni.
I twisted to look at him. “You know, you’re an ass.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
Our faces were inches apart, and I swallowed as I stared into those deep brown eyes, swirling like a storm. “She’s just trying to protect me, you know. Same as your sisters are trying to protect you.”
Bastian’s gaze flicked from where they lingered on my lips up to my eyes. Surprise flashed across his face at my words.
I turned and looked straight ahead, needing to put space between our mouths. If he kept staring at me like that, I was going to be the one losing all control.
“When did you find out?” he asked quietly.
“You mean that you have two sisters you never told me about? A few days ago. At the tavern. Mia told me.”
We passed under two branches that stretched over the path, making an archway, bright fuchsia flowers dripping from them like jewels.
He swore. “I should make her walk the plank.”
“Somehow I think she’d just end up shoving you off of it.”
He let out a laugh. “That she would.” There was a fondness in his voice that warmed my heart. “She’s fierce. Not quite as fierce as Kara. Mia has a softness about her, a vulnerability. Kara is like a hard wall, and no matter how much you try to break her down, she won’t budge.”
“Hmm, wonder who that reminds me of?”
Bastian snorted.
“They both remind me of you,” I said finally. “Yes, you’re an impenetrable wall, but you softened and eventually let me climb you.”
Bastian choked before he finally said, “I let you climb a lot of things.” I elbowed him right in the ribs, and he let out an oomph. “Oh, come on. You walked right into that one.”
I smiled. I supposed I did. My thoughts turned to his sisters, his childhood. I tugged at the end of my braid. “You’ve kept so much from me. I wonder if I ever knew you at all.”
He stayed quiet for a moment. “I didn’t tell you about them because I was afraid.”
That caught me off guard. “Afraid of what?”
“That they’d scare you off, ruin what we had. I—” He stopped. “When we were together, it was like we had our own little world. No Apolis, no Lost Boys. No princess. No pirate. No brothers. No sisters. Just Gabrielle and Bastian. I wanted to keep that world safe for as long as I could.”
