Page 22 of Of Magic and Rum
I can’t be sure if I’ve bothered to blink for the past several minutes. Clearing my throat, I gaze at the water, squinting and forcing my concentration elsewhere.
“Ah, now I see,” Duke says with a traitorous chuckle.
“See what, old man?”
Red approaches Anne, bowing to her and displaying his hand over her attire with a shit-eating grin I want to slap straight off his face. What can he possibly have to say to her?
“Taken a liking to our stowaway, have you?” Duke’s broad, bushy face appears in front of mine, blocking my view of Anne.
My grip tightens on the wheel. “I’m weighing our options as I always do, Duke. If she can wield a sword as she claims, she’ll be far more useful to us than a cabin boy.”
“Mm, yes.” Duke interlaces his fingers and rests them on his stomach. “And she needs the proper pirate attire to prove this, right?”
Take this for what it is, Jack: Be. More. Careful.
“One must look the part to feel the part, no?” It takes everything in me not to leer at Anne waltzing about the deck as the crew dotes on her.
As if I have a say in the matter. I’ve spoken no claim to her. Nor does she have a fig of interest in me beyond my ability to get her to her family. She’s using me as much as I am her, and I’m almost—enthralledby it.
Duke chuckles and nonchalantly shoos me away from the wheel. “Whatever you say, Jack. Now, let me get back at this thing. I’m getting antsy. Never make an old man impatient.”
My neck stiffens, but I relent after giving Duke a pinched expression. Anne speaks with Glog now, both laughing. Glog’s hands flitter as usual when he’s explaining recipes or probing for ideas. I stay out of sight as best I can, snatching Anne’s hat from a barrel of grain I’d stored it in. I’ve gotten close enough to hear their conversation, and they’re not talking about Anne at all but Glog’s plans for a new drink.
“I’ve been experimenting with different mushrooms that aren’t deadly to consume, but they seem to have a sort of—effect?” Glog teeters his hand back and forth, his eyes widening excitedly.
Anne folds her arms, accentuating her breasts beneath the loose tunic, and I pluck furiously at the hat’s brim in my hands. “What kind of effect? And would you put it in addition to the alcohol?”
“Yes. The alcohol makes your head fuzzy, but the mushrooms would make you feel like you damn well never left the ship when on land.” Glog slaps his hands together.
“Well, you two sound like you’re hitting it off rather quickly,” I chime in, sidling beside them and hiding the hat behind my back.
Anne whips around to face me, her gaze briefly dropping to my lips, but it’s long enough for me to assume she remembers the kiss. I had wanted to see how long it would take before she shoved me away. To my delight, she lasted several more seconds than I’d predicted. “When everyone sleeps in hammocks below deck except for thecaptain, you tend to get to know one another.”
“Anne, my sweet—” Sliding forward, I bump my knuckle under her chin. “I can certainly make room for you in my cabin, inmyhammock, if you’d be more comfortable.”
“I’d be far too tempted to smother you with a pillow, Jack,” Anne snarls, snappy as a whip. She smiles, showing most of her teeth, and her chest swells.
“I’d love to see you try.” I chew on my bottom lip and let my eyes roam her exposed cleavage.
She pulls her blouse up, denying my view, and huffs. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in your hammock.”
“What anoddthing to say to a pirate.”
Anne’s cheeks flush, and her eyes become two thin shards of emerald. She opens her mouth to retort, but no words follow.
“I think I’ll try a cup of what we discussed, Anne. You two, uh—carry on,” Glog says while backing away as if we were a lit cannon on a short fuse.
Anne’s hair now has several braids, and she rubs one between two fingers. Her focus turns to the rope coiled tightly around the mast. “I’ve been making an effort to become acquainted with the crew. Except for the healer. He always seems busy with this, that, and the other.”
“Aranck is his name. And you should be relieved if you never have to meet him. That means you didn’t need his services.”
Anne sticks her bottom lip out as if to say, “Good point.”
“Here. It was the only thing that didn’t stink to high heaven. I figured you’d want it.” Revealing the hat hidden behind me, I hold it out to her.
Anne eyes it and snaps her gaze to me, still not taking it. “Did you piss on it or something?”
I blink. “Do you think me that juvenile?”
