Page 67 of The Sea Witch
The curious crew gathered around, full of questions.
“What did you see?”
“Did you find the fail-safe?”
“By and by,” Alys answered, holding up her hand, “all will be known to you.” Another crew member stepped forward, and Alys said to her, “Inés, we’re in need of Josephine’s skills. Hearty food and plenty of ale and rum. Whatever works best for balancing. Have them brought to my quarters.”
“Aye, Cap’n,” was the brisk answer, and she trotted off to obey Alys’s orders—whateverbalancingmight entail from the ship’s cook.
Alys turned to Stasia. “You and Susannah to my quarters for balancing. I’ll want Polly and Luna there as well. We’ve much to discuss.”
“Yes, Captain,” the quartermaster replied briskly. She and Susannah climbed down the companionway, leaving Ben and Alys behind.
Alys motioned another member of the crew forward. She spoke lowly into the other woman’s ear before the crew member hurried away. A moment later, the woman returned. Holding a pair of manacles.
Ben’s heart sank. Even so, he held out his wrists.
Alys took the manacles. Her gaze was on his as she fastened them on him, and he stared back. The iron was heavy and abraded his skin, even as his gaze drifted to her mouth.
He’d tasted her. And she’d been hungry for him. Yet the manacles now binding him were proof that nothing had truly changed. She still didn’t trust him, and he couldn’t fault her.
He had lost sight of his objective, misled by unwanted desire. A mistake he couldn’t, wouldn’t make again.
Ben glanced down at his ankles, awaiting the shackles, too. But when he looked toward Alys, a question in his eyes, she gave a minute shake of her head.
He exhaled. Somethinghadaltered.
Yet now that his usefulness on the island of the Weeping Princess was over, she might send him back down to the brig. And then he’d have no chance to destroy the fail-safe.
“The clue that Partridge left behind,” he said. “You’ll need my assistance in deciphering it.”
She raised a brow. “Very kind of you, Sailing Master, offering your services.”
Back toSailing Master. As though the manacles around his wrists weren’t proof enough that they stood at opposite ends of the law, and their kiss was a momentary madness never to be repeated.
“It’s a foolish man who doesn’t search for any opportunity to prolong his life.”
Her eyes narrowed. He held motionless beneath her regard, her skepticism scouring him. He smoothed out the convolutions of his mind, his emotions, becoming a pond on a windless day. Glassy and reflective, giving away nothing beneath the surface.
At last, she jerked her chin toward the companionway. “To my quarters.”
“Aye,” he said, then added, “Captain.”
She nodded, as if calling her by her official rank was her due.
He followed her down from the upper deck. The markings had faded from his skin. Thank God. Talking about them was the very last thing he desired. Not with her crew present, at least.
They didn’t speak on the way to her cabin. His gaze stayed on her back and the glossy fall of her russet hair. He rubbed the pads of his fingers together, evoking the memory of the heavy strands he’d felt only hours ago.
Pain pulsed in his chest. He shoved it aside. Selfish and reckless desires had no place. Not here, not now. Not ever.
Reaching her cabin, she pushed open the door.
The quartermaster and Susannah stood in the middle of her cabin, embracing.
“They’ll want some privacy,” Ben muttered.
Instead, Alys walked up to the two women and wrapped her arms around them both. She laid her head down on Susannah’s back, closing her eyes as she inhaled deeply. The three women seemed to melt into each other, gently caressing one another, breathing together.
