Page 26 of Take No Prisoners
"Did you see her?" Efren sounded groggy and half-asleep.
"Arrowtip? Aye. She's there." Tovey pointed to a shark with a notch out of her dorsal fin shaped like an arrowhead.
"I told you," Efren said. "She's been following him."
There was no question in Niall's mind who "he" was.
"Aye, she's following her food source, an' knew it ain't you."
"Fickle bitch," Efren said. "I'm the one who calls her."
Niall slipped under Efren's left arm and Tovey corralled his right. They made their way across the deck to the cabin, walking Efren along the starboard side of the masts, over the trap door into the bilge, and to his cabin door. His feet barely touched the deck.
"I'll let you take it from here," Tovey said with a wink. "You look like you could use a nap, too."
Niall was tired. He was still recovering from whatever had happened to him. He'd been meaning to ask Vadim if they'd drugged him on the naval ship. Each time he had a chance to speak with the death weaver, he lost his nerve.
Tovey dumped Efren on his bunk and flashed Niall a smirk before he closed the door, leaving Niall alone with Efren once again. Niall shoved Efren into the corner of his bunk with his legs extended in the narrow opening between the table and the wall. There was just enough room for Niall to squeeze his shoulders so he could unlace and remove Efren's boots.
"Niall?" Efren's voice was thick with exhaustion, but when Niall looked up at him, the pure lust in Efren's gaze made him wish he was on his knees for another reason.
"Do you want your pajamas?"
"They're on the table." Efren didn't wait for Niall to move as he stripped off his shirt and began unlacing his pants. One moment, he was seated on the cot. The next, he stood and turned so his ass was in Niall's face. Gods, what a magnificent ass, too. Niall kept his hands to himself until Efren pulled off his tattered pants and stood naked before him.
Niall tried to stand and take a step back, but he was light-headed and crashed into Efren instead, shoving him against the bunk.
Efren flipped in his arms and pressed his semi-hard cock against Niall's through his pants. "You could have said you wanted me naked. Would have saved time."
"I fell." Niall finally took that step back, grabbing onto the table when his vision blurred again.
Efren stood, too, pressing Niall against the table as he claimed his mouth in a ragged, desperate kiss. Niall couldn't catch his breath and his vision began to dim.
Efren broke away with a moan and a gentle bite to Niall's lower lip. "Neither of us are in any shape to do what we want."
Niall agreed with a grunt, too afraid he would pass out if he nodded or moved his head in any direction.
Efren tugged his sleep shirt from the table and squirmed into it while Niall tried not to ogle him.
"Last chance." Efren nudged Niall's chin up with his thumb so he met his gaze. "There are open sails in the hold during the day."
"No." Niall dropped his hands to Efren's hips, loving the feel of him beneath the thin fabric of the sleep shirt.
"No." Efren dropped to his bunk and fought his way beneath the thin blanket. Once he defeated the fabric, he backed against the wall. He lifted the blanket with an open invitation in his gaze. "Come on, then."
It wasn't a command, but Efren's gruff voice made Niall ache in all the right places. Niall had expected Efren to resist. They both needed sleep, but afterward, Niall wanted to follow that desire all the way to its conclusion.
There was so much Niall hadn't experienced of pleasure. He and Klaus had talked about sex plenty, but it seemed too strange to ask his only friend to experiment with him, especially when it would have meant nothing and been awkward besides. Niall hadn't been saving himself for anything, or anyone, but he'd never wanted anyone the way he wanted Efren.
Niall removed his shirt and slid into place with his back to Efren, his knees bent so they hung off the bunk beneath the table. He still wore the short breeches Klaus had brought him in Landale, now clean. Even though it was the first time they'd laid on the bunk together, it felt like coming home. Niall had missed Efren's salty freshness. Like the ocean waves beneath them, the scent calmed him and lulled him closer to sleep.
Efren slid his arm across Niall's chest. "Don't want you to roll off."
Niall chuffed a laugh. "I'm not going anywhere."
He listened to Efren's breath slow behind him, and then he fell under sleep's spell, rocked gently by the waves.
When he woke, the afternoon sun was streaming through the windows, and Efren gripped him tighter when he tried to sit up.
