Page 102 of Take No Prisoners
Efren nodded. "You needed something outside yourself to help you break free from the trap."
"And the sharks today? That was you, too?"
"No." Efren grinned at Niall's disbelief. "That was all you."
"You're not answering my question."
"You haven't asked."
Niall bit into his sandwich with a growl of frustration. He took far longer to chew than Efren thought necessary, and then he swallowed it down with a sip of water from the tin cup Hannah had filled for him.
"Fine. As your crewmate, I'll humbly ask. Captain, did you enjoy our time apart?"
"I did not." Efren snorted. "Is that all you wanted to know?"
"For fuck's sake, I can feel your emotions toward me. When are you going to say it?"
Efren was around the table in a single step, pushing Niall into the corner of the bunk, trapping him between the ship and the table. He straddled Niall to make his point, one knee wedged in the corner and carrying most of his weight as he gripped Niall's shirt with one hand and the back of his head with the other. "You want me to say I love you after we've known each other for a week? Do you know how foolhardy and ridiculous I sound?"
Niall tasted of ham and bread. Efren kissed him hard and deep, hoping his body could convey the lie in his words. Yes, he loved Niall, but he still felt it was far too soon to say those words to a man so much younger than himself, with higher prospects than an old pirate ship captain.
When he'd kissed Niall thoroughly, he sat back and let his love shine through his gaze.
"You are not old," Niall said, answering his thoughts. "And I've never wanted anyone the way I want you. What makes you think I'd run off looking for someone else?"
"You can hear my thoughts?" Efren asked.
"You can't hear mine?"
Efren had grown accustomed to the pulsing thrum in his core, but he hadn't listened to it, not really. He'd kept Niall's emotions buried, lest he feel too much. Now, he focused on Niall's core, closing his eyes to center on the sounds of the waves lapping against the hull and the tiny hum of excitement coming from Niall.
"He said he loves me. Did he mean it? It's too soon, but that doesn't mean it isn't real. I feel it, too."
Efren heard more than Niall's thoughts. He heard a lifetime of memories Niall associated with love, all of them fleeting. He'd loved his parents, and they'd abandoned him. He'd loved his work as a potter's apprentice, and Master Othelio had used him. He'd loved his friendship with Klaus, and eventually, they'd drifted apart, and then Klaus had turned him over to Coryn.
Niall still loved everyone and everything he'd lost. Some would have become embittered or angry, but Niall was still open to the possibility of love. All he needed was someone to take a chance on him, someone who would never leave him.
"I will never leave you willingly," Efren said. "I can't control the fates or when my time is up, but until then, you have my word I will stay by your side."
Niall knocked Efren's hat from his head again as he pulled him down for a kiss. It lasted only until Niall choked on a sob. Efren sank onto the bunk beside him and rubbed circles on his back while he cried. Some would accuse him of being soft for letting his new crewmate cry on his shoulder like this, but Niall was so much more than a crewmate. He was Efren's to protect, yes, but also to befriend. Niall needed someone to be there for him the way Vadim had always been there for Efren.
Until he wasn't. Efren hadn't forgiven Vadim for leaving, and he understood Niall's deep fear of being left behind. It was a fear they shared, Efren had to admit.
"I'll be yours as long as you'll have me, Niall." Efren's voice was barely more than a whisper, but it was enough to draw Niall into his lap. "I love you."
∞∞∞
Niall
Niall couldn't believe his ears, but he dared to believe the little voice in his core, the one that had been encouraging him through his escape from Coryn and even before that, reassuring him that Efren wanted more from him.
Efren loved him.
"I love you," Niall said. "Everything you are. Everything you try to hide from the rest of the crew."
"I'm hiding things from the crew?" Efren chuffed a laugh. "Like how I like to be fucked?"
"No." Niall grabbed a fistful of hair at Efren's nape and pulled until Efren moaned. "Like how scared you are beneath that hard shell of confidence. When I first came aboard, you were terrified Olivia would mutiny, that Stan and Tovey wouldn't work their shit out, and that Vadim was going to kill them all and leave them to rot on some island."
