Page 14 of Take No Prisoners
Niall pushed himself up to sit with his back to the side of the ship, and to give himself more room between him and the ... man, though a beautiful man with gray eyes and a well-trimmed full beard. A single braid kept the hair from his right eye, but he kept fidgeting with the long strands trying to block the left until he swept the hat off his head and slid it back into place, trapping them beneath it.
The man cleared his throat, drawing Niall's attention back to his piercing gaze. Niall studied him instead. He hadn't gotten a chance to admire his angel before he'd passed out on deck. The rest of his unruly brown hair twisted to the middle of his chest. His skin was lighter than Niall's, which could mean he was from the frozen south, or it could mean he spent more time in his tiny cabin than he did out on deck during the day.
Maybe it was the hat, or the gentle roll of the ship beneath them, but everything about this man made Niall's body buzz with attraction. He'd experienced attraction so rarely, it surprised him. He'd only spent a few moments in the man's presence, but he had saved Niall's life in that short amount of time. Perhaps that had something to do with it?
"The girl was unharmed," the man said, jarring Niall from his thoughts and catching him making a third or fourth examination of every inch of his torso visible above the lip of the table. "The boy is still regaining his sea legs, but he will recover."
Niall forced himself to focus on the conversation. "Good."
"The boy ... how was he injured?"
"I was further in the prow of the ship. I don't know what happened."
"Please forgive me," the man said, sitting beside him on the cot. "We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Efren Tambor, captain ofStarlight Specter."
He held out his hand, and Niall took it, giving it a hearty shake the way Master Othelio had taught him to greet customers.
"Niall Minas, potter's apprentice. Will you be taking me back to Landale to complete my apprenticeship?"
The captain ignored his question. "Minas. That's an unusual last name."
"It was my mother's. Well. It was part of my mother's first name." The orphanage had asked him for a last name, Vadim had said, "Willamina's," and it stuck.
"Willamina of theZephyr Starfish." The way he said it, like he'd already made the connection, sent a thrill down Niall's spine. "I knew her. We served in the navy together."
The captain didn't look old enough to have served with Niall's parents. "How old are you?"
Captain Efren laughed. "Far closer to your parents' age than I am to yours."
The comment was a direct brush-off, but Niall wouldn't be dissuaded. "You look too young to be the captain of a pirate brig. I thought they were all ancient barnacles, the way ma told it."
Instead of earning another laugh, which did strange things to Niall's stomach, the captain's face hardened to stone. "Tell me what happened with the boy."
Niall's cock twitched at the command. Even when he'd been attracted to someone, that was completely unheard of. His body was responding to Captain Efren's voice as though it were a caress. His cheeks burned, and he squirmed in the seat. "The boy? In the hold?"
Captain Efren nodded.
"Another ship fired on us," Niall said, sticking to the facts. "Yours?"
Efren had the decency to admit it with a nod, though he looked worried.
"I heard his sister crying," he lied. He couldn't explain knowing she was a fire weaver, or that her brother was dead. He had just known. Now that everyone was safe, and he had a moment to think on it, those facts were terrifying.
"I found her holding his head above water. He wasn't breathing." Niall couldn't explain the sensation of pushing the boy's spirit back into his body, either, so he didn't try. "Their cell was blown open by whatever hit the ship, so I was able to get inside and help them. He started coughing and then he woke up."
"The death weaver says you stole his power to bring the boy back to life."
"He's a death weaver!" Niall couldn't believe Vadim had accused him of stealing his magic. "If I did anything, I healed the kid. I didn't use death magic."
The captain looked even more angry now than when he'd first mentioned Vadim. Angry and severe, like he wanted to dole out punishment. Niall imagined himself bent over the man's legs with his ass in the air. Master Othelio had spanked him a hundred times, and it had never sparked desire in him before. He shook his head to clear it, but it did nothing to stop the heat spreading through his body.
"So you did heal him."
Thank the gods, Captain Efren didn't seem to notice his effect on Niall. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants as he tried to explain. "I don't know! His spirit was outside his body, waiting to be put back in, so I shoved it a little. I don't know how I did it. I didn't know it would work."
The captain's hand was warm on his shoulder and steadied him to his core. When he risked a glance, Captain Efren's eyes were kind beneath the rim of his tricorn hat. Gods, one touch, and Niall wanted to drop to his knees.
He kept talking so he wouldn't embarrass himself further. "I still don't know that it did. If people didn't rise from the dead of their own accord, they wouldn't be buried with bells tied to their fingers."
