Page 62 of Folds
“You think one man could take us all?” Bosco laughs quietly. “Man thinks he can keep us here, run us into the ground, and decide our fate. We’ll drop his body in the sea and paint the sky red.”
“The sky? I thought it would be the ocean.”
Bosco chucks him on the back of the head. “Red sky in the morning, dumbass.”
“Oh, yeah. Except...” He mumbles something under his breath, and they start arguing over the saying.
I creep back toward the quarterdeck, intent on shimmying down the ladder. One of them shouts. I glance over my shoulder and smash into something hard, a yelp erupting from me.
Strong hands wrap around my upper arms, and I swallow hard.
“We meet again, nymph.”
chapter eight
LOCH
A thrill rolls through me as I haul Keres to my cabin. I don’t know what she’s doing here, but I suspect she stowed away. The ultimate question is why.
I shove her onto my bed and my cock twitches. I expect her to scramble back or cry, maybe cower. Instead, she crosses her ankles and leans on her elbows. A flash of her last night, exactly like this, solidifies in my mind. She didn’t have as many clothes then, though.
“When did you stow away?” I cross my arms over my naked chest. Her gaze dips down and I grit my teeth.
“You should put more men on lookout.”
“How did you stow away?”
She rolls her eyes and pushes upright. “I didn’t stow away. You left the ladder down.”
“Except there were no ships following us.”
She purses her lips. “I don’t think you really want to know. Maybe I did stow away. Not that I knew this was your ship.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
Part of me wants to forgo all the questions and demand answers from her body instead. I step back, putting a little distance between us. It doesn’t help.
“We all have secrets,Captain. Do you really want to waste time divulging them?” She smirks as if being cute will get her out of this. Still, if I play along, she might let something slip.
I saunter closer and lean down, bracing my hands on either side of her body. “What else did you have in mind?”
She makes a sound in the back of her throat and pushes on my chest. “Not that, asshole. Your crew is planning a mutiny. They’re going to kill you and someone named Smitty. Probably dump your body into the sea and steal your ship. Thought you’d like to know.”
I straighten, all traces of desire vanishing in the wake of her words. “Who?”
She wiggles as she glances at my bed. “This is really comfortable. What’s this stuffed with?”
“Wool. Now, focus. Who’s planning it?”
“Seemed like everyone, but it was the two on the bow. Wool is never this fluffy. Did you kill a cloud and fold it between the sheets? It’s okay, you can tell me. I won’t say anything.” She blinks up at me with her ocean eyes.
I grip the back of my neck and tip my head back. If I don’t look at her, I’ll be able to deal with the potential mutiny. Unless...
“You’re not fucking with me, are you?” I track her closely, searching for the lie.
She raises a single eyebrow. That’s it. That small movement tells me more than she ever could with words. I could tell her they won’t be able to kill me. Revealing my curse would only lead to more questions. She’d want to knowwhythe gods punished me. I haven’t spoken of it since I was put in charge of theBlack Maiden. I don’t even think I can. Even if I could, I wouldn’t divulge how to break my curse. It’s not her burden to bear.
“Careful, nymph,” I murmur as she pushes to her feet. Despite my bed and desk taking up most of the room, I could put space between us. Instead, I plant my feet and wait.
