Page 24 of Hooking Captain Teeth

“You humiliated me, Teeth. We shared promises of love and commitment that night. The next morning, you couldn’t get away from me fast enough. You treated me like I was less than human,withoutknowing I was a Kraken shifter. How could I open up to you and give you a chance to accept my dual nature if you couldn’t accept me as a fellow human being?”

“Oh Sabs,” I whisper as the tightening in my chest pushes the breath from my lungs. “I was young and stupid. While I don’t remember our exact interaction, I can tell you it was a transaction that got out of hand. I wasn’t mature enough for emotional bonds—not ready for something real. You had every right to hate me, but now I’m begging for a chance to make things right between us.”

“Begging?”

I slide off the bed so one knee hits the wooden floor. Her slender hand is cold as I wrap mine around it. My palms rub her hand vigorously to bring forth her blood. We stare at one another in comfortable silence, our feelings passing through the warm gaze in our eyes.

“I’m not a learned man. I’ve never taken lifeseriously and rose to this position through the support of men smarter than me. My mistakes outweigh my triumphs, and my story is a complete farse. The formidable Captain Teeth is Milton Gladstone, and he lays down his sword at your feet.”

“Milton? Milton?” Her giggles break the boulder lodged in my chest. “No wonder you never fought your pirate nickname.”

“First of all, Milton is a wonderful name…for someone else. Secondly, Blackbeard named me Teeth, and nobody argues with Blackbeard.”

“Your missing fingers demonstrate your experience when arguing with Blackbeard. They show you are mighty brave.”

“Thank you, my lovely, but they also demonstrate how stupid I was in my youth. But I digress. Thirdly, my nickname has saved my arse more times than I can count. Pirates of rival ships long to knock a tooth from Teeth’s mouth, so they aim for my face. I learned to slice their yellow underbellies when I entered the fray, ducking such egotistical foolery.”

“Whatever works. I could listen to your stories all day.”

“I can’t promise a secure, quiet life of farming in some small hamlet or a safe, bustling life as amerchant’s wife, but I promise to keep you entertained for the rest of our days. Be more than the monster who holds my tethers—be my wife, Sabrina.”

“I wouldn’t last a day on a farm or in a tiny shop in a forgotten village. No matter what life you choose for us, I will need my time in the sea,” she says, twisting the bed covers around her opposite hand’s fingers. Why is she nervous? I laid my heart at her feet. What isn’t she telling me?

“You are never leaving my sight again,” I growl between kisses to her knuckles.

“We both know I can’t keep that promise,” she whispers, running her fingers through my dripping hair to soften her words.

“We will find a way, or my name’s not Captain Teeth!” I glare into her sea-green eyes until they fill with tears. Her bittersweet smile breaks my heart. After tonight, she will be a Kraken again and need seawater more than my embrace.

“There’s a way,” Bettina says from the doorway.

“Sis, please don’t—"

“Captain, your crew needs you,” she says, leaning against the threshold. “There was something in the captain’s log of the last prize that Chub wants you to see, and the rest, well…they need direction.”

I’m conflicted until I read the anxiety onSabrina’s face. Perhaps her sister can talk some sense into her. What could keep us apart when she calls me her soulmate? She throws this soulbond in my face when admonishing me for my past deeds but forsakes it when I talk of the future. If I were a cleverer man, I could decipher the puzzle. Too bad I’m too embarrassed of my actions to confide in Chub.

“Bettina, will you keep her resting while I get things sorted?” I ask the question as I rise to my feet. My knees scream in protest as I hide my pain behind a pirate’s mask of bravado. I drop my water-logged hat, duster, and shirt over the desk tucked into the corner of my room.

“Aye, aye,” she replies with a note of sarcasm.

“Then I will check in with Chub, set our course, and return with food—” My clean, dry shirt is another layer of armor. No one can see my vulnerability but Sabrina. It would send me walking the plank—hearties or not. We don’t disrespect women on this boat, and the female members of my crew would put me to trial for the way my younger self treated Sabrina. I’m guilty as sin, so I would lose in a heartbeat.

“Oh, please, don’t force me to eat. The most delicious food would taste horrible—"

“Madam, you are on a pirate ship. I guarantee the foodwill taste horrible, but dry hardtack will settle the storm in your belly,” I say at the door.

“You’re better off feeding her raw fish,” Bettina replies, crossing the room to sit on the bed. “A Kraken lives on a diet of raw fish.”

“I’m on the hunt,” I say with a bow. I will leave them to their secrets as long as they put me in the best light possible. From the cartographer’s room below, Chub and I will hear every word. Now that I have Sabrina on my boat, I’ll be hard-pressed to let her go.

13

Sabrina

“You want to talk about him?” She asks casually.

As if I’m answering any of her questions.

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