Page 77 of Of the Stars and Sea

“Well, it’s a good thing Grayson isn’t my captain then,” I toss back and Doc’s cheeks pull back as he tries to strangle a laugh.

Grayson shifts on his feet, crossing his arms. I can feel the scowl he shoots my way before I even look up at him. But through the grimace, I see a flicker of something else.

Before he has a moment to start pestering me about Collin’s secret again, loud shouts sound from outside the room, and when I look toward the windows that line the far wall, I see figures darting left and right in a frenzy.

“What’s happening out there?” I ask, my throat still raw.

Grayson looks around and I watch him take everything in. “We’ve broken anchor. The waves must have snapped the rope.”

“Go, Captain,” Doc says. “I’ve got her.”

“Let me help.” I move to sit up again, this time my head doesn’t throb quite as bad, but the ache still makes me take a pause before I try to swing my legs off the side of the bed.

“Stop,” Grayson commands, and I go still. “You’re not leaving that bed until you’re fully recovered. It takes time for the healing potion to work.”

“I’m fine,” I grind out. “And you forget that I have elite navigational skills. I’ve sailed through countless storms, Grayson. I can help.”

“No.” His lips tighten into a fine line, not even a hint of a smirk playing at their edges.

“Youare not my captain. You do not get to order me around just for the sake of trying to protect me.” I arch a brow at him. “That is, unless, you are deeming me as a prisoner.”

His face goes slack and I know I’ve won. From the moment I stepped on board theCaelestia, Grayson has made a point in telling me that I’m not a prisoner.

“Fine, but you are not to leave my side. Not in your weakened state, when you can easily fall overboard.”

“So bossy,” I grumble as Doc helps me to my feet. Grayson snakes his arm around my waste to help me balance, but I shove him off. “I can walk on my own.”

He scoffs. “You just let Doc help you get up from the bed. Let me help you to the door.”

I glower at him. “Doc isn’t an insufferable bastard who feels the need to parade my weaknesses around the crew.”

“I’m not para?—”

“I’d let her win this one, Captain,” Doc interrupts him. I raise my brows at Grayson and he clamps his mouth shut before he heads for the door.

“Once you get back in here, you need to rest until your fever is down. Understood?” Doc keeps his arms extended like I might topple over at any moment. Bending my knees, I steady myself to the violent rocking of the ship beneath my feet. The muscles in my back pull from the effort of me using my arms to balance, but I start to move my legs to the beat of each passing swell.

“Understood.” I nod at Doc before meeting Grayson by the door. When I’m by his side, he shrugs off his coat and places it over my shoulders. “It’s pouring out there. I don’t think your coat is going to keep me from getting wet, Grayson.”

“No, but it will keep the chill away. At least for a little while. Before I can convince you to come back here and get some rest.”

I huff, but plunge my arms through the sleeves of his coat and pull the lapels over my chest. I nearly drown in the fabric, the bottom of his coat drags along the floor, but it’s warm. And it smells like him.

“Okay, I’m wrapped up and well-protected,” I say as I try to fight off another assault of shivers. “Let’s go.”

Grayson pauses with his hand on the doorknob and just stares at me like he’d much rather suffer the consequences ofchaining me to his bed than risk me getting sicker. I shoot him a death glare, challenging him to try it. We stand at an impasse for a few more moments before I see the subtle shift of his shoulders dropping.

I’ve won.

He swings open the door and heavy rain sweeps in, drenching Grayson’s black tunic and my entire face.

Maybe I should have stayed in bed after all, I think to myself watching utter chaos unfold before me as Grayson and I step into the storm.

Two loose barrels whip across the main deck as a large swell shifts theCaelestiadown to the right. One of Grayson’s men gets knocked over by one of the barrels and I gasp as I watch his body swing toward the edge of the ship, nearly going overboard.

“Stay here,” Grayson says.

I cling to one of the wooden pillars framing the door to his chambers and watch as he starts moving toward his crew member. The man shakes his head back and forth like the barrel hit stunned him, but he’s so damn close to the edge, if he stands up at all and another wave crashes, he will topple right over, into the violent sea below.

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