Page 134 of Wicked Tides
Everyone had fallen silent. The men. Vidar. Even the wind seemed to die at my words leaving only the soft whisper of gentle waves as they lapped at the gravel. I looked up at Vidar’s stunned expression, daring him to refuse me. My nails ripped into the fabric of his coat as I gripped it tighter, pressing against him.
“I have many enemies,” he said.
“I have more.”
The corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk, his eyes roaming my face.
“Things could get very complicated with you aboard my ship.”
“More complicated than the alternative?”
“What’s the alternative?”
“You leave and I’ll hunt you down. Perhaps take another finger or two. Even without me by your side, your dreams will never be free of me.”
His head cocked at that and he nearly laughed as if questioning whether or not it was a jest.
I could hardly tell myself.
“You truly will not stay put, will you?”
I shook my head. “You’d have to kill me.”
“Have I latched myself permanently to a psychopath?”
“You’ve latched yourself permanently to something worse. I am not peaceful. I do not sit aside when danger is about like the Maruhk are clearly accustomed to doing. I kill and I devour. I don’t belong here. You know it. Save the world from me and take me into your crew.”
His lips turned up again and he dropped his hands to his sides in submission before gripping my waist and pulling me against him. Our lips met and every violent bone in my body went soft beneath that kiss. He had disarmed me with his mouth alone and I quivered under the warmth of it. That emptiness in my chest suddenly swelled once more like a sponge taking on water.
When we parted, he said, “Then get on that fucking boat.”
An orchestra of howls and hoots filled the air from behind us. I turned to see the few remaining crewmen smiling as they looked on and if I could blush, I would have been.
“Ahh!” Vidar grumbled, waving a hand at his men. “Get the rest of the supplies loaded, you lazy dogs.”
They laughed, continuing to load up the boat as I turned back to face him. I let out a sharp, irritated sigh.
“I don’t see why you had to make this so difficult. You were liable to get hurt.”
“Me? It would have been much easier if I didn’t care about you, love.”
I warmed at the sound of that cursed word again and blinked. Vidar saw the shift in my expression and it annoyed me that he could read me so well. He lifted a hand, letting his thumb whisper across the side of my neck.
“I mean,” he said softly. “If I didn’t have feelings for you.”
“What?”
He paused and met my eyes, squinting. “Don’t make me regret saying that.”
“I don’t truly know what you are to me,” I said. “But I know I would kill anything, man or siren, if they touched you. What should I call that?”
“Obsession.”
“That’s a dangerous word.”
“Aye, it is, but you and I are dangerous creatures. I think I can do with you obsessing over me. As long as I get to keep all my parts and lay you in my bed every night.”
“We’ll discuss where you’ll be laying me, captain. The bed may get boring.”
