Page 15 of Hooked By a Hero
That was the part of the voyage that Elias hated. His heart was firmly in Caspian’s hands, and he could not forget the way his cock was in Caspian’s mouth, if only for a moment. Those few seconds had been glorious and had hinted that there could be so much more between the two of them. Elias knew Caspian wanted it as well. They’d even managed to steal a few impossible, and all-too brief, kisses in the last few weeks.
But for the most part, a confined ship filled with passengers and crew, cutting through unknown waters, miles away from land and private space, was the very worst place to conduct an affair. Every time Elias believed he had discovered a safe place where he and Caspian could explore each other the way they both wanted to, those spaces were quickly proved to be as public as any.
“I want to travel the world with you,” Elias said, barely above a whisper, gazing at Caspian with as much open affection as he dared to show.
“I want to show you everything,” Caspian replied in just as warm a voice. His grin turned wicked, and he repeated, “Everything.”
Elias chuckled and lowered his head, knowing that his blush would give him away in an instant. He would have done something about it, but Captain Woodward and Mr. Tumbrill had just come up from the hatch leading down into the captain’s and officer’s cabins. Captain Woodward had made his revulsion of the love shared between two men so apparent that Elias moved away from Caspian, even though he wanted to stay in contact with his beloved forever.
“Have you truly seen everything?” he asked instead, attempting to lighten the mood. “Every nation known to man?”
“I’ve seen most of them,” Caspian said, straightening a bit and doing his part to keep the conversation light. “I was telling the truth when I said I’ve spent most of my life traveling.”
“Are you a sailor?” Elias asked. “That is, odd as it sounds, I am still uncertain whether you’re a passenger or a member ofFortune’screw.”
Caspian laughed, but he did not answer Elias’s implied question. “I’ve traveled in all sorts of ways,” he said instead.
“But what does that mean?” Elias asked, his curiosity suddenly flaring. “Were you apprenticed to a ship’s captain as a boy? Did you serve in the navy of whatever country it is you originate from? What country was that?” The last was the question that had kept Elias’s mind buzzing for weeks now.
Caspian’s expression clouded slightly, but not with anger or irritation. “I have been something of an ambassador,” he said. “At first, as a boy, I traveled with my father.”
“Oh, I see,” Elias said, though really, he didn’t. “Was your father an ambassador?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Caspian said.
The answer was maddeningly vague, but before Elias could ask further questions, the conversation that had been taking place between Captain Woodward and Mr. Tumbrill grew loud enough to interrupt them.
“I will not have those blackguards on my deck at any time, for any reason,” Captain Woodward said, as if he were attempting to have the final word in a longer conversation. “I am well aware that I said they would be allowed time on deck at the beginning, but that was before I knew how vicious those men are.”
“You see what is coming as clearly as I do,” Tumbrill growled at him. “It’s long past time you shoved your so-called morals into a trunk and cast them into the sea. If that storm breaks the way I think it will, we’ll need every able-bodied man working to keep this ship afloat.”
Elias tensed with sudden worry, turning slightly, as Caspian did, to watch the two men arguing.
“Nonsense,” Captain Woodward said. “The crew is more than capable of taking the ship through a storm. They’ve done admirably so far.”
“Then do it for the sake of humanity,” Tumbrill argued on. “Those men haven’t stood upright or seen the sun in weeks.”
“Those men are thieves and murderers,” the captain argued. “Why do you care so much about them at any rate? You’ve never shown yourself to care much for your fellow man before now.”
“I…I’ve turned over a new leaf,” Tumbrill growled.
Elias exchanged a look with Caspian. The conversation was far more unsettling than it should have been. While Elias agreed that the prisoners should not be kept in the sort of confinement they’d been in for the duration of the journey so far, he’d had enough experience with those men through treating various wounds and complaints to know that not all of them were just pickpockets and fencers. Many of them truly were dangerous.
At the same time, he reluctantly agreed with Captain Woodward that Mr. Tumbrill did not seem to be the sort who would care one way or another about the comfort of convicts. Something else was afoot. Something that reminded Elias of the half-forgotten mention that Caspian had overheard the convicts talking about some sort of plot.
“Give me the keys to their cell at least,” Tumbrill argued on. “We’re sailing right into something, and if it transpires that we do need the additional help of those men below, let me be the judge of when and how to release them.”
“Not on your life,” Captain Woodward scoffed. “I wouldn’t trust a man like you with those convicts if you were the last officer aboard this ship.”
“Then you are as much of a coward as I’ve always believed you to be,” Tumbrill hissed.
Captain Woodward’s eyes went wide with indignation. He also noticed Elias and Caspian standing there, observing the argument as well. Instead of confronting Tumbrill, he snapped, “What are the two of you looking at, you filthy buggerers.”
Elias and Caspian stood straighter. Elias’s heart pounded with alarm as he said, “Nothing. We’re not looking at anything. We were just discussing the weather.”
“A storm is definitely on its way,” Caspian said. “A bad one.”
“You see?” Tumbrill demanded, using Caspian’s words as if they were a sword he could poke the captain with. “Even a landlubber can see we’re sailing into danger.”
