Page 27 of The Sea of Zemira (The Zemiran Chronicles 1)

Lincoln rushed to the bar. “Sarah, love, I will pay for the girl’s drink. It’s the least I can do.” Lincoln said, placing three coins on the counter. “Is that enough?”

Sarah nodded and took the coins, placing the money in her register.

Nola looked up at Lincoln again, who was nearly a foot from her, and smiled. “Thank you—” Then her face grew grim. “It’s you.”

“Aye, it is me,” he said, gesturing a dramatic bow and moving his open palm forward.

She rolled her eyes, picking up the drink. “Thank you for the water, pirate,” she said, annoyed, and did not dare to look up again.

The girl fumbled with the mug before bringing it to her lips—gulping it down until she finished, then placed it back on the counter.

Lincoln sized her up. She was drenched in sweat but only smelt of an herbaceous fragrance. It was almost like a warm scent of spring.

He folded his arms and shifted on his heel. “You don’t look as you belong in these parts of town,” he said, “What is a girl like you doin’ in a dingy tavern in Brecken Terrace?”

Lincoln was simply trying to unwind each secret she held firmly. He flashed her a playful smile. It reached his jade-green eyes.

“Just out for a jog,” she said dryly, “And I ran out of water.” She lifted her mug and smiled back.

Right,he thought, she isn’t going to tell me anythin’.

Lincoln’s gaze went back to the blood on her clothes, and as she turned, he noticed a smudge on her chin. He reached out and she flinched as he ran his thumb across her skin. The captain pulled back and rubbed the tips of his fingers together.

“Is this your blood?” he asked, his smile slipped. “Are you hurt?”

Her shoulders went rigid. Her jaw clenched as she drew a deep breath. “No, it’s not my blood,” she answered, bringing her voice to a quiet, almost inaudible whisper.

Something flickered in her eyes; she had secrets—that was certain. Lincoln wiped his fingers over his shirt but kept his eyes glued on hers.

“Pardon me.” She placed her mug on the bar and tried to move past him, but he did what he had done at the marketplace and blocked her path.

Is this his thing?Nola thought as she rolled her eyes. He irritated her like no one else ever had.

Captain Lincoln looked down as she wrapped her arms around her waist—clearly showing her frustration.

He cleared his throat, speaking with confidence and vigor, “I realize now I wasn’t my charmin’ self this morning when we first met—”

“My father taught me to avoid the likes of pirates,” she snapped, cutting him off, “What he told me didn’t paint a man like you to buy a girl a drink.”

Lincoln smirked again, shrugging a shoulder. “Did your father piss on the wrong pirate?”

Wrinkling her nose and a glint of irritation crossing over her eyes, Nola replied, “Well, that is a bit crude.”

“I’m only tryin’ to be honest,” he added. “And if that means I’m crude, well, then, aye, I do believe I am.” He leaned to the side, resting his elbow on a stool next to him, keeping a warm grin on his lips. “No offense to your father, but it appears that he may have deluded your mind. We aren’t all violence and bloodshed.”

The moment the words left his lips, he chuckled to himself, watching the patrons in the tavern avert their eyes from his crew after what had just occurred before she walked in the door.

She raised a brow, looking at him questionably.

He flattened his smile. “In all seriousness, I—” he looked over to his crew, “—we would never hurt a lady,” Lincoln said, trying to sound as genuine as he felt. However, coming from a pirate, she still did not believe him.

Nola smiled for the first time. “Those, about random bar fights, aren’t the stories my father told me,” she corrected, pausing for a beat. “And I need to leave,” she said.

This woman is killin’ me!Lincoln yelled to his insides.

The girl secured her bag over her shoulder, keeping it from sliding down her arm. “Thank you for the water, truly. But I do need to leave,” she said, and started to walk towards the door.

He shook his head. “Nay, wait. I’ve offended your father. Please allow me to apologize,” he said. Lincoln rushed after her. He could not allow her to go.

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