“Oh, he was. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that out of his mind. It was hell on this ship for two days, but it was worth the risk. And something tells me he is happy to have you back.” She quirks a brow and her lips tip up into a smug smile.
“Yeah,” Jorn yells as he jumps up and drapes himself over Sig’s back. “No more barging into Captain’s room.”
My cheeks burn as Sig laughs loudly. I was prepared for Jorn to have talked, obviously Stassia knew, but openly talking about it on deck with everyone around was unexpected.
“Next time, fucking knock,” Weston orders as he walks up behind Jorn, clearly having heard our conversation. “And keep your hands to yourself,” he growls as his hand finds my low back.
“Aye, Captain.” Jorn offers him an exaggerated salute and Sig rolls her eyes.
“I actually have something else to tell you,” I say, tipping my head up toward Weston. Curiosity flashes over his face before Sig says, “And that’s our cue to leave.” She grabs Jorn’s hand on her shoulder and turns them toward the deck, quickly descending the stairs and leaving us alone on the quarterdeck.
“Don’t be mad, alright?”
His head falls back with a groan. “Please don’t let every conversation we have start with something that will make me mad.”
“Actually, I don’t really care if you’re mad about this one, because it needed to be done.” He can be upset with me all he wants. I do not regret my decision to tell Roley. After seeing the malice in Dane’s eyes and hearing that he would force all the Voyagers to get the cure for him, I knew I needed to get Roley out.
“What is it?”
“Do you remember Roley? The boy Sig and I saved? Fin’s friend?”
“Yes.” He nods.
“I told him the truth and told him to keep quiet. I’m supposed to meet him tomorrow night on the island to bring him here.”
Weston stays quiet, his expression unreadable.
“He’s a child,” I say, trying to explain. “I couldn’t leave him there for eternity if none of this works out, not with everything you and Sig told me about Dane’s lies. And now, with how everything ended up, I’m glad I told him. He needs to get out of there, Weston.”
“I agree with you.”
I lean back, shocked. “You do?”
“Of course. I would have done the same thing.”
Just like he would have saved Roley and risked himself getting discovered. Just like he saved me. I don’t know why I thought he would be mad, but again, he continues to surprise me.
“I need to leave the ship tomorrow to meet him. I don’t want to put anyone else in danger for something I decided. Dane might have hurt me, but he still needs me. He wouldn’t do anything too bad.”
Suddenly, his hands are on my waist and I’m stumbling backward until my back meets the smooth panel of the wooden wall behind us. Weston leans over me, his body caging me in, his hips pinning me so I can’t move. He tilts my head back with a nudge of his fingers until I can look nowhere else but at him.
“If you think I’m letting you go alone, you’re out of your mind,” he grumbles.
“I can handle myself.” The words come out breathy, his proximity and the delicious press of his hips completely distracting.
“I know you can,” he says, “but that doesn’t mean I won’t be alongside you.” His fingers wrap around the side of my neck, his thumb stroking the long column and sending flutters of heat down to my core. His voice drops impossibly lower, and I’m lost in him, the ship around us completely falling away. “You ordered me, so now I’m ordering you. I don’t care where we are, Lennox. I will keep you safe. I won’t let him hurt you or take you again. It was hard enough to get you here before. Please don’t make me go through it again.”
My heart pounds out of my chest, and my response comes out in a hushed breath. “Understood, Captain.”
“Then we’ll go get Roley. Together.”
His lips crash to mine, heated and wanting, and my mouth opens instantly, welcoming the steady push of his needy tongue. I’m breathless in moments, the ferocity in his kiss only adding to the intensity of his order. Sliding my hands under the edge of his vest, I ache to pull him closer and show him how much I now understand that this protectiveness is his way of caring. My stomach flips as his hand slides up my body, his thumb brushing the underside of my breast as his fingers dig into my ribs.
A taunting whistle sounds from somewhere near the mainmast, and Weston breaks away, the sudden withdrawal leaving me spinning. He rests his forehead on mine, as Jorn crows behind him, laughter ringing out right after. Weston sighs and shakes his head, and I can’t help but giggle along.
“If he keeps this up,” Weston grumbles against my lips, “he’s going to find himself scrubbing the deck. Without the fucking mop.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
