This is working. I’m getting the hell out of this bed. Once I’ve moved the curtain far enough back for me to step out, I scoot myself toward the edge and move my knee farther until I’m straddling the pirate.
All I have to do is step down smoothly enough that he doesn’t notice.
I glance at him, making sure he’s still—oh, shit! It’s not Hook. It’s my pirate, and he’s looking right at me!
I squeak as he grabs my hips, rolls me over, and pins me beneath him. When I try to hit him, he grabs my wrists.
His scruff scratches against my cheek as he presses his lips to my ear. “And where do you think you’re going, lass?”
My weak struggle only gains me a tighter grip on my wrists, and when I try to buck him off me, he slides between my thighs, his big body holding me in place.
“I asked you a question.” He peers down at me, his eyes blue even in this low light.
“I was just going to?—”
“Sneak out and find a cutlass so you can run me through?” He smirks.
“When you put it that way, it does sound quite nice.” I sneer up at him.
His gaze goes to my mouth in that unnerving way that sends a blast of heat through me. Though that might be my fever talking.
“Sky says you wouldn’t let him treat you. That true?”
Why do I feel like I’m being scolded? He’s a grown man holding me down and scolding me. No, thank you. “I don’t have to do a damn thing.”
“That so?” He glances at my mouth again, his grip tightening on my wrists.
I can’t seem to think. All I want to do is talk back to him. But that’s utterly stupid. He can break me in half if he wants to. And he will. After all, he killed Coy. That thought sobers me up, and I return my gaze to his.
He seems to sense the shift in me, because he sighs and moves off the bed. “Come on, lass. He needs to take a look at that bite. I put the poultice on while you were asleep, but it hasn’t done a damn bit of good from the look of you.”
Grabbing my hand, he pulls me to a sitting position and kneels in front of me.
“What are you doing?” I press my hands to my temples as my head goes woozy.
“Checking it.” He puts one palm at the back of my knee, the touch sending tingles all through me. “Sorry about this.”
“About what—ow!” I try to pull my leg away, but he holds it firm and removes the bandage. Pain roars to life up my calf and sizzles along my nerve endings. “Jesus H! That hurts.” Tears well in my eyes as he tosses aside the poultice.
He rises and hurries to the door, wrenches it open and yells “Sky!” before returning to me with a pitcher of water. “It’s worse. You’re too weak to fight off the infection.”
“I’m not weak,” I say … weakly.
He pours me a cup of water and hands it to me. “Drink it.”
“Probably poison.” That doesn’t stop me from taking a gulp. It hits my stomach and sends a cold ripple along my insides.
“You need to eat.” He returns to the door and yells again, this time for Cookson.
I stare up at him as he returns to me, my head still woozy. “What are you even doing in here? The captain just lets his merry band of miscreants take a snooze in his bed whenever they feel like it?” I hiss as he pours some of the water along my leg. When I look down to inspect the damage, my gorge rises. The teeth marks along my calf are oozing pus. “Oh my god.” I cover my mouth with my hand.
The pirate runs to the window and tosses the water out, then hands me the pitcher. “In there, lass.”
Though I try to stop it, I can’t. My stomach churns, and every bit of water and food I’ve eaten since I’ve been on the ship pours out of me. It constricts my throat and holds my breath captive until my stomach is completely empty.
When I look up again, Skylights is there handing me a wet washcloth and taking the pitcher. “Here. Wipe your mouth and lie back. I need to get a look at this, and I don’t want you throwing up again.”
“I don’t trust you.”
