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“It’ll just go to waste.”
Never mumbled something under her breath but eyed my tray like a hawk zeroing in on its prey. I waited a solid thirty seconds before I lost my patience with her inner war and stood. I pulled the empty tray from her grasp and held the other out to her. “If you don’t eat it, I will throw it overboard.”
She glared up at me and yanked the tray from my hand. “Are you always so overbearing?”
“When I need to be, yes.” And I wasn’t about to apologize for it. There was no sense in her not eating when she was clearly still hungry, especially not after the hell she’d been through in the last couple days. I hadn’t been much help on that front either, seeing as how I’d woken her up and taken advantage of her when she was tired and vulnerable.
I eyed the pendant resting against her creamy skin, just below the hollow of her throat. When I’d held it in my hands and it glowed to life, I’d told myself that moment was the first time I’d felt whole in a long time, but that wasn’t true. Not really. Yes, it had been eons since I hadn’t felt like a piece of me was missing, but that didn’t go away when I picked up the pendant.
It was already gone.
That empty feeling had begun to fade when I’d first held Never in my arms on the beach. And the last of it had slipped away when I’d had her in my bed with my cock buried deep inside her. She’d had the pendant in the beginning, so I could chalk my initial interest in her up to the pull of the magic trapped in that innocuous piece of jewelry, but she wasn’t wearing it when she was wounded and asleep in my bed. It was on the opposite side of the room then, hidden in a pile of damp clothing, and I was oblivious to its presence or proximity.
It was Never I was drawn to.
“What’s on your mind, pirate?” She popped a piece of fruit in her mouth and tipped her head to one side, giving me an assessing look.
My mind must have wandered for a good long bit, because the tray in her lap was nearly empty again. “Just working out a plan.”
She perked up at that, leaning forward with the tray and setting it on my desk next to the other. “For tonight? For my brother?”
Not exactly. I needed to find a way to keep her, but I couldn’t just force her to stay. Holding a woman hostage was rarely the right choice, especially when she was counting on me to help save her brother.
She was only counting on me because she needed my help… because she wanted to go home.
“I’ll need to coordinate with my men, make sure they’re all in the right places when the time comes.” I said it with an air of confidence I didn’t feel. We could take on the demon on my ship, but a siege at sunset was a calculated complication, one that could prove particularly gruesome for Never and her brother if things went sideways.
“What about Matty?” She shifted in the chair, tucking her legs underneath her and leaning back. I could picture her like that on a lazy day with a book open on the arm of the chair, her hair tucked behind her ear as she scanned the pages with a contented little smile on her lips.
It was a pretty thought, but it was wishful thinking. I had no right to damn her to a life that wasn’t really a life, in a world that barely existed, forever bound to a man who wasn’t really a man at all.
I wrenched myself out of my spiral. “The demon plays dirty. She’ll try to take you, and if that doesn’t work, she’ll try to trick you and your brother. She’ll threaten your life and his, but I promise, Never, I won’t let anything happen to either of you.”
If I could help it. That was the key, wasn’t it? If I failed in protecting her brother, she would hate me. If I failed to protect her? I didn’t even want to entertain the thought. It wasn’t an option.
She studied me for a moment like she had a question dancing on the tip of her tongue, then she covered her mouth with the back of her hand and let out a great, sighing yawn. “I need to get up and move around before breakfast puts me into a coma.”
“Actually, why don’t you stay here for a minute.” I stood and stacked the trays on one hand, then headed for the door. “I’ll take these back to the kitchen, have a quick word with my men, and then I’ll come back in here and we can brainstorm a bit more.”
Her eyelids were already drooping as she nodded. “Sure. I’ll be right here.” She stifled another yawn and settled deeper into the chair, resting her head on her arm.
The woman was tough, but she was in no shape to fight.
I stepped out of the room and pulled the door mostly shut behind me, leaving it open just a crack so the click of the latch wouldn’t wake her when I returned. Then I dropped the trays off and called a meeting with my men, letting them know what has happening and what was expected of them when night arrived and the demon made its move.
Over time, the magic in the Nassa Realm infused a body with the ability to heal quickly. It prolonged life almost indefinitely. But it wasn’t true immortality.
Petra could kill my men, just as I could kill the demon’s soulless minions, but the demon and I were different. Cut from a different cloth, so to speak. A person could burn us to ash and scatter what remained across the universe, and it still wouldn’t be enough to stop either one of us from coming back.
When I finally made my way back to the war room over an hour later, Never was still curled up where I’d left her, fast asleep. I lifted her as carefully as I could and carried her to my room, settling her on the bed and pulling the covers over her. She desperately needed rest, and this time I wasn’t going to interrupt.
I watched her for a few minutes, making sure I didn’t wake her, then I carried my chair over to the side of the bed, grabbed my book off the nightstand, and settled myself in for a long day. There was plenty I should be doing to prepare for the coming fight, but with William leading the charge, I had no doubt the ship and my crew would be as ready as they could ever hope to be come nightfall.
In the meantime, I wanted every second I could get with Never, even if those seconds were spent simply listening to her slow, steady breathing as she slept alone in my bed.
42
NEVER
