AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He was already halfway across the ship and headed away from us, but he turned at the sound of his voice. “Yeah?”
“Never wants to lend a hand. Do you have anything she can work on?”
He huffed an amused breath as one of his charming smirks quirked the corner of his lips. “Yeah, I could use some help over here.”
Internally, I still bristled a little at the idea of the two of them growing closer, but that was my own insecurity at work. I wanted them both in my life, and if there was going to be any chance of that happening, I had to give them the room to have their own friendship.
Glancing down at Never, I cocked an inquisitive brow. “What do you say?”
“Put me to work.”
* * *
That night, after the repairs were finished, and the ship was en route to Leo’s island home, I told Never what I knew. Both about the magic I’d used to bring her back and what sharing my power with her meant.
Did it make her a god? Sort of. It granted her some of the same powers I had, though we wouldn’t know the full extent until she worked with them. That would take a while.
I was also honest about the fact that she might be able to use her new abilities to leave the Nassa on her own. She was silent for a long time following that revelation.
“I need to see my brother again, at least to check on him.” She shook her head. “Is there a limit to how many times you can—” she waved her hand in a small circle “—flash?”
“Not really. It doesn’t use as much energy as you might think if you’re moving just you. Transporting someone with you is a different story.”
“So, flashing Petra to the ship?”
“It took a little out of me,” I confessed.
Her blue eyes searched mine. Worry and hesitation bled through our connection as if it were my own.
“What happens if I do leave? What happens to us?”
That was the question I’d been dreading, but now that she’d said it aloud, there was really one answer. “I’ll wait.”
She scoffed, albeit gently, and leaned back in her chair. “Right. I guess it’s not like you can go anywhere.”
Why had I thought having this conversation at the table was a good idea? It put a frustrating amount of space between us when all I wanted was to gather her up in my arms and take her to bed.
Oh, right, that was precisely the reason I’d chosen the table.We both needed enough space to have this discussion with clear heads.
I leaned my elbows on the smooth wood, laced my fingers together, and leveled with her. “I would wait for you even if I wasn’t anchored to this place. No matter how long it took.”
She cast a skeptical glance my way, but instead of hitting back with some snarky remark, she studied me. “You mean it.” It wasn’t a question, though the note of surprise in the statement stung a little.
“I do.”
“You realize how different we are, right? My life experience is a sliver of yours. An itty-bitty fraction of a fraction.”
The woman wasn’t giving herself enough credit. “I’ve known beings who have been around millennia who haven’t lived as much as you have.”
“I’m trying to be serious here, pirate.”
“So am I. I don’t care how different we are. If I can find a way to go with you, I will. If I can’t, I’ll wait. Because you, Never Darling, are worth waiting for. I love the way you challenge me. I love that you push back when I push you. I even love that mouth of yours. I’m pretty sure it’s going to get you into a world of trouble over the years to come, and I want that trouble. I want everything.” I pushed away from the table, stood, and held out my hand. “But if that’s not what you want, tell me now.”
She hesitated for a moment, finally putting her hand in mine with a teasing roll of her eyes. “Will I have to put up with more of these corny confessions?” She tried to ask it with a straight face, but the stubborn woman was fighting a losing battle with her smile as I pulled her to her feet.
If that wasn’t enough to tell me what I needed to know, the intensity of the emotions pouring out of her left no doubt. She was letting me in, letting me feel everything she was feeling.
The experience was as exhilarating as it was humbling.
I trailed my fingers up her arm, over her shoulder, along her delicate collarbone, and finally around her neck. “What did Ijustsay about that mouth?”
She lifted her chin in a clear show of defiance. “That you love it.”
A satisfied growl rumbled from my chest. That was the right answer, but she wasn’t getting off that easily. “I also said it would get you in trouble.”
She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, the first hint of amber glowing at the edge of her irises. “Come on, pirate. Show me what you’ve got.”
* * *
