CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The ship’s captain was a woman named Andris—a blonde and beautiful summer fairy who was robust and had a cheerful personality. Roxie immediately felt a kinship to her, especially when she spoke to the men with a positive attitude and helped them organize a demand to present to the Summer King when they arrived at mainland in a day or two.
Anyone could tell the crew respected her, and Roxie was one of her admirers.
Then there was the daughter, Andra, who was about a few years older than Roxie and every bit as beautiful as her mother…and generally not the most positive person around.
Because Andris was a single mother, she had no choice but to bring Andra with her—and obviously, the daughter didn’t like it that much. She complained about the sea, about the men, about this stupid plan and their need to get back to the city and ask for pardon from the king. It was a litany of complaints, some of which made Roxie want to roll her eyes or just slap the woman silly.
And then it wasn’t so silly anymore when the woman began to take an interest in Isaac.
It was subtle at first as Andra observed Isaac from afar, and Roxie figured she was quite intrigued with the mysterious pirate who was quiet throughout the whole cruise. Then the distant observation turned into full-on chatting, until chatting turned to flirting and Andra was beside Isaac day in and day out, working her charm on him. Anyone with eyes could see she was trying to get the man in her bed.
Roxie was amused at first. Then amusement turned to something else when she ended up sitting beside Isaac on one of their nightly campfires, with Andra on Isaac’s other end. They were murmuring quietly to each other, with Andra giggling every now and then, and Roxie caught on to some of what they were saying.
“You seem so strong and so…hmmm,” Andra cooed, placing a hand on his arm. He didn’t remove it. “For such a young fellow, you certainly have everything figured out.”
“I try my best,” he murmured. “Is there any chance you might know of a ripe spot around here?”
Andra smiled. “I know a ripe spot…in my room.”
Roxie stifled a scoff and pretended to take a huge bite of her roasted fruit. Then she froze when she heard Isaac’s next words.
“Let’s go now.”
Her head snapped up before she could stop herself, and she looked in his direction, willing him to look back. But he didn’t because he was so focused on Andra and the hand she had on his thigh, which was moving more suggestively now. Roxie’s eyes widened as it was Isaac who stood up first, with Andra following.
They were headed towards Andra’s quarters.
Roxie didn’t think. She couldn’t, not with every emotion that was running inside her as she watched the two retreat. They separated in different directions so as not to look too obvious. Heart pounding, Roxie found herself standing up and wiping her mouth.
“Where are you going?” Merkat asked.
“Jingle,” Roxie said in her modulated voice. She walked as casually as possible to the other end of the ship. Then, when she was out of view, she immediately ran in an attempt to thwart Isaac’s bad decisions and give him a good scolding.
But she ended up bumping into Andra instead.
The impact had them stumbling back, and Andra stared at her in shock. Then the shocked look turned into one of derision, and those red eyes that had been flirty earlier turned cold.
“Boy, what on summers are you doing here?”
Roxie stalled, realizing in her haste, she’d run right in the leaders’ corner of the ship. Andra’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, and Roxie blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“It’s Ross. And you shouldn’t be dallying around with a married man.”
The summer fairy’s eyes narrowed, and she looked severely annoyed. The annoyance translated into her blonde hair glittering as she stepped right in Roxie’s face.
“With whom?”
“Me—my sister.”
“Your sister?”
The glittering intensified, and Roxie knew she was about to blow up soon. Sparks hit her skin, burning, and she stepped back as Andra stepped closer and prepared to attack.
“Ross is right,” a voice piped up behind them.
They both froze.
Andra turned to Isaac with accusing eyes, but his unreadable gaze met hers head-on. “I was married. But not anymore. And Ross needs to mind his own business.”
“I don’t mind sleeping with married men,” Andra smirked. “And teaching little boys some flogging lessons.”
Roxie’s blood boiled, and this time she was the one stepping forward to give Andra a good old punch. But before she could, a hand clamped on her waist and hauled her backward, and she gasped as she found herself bent over Isaac’s shoulder.
“I’ll deal with this punk,” Isaac said shortly. “Flogging’s too good for him.”
Andra giggled, and Roxie kept glaring at her until Isaac took her out of sight. She thought he would take her back to the campfire, but instead, he took her to an isolated part of the ship and kept hauling her protesting form until they were inside a closet. She was dropped on her butt with a thud. Roxie shot up in a standing position and whirled to face him, still glaring.
Isaac glared back, a low growl coming from his throat. “What the hell was that all about?”
“You should be answering that question,” she hissed. She slapped the hand he placed on her, her temper suddenly flowing out of her before she could stop it. Images of Isaac and Andra together—kissing and doing goodness knew what—rolled in her mind, and her stomach heaved at the thought.
“I was trying to find a damn way out of here instead of just laughing around with the crew,” he snapped, blue eyes flaring. “Which was what you were too busy doing.”
Anger took hold, and she stepped right in his face. “I was biding my time until we got to the mainland, you idiot.”
“Don’t call me an idiot.”
“Then don’t act like one.”
“I was the one doing something by looking for the ripe spot.”
“And where were you gonna look for it? In Andra’s mouth? In her pants?”
“What’s it to you?”
“I don’t like it!”
Shocked silence filled the room. Realizing what she just said, Roxie backtracked.
“I don’t like it because it’s reckless. If you sleep with her, she could find out you’re different, and our cover will be blown!”
“As opposed to picking a fight with her and knowing she’ll beat you up?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I can easily take her.”
“Now you’re just bragging.” He made a frustrated sound, then made a move to turn around. Not done with him, Roxie slipped past him and blocked the door.
“Move,” he barked.
“No,” she snapped.
“Andra’s waiting for me.”
“I won’t let you sleep with her.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You certainly acted like you were!”
“I did it to get out of here, damn it! I left my clan leaderless, and I need to get back there and take care of my people! And you have been messing with me since day one!”
The ring of truth and frustration in his words hit her until she felt knocked over by it. Whatever she was about to say died off, her anger disappearing. Almost immediately, the fight left her. Shoulders slumped, she turned around to open the door herself.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m going to keep apologizing until you forgive me. Your people…” He genuinely cared about his people, and she’d taken him away for a very stupid idea.
His hand dropped on top of hers, stopping her from opening the door. A string of curses came out of his mouth as he forced her to face him.
“Stop it with those puppy eyes,” he grumbled at her.
“What?”
“Stop looking so sad. I already forgave you, you idiot.”
“Stop calling me idiot,” she shot back.
“See how being called one bruises the ego?”
She couldn’t help it—a short laugh came out of her throat, and she had to place a hand over it. The anger died off Isaac’s gaze, and she watched his mouth slowly slide up into a grin—one so warm and genuine that it had tingles sliding down her stomach before she could stop it.
Uh-oh.
Heart pounding, senses on overload, she frowned and attempted to turn around again. He didn’t let her as the smile slid off his face.
“What did I do now?” he asked, pulling at her arms. Her gaze slid down his fingers, long and rough as they rubbed at her skin almost soothingly. Then her gaze drifted up to his throat, glistening under the closet’s dim light, then up to that sensual mouth that kept talking.
The realization hit her like a train wreck. She didn’t want him to sleep with Andra not because she was afraid his cover would get blown.
She didn’t want him to sleep with the summer fairy because she was…jealous.
Isaac kept talking. “I swear to God; your mood goes up and down so abruptly, and I can’t catch up. If you could just explain…”
He wasn’t as cold and ruthless as she’d first thought. He had a heart, and he cared, and he…he was the hottest being she had ever encountered in her whole life. Her mind told her this was wrong on so many levels.
But her body was already moving.