Chapter ten
Derek tried to be quiet when he opened the door to the cabin.
As he’d done the last time they were in a disagreement, he’d waited until it had gotten late enough before going to bed. He had listened to moaning of the men for the rest of the day. Some were worried about him making her angry, and her carrying through with her threat.
He promised them if anyone would pay for her anger- it would be himself.
Some took what he said as good enough, others did counter curse methods. The crew from all parts of the world had different belief systems. Some didn’t believe in anything. The worst of it wasn‘t his men though, it had been Caspin harassing him all night about being a coward and not facing her. Derek could only keep taking it on the shoulder that one. He didn’t know what to do about it. He really didn’t want to see that look on her face again. Seeing it the first time had knocked the air from his lungs.
Too late he realized he’d grabbed his sword on reflex seeing the knife.
Usually when a blade is drawn, you pulled yours or you could count yourself dead. He’d have explained it all to her when it happened, but he could see she wasn’t interested in listening. Derek didn’t blame her. They were on rocky terms as it were and a sword pointed at her didn’t help it smooth out. He just wished there was a way to explain all this so she’d understand.
He wasn’t surprised to see her on the window seat again. That had been a given that she’d defy him the only way she could. Though, he was surprised by the sight of the dress now neatly hanging off one of the chairs. He rubbed his face with a hand, sitting in the chair.
“I don’t want you near me. I’m staying right here.”
His hand lowered from his face, her back was turned to him, lying on her side. “Since you’re awake- we’ll talk about today.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“Then I’ll do the talking. I wasn’t going to actually use the sword on you, Elanor. I wanted to know what was taking Steppe so long to come back and tell me why you hadn’t come out of the room yet. I come up decks, you’ve got a knife in your hand. When I see steel, it’s just… instinct. Even if you were desperate enough to use it and I’m not saying you would, I’d just taken the knife from you. I would never use a sword against you.”
She lay quiet for a long time. Maybe he would need to explain more about life at sea. That might make her understand.
“Did you punish Steppe?” She asked running her fingers over her moonstone pendant.
“Yes I did.” He answered.
She let her necklace go and flipped over to face him. “But he didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Elanor, Steppe’s a pup. He’s still learning how to be part of a sea crew. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t going to turn that knife on him or not. He should have come to me and made sure I knew you had the knife. That’s his duty on my ship.” He said. “It’s his duty to let me know what is going on.”
“But I asked him to trust me, as a friend. It was my fault he didn’t come to you. If I wasn’t considered your prisoner, this wouldn’t have mattered.”
“Are you? Are you changing your mind? Are you a willing passenger on my ship?”
“No.”
“Then he has to treat you as though you are looking for any way to escape. What if you did turn that knife on him? Do you honestly think I could live with myself if he died because I didn’t teach him right?” She started to talk but he cut her off again. “It doesn’t matter if you were or were not going to stab him.”
Her lips pressed thinly together.
“Do you understand any of this Elanor?”
“I think I can understand some of what you’re saying.” She said begrudgingly. “But I don’t think there is any harm in him trusting me. I appreciated him letting me fix my dress. Punishing him for treating me decently- I take offense to.”
He slammed his hand down on the table.
“Damn it Elanor, why must you be so stubborn? I had to teach him a lesson in protocol of a ship. He knows he’s to report to me and didn’t. Whether he could or could not trust you is not the issue. I was teaching him. I am teaching him.” Derek barked. “I will not apologize for that.”
“Then don’t.” Her brown eyes stared unblinking before turning back over to put her back to him. After a moment, Derek got to his feet walking around his desk to sit down next to her. He didn’t speak or move for a long time. Just sat near her, thinking. Derek let his fingers touch her shoulder then trace a path down to her elbow. Her skin warm and soft. He could tell her feelings were hurt, could feel it physically. It brought out the old feelings of wanting to fix whatever he could to make it better for her.
He sighed. “I am sorry for scaring you with the sword.”
“I wasn’t scared.”
“Then I’m sorry for hurting your feelings. I thought we’d finally found a truce today.” He admitted.
“So did I. But you didn’t truly believe we had. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have thought I was going to viciously gut your cabin boy for helping me.” He could hear the hurt in her voice now. Derek leaned to kiss where his fingers had traced. The bow of her shoulder down to her elbow, coaxing.
“I made a mistake.”
“People often make mistakes, Derek. It doesn‘t matter in any case. I‘m just your prisoner.”
He kissed her shoulder again, rubbing his face against her skin. “It‘s true that people do make mistakes. But when a person makes a mistake, they try to make up for it somehow.”
She twisted to lie on her back again. The moon cast beams of light in through the window. It shadowed and highlighted her face. Brown hair framed ivory skin in waves of silk, she looked like a painting.
Today when they’d talked about old times, she’d laughed with him for the first time since they’d been on board. He wanted to get that back. He’d give her anything just to see her smile at him again. Anything she wanted, she could have. He’d rob and steal every Port nearby to give it to her.
“Stealing my Father’s ship was a mistake. Making my family believe I was lost to Barbary pirates… Derek, that isn’t right. You have to bring me back.”
He felt the disappointment deeply, making his tone sharp.
“You know I’m not going to do that.”
“I will not stop demanding it.”
“It’s not your place to demand.” He took a deep breath and let it out in a timed exhale; trying to regain his patience. “We have been over that. What is it going to take for us to call the truce again, Elanor?”
Her face stone, it seemed nothing would come to mind. He saw a flicker of motion and then she sighed too. “You could give me my trunk. I would feel better if my things were not in danger of being rifled through.”
“If I give you your trunk, you’ll forgive me for today?” He asked.
“I guess I must if it means my things returned to me- and I don’t have to walk about without clothes.”
Derek smiled. “You’ve got yourself a deal then.” He felt his own smile grow at the sight of her reluctant smile of truce. They weren’t any further then they’d gotten this afternoon, but at least he didn’t feel like they were back to being miles apart either.
“It’s late.” Derek got up to shed his vest and pants off throwing them both into the corner on the chest. She hadn’t moved off the window seat.
He decided not to raise his voice at her again, instead tease her into action. “So, my darling, changed your mind after all? You fancy sleeping that close to me eh? Just as well. Your shout of hexes has everyone riled on the ship. I promised to watch you closely for any signs of truth.”
He watched her fine brows narrow in the moon beams. “I… what?”
“Well either you move to the bed or I sleep with you on the window seat. There isn’t much room there, so you and I will have to manage it.” He pretended to think about how they could do that. “Ah, I’ll lay down first and you can straddle my hips, lying on top. We’ll fit that way.” His double meaning didn’t go unnoticed. She flashed him a dirty look getting up off the window seat. He gave her a cheeky smile.
“It’s getting pretty warm at night. You should stop wearing my vest to bed.” He said after they got into bed. It had been an innocent observation. He didn’t intend for it to be included in his earlier teasing. But she pinned him with another look.
“I am serious Elanor. If you took it off we could cover up with the thin blanket I have. It will be more comfortable than sweating all night.” At first she ignored the conversation, lying down on the bed without taking off the vest. He shrugged, getting into the bed as well. He’d already told himself she’d be awake and willing the next time they kissed, so she had no fears of him taking advantage. She must have thought better of it when he pulled the blanket over them both because she sat up and pulled the vest off. He openly stared at her breasts until she lay back down.
“What? I didn’t say I wouldn’t enjoy the view. I just said you would be more comfortable.” He defended against the next dirty look. Slowly he eased next to her, curling around her body with his own. He was pleased that she didn’t push on him for room between them.
“This wasn’t part of the deal either.”
His right arm moved around her waist to hug her close to him. He murmured against her neck, “Next time, I’m making it part of the deal.” He didn’t have to say what part of it. His erection against her bottom told her exactly what.
“No you will not.” She said pulling away from him.
“Yes, I will.” He said pulling her back into place.
Soon sleep started to relax their bodies but for a moment Elanor tensed.
“I shouted.” He didn’t like how fear sounded from those two words.
Derek rubbed her shoulder and patted it before letting it rest again. “They’re not all Seekers and even the ones who are… have open minds and a sense of humor. There will be no demands for you to hang or burn. I would never let that happen, ever.” The tension didn’t ease out of her body for a long time but when it finally did he had a spark of hope that she trusted her safety to him. That she felt safe. He could feel her even breaths of sleep and let himself start to drift as well.
“Someday, we won’t have to make deals anymore.” He vowed to himself.