She giggled, hearing the cartoon Smee in her head with his little snively voice. But this Smee and that Smee were not at all alike.
This one was glowering and his sun-burnished hair was poking up around his head like he’d stuck his finger in a light socket. In fact, the man was big and imposing. Though his voice wasn’t as whiskey deep as his boss’s, this was a man, and no doubt about it.
His skin was dark and golden, the musculature of his body obvious beneath the tan shirt because of the light that reflected off it, highlighting the taut lines of his body beneath.
She swallowed hard and took a step back. Years ago she’d taken a self-defense course in college, Krav Maga. Great for close combat fighting, but she was rusty and really didn’t relish the thought of getting down and dirty right now.
“Relax, you belong to the Captain, none can harm you so long as you remain under his care. That said, I’m sure the men must have heard your bloody screaming, thank the Goddess they are a superstitious lot and since we’re moving through the drop they likely believe it to be the voice of Calypso herself.”
He said it like he was chastising her. Jeez, not like she’d asked to get dumped here. “Good to know,” she grumbled.
“Now,” he tied up his shirt laces, “if I can trust you not to scream, I’ll go find him for you if you’d like.”
Did she want to see him?
Not really, but then again, she didn’t want to be alone either. She just wanted to talk, to understand what in the hell was going on. “Yeah, fine.”
Snorting with mirth, he opened the door, keeping a hold of her shoulder as he peeked out and looked both ways down the long hall. “Go back to your room. I’ll send him to you in a jiff.”
Tugging at her frock, she tiptoed back down the hall and into the room, closing the door firmly behind her with a loud sigh of relief.
She stared out the porthole, wondering if maybe she’d been going just a little nutters earlier. But no, the world outside was as alive and as fascinating as before, more so even, because now she knew she wasn’t going to drown if she stayed to enjoy it.
Letting go of the knob, she made her way back to the window, pressing her nose once more to the pane, and sighed in awe.
It was night when he’d left her here alone with her thoughts, but it didn’t look like any night she’d ever seen. The waters were a deep teal, but shaded like they might be at dusk. Creatures swam around.
Snaggle toothed sharks, their leathery hide shaded in colors she’d never seen on earth flicked thick muscular tails as they swam idly by. There were green sharks, pink sharks, red and blue ones. Tiny schools of fish zipped and darted around them, but what made them so amazing was that they were all a mother of pearl color, gleaming different shades at different angles. Beds of coral, in every color of the rainbow glowed, while the greenest seaweed she’d ever seen swayed and danced in the waters, looking like emeralds the way the light refracted off them.
Her mouth tipped into a tiny smile. She’d never been someone who’d thought much of the ocean, or the sea. Seeing a beach had never topped her bucket list, and yet she found herself wondering why not.
It was breathtaking.
“Beautiful isn’t it?”
Yelping at the sound of his whiskey deep drawl, she twirled and grabbed her frantically beating heart. “I didn’t hear you.”
He smirked, and her heart thrummed. The blood in her veins sang and her body once again went completely off kilter at the sight of him.
The man was potent.
“Smee said you’d called for me.” His lips twitched. “Rather loudly too. Something about a ship sinking.”
She chuckled, feeling heat slither up her neck and settle in her cheeks. “Yeah, well…” She pointed to the porthole. “It sure looks like we’ve sunk. How is this possible?”
A muscle in his jaw ticked as he stared at her. The heat of his gaze made her stomach bottom out and she curled her toes into the plush rug.
“What?” she asked, disgusted to hear the breathlessness in her voice. This wasn’t her first rodeo, and she was sure as hell no virgin, but something about this man made her feel dizzy.
He rolled large shoulders before leaning against the cabin wall, crossing his arms over his chest. A familiar pose she was noticing. “I’m just trying to see her in you.”
Her lashes fluttered. “So you believe that too? That I was a mermaid in a past life?” she scoffed, waiting for him to join in.
“You don’t? No memories of another life? I’ve been told, pretty convincingly, that you were.”
Brushing bangs out of her eyes, she shook her head. “No. No dreams, no memories of another life. And I definitely think I’d remember if I’d had a tail, wouldn’t you?”
“Happened a long time ago. So long in fact,” he pushed off the wall, and sat at his desk, yanking open a drawer and pulling out another decanter and tumbler, “that I doubt it myself.”