4. Hali
CHAPTER 4
Hali
T he captain watches me eat with a look that's unrecognizable—something between disgust and lust, and the way his eyes trace my fingers as they brush my lips while putting food into my mouth makes me think he’s feeling the latter.
I realize I’m eating like a woman starved, but he hasn't left me much of a choice. If I’m to continue the charade of a whore’s daughter, I have to act as though I haven’t had a proper meal, well, ever. It’s not a lie, either. Food had been scarce on Morda.
Juices from the meat slide down my hand, and as much as it pains me, I don’t wipe them off. Instead, I reach for the grapes and bring a cluster to my plate. Pulling one off, I bring it to my lips, slowly biting the fruit in half as I gaze up at the Captain with hooded eyes.
He openly stares at me with a smirk on his lips, his hand still resting on the silver fork beside his plate that he hasn’t picked up.
“When was the last time you’ve eaten?” he probes, his voice softer than it was just moments before.
It’s off putting—the change in his voice. It causes me to pause.
My gaze meets his. Hesitating, I pick up the napkin resting in my lap and wipe my hands. A low rumble in my throat helps me to clear it before I answer, but I’m at a loss for words, surprised and drawing a blank with my lie.
“A while,” I answer tentatively, hoping my vagueness will be enough.
He says nothing and simply studies me. It intensifies my discomfort.
Squirming under the weight of his gaze, I place the napkin, and my hands, in my lap.
“Well. Go on then,” he says after another few moments, tipping his chin toward me. “Eat, Red.”
I’m hesitant to return to the food, but this time when I take a bite, he picks up his fork and takes one too. We eat in silence, but I feel his eyes on me the entire time. It’s like he’s waiting for something, and I wonder what.
“So, Captain,” I say once my plate is clean and my belly is full. “Why did you request my company for dinner?”
“It was not a request.”
“You didn’t have to feed me to get what you eventually want…”
It’s bold to probe him like this, but the wine the captain has plied me with has gone to my head a little.
My breath hitches when I visibly see his demeanor switch from curious to captivated. His eyes darken, the smirk on his face deepening as he leans forward. His middle and pointer fingers run tantalizingly over the grooves of the crystal tumbler housing the remaining drops of his whiskey.
Something about the movement forces me to squeeze my legs together, igniting an ache in my core. His confidence is hard to ignore. There’s nothing courteous or gentlemanly about the way he stares at me, but, stranger than that, there’s nothing perverse about it, either.
Suddenly, the Captain stands, placing a palm on the table between us as he leans forward. His other hand reaches to my face, and he grasps my chin between his fingers, tilting my head back.
“Call it curiosity,” he muses, staring deep into my eyes.
My heart skips, and with it, my thoughts are instantly pulled to Kai.
By whatever means necessary, his voice echoes through my mind. But he doesn’t know what the Captain is like. What this is like. Intimate and strange…I expected a rougher touch than this.
“Only curiosity?” I wonder, my voice low and breathy. I’m not sure if I meant to sound like that, but it lures the captain in further.
His eyes drop to my lips for a moment before he narrows them. Releasing his grip on me, he straightens. “Yes, Red. Nothing more than curiosity.”
But his body deceives him. Behind the confines of his pants is the clear outline of his hardened bulge, and I know he’s affected.
Pride blooms inside of me. He’s caught interest faster than I imagined he would. Perhaps it has something to do with the effects of my siren call, though it is far less potent than during the shift.
Still, I know how to toy with a man and leave them wanting more. Taking one last sip of the wine in front of me, I meet his gaze again. “I appreciate the lovely meal, as well as the company, but I’m quite tired.” I feign a yawn. “Perhaps we can continue our conversation another night, Captain? It’s been such a long day. I fear I’ll be poor company if I linger any longer.”
I try to hide the lump in my throat as I swallow it down.
Coming across as timid is part of the allure. Portraying a mousy and unsure daughter of a whore who lacks confidence is the role I must remember to take on.
The Captain needs someone to fix—to save.
But it’s hard to completely diminish my personality, and again, I’ve been too bold. Speaking to a ship captain like this, so brazenly… under the assumption he hasn’t called me to fuck me, either. I’m sure others have been thrown overboard for less.
It’s as though he can see through my cracks as his lips purse in contemplation. His eyes sparkle with unspoken words—silent promises that both intrigue me and make my stomach churn. Is he going to demand my company? My breath thins at the likelihood of it.
But then he relaxes back into his chair, his tone hard to read when he mutters, “Sure, Red.” He raises his hand and snaps his fingers loudly. “KAUPMAN,” he booms, snapping his fingers again.
The door immediately opens, but when the man steps forward, it’s the familiar, loving eyes of Kai I see, not a man named Kaupman. They soften for a moment as they sweep over my body, his shoulders visibly relaxing when he sees me, but then his face hardens and he turns his attention to Captain Erickson.
“Aye, Captain. Kaupman asked me to assist while he tended to the crew on the port side.”
“And you are?” He looks angry, and I sense that he doesn’t like when things are not orderly.
“The name’s Kai. Recruited from Morda, Captain.”
A thick silence settles in the room as he scrutinizes Kai—sizing him up. I can practically see the wheels in his head turning and it makes me nervous. So easily, Erickson could kill Kai right here and now.
He could kill me, too.
A shudder rolls through me at the thought.
“Very well. See to it that she makes it back to her room. Immediately.”
There’s finality in the Captain’s words, and I stand, curtseying as a sign of respect. “Thank you again, Captain. Goodnight.”
He watches me without a word, and I hold my breath as I cross the room toward Kai. It isn’t until I’m stepping through the threshold that Captain Erickson speaks, sending a chill down my spine from his words.
“Sweet dreams, Red. I’ll fetch for you soon.”
Looking over my shoulder, I see him rolling the handle of a dagger around his fingertips, playing with the weapon in a way that sends a clear message.
Refusal is not an option.