Chapter 1 #3
It took him long enough? His fists clenched so tightly he knew his knuckles were turning white. He’d waited three days past their meet-up date for her!
Alister had never waited for anyone in his life, and yet she had the audacity to make it sound like his lateness in finding her was his fault.
“You’ve got my supplies, Rosetta.” He finally slammed the door behind him and folded his arms across his chest, a scowl forming across his features. “You left us high and dry in Glutten Valley.”
A long pause came from her.
“I forgot about that.” Her eyes drifted over him before she rolled them. “I can see you’re pissy about it.”
“Oh, aye! You fucking bet I am. You should have sailed to us!”
She let out a long, sullen sigh.
“Take them, I don’t care. Raid my whole ship.” She started digging through her clothing beneath the blanket before locating a set of keys looped on a ring, which she then threw at his chest. “Take my loot and go away. I’m not in the mood to deal with your shit.”
His crossed arms slackened and dropped to his sides while a frown crinkled his brow. How quickly she’d surrendered wasn’t comforting, nor was it what he wanted. It made his hackles rise.
“Get out of bed. You’ve got a ship to fix.”
“No, I’m sick. Can’t you tell?” A deliberate sniffle followed her words. “So, unless you want this death cold, leave.”
Alister came forward to stand at the foot of the bed to see her better. The hammock strung almost at his chest height above her bed shielded her partially. She’d most likely need to stand on the mattress to get inside.
His frown deepened when he looked down at her. Her face was red, and not even he could tell if it was because of a flu or tears of grief.
“I don’t get sick, never have,” he said when her blue eyes found him. “And that’s not why you’re lying here.”
“Why else would I be trying to rest?” She pointed her gun at him, but she never cocked the hammer. She twirled it in the air. “I told you, I hate the cold, and now I’m sick because I spent four days covered in rainwater because of a stupid storm.”
“You shouldn’t get this attached to your crew.”
Her eyes squinted into a deep glare while her lips pursed. “You spoke to Naeem.”
“Oh, aye. He told me what happened.”
“I’m fine. Got over that already.” She turned, rolling over to give him her back. Brave, considering most wouldn’t dare turn their back to him. “Now, take your supplies and leave so I can sleep. You’re making my headache worse.”
Alister tsked at her – this wasn’t the Rosetta he’d come to know. “You’re usually much better at lying than this.”
Alister lifted a leg and grabbed the base of his boot to take it off. He did the same to the other, then dropped them haphazardly on the floor.
She doesn’t need me screaming at her right now. He’d rather do it when she was fighting, feisty, and might scream back at him. It always made him want to throw her over something and take her hard as punishment for being bitchy.
“Really, Alister? That’s your great plan?” she asked when he started pushing her over to create room in the single bed. “You would try to sleep with a sick woman?”
“Nay,” he said as he knelt before falling to his side next to her. His crash to the mattress made her bounce. “I’m going to lie with you until you’re feeling better.”
He turned to his back and pulled her until she was forced to have her head against his chest. She struggled for a bit, pushing against his side, but he kept his arm secure around her.
She’s pretty weak right now. Her shoves had little power to them.
With a sigh, she eventually gave up when she understood he was an unmovable force.
She lay on her side, her face forcibly squished against his chest. Her breaths were huffed, wheezing, as if just that small amount of struggling, like fighting off a newborn kitten to him, had been too much exertion.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked quietly, with squished cheeks.
“My mother told me there’s nothing better for a sick woman than lying on a man’s chest.” Alister stared up at the ceiling, remembering the number of times he’d done this for her when she’d been unwell. “My da was never around to do it for her.”
Shivers rolled over her body as though she was cold, and yet, she felt remarkably hot against his side. He placed the back of his hand against her forehead to check her temperature. She’s definitely running a fever.
“Your mother was a liar, then.”
He pressed his lips together into an angry pout, but waited a beat before responding. “I think not. She often said she felt better.”
“She just wanted to cuddle her child without you realising, you big idiot.”
He raised his hand to his chin to stroke the stubble on it. Could it be true? His mother was sweet, but she could be tricky when she wanted.
After a while, he felt the tension in Rosetta’s shoulders lessen and she started to relax into him. She didn’t put her arm around him, though. Eventually, she gave a small sneeze, breaking the silence between them.
“Why’d you beach your ship, Rosetta?” Alister was still angry, but he knew she must have had a reason.
“I needed a mast,” she answered dully.
Alister gripped her by the jaw to force her face towards him as he moved his head to look down at her. She averted her eyes at the look he gave her, one that told her he knew it was an outright lie.
Her voice was small and filled with so much sadness he could hear it. “I wanted to bury him.”
He knew she’d cared for Mr Smith, but to go out of her way to not only abandon Alister without his supplies, but to also beach a damaged ship to bury him told Alister he’d meant a lot more to her than anyone realised.
He released her face so she could be comfortable, his brows tight with thoughtful tension as he turned his head back up and let his gaze glide over the ceiling, unfocussed and unseeing.
I wonder if she’d be this sad if I died. He doubted it. Naeem and Mr Smith were special to her and had been with her for many years.
There was a pause of silence, and in it she slung her arm across his stomach. Not all the way, but enough to show him she finally accepted the embrace.
Foolish. “You shouldn’t get this attached to your men.” The repeated words were cruel, but it was the truth.
“I know,” she whispered. “But how would you feel if Derek or Pierre died?”
“Upset, but I wouldn’t let it get to me. I would just toss their bodies into the sea and immediately hold a vote for their replacement.”
“You really have a heart of stone, don’t you?”
Alister chuckled, the corners of his eyes crinkling with humour. It made his eye patch on the left side dig in.
“Aye, kind of have to. I’ve been on these seas for most of my life and I have seen hundreds die. It pays to never get attached to anyone. They all wash away eventually anyway.”
“That sounds... lonely.”
“Got to have a heart for it to feel lonely, lass.”
Just give him strong booze and let his hand be filled with a woman or the helm of his ship, and he was happy.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked suddenly, followed by a sniffle – a pathetic attempt to sound less nasally.
“I’m always nice to you.”
She snorted a wheezing laugh, clearly believing the opposite of what he’d said. “You think I stole your supplies, don’t you? Why are you here doing this instead of shouting at me and taking them?”
Yes, that’s what he originally thought, and what he was going to do, but...
“Because now I know the truth.” She hadn’t tried to do it purposefully.
She hadn’t tried to be malicious.
The reason he’d stumbled upon her was because she’d been making her way to Glutten Valley the entire time.
“Pfft. You don’t seem like the forgiving type.”
He frowned once more. I’m not. He was usually the ‘kill first and ask questions never’ type of person.
For reasons he preferred not to think about, he checked her forehead again gently with the backs of his fingers.
He also gingerly moved a few stray hairs that had fallen over her forehead and cheek, allowing her to see clearly.
However, it brought a slight smile to his face when they fell back into place – her hair was unruly and untameable, always a nest of knots.
When there was another long pause, he turned his head down to see her eyes had grown heavy, like she might fall asleep. She blinked slowly, but her eyes were moving, as if she was thinking.
“I may have done something I shouldn’t have.”
Rosetta admitting to a mistake? Well, blow him down; he never thought he’d witness the day.
Still, he asked calmly, “What did you do?”
“I made my men kill those who tried to mutiny against me.”
Ruthless. Alister almost wanted to laugh. It’s exactly what he would have done.
“I killed nearly a fifth of my crew, and now I don’t have enough men to sail comfortably. I have about eighty left, I think.”
He knew why she was uncertain. Without Mr Smith around to help her count, she could only guess. I told her she needed to learn. As always, Alister had been right.
“You can sail with eighty. Your ship may not be as clean, and you might tire your men out, but we often sail with less than favourable odds.”
If it was said a ship should have a certain number of crewmen, that didn’t necessarily mean it had to. He just hadn’t wanted to argue with her about numbers and logistics when they divvied up the prisoners. The stubborn woman would’ve argued with him until they’d both gone grey and died of old age.
“So, what happened here? Where’s your mast? Your ship is stronger than mine; you should have made it to Glutten Valley before us.”
With a sigh, she started her story. “Well, first, I almost drowned.”