Chapter 15 #3
When the men were gone, Alister opened it once more, as though he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to admire it.
“I thought it would be Dustin’s trove,” he mumbled while he stood staring at it. His tone was darker than she thought it’d be.
She came closer to see he was no longer smiling, as if he’d been putting on a show outside this room. Rubbing his muscled back with one hand, she slipped the other around his stomach to rub his chest as well. It was the best Rosetta could do to be comforting.
She was disappointed for him. “I know it’s not what you wanted to find, but it’s better than nothing.”
He looked at her from the corner of his good eye, perusing the features of her face.
“There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to find it.
” He put his arm around her shoulders so she would come up beside him.
“I promised Mad Dog I’d find it, and I really do want to, but it also gives me a purpose rather than just sailing across the seas without a real destination. ”
“Then I’m confused, Alister. Are you upset or not?”
He threw his head back and gave a deep laugh.
“Lass, I don’t think I’ve been happier than I am right now, looking at this chest of gold with you.”
His words made her turn her gaze away from him when a terrible pang lanced her through her chest.
He turned and lifted her until her backside was resting on the wooden top. He placed his hands on either side of her on straightened arms, his grin returning once more.
“And it’s thanks to you that we have it.”
“I have my uses.” She waved her hand up and down dismissively, trying to hide that she was a little flustered. He was looking at her all handsome-like, with a face of appreciation, and it did things to her insides. “So, when do you start becoming useful?”
He grabbed the outsides of her thighs and pulled her a little forward as he settled his hips between them.
“You’re lucky you’re sitting on this much gold, or I’d make you pay for that comment.”
“You do realise we can do this tonight after we celebrate?”
He shook his head, his grin turning more devilish by the second. The way his teeth were tightly clasped showed just how much tension was beginning to build inside him. It always made her stomach flip with desire so swiftly, and she let out a small gasp.
Alister would never know how just a simple look, with hunger and intent obvious in his good eye, could make Rosetta turn into a puddle.
“Nay. Half of it will be on your ship then, and I’m too excited by the two things currently in front of me to wait.”
With a tiny giggle, Rosetta put her arms around his neck and crossed them. She leaned in and placed her lips against his throat, right where his jugular pulsed, just because it made it quicken and him shudder.
“Then what the hell is taking so long?” she whispered, nipping at his skin.
“You annoying brat!” He flipped her so she was lying over the chest. “You never learn, do you?”
No, never, she thought with a smile.
His actions said he was angry as he ripped her tights down so the waistband collected around her knees, buckling them together. Then he grabbed a large chunk of her hair and pulled so her body arched. He even bit the side of her neck.
She knew she’d said the exact right words to send this man into a lust-filled frenzy she was more than delighted to receive.
Alister sat on the ground with a large pile of coins spread out across the floor. They’d emptied the entire chest so they could count it.
The pile was between himself and Rosetta, who made a cute pout of concentration as she counted. Her brows were crinkled, her lips puckered, her nose slightly scrunched.
His sight often veered away from what he should be paying attention to – the coins he was counting – to look at her.
They were about halfway through it, and even though it was a long, boring, mundane task, he was finding great enjoyment in it.
To watch Rosetta’s hands constantly filling with rare gold pieces, with that adorable face, and her blue eyes catching the lowering sun from his murky windows – well, that was a sight worth seeing.
Her counted pile was much smaller than his since he didn’t have to stop at stacks of ten like her, but he didn’t mind he was doing most of the work.
Every time they sat down and counted coins together, which they did often because she couldn’t count her own by herself, she got better. Making the stacks was the easy part, calculating them into groups of a hundred, but then calculating those hundreds often got her tangled.
He’d long ago realised she hated doing this – she was embarrassed she’d get it wrong. She was so quick-witted with everything else, so smart and cunning in other ways, that she saw herself as a failure and didn’t even want to try. He always made her, though, even when she tried to distract him.
Secretly, he was thankful she wasn’t great at it and that her progress was slow moving.
Alister enjoyed counting coin. He did it often, even if he knew how much was in his safe. Pierre had once told him he looked like a money-hungry, greedy pirate.
He didn’t care, so long as it brought him joy.
Doing it with Rosetta, teaching her how to do it herself, brought him even more. It allowed him to silently watch her without her opening her dirty mouth to say something that made him want to bend her over and punish her.
Instead, he was able to admire the beautiful woman in a calm, serene environment. That they were doing this here, in his cabin, in the place he felt most comfortable, was even better.
“This is taking forever,” she groaned after a long while. She changed her position from leaning against her hip to sit on her backside. Bringing her knees to her chest, she rubbed her eyes with her palms. “I hate you so much right now.”
He gave a chuckle, pointing to the pile and circling his finger. “We’re getting there; only got a quarter to go. It’d go quicker if you figured out how to count to a hundred.”
“But that’s so many numbers!” She fell back against the timber flooring, letting her arms fall out wide. “It’s so easy to get confused.”
“Nay,” he said with a shake of his head. “It’s easy if you break it up.”
“I know how to count to a hundred! I just hate it when I suddenly lose focus and forget my number and have to restart!”
“Fine. I have an idea.”
She sat up when he pushed over the small pile he had in front of him. He messed up his count on purpose by adding it to the larger one.
“You count out loud for both of us. If you get lost, I’ll know where we’re up to.”
She nibbled the corner of her lips.
“Really?” Her shoulders rolled forward slightly, like she wanted to slump them but refused to. “Won’t that slow you down?”
“Aye, but it’ll make getting through this pile faster in the long run.”
She eyed him carefully as she grabbed a handful of coins while shuffling her legs apart.
When she dropped a coin and he did the same, she said, “One.” Another fell between her thighs and one right in front of himself. “Two.” Then another. “Three.”
She hesitated in her count at forty-nine.
“Fifty,” he said for her.
With a nod, she continued.
Once that hundred was down, she wrote the number on a piece of parchment to keep track of the hundreds she put into the pile next to her. Alister just kept a mental note of his total amount, since he didn’t need to write it down to do the math.
They started again.
The sun was still shining by the time they finished the entire lot. He made her do the final calculations, under his guidance, of course.
“It took us hours to count this,” she grumbled, rubbing her cheek.
“Eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty-three pieces of eight.” He flicked one of the palm-sized coins into the air with his thumb so he could catch it a moment later. “I think it must have held ten thousand, but the original owners took some with them before they left the chest there.”
“What do you think happened to them?”
He shrugged. “Who knows? Died on the sea, murdered, got arrested. What do I care since it’s ours now?” He flicked the coin into the air one last time to catch it. “Guess what now, lass?”
She squinted her eyes at his mischievous tone.
“Whatever it is, no. I’m too tired.”
“We still have to split it.”
Her face seemed to go white with dread. “I’m not counting half of this again!”
Laughter began to rumble from him, even as he shook his head. He pointed to the pile next to her. “How much you got there again?”
“Ah.” She started fumbling for her piece of parchment that she’d written everything on. “Three thousand, two hundred and six.”
“How much is the even split?”
Her lips pursed together defiantly.
When he realised he’d thrown her too big of a number to wrap her head around on her own, he gestured for her to put her piece of parchment on the ground between them.
They broke it down together until she knew the amount was half with one gold piece left over – which he claimed. Then he helped her figure out how much she needed to take to add to the pile she already had.
Since he had the foresight to know she’d be tired and rather irritable by the end, he’d kept a few of his piles in hundreds by themselves, as well as one in a thousand.
It took him less than ten minutes to give her what she needed from what he’d counted. They dumped her share into the chest to be transported to her ship.
When they were done, he reached across and hooked his arm around her torso to drag her closer until she was lying with her back against his chest.
“You look tired.” She usually did after counting.
It did nothing to quell his desire for her, but she didn’t usually have dark circles under her eyes. His lips tightened when he realised she didn’t just look tired, but completely exhausted.
“I think I need to go for a nap,” she admitted with a laugh, allowing him to hold her as his way of saying she’d done a great job.
He knew it was meant to be a joke, since Rosetta was awake when the sun was, but it hadn’t escaped his notice these days that she often went into her cabin by herself for an hour here and there.
He’d once caught her asleep in her bed, as though she hadn’t been bothered climbing into her hammock, and had promptly left.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
I have been pushing us all too hard.
Dead Man’s Island was the first time they’d stopped for a night for the last nearly three months. He hadn’t allowed them to stop, to drop anchor and rest for a day or two along the way. Everyone was exhausted.
Even he was tired.
“We’ll be staying here for a few days,” he told her, since he’d just made the decision.
She raised her hand and patted the forearm across her chest.
“That’s a good idea. Let your men rest.” Tilting her head back so she could see him, she gave a small smile. “I’m going to go back to my ship for a few hours, but I think most of my men will want to join yours in the celebration. I will as well.”
“Are you trying to say you’re going to overcrowd my ship just so you don’t have to clean your own?”
She clicked her fingers with a laugh. “Aw shucks, you caught me.”
It would annoy him, but he couldn’t help thinking, It’d be nice to see the two crews together on one ship. To watch them carouse around, causing mischief and chaos, sounded like an energy he might be able to deal with for a night.
“Alright, lass.” He sighed, releasing her so she could get to her feet. “Get your men to fill my boat.” He gave her arse a spank. “But remember, I’ll be drinking whiskey tonight.”
“Then I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll go celebrate in the cave by myself.”
He grabbed her ankle before she could step away from him, careful not to trip her.
“If I can’t find you, Rosetta, I might just row to it,” he threatened, before letting her go.