Chapter 60
CHAPTER SIXTY
Chatter carries down the hallway as soon as the door opens, almost as if we were cocooned in our own world moments ago. With the deck locked down, the entire crew is below, and by the sounds of it, it’s late morning and they are getting antsy.
Weston bounds down the hallway ahead of me, his footsteps loud on the floor, the full captain authority back in place.
Stopping just before the wooden steps, he crosses his arms and looks out over everyone filling the space.
Bodies line the hallway, people sit on the steps, everyone waiting to hear what caused the sudden change in protocol.
“It’s about time,” Jorn calls out from somewhere down the hallway.
My cheeks heat as I hover in the shadows behind Weston.
I don’t know if Jorn is talking about what he walked in on, or how long it took us to leave Weston’s quarters, but either way, I have no doubt most, if not all the crew already know what we were up to.
“What took you so long, mister Weston?” Fin cries from somewhere in the group.
“Yeah, what took you so long?” Jorn echoes. The mischief ringing in his voice is met with a few low snickers, and I drop my chin to my chest, trying to hide my smile.
“Alright, alright, enough,” Weston huffs.
“Why are we locked down, Captain?” someone calls out from the second set of steps.
“There was an incident with the Voyagers last night, and I needed to make sure no one left the ship last night or this morning,” he calls out. “No one is to step foot on the island until I give the go ahead. Collection crew, meet me on the quarterdeck in fifteen minutes.”
A chorus of ayes sound from all over as Weston weaves through the crew to unlock the hatch.
Light pours in from above as he flips the wooden doors out, and they land with a thud on the deck.
The shadows disappear around me, and murmurs creep through the crew as they see me standing there.
I guess my disappearance was noticed, and I’m worried what they will all think of me now that I’ve returned.
“Lennox! You’re back!” Fin yells, running toward me and flinging his body into my legs like he normally does.
“I’m back.” I bend and wrap my arms around him, squeezing him in a tight hug. I knew he was safe back on the ship, that Weston would never let anything happen to him, but after being with Roley for such a short time, I missed this chosen little brother.
“No one would tell me where you went, but I knew you’d be back!”
“You were right.” I laugh as Weston’s footsteps thud toward us. He steps up beside me, wrapping his arm around the small of my back, his hand settling possessively on my hip.
“Are you hungry?” he asks, and the mention of food makes my stomach rumble.
“I will feed her, Captain!” Stassia cuts through the group, stopping just in front of me and shooting Weston a dazzling smile. “We’ll meet you on deck.”
Weston’s fingers flex slightly against my hip before he reluctantly releases me.
His hand brushes over the curve of my ass before dropping away, and I swallow hard.
I hadn’t really thought about how things would change after last night, but one thing is clear.
Weston wasn’t lying about fighting his desire to touch me, and I doubt he is going to hide it from the rest of the crew.
A shiver of anticipation runs through me.
“Race you to the deck, Fin,” Weston says, and Fin is gone before Weston can even take a step, his little feet pounding up the stairs and disappearing through the opening.
Stassia grabs my hand and drags me toward the second steps, ignoring everyone and dodging bodies as we walk against the current.
“Slow down, Stass, I’m not that hungry.” That is a lie. I am starving. The last thing I ate was dinner with Dane, and I don’t know how long ago that was.
She cuts through the remaining crew gathered near the lounge, and I try not to stumble as she drags me down the hallway toward the empty galley.
Thankfully, everyone had enough time to get a meal in while they were waiting for lockdown to be lifted.
Stass turns on her heel, completely forgetting that we are actually here to get food.
“First of all, are you alright? I wanted to check on you last night, but you disappeared once you were below deck.”
“Yes, I’m alright,” I say. “I lost my boots so my feet were torn up, and I knocked my head pretty hard. Weston brought me straight to the infirmary to take care of everything.”
It seems like so long ago now that he was barreling down the steps and locking us in the infirmary. He wouldn’t speak to me, let alone look at me, but since then he’s had quite the loose tongue.
“From what I hear, that isn’t the only thing he wanted to take care of.” A single eyebrow raises and her head quirks to the side as she waits for me to answer.
“Wow, Jorn really can’t keep his mouth shut, can he?”
“So it’s true?!” She all but squeals the last words.
Blood rushes to my face and suddenly my clothes are too warm. It’s not that I want to keep things from her, I’ve just never talked to anyone about anything so personal like this before. Even though she knows because of Jorn’s inability to keep a secret, the words still catch in my throat.
“Finally!” she cries, completely ignoring my hesitancy, and my shoulders slump in relief that I didn’t upset her. “That man fell hard. We all saw it. Maybe now he’ll loosen up again. He’s been in a grumpy mood for too long.”
My chest squeezes. Stassia obviously cares about him.
The entire crew does, but I feel lucky to have made such a loyal friend like her.
Despite all her jokes, Stassia truly wants everyone on this ship to have the best life here that we can.
I hope for her sake that if we end up here for eternity that she can find the same happiness.
“How was it? Was it amazing? You don’t have to tell me Just stay quiet if it was absolutely phenomenal.”
And there is the real Stass.
Clamping my lips closed, I stifle a giggle, and there’s only a brief pause before she can’t control herself any longer.
“I knew it! I am so happy for you. Jealous of course, because who wouldn’t want the captain in their bed?” I laugh fully, no longer afraid of hiding things from her.
“Technically, I’m in his bed,” I say, and she waves me off.
“Who it belongs to doesn’t matter as long as everyone is naked.”
I slap a hand over my mouth as an obnoxious snort erupts from my nose.
Stassia grins, and my shoulders shake with laughter, but there’s a twinge of sadness in my chest. If we make it back home, who knows if I will ever see Stassia or anyone else in the crew ever again.
The thought makes my stomach sink, and I know I need to focus on just enjoying whatever time I do have with them, because the future is so uncertain.
“I’m really happy you don’t hate each other anymore,” she says, her eyes softening as she reaches out and squeezes my hand. “Although hate sex could be a lot of fun.”
“Stass!” I cry, my mouth falling open as even more laughter billows from my chest. She’s laughing now too, and she weaves her arm through mine as we cross the mess to the galley line.
I realize quickly that I don’t know what Weston likes to eat, having avoided him at every meal since being here.
I fill a small plate for me, enough to tide over my growling stomach and shovel it in quickly while Stassia fills me in on anything I missed in the last few days.
Not much has happened. It’s mainly fun stories, but she keeps mentioning Taril, and I can’t help but wonder if something is going on between them.
On our way out, I grab a piece of fruit and a pastry before we make our way back to the main deck.
“Are you going to tell me what was going on? Why’d you leave?” she asks as we climb the stairs.
“I have a feeling that is what we’re about to talk about, but I, uh,” I trail off, wondering how much I should share right now versus letting Weston tell the crew. I decide it doesn’t really matter, because whether I tell her or he does, it won’t change what happened and how it all turned out.
“I went back to the Voyagers to steal the dust from Dane.”
Stassia gasps, her hand reaching out to grasp my forearm. “What happened? Did you get it?”
I shake my head. “No. I tried, but things didn’t go how I planned, and I uncovered how much Dane had been lying to me. I was trying to get away when he attacked me. He was going to force me to tell him where the waters are, but Weston found me.”
I was lucky he found me when he did, especially if Weston was worried that Dane no longer cared about my well being after he found out I couldn’t help him.
“Oh gods, Lennox,” she says, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I’m sad it didn’t work, but I’m so grateful you made it back to us.” She wraps me in a hug and squeezes tight.
Tears mist my own eyes as I squeeze her back.
I was so close to never seeing any of them again.
When Sig and I made the plan, I was so focused on helping everyone, I never considered that it could hurt any of them instead.
I’ve never had my presence affect other people like this, different from that of my kingdom, and I am still learning how to navigate the relationships.
“Me too,” is all I say in return.
Once we’re on the quarterdeck, Stassia snags a crate in the shade and shoos me away from her. Not everyone in the collection crew has gathered yet, and I look around for Weston to find him standing alone at the helm.
“I thought you might be hungry too,” I say, holding the fruit and pastry out to him.
His fingers brush mine as he takes them from me, before lifting the fruit to his mouth and taking a large bite.
Juice dribbles over his lips and his tongue flicks out to catch it, and I can’t look away.
My thighs squeeze together involuntarily, now knowing what kinds of things he does with that tongue.