Chapter 32
Evadne
Hercules lets me tend to the wound to his leg in the longboat on the way back to the ship. If I cause him any pain, he masks it perfectly.
“The shot isn’t even sharpened well—I don’t understand how it penetrated the skin so deeply,” I muse as I pluck out the lead from the hole in the side of his knee.
“Hera,” he growls. “She helped it on its way through my flesh, I am certain.”
As soon as we get back to the Hybris, he carries the lifeless creature into the biggest hauler and takes it down to the cargo deck, limping ever so slightly.
The sight of his bulging arms and rippling chest as he effortlessly tosses the giant beast over his shoulders sends a thrill through me.
For just a few moments there, I really wondered if he were dead. But now, staring at him as power and pride emanate from his huge, naked body… I don’t know how anybody could end his life.
“What do you plan to do with it?” I ask, raising my brows at the lion.
“Her head will look fine on my wall,” he says, eyes bright as he stares down at it.
“I, erm, have another idea?” His sharp gaze moves to me, and I swallow. “If her skin is impenetrable, then you could use it as a cloak?”
He looks between us, then grabs a knife from the pile of weapons and tools on a nearby crate.
I cough. “You’ll probably need to use her own claw, to get through her skin.”
This time he throws me a glare, but throws down the knife and then does as I suggested.
When the ivory claw rips silently through the animal’s belly, Hercules roars in triumph, then meticulously severs skin from flesh, ignoring the innards and mess spilling out onto the cargo deck floor.
An unexpected stab of nausea rolls through me as an image of the vibrant-haired young woman the beast used to be flashes through my mind.
Hercules stands up straight, covered in blood, pulling the removed hide with him. It’s larger than he is. I can only guess how much it weighs.
“I need to have this cleaned and beaten,” he says. “Let’s see that bitch shoot me again through this.” The last words come out as a vicious hiss. I push myself off the container I’m perched on, landing lightly on my feet as far from the pool of gore as possible.
“You need a bath. And watching you work has made me feel like one too,” I say boldly.
I know what he’ll want next. He’ll want to celebrate.
His eyes glint as he smiles hungrily at me.
“Evadne, I knew you had your uses. I’ll be in my cabin shortly. Get it ready.”
I nod coyly and make my way to the smallest hauler. I hear Hercules say behind me, “Asterion, get down here now. I need you to take this hide to town and have it prepared for me. Then clear up this mess.”
We’re still in port. There’s no need to leave in a hurry, and I wonder if Hercules will go back into town himself later tonight to parade his victory in front of the locals. I step into the hauler, and it begins to move slowly toward the middle deck.
I let out a long sigh as I picture his powerful body, wrestling with the lion as he burst from the cave.
He hasn’t acknowledged my part in opening the cave mouth, and likely won’t, but I won’t bring it up.
Asterion will be receiving punishment for days, and I don’t envy him.
I figure it’s better to stay quiet and enjoy his victory with him.
And right now, I know exactly how to make him happy.
Hercules has his rooms at the back of the ship, under the quarterdeck.
They take up a third of the living quarters on the Hybris.
The cabin door opens onto a grand lounge, with walls lined in deep mahogany paneling.
Plush cushions soften expensive sofas that sit in a semicircle around a low wooden table.
A bar, well stocked with wine and ouzo, stands against the right wall, and three huge shelves line the other.
They’re packed with books, from fictional adventures to encyclopedias.
I look at the books as I pour ouzo into two crystal glasses and set them on the table. I doubt Hercules has read a single one. They’re there to impress, not to be used. I love them, though.
As a child, I spent any time I could spare escaping into the adventures of someone more fortunate than myself by reading my favorite stories. Everything I learned in my life has been taught to me through books, not real people. And they’re no poor substitute.
I raise my chin, proud, as I think about how far I’ve come and where I stand now. And how close I am to the ultimate prize. I open the wide wooden doors at the back of the living room, and the room floods with light.
Instead of having portholes to let in light, like the rest of the ship, my captain has ten-feet-tall arched windows cut into the hull.
Framed in front of the bright windows is his obnoxiously lavish bed.
I busy myself tucking in sheets and draping scarlet blankets artfully about until I think Hercules will be happy.
When I’m done, I start setting up the washroom, a curved white marble room off the bedroom to the left.
I strip off my clothes as hot water runs loudly into the copper bath.
I smile to myself the whole time. I love the luxury of these quarters.
It’s what I’ve dreamed of my whole life.
And my captain’s success today means that I get to spend the rest of the day in them, with him.
My core tenses involuntarily as I think about it.
When things are going his way, Hercules is an incredible lover. His touch takes my breath away, his power and masculinity leaving me giddily defenseless.
I don’t dwell on being with him when he isn’t getting what he wants.
Tonight he’s happy, and that means I soon will be too. An anticipatory shiver runs through me as I dip one small foot in the hot water and I hear the door to Hercules’s chambers open.