Chapter 15 #3
My lips tip up at the corners, and I glance away, trying to find the right words.
“You were right. For my entire life, I’ve been told what I need to know or do, and had to accept it.
Edmond taught me to learn everything I could before deciding, but that was for later, once I was queen.
I never got to practice that. I had to fall in line and follow my father’s orders.
When I came here, I wanted to decide everything for myself.
I needed to see it, and figure it out, and make my own judgment.
I would have rejected it if you had just told me everything outright.
” I run my hands down his chest, feeling the firm muscles tighten as I graze over them.
“I needed to get to know who you were in here.” I press my palm over his heart, and lift my chin to meet his eyes.
“If I hadn’t, we never would have gotten this far. ”
“I’m never going to get tired of hearing you say that,” he says with a sly smirk.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Say what?”
He leans forward, closing the distance until we are sharing a breath. “That I was right.”
I roll my eyes and smack his chest. “Out of everything I said, that’s what you focused on?” His boisterous laughter rings in my ears as he crushes me to his chest and plants a quick kiss to my lips.
“I heard the rest, too. If that was what you needed, then I’m glad I didn’t do it.”
“Good,” I say and pinch his chin, dipping it low and forcing him to stay focused on my now serious face. “No more regrets.”
His eyes drop to my mouth, and he leans in, but a voice from behind me calls out loudly.
“Yo, Cap!”
Weston drops his head back and groans. “What, Jorn?”
“Well, excuse me for interrupting, but does anyone care for a drink?” I glance over my shoulder and find him standing at the front of the blanket near the fire with both arms extended, the neck of a bottle clenched in each fist.
“Not for me,” Weston says with a shake of his head.
“I’m good, thanks Jorn,” I call with a shake of my head and a smile.
“You two are no fun when you’re like this. More for me then!” He rounds the fire, going to the next group and passing the bottles to them.
Weston’s hands find my hips, and his thumbs slowly stroke my hipbones. When I turn back to face him, I find one eyebrow raised. “You don’t want to pretend you’re drunk and try to seduce me?” His face widens in a glittering smile that makes my insides melt.
“I don’t think I have to be drunk to do that anymore, Captain,” I tease.
His chest grumbles, but just as he leans closer Jorn calls out, “Who wants to hear the story about when I stole the Captain’s boots?”
“I do!” I shriek, throwing my hand in the air.
I spin around and settle back into Weston’s chest. Jorn stands off to the side on top of a crate so everyone that has made their way to the blankets around the fire can see and hear him.
He points at me with one bottle then raises it in a salute, his normally goofy grin plastered onto his face.
“Trust me, you want to hear this one,” Sig says as she plops down on the empty blanket beside us.
Weston groans loudly behind me. “I wish everyone would fucking forget this story.”
“Not a chance,” Sig says, her own wide smile matching Jorn’s.
Jorn jumps into the story, his slightly inebriated behavior fueling the humor.
Everyone slowly makes their way back and listens to Jorn recount the event.
I can’t help but throw my head back into Weston’s shoulder, laughing as it goes on and on.
Tears fill my eyes, and I can feel Weston shaking his head behind me, chuckling as I giggle uncontrollably.
Laughter and lightness floods the entire beach as everyone reminisces on happy times, or in my and the Voyager’s cases, hears about them for the very first time.
“More!” I call out once Jorn finishes, and he launches right into another recounting of, shockingly, a time he played a joke on Weston.
A cool burst of wind comes off the water, causing sparks to float through the air.
I reach down and grab the blanket again, scooting back into Weston’s chest and draping it over us, letting the heat from our bodies fight the chill in the air.
Weston’s shifts his arm under the blanket, his hand sliding over my hip and resting on the top of my thigh. His thumb strokes slowly as we listen to Jorn’s enthusiasm increase with every sentence, and I smile.
Happy.
This is what true happiness feels like.
Sitting on the beach with full bellies and a fire, surrounded by people I love, listening to stories of times that weren’t shrouded in worry and hopelessness. When I first went to the Oasis, I thought I could live the rest of my time here content.
But this.
It’s not at all how I expected tonight to feel after the Voyagers went into the mountain. But it’s real, and if this is how the rest of our days will feel, then I can be nothing but grateful for it.
“Fucking gods,” Weston mutters as I cackle when Jorn tells us about a time where he and a few of the guys lifted Weston’s bathtub out of his room and hid it in the ship.
“That was not funny,” he grumbles as I wipe the tears from my eyes and try to breathe over the uncontrollable laughter.
“They wouldn’t let me in the showers either. It was awful.”
“I’m sorry,” I gasp, “but you have to admit it is a little funny.” I tilt my head back and see the amused scowl on his face. “I know how much you like to soak in your tub.”
“He was a very grumpy Captain that week, huh boys?” Jorn chides, and a chorus of yells breaks out from the other side of the fire.
“Pick on someone else, Jorn!” Weston yells, and Jorn points over to us.
“You got it, Cap,” he says with a wink, then turns to find Eirlick, proceeding to dive into an entirely new story, one where Weston was not the center.
“Don’t be grumpy,” I say. “I like hearing the stories.” I can feel the shake of his head in my hair and the low grumble of a laugh in response. His fingers stop tracing patterns on my thigh and his hand flattens, wrapping around the inside and sliding a little higher.
His breath brushes my ear, sending a shiver up my spine as his voice grumbles low against it.
“Let’s go to bed.”
“But I’m not tired,” I say, and his responding chuckle has me curling my toes in my boots.
“Neither am I.”
My stomach dips and flutters in anticipation, but I keep my breaths steady and try not to let him see. “Want to make another bet?” Jorn’s story is barely a hum in the background as I wait for Weston’s answer, and it feels like forever of my heart pounding in my ears before he mumbles.
“What do you have in mind?”
I purse my lips, trying to hide a smile, but I can’t help how Weston’s competitive side sparks a thrill inside me. “I bet you can’t catch me, and I can make it back to the ship before you do.”
“Why wouldn’t I just leave with you?”
“Because you’re going to do the captain thing and make sure everyone’s all right, and leave someone in charge, and make sure there’s a plan to bring Fin back.”
He chuckles softly in my ear. “Am I that predictable?”
“Absolutely you are. Plus it gives my shorter legs a head start.” His hand rubs up and down my leg before settling in the same spot, but I don’t let it distract me. “So do we have a bet?”
“What do I get if I win?”
“Whatever you want.”
His hand tightens around my thigh and my breath catches in my throat. “And what do you get if you win?”
“Whatever I want.”
He presses a kiss to the back of my jaw, just in front of my ear before nipping it softly. “You better get moving. Your time starts now.”