The Sensible One
Chapter thirty-nine
Elusion was as familiar as breathing to Lucianna.
Smoke curled around her limbs. She smiled and let her fingers float through the silken shadows.
Her teammates had already begun their traversal of the deck.
Lucianna had no plans of setting foot on the slats until she was on the other side.
She simply had to wait for her husband to be distracted with the others, and then she would climb the rigging and make her way across right above his head.
A squeal sounded from within the gray.
“I knew I’d be miserable at this!” Cora lamented through her laughter.
Lucianna shook her head, a smile on her lips as she easily found the stairs to the quarterdeck.
She had utilized Cora’s smoke many times and knew how it behaved.
If there had been a rule to remain on the main deck, she would have still won, but to surprise her husband and the others was a flavor of victory she longed to taste.
So up the mast she climbed, utilizing the pegs that were hammered into the post.
She got to the top and drew in a deep breath of salty air. Her eyes shut, and she allowed herself to feel the sun on her skin. To enjoy the breeze that rippled the sails around her. A moment of calm before she trekked across the rigging to claim her victory.
“Enjoying the sunshine, little thief?”
Lucianna’s heart tumbled over itself. Her eyes shot open. Finnick grinned at her from his spot on the crow’s nest.
“How?” she asked, curiosity taking over her tongue.
“I pay attention” was all he said in return.
Lucianna began assessing her odds. He had not caught her yet, so thus far she still had a chance of besting him. Could she get around him? He might be physically stronger than her, but she was quick. All she needed was the correct path. She would not give up so easily.
“Oh, please run,” Finnick crooned with a devious smile.
An explosion of giggles came from below.
“Cas!” Wren’s voice floated like soap bubbles on the breeze.
Another teammate caught, though it sounded rather like she didn’t want to win in the first place. Lucianna’s pulse hammered. She did not feel the same.
Finnick propelled himself up to stand on the edge of the basket, holding the mast with one muscled arm.
Lucianna’s gaze flicked about the masts.
One of the booms caught her eye. The long wood piece attached to the bottom of the sail would be hard to land on, but if she was more conservative, she risked Finnick crossing the sails to meet her since he was in between her current and desired destinations.
She jumped.
“Lucianna!” Finnick yelled in alarm.
Her calculation had been correct. She landed. Briefly. Then, her foot slipped. A gasp tore from her throat as she grappled for something to keep her from falling. Her hands wrapped around a thick rope, the coarse material biting into her palms. She regained her footing.
“Have you gone mad?” Finnick shouted. “You almost fell to your death!”
He was crossing the sails to her, jumping shorter distances and using the ropes as bridges and handholds. She looked to the next spot. If she did it once, she could do it again. Finnick grew closer, moving far faster than she had expected.
Lucianna drew in a shaky breath.
“Lu—Tides!” Finnick’s voice followed her as she hurled herself to the next sail.
She had misjudged the distance in her panic to get away. A scream lodged in her throat as she began to fall. Her hands smacked against the sail’s boom. She gripped with all her might and cried out in pain as her shoulders attempted to hold up the unexpected weight of her swinging body.
Before she had time to decide the best course of action, a hand wrapped around her forearm.
“You are supposed to be the sensible one between us.” Finnick grunted as he dragged her upward with one arm, the other locked around a thick rope.
Lucianna struggled to balance on the boom with the adrenaline pouring through her veins and making her limbs tremble. Finnick locked an arm around her waist and pulled her body flush with his. Her palms landed on his chest. She felt his heart galloping in time with hers.
“If you are going to risk your life, I must insist you do it for a nobler cause than beating me.” His words and gaze were sharp. “Do not do that again,” he commanded with a ferocity that surprised her. “Am I understood?”
Her throat closed. No words came. She stared into his crystalline eyes. They were the color of steel held to a flame too long.
He pressed her closer and growled, “Lucianna.”
Her fingers clenched into the warm fabric of his shirt.
“Y-yes,” she stammered breathlessly.
His expression softened ever so slightly as he looked her over.
“Are you all right?” he rasped.
She nodded, finding the concept of speech too difficult to manage. The right side of his mouth quirked up on one side. Lucianna stared at his lips.
“Tides, you’re going to be the death of me, aren’t you?” He let out a breathless laugh.
Lucianna slowly raised her eyes back to his. The heat in his gaze had melted into something opposite anger. Her stomach swooped.
“What a beautiful way to die, though,” he murmured.
His eyes dipped down to her mouth. She swallowed. It was difficult for her to make sense of anything as she was wrapped up in him.
What was real?
And what was his Gift?
These questions pricked at the back of her mind, battling the inexplicable desire to kiss him.
“Can you make it to the mast and climb down?” he asked her.
She nodded in response, though her brow was furrowed. Did he not mean to kiss her? Perhaps what he said in the castle was the truth. He did not desire her. And all of his flirting since then had been to toy with her fraying nerves. Her heart sank, though she did not know why.
It’s better this way, she told herself. If he wanted you, you’d have to decide if you wanted him.
Yet, no matter the reasoning she gave to the feeling, it didn’t dissipate. Perhaps her heart knew that the man holding her was to be hers forever. And that was a very long time to spend without shared love or affection.
Lucianna started to move, but Finnick stopped her, his fingers curling into the crook of her waist.
“My answer, little thief.” Finnick smirked.
Lucianna clenched her jaw. Of course he wouldn’t let her get by without answering his insipid question. She desperately wanted to lie, but the ridiculous man just saved her life. Now she felt indebted to him.
It was best to meet these situations head-on, without fear. Lucianna raised her chin and set upon her husband a challenging stare.
“Yes.”
His smirk morphed into a boyish grin that sent her foolish heart fluttering despite her scolding the organ.
“When?”
She shook her head.
“That wasn’t part of the deal.”
“And if I said I wouldn’t let you go until you told me?” he teased.
“Then I hope for your sake you weren’t lying when you said dying by my hand would be beautiful,” she retorted.
Finnick’s head fell back as he laughed. His eyes were sparkling with mirth when they met hers again. She fought against a smile.
“That is not what I meant, and you know it.” His hold loosened slightly. “But nonetheless, I will release you. I have confidence that one day I will hold you in my arms again.”
Lucianna rolled her eyes.
“Your ego is astounding.”
“My statement was not one of ego, but of hope,” he replied, still smiling down at her.
“You hope for the impossible.”
His expression faltered but quickly recovered.
“Why settle for anything less?”