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“Ramsay,” she whispers to me, and I raise my head off the mast to meet her eyes. Rain runs down her face in streams. “Is this the safest place to be during a thunderstorm?”

I laugh, still breathless. “Aye, I suppose it’s not.” I lean in and kiss her lips, hard and quick. “But I wager it was worth the risk, wouldn’t you?”

She gives me a small, satisfied smile that agrees with the statement.

I pull out of her and take her up in my arms, gently lowering her onto the platform. Her shift is completely transparent, her nipples poking through, and naturally I’m hard again even as I’m putting my cock back into my pants.

She notices this, a dark brow raising. “Hard again already?” she asks.

“Have you seen how delectable you look?” I tell her, bringing her hand to my mouth and kissing the back of it. “Something about you being all wet gets me burning for you.”

She beams at that and tilts her head back to the rain again, holding out her arms. “I’ve needed this.”

“Are you talking about the rain or me?” I ask.

Her eyes flutter at me. “Both. I’ve needed both.”

“Perhaps we can get dry in our quarters then,” I say.

The joy in her face dissolves at once. “Not in your quarters. There’s a sea witch in there.”

“Ah,” I say, remembering Nerissa. I don’t even want to think about her and all the things she said before I left the room. “Well, your quarters are snug but perhaps you’d like some company.”

But I can tell whenever I brought Nerissa into the picture her posture has stiffened, her face becoming more guarded. I don’t like that look on her. I want that gleeful uninhibited joy to fill her face again.

“I sleep better alone,” she says, raising her chin slightly.

I study her for a moment, trying to figure out her mood swing. I know she hates sea witches, and for good reason, and she’ll hate Nerissa even more if she tells her she’s Edonia’s sister. I decide to bury that bit of information for now, especially since I suspect Nerissa is lying.

“Regardless of how you sleep,” I tell her, “I’ll be walking you to your quarters whether you want it or not.”

She grumbles at that and turns and before I can offer any assistance she’s climbing down the roped ladder like she’s done it hundreds of times before. I watch her for a moment to make sure she’ll be alright, then I start down after her.

By the time my feet hit the deck, she’s already heading for the stairs down below. I pass by Remi and Horse at the helm who are snickering and giving out little encouraging hollers, and only give them an authoritative nod in response. I don’t need for them to be bringing this up tomorrow with the rest of the crew.

I quickly follow Maren down the stairs to the main deck and she’s just about to duck into her quarters when I reach out and grab her arm.

“You sure you don’t want my company tonight?” I ask, lowering my voice.

She gives me quick smile. “I think I’ve had what I needed.”

Then she opens the door and closes it on my face.

CHAPTER32

Maren

“Where is Ramsay?”I ask Sam, shielding my eyes as I look around the top deck. It’s a few hours before sunset, the sun lower on the horizon but still packing a wallop. I’ve gotten more sun in these last few weeks than I ever have in my life and my skin is starting to show it, freckles deepening and my pallor turning a light gold. With no more parasols to shield me or concerns from the queen about being as pale and flawless as possible, I relish the change in my skin.

“Bones should be reading to the boys,” she says, playing backgammon on the bench with Cruz, otherwise known as Isaac. “He’ll be in my quarters.”

I nod and head toward the stairs.

It’s been a week or so since Ramsay and I came together up in the crow’s nest. I’ve been avoiding him since, just a little, trying to get my mind working in the right order. I feel his words are starting to undo the resolve that I’ve built up, they’re threatening to unravel my agency, and everything is growing more complicated as the passage across the ocean stretches on.

From the moment I first stepped on land all those years ago, I knew I made a mistake and I have been trying ever since to find some way to rectify it. I was trapped but I still had dreams of returning to my home in the depths. When I was kidnapped by Ramsay, all those dreams started to become more of a reality. It was no longer something I hopelessly pined for, for now I had hope. A return to my true self and my old life was in my sights.

But while Ramsay gave me that opportunity, Ramsay is also the reason why everything is suddenly so complicated.