Page 25 of A Warrior's Heart

The thought of being intimate with someone usually made my skin crawl, but with Malik? I trusted him. Wanted him.

“I…” I swallowed noisily, dropping my gaze to his lips. I had never kissed someone before. What would it feel like? Would his lips press softly to mine? Rough? “I want you to see me.Trulysee me.”

“I do see you.” Malik gripped my nape and angled my head up. He towered over me, and the size difference thrilled me from head to toe. “I haven’t looked away in four years.”

The strangest sensation attacked my belly, as if jellyfish swam around inside it.

So many times Malik had thrown me over his shoulder and carried me around. He had let me wrap myself around him and cuddle into his neck. And when he thought I was asleep, sometimes I’d feel him press a kiss to my head. I used to think he did so because he still viewed me as that frightened little boy who’d held his hand and hid behind his legs when around other people.

Was I wrong? Did he do it because he cared for me in a different way?

“Malik, I—”

A crash came from the right of us.

Malik shoved me behind him and spun to face the direction the noise had come from, his dagger drawn.

“Ow,” Nereus said, rubbing the back of his head. He lay sprawled on the deck, his foot tangled in a rope. His shaggy brown hair fell into his eyes as he turned to his side and tried to break free of the rope, to no avail. His struggles only made it worse.

“Gods, man.” Malik holstered his blade and strode toward him to help. “You make me question my decision to bring you along if you let yourself be bested by a damned rope.”

Nereus stood once he was freed and gave Malik a bashful smile. “I was only testing you, sir. Keeping you on high alert. An attack can come at any time. Isn’t that what you always tell me?”

Malik narrowed his eyes. “Why are you roaming around? You should be in your bunk.”

“It’s hard to sleep with the rocking of the ship,” Nereus answered, rubbing at his head again. “It also smells musty below deck. I needed fresh air. And truth be told, confined spaces make me nervous.”

“As a warrior, you will face many uncomfortable situations,” Malik said in an authoritative tone. “You will sleep with no shelter, in musty caves or ships, wherever your commander tells you. You will go days without eating, without sleeping. Your muscles will ache, and you’ll have to keep moving forward regardless. Comfort is a luxury you don’t possess.”

“Yes, sir.” Nereus squared his shoulders, standing tall. “I’ll return to my bunk.”

I saw it then, a soft gleam in Malik’s orange eyes. He was stern with Nereus, yet he wasn’t nearly as emotionless as he pretended to be. Other people might not have noticed it. But I knew Malik.

“Be ready to work at first light,” Malik told him. “Being on a ship does not mean you can slack in your training.”

“Yes, sir.” Nereus bowed his head before finding the hatch to go back below deck.

“What’s his story?” I asked, leaning against the wooden rail. The sound of the ship moving through the water was peaceful. “I don’t mean this in a bad way, but he seems kind of… simple, I suppose. Clumsy too.”

The edge of Malik’s mouth twitched. “Perhaps he’s not the brightest man I’ve ever trained, but he has a good heart. He’s determined and hardworking. His father was killed in the battle of Black Hallows, and his mother died when he was a boy. He joined the army because he had nowhere else to go. Why are you smiling?”

“You’re a good man, Mal,” I said, feeling like my heart was going to burst from my chest. “He had no one, and you stepped up to be there for him.”

“As his commander, nothing more.”

More like an older brother. Maybe even a father figure. But I held my tongue on the matter.

“We should get to bed,” I said, stepping away from the railing.

The sizzling connection between us from earlier was gone. Perhaps it was for the best. I wasn’t sure what would’ve happened between me and Malik had Nereus not come stumbling along.

Malik walked beside me as I returned to the cabin I shared with my sister. Outside the door, I turned to him. He was closer than expected, and once again, my body heated.

“I’ll see you on the morrow,” I said.

“Sleep well, Troy.” Malik lifted a hand and ghosted his fingers across my jaw.

I sucked in a small breath and tilted my head up, my skin tingling with. He dropped his hand and turned away without another word. I watched him walk toward the door to the right. Before he went inside, though, he looked over at me.