Page 74 of Found at Sea

“That answer is unacceptable.” Kellan’s voice held a growl to it. “Did someone hurt you? I will kill them.”

I sat up and glared at him through my tears. “Youhurt me. But Alek hurt me most. He told me about you ordering him to be my friend.”

“To watch over you,” Kellan corrected, staring at me with caution in his eyes. “He became your friend of his own free will. If you’re going to be angry at anyone, be angry at me. But he did nothing wrong.” Cupping my face, he leaned forward and softly brushed his lips across mine. “Please stop these tears. Seeing you cry makes me want to kill something.”

I gave a throaty laugh as several more tears slipped from my eyes. “I think I just need a minute to compose myself.”

Kellan touched his mouth to mine before pulling back. “Then you shall have it. When you’re ready, I’ll fetch us a meal.”

“Isn’t meal fetching my job?”

“Not today,” he said, standing from the bed.

Before he left the room, I called after him. “Kellan?”

He turned and waited for me to say more. His dark hair was messy, as if he’d run his hands through the top of it a lot, and although he wore a simple linen shirt and black pants, he still held an air of authority to him.

“Back in Stonebridge…did you have Alek distract me so I wouldn’t see the crew pillaging the town?”

“Aye,” he answered without hesitation. “When I first met you, I saw your kind heart and I knew you’d never be a true pirate.”

“Then why did you ask me to join your crew?” I asked, hoping he gave me a real answer that time. “If you knew I’d never fit in with your men,whydid you insist on bringing me aboard?”

“Because from the first moment I saw you, I knew I had to have you,” Kellan said. “There is no other answer I can give except for that.”

“So you only wanted to fuck me?”

The captain shook his head and for one of the first times ever, I saw the wall around him go down. Vulnerability shone in his eyes before he averted them to his hands. He twisted the ring he wore on his right index finger. I’d often wondered where he got the ring from, but I had yet to ask. Maybe I never would.

“No, Fletcher,” he said, glancing back up at me. “Though I craved your body, it wasyouI craved most. I wanted to protect you. To claim you as mine. And so I did.” An almost shy smile touched the corners of his lips. “I just never expected for you to claim me as well.”

A rush of warmth filled my chest, and I smiled.

He left without another word.