“Then we are at an impasse, for I’m enjoying it all too much.”
Brine and bracken!Had I just said that out loud?
I wanted to bite down on my tongue. I could feel heat rising into my neck, running beneath the freshly shaven lines of my beard and hurtling towards my cheeks. No. I would not be undone by this little sprite of a woman and her adorably bad attitude.
“I’ll bet you are,” she said coldly. “I’ll be sure to trod on your toes a lot more, so you can enjoy it a little less.”
“Much appreciated.”
I stepped forward, dutifully positioning her arms and beginning the sequence of steps again. After we had practiced this and a few more dances, I walked away from her, opening the balcony door so we could be seen on the dance floor well before the big event.
“Jax,” she said as she passed me, lingering by my shoulder. She was standing too close, the heat from our bodies mingling and making me sweat.
I tried to sound casual. Bored, even. “Yes, wife?”
“Just because I agreed to help you doesn’t mean I’d ever accept your suit. You must be used to women swooning over you. You’ve had plenty of wives before me. But I’m not here to be charmed by you. I’m only playing a part.”
“Ah,” I said, “you simply aren’t like other girls, is that it?”
Her nostrils flared. “Safe to say every sorceress is one of a kind. Especially those of us with chaos magic.” She reached up, patting my cheek. “Don’t be charmed by me, either. None of this is real.”
“Alas. You only desire me for my curse.” I placed a hand over my heart. “You wound me, madam.”
“If that’s what it takes,” she said matter of factly, then breezed by me into the palazzo’s hall.
I tried not to trail her too eagerly.
Chapter fourteen
Sofie
“There’ssomethingIhaven’ttold you,” Jax whispered in my ear as the music paused between dances.
This did not shock me. The man was nothing but secrets—and I should’ve expected nothing less from a brigand like him. What did surprise me was that, despite myself, I was having a wonderful time.
Jax was an excellent dancer. Somewhere between goblets of rum-tinged punch, I had started to notice how handsome he looked besides. While I was growing more unkempt with each dance, my skin gleaming with sweat to rival my sparkling gown and strands of red hair flying free, he seemed more refined. More dashing.
And a little stiffer.
“What now?” I demanded, sure he was hiding some grand complication from me.
Even as I braced for it, his response still took my breath away, more than any fast-moving dance I’d stumbled through.
“Just before dawn,” he began, “Goldenbeard’s staff will begin snuffing the candles. When the last lantern goes out, tradition dictates that the pirate lords and ladies must declare a seawife or seaspouse. They are to be a faithful companion for a period of one year, until the next pirate’s ball.”
“And then what happens to them?”
Jax inclined his head towards the pair of thrones—one significantly smaller than the giant gold monstrosity at the center of the dais. “If it’s agreeable to both parties and the sea allows it, they return to the next pirate’s ball to renew their faith with each other.” He cleared his throat. “It’s a very old tradition, from a time when some pirate lords were said to have fought over the same seawife. After the bond is sealed, everyone goes their separate ways in the darkness, supposedly as a way to avoid bloodshed.”
Was I imagining it, or did Jax the Bluebeard look almost…bashful?
“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked, tightening my grip on his shoulder as the next dance began.
“A couple must find each other in the dark and seal their bond with a kiss.”
My eyes widened. “You’re going to kiss me?”
Jax sighed at me. “Say it a little louder, why don’t you? Remember, you’re my wife. We’ve kissed countless times.”
