“You might make Ramaro jealous.”
“That’s something about him I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I mused as we continued toward the beach. “Ramaro doesn’t usually like humans, but he does seem to have attached himself to you.”
“No.”
I pressed my hand against my pocket where I’d placed the package of scales. “He doesn’t usually give out gifts, either.”
A crooked smile slipped onto his lips. “Not if he can help it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be a good pirate.”
I smiled at him. “Your crew isn’t the bloodthirsty type, are they?”
His good humor faltered a little. “That would depend.”
My blood ran a little cold. “On what?”
“On what they’re fighting for,” he told me as he stared ahead of us. “A man fighting for his life can be quite brutal. A man fighting for his crewmates can be a monster.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I. . .I see.”
He stopped and turned to face me. There was a dark look in his eye that made me shrink away. His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, arresting my retreat. “I don’t think you do. There’s darkness in the seas, darker and deeper than any of those waters. Men do terrible things in that emptiness. Civilization only tolerates them because it doesn’t know the terrible deeds that lurk in their shadows.”
I could barely get any words past my dried lips. “A-and you do?”
He opened his hand and drew his arm back. “You can’t sail for as long as I have without seeing the worst of humanity. Ramaro’s seen it, too. I don’t want you to get a fanciful idea that sailing on my ship will be sea spray and sunshine. You’ll see blood and worse, so that it stains more than just the decks and the seas.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, making the bird on my limb squawk and flutter onto my shoulder. “I. . .I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so stupid.”
His tense shoulders relaxed, and he lifted his chin. “There’s no sense in your apologizing. You did nothing wrong, you’re only naive.”
I frowned and turned away. “You don’t have to scare me like that. You could just say I’m stupid and get it over with.”
I felt him step closer to me. “I didn’t say you were stupid, just naive.”
I bit my lower lip. “It’s the same thing.”
He grasped my upper arms and turned me to face him. “It’s quite a different thing.”
I blushed under the intense gaze of a single brilliant blue eye. “Then you still want me on your ship?”
“More than ever.” He leaned forward and captured my lips in a deep, passionate kiss.
By the time we parted, I was out of breath. My cheeks felt like they were on fire, and a wonderful, warm thrill raced up and down my body. I could only cast glances at his face. “Is this how you lure all your women into getting on your ship?”
His crooked smile reappeared. “Only the ones worth luring.”
“How many has that been?”
“You’re the first.”
I whipped my head up and blinked at him. “Really? But all the women Marty mentioned-”
His chuckle interrupted me. “They were beautiful creatures, but most of them couldn’t stand the ocean. Half of them would get seasick watching the tide.”
“So I passed that low bar by being able to stand the ocean and not lose my lunch on your ship?”
“And your gift intrigues me,” he added as he jerked his head toward the shore. “Let’s go see what you can do.”
“Do?” I asked him, but he had already started walking. I hurried to catch up. “Do what?”
