Maybe she did, but she wasn’t about to join their romp. Honestly, she was amazed they didn’t hate her for what she’d done. They had every right to. When she’d ventured the question to Barley earlier, he’d merely shrugged and said Hook had told them it was an accident, one she was going to help fix.
Tink pulled at the sleeve of her shirt, stuck to her skin by sweat and heavy humidity.Hisshirt. He’d covered for her to his crew when he had no reason to. A part of her wished the captain had joined the revelry. What did he look like without his shirt? His breeches? Another part of her, a dark, secret, treacherous chest she kept locked away, loathed the idea of him caressed by mermaid claws or wrapped up in one of Cressida’s crew.
“I can’t sit here anymore.” Tink pushed to her feet, brushing sand from her pants.
“Oh?” Barley glanced toward the revelers.
Tink put her hands on her hips. “No. I need…”To relax. To think. To get away from filthy pirates.
He pointed his sewing needle at the dirt path behind him. “There’s a hot spring a little way down that path.”
A flicker of joy bubbled up from the hazy murk within. She flexed on to her tiptoes, body already loosening at the prospect. Warm, soothing water in a bath that wasn’t salty. No mermaids. No orgy. Just— “Can I go alone?”
She feigned modesty, staring at her boots like a child. Barley was a tolerable companion, for a pirate, but stripping down in front of him was out of the question. Sharing a bath with him?Hard pass.
The shirt he mended found a home on top of the others in the basket. “I should go with you.”
“Not a—” she protested.
“Fine. I’ll just watch the path,” he said, raising his palms. “Make sure no one disturbs you.”
She clasped her hands in front of her and gave him her brightest smile. “Perfect.”
*****
Moss-covered rocks tickled her bare feet. Large pools of water trickled down like a giant’s staircase, one to the next, from somewhere high on the steep hill above. Birds sang. Tree branches laden with fruits dipped toward the ground. Others formed a canopy above, bathing the springs in muted, dim light. Soon the sun would sink below the storm clouds, and the only light would be from the luminescent moss hanging in clumps off the rocky hillside.
Tink sighed as she unwrapped the binding around her wings and dropped it on her pile of discarded clothing. They stretched and fluttered, lifting her toes off the ground, as she worked out the aches and kinks from keeping them bound. No amount of stretching could compensate for the soreness the bindings inflicted—a necessary evil living among humans. When was the last time she hadn’t felt pain performing such a simple lift? Hookfeared she’d fly away?Ha. She’d be lucky to fly the short distance back to the beach before her wings groaned in agony. Misuse and living outside the magic of the vale were cruel punishments to any pixie.
Steaming water enveloped her foot, her calf, her thigh, then higher as she drifted down into the spring’s embrace. She groaned in mixed pleasure and pain, savoring the sweet burn that distracted from her abused wings. Smooth boulders below the water’s surface provided the perfect seat, as if someone had long ago built this hot spring stone by stone for human use. Perhaps they had.
A contented sigh joined the fading bird calls. It was peaceful, comforting. Such a pleasant change from the ridiculousness on the beach. Every step she’d taken into the woods away from it had lifted her spirits. Tink let her head rest against a mossy rock as she sunk into the water up to her neck.
A thread of homesickness stitched its way into her heart. If she closed her eyes, she could be there, resting in the springs beyond her little village with her cousins. Did they think her dead? Mourn for her? And Lily… She had to have made it back, she had to be safe. But then why had no one come looking for her if Lily had told them where she’d gone and what had happened? Perhaps they really did consider her a lost cause.
“And now I’m stuck with these filthy pirates,” she lamented.
A deliciously deep voice broke the peaceful night and vibrated along her skin. “Who’s filthy?”
Chapter 11
Tink
Tink screamed. Her eyes flew open as she leaped toward the center of the pool and away from the voice at her back.
Hook stood on the bank next to her pile of clothes, a bemused expression on his devilish face.
“You!” She covered her breasts with her arms. “You—”
Flora’s petals!Her heart pounded in her chest as she took in the smug pirate. Wet locks dripped water onto his bare chest. A fine smattering of dark hair adorned lean, chiseled muscle that even the dimming light couldn’t hide. Something hung on a string around his neck, landing over his heart. Her mouth dipped open as her gaze traveled lower, taking in toned abs and a dark trail disappearing into damp breeches.
He dropped the boots and clothes he carried on the ground next to hers. “You were saying, love?”
“Ugh!” She splashed water in his direction. “Don’t you know it’s rude to sneak up on women while they’re bathing? Or ever, for that matter.”
“Is it?” He scratched at his chin. “Last time I interrupted a lady in the bath it turned out quite nicely for the both of us.”
Her cheeks burned, and she swatted at the water. “You’re disgusting.”
