I sank back into the cushions and shut my eyes, jaw tight. I needed to leave. Sooner rather than later.
As soon as she’s well again, I told myself, almost smirking at the turn of the tide.
She once cared for me. Now I could return the favor.
The next morning,I awoke to a cold cottage. Normally Malia woke before me and started the fire. The house would smell like a heavenly breakfast only she could make, and the windows would let in morning sunlight.
But it was quiet. I frowned, then bolted off the settee.
“Malia?” I barged into her room. The bed was empty and unmade, and the washroom door was open. A brief wave of panic came over me.Did someone kidnap her?Did the twins come here last night, without me knowing?
I looked in the kitchen and then burst out the front door. That’s when I found her, by the well, hunched over, hugging her arms.
“What are you doing?” Anger coated my voice. I didn’t mean to sound so mad, but why was she out here?
“I was getting some water to prepare breakfast, but then realized I’m just too tired…” Her braid had become loose and her teeth chattered against each other.
“Come here.”
“I’m fine.” But her frame trembled like a ship shuddering after a storm.
“You’re freezing.”
Before she could argue, I scooped her in my arms andtook her inside, holding her body against mine. She stiffened at first, then relaxed.
“I don’t know how to be gentle,” I admitted, wanting to stroke her back or do something… but I felt awkward. Not used to this. Not used to holding a woman in my arms.
“You’re doing fine.” Her head rested on my chest.
My grip tightened and I rested my chin lightly on her hair, trying not to enjoy her vanilla scent too much.
“That’s the problem, Malia. I don’t want to be gentle with you.” Or anyone. The only reason I succeeded in my business was because of my cruelty. The whales. My men… Everyone bowed to me. Did what I asked. There was no gentleness in my life.
Until Malia.
Her fingers found my cheek, where she stroked it, as if to show her appreciation. It wasn’t anything huge, but it rocked my insides like a storm. Her hand moved down to the whale bone necklace hanging from my neck.
“Once I’m healed, you’ll go back, won’t you?” she asked softly.
“That was the plan.”
She nodded, but something in her face–even when she wasn’t looking at me–made my chest tighten.
“And then what?”
I hesitated. No one had ever asked me that before.
Then what?Then I continued building my empire…
What’s left to build?I was the wealthiest man in all the kingdoms, with fleets under my command and power and influence that rulers would dream of.
So then what? MaybeIhadn’t even asked myself that before. After one obtained everything they worked for, where did they go from there?
I let out a quiet breath before saying, “I built a life most men would envy. Wealth. Ships. Power. But… I don’t know.”
“You’re allowed to want more.”
Her words pierced me to the core. More? What wasmore?Did she mean a life with her? Settling down? Raising a family? Perhaps part of me never wantedmoreof that because of my parents. My father–also a whaler, albeit a weak one–drowned at sea, leaving my mother behind to raise us. It was hard enough on a whaler’s income, but alone? I watched her sink in her sorrows and the stress of providing for me and my siblings.
