The Seafaring Rogue by Sky Purington

Author:Sky Purington
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: 0
Published: 2018-06-25T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

F raser sat at his desk and continued to watch Elspeth sleep. After keeping a discreet eye on her the previous night as she stood outside for hours, he pretended to be asleep when she returned. Though he wanted to confront her and continue their conversation, he decided to wait for her to come to him.

He would not force secrets out of her.

She had been through far too much.

When she dozed off in a chair rather than lie down beside him, he transferred her to the bed. Though tempted to join her and pull her into his arms he instead spent the remainder of the night sitting at his desk staring out to sea.

Now, like a lovesick fool who ought to know better, he gazed at her. It was still hard to believe she was here. That she lived. It felt surreal in an unexplainable way. As if he had yet to awaken from a dream.

He had stood over her several times as she tossed and turned, caught in sleep that seemed as restless as his soul. When she muttered in distress, and her eyelids fluttered, he almost found himself offering comfort. Many times he nearly sat and rested her head on his lap. Many times he longed to caress her soft skin and remind her she was no longer caught in a nightmare.

Yet he did none of those things.

Instead, he eventually set her ring on his desk and joined Magnus above deck. All was as it should be and the weather seemed fair enough.

“As ye ordered we remain just enough off the coast to avoid detection,” Magnus reported. “We’re through the Firth and dropped our speed.” He nodded at Fraser. “Everything’s going precisely as ye said it would Cap’n.” Then he shook his head. “Yer a smart bastard.”

Fraser winked then eyed the crew. “What’re the men sayin’?”

Magnus didn’t need to ask what he meant. “They like her.”

“Do they trust her?”

“Aye.”

“And ye?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

While some might dance around an answer to appease him, his first mate was no such man. “Not at all.”

“Nor should ye,” Fraser replied. “Not yet anyway.”

He clasped Magnus’ shoulder before he decided to break his fast with those of the crew not seeing to the sail’s. Unlike most captains, he spent nearly as much time with the men as his quartermaster. He liked to be in the thick of it and cut out the middle man on occasion. As Magnus had said, they seemed fond of Elspeth. The one whose face was cut wore his bandage like a badge of honor, seemingly her new protector if she found herself in need.

By the time he returned to his cabin with food for her, she was staring out the window with her arms crossed over her chest. She seemed lost in thought. As if mayhap contemplating how she wanted to phrase things. How she wanted to approach him this time. Would they bicker again or was that behind them?

“I see we’re already through the Pentland Firth and a ways down the west coast,” she finally said, her back still to him.

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