Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Several hours later, we broke through the waves and the fog, out into the open sea.
It was a beautiful, in a sort of lonely, terrifying kind of way.
I stood at the bow and stared at the never-ending blue horizon, imagining the small dot of the island at the edge of my vision. I had no idea where it was, but I pretended I did.
Huntley came up behind me, pressing his chest to my back. “What do you see?”
“Nothing…and it’s terrifying.”
“Come on, baby. You know you don’t have to be scared with me.”
“I didn’t say I was scared. I just… It’s unnatural being so far from land. I don’t even know how to swim.”
He stepped forward and came into my view. “You’re on a ship, and you don’t know how to swim? You told me you could.”
“Well, I lied. It’s not like I lived near a lake or anything.”
“I’ll teach you. You know the sword and the bow…but you don’t know how to swim. You don’t know how to fight either.”
My eyes narrowed on his face.
“I’ll teach you that too.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Wouldn’t want your girl to be able to beat you up.”
That handsome smirk came onto his face. “I’d love that, actually.”
We hit a rough patch in the sea, and the constant rocking of the boat against the big waves made my stomach squirm uncomfortably. I clung to the edge and spilled my guts overboard three or four times.
Huntley took care of the wheel and the sails without a hiccup. The man didn’t get sick. He didn’t get injured. The guy was invulnerable. “You alright?” He turned the wheel, hitting the wave head on so we wouldn’t capsize.
I clung to the edge. “Do I look alright?”
“I can’t take care of you right now.”
“Asshole, I don’t need you to take care of me—”
A wave splashed over the side—and soaked me to the bone.
He kept his eyes ahead, but there was a smirk on his face. “There’s a bucket down below. Use that.”
My boots slipped on the slick floorboards, and I had to grip the edge so I wouldn’t go flying. “It’s so stuffy down there…”
“Well, you’re going to freeze if you stay soaking wet, so just do as I say.”
“Do as you say—”
“Yes.” This time, he turned and looked at me. “Now.”
I was freezing and sick, so I darted back into the hatch and returned beneath the deck. The ship swayed dramatically left and right, and I lost my footing more than once. I grabbed the bucket and got into bed, just waiting for the nightmare to be over.
At some point, I fell asleep, and when I woke up again, the ship was steady. It bobbed in the water naturally instead of teetering and nearly throwing me overboard. The bucket was at the bedside, but all my vomit was gone from the bottom.
Huntley must have thrown it out.
He wasn’t in bed beside me, and my soaked clothes were gone from the floor too.
I rummaged through my pack until I found an alternate outfit then headed back up through the hatch. He was at the bow of the ship, eating an apple as he looked across the smooth water into the horizon. It was early morning, and fluffy clouds made it overcast.
The nausea had passed, but I still didn’t have an appetite. He could keep that whole apple to himself. “How much farther?” I came to his side and sat beside him on the bench.
He didn’t flinch, as if he’d heard me before he saw me. “Less than a day.”
“Good.”
He finished his bite before he regarded me. “You look a lot better.”
“I can’t believe you dumped my bucket. I could have done that myself.”
“Didn’t want our room to stink.”
“But still…”
He sank his teeth into the skin of the apple and ripped off a chunk. “You don’t have to be embarrassed.”
I looked forward over the horizon, searching for a little dot that indicated the location of the island. “I felt so sick, I thought I was pregnant or something.” My hand moved over my stomach, right over the most tender parts.
He chewed his bite, his eyes on the side of my face.
My eyes turned back to meet his. “Why aren’t you freaking out?”
“Why would I?”
“Because of all the nausea and vomiting…and what I just said.”
He took another bite—as if we were discussing the weather. “Pregnancy is a result of sex. And we have a lot of that, don’t we?”
“Still, you’re really calm about it.”
“I’m not a coward. I don’t hide away from my responsibilities.”
“I’m confused… Do you want that responsibility?”
He took another bite. “Whenever it happens, it happens.”
“Well, I’m not ready to be a mother, so I hope it doesn’t happen right this second.”
“Then I’ll keep taking my herbs.”
“What herbs?”
“Herbs that make you temporarily infertile. I’ve been taking them since I became a man.”