by Eve Langlais
The claim widened Theodore’s eyes. “What did you just say?”
“She’s mine.” I’d never been surer of anything.
“Jane is a witch.”
“I don’t care.”
“Her mother will care. Pairings between shifters and witches are most often childless.”
“Then we’ll adopt.” I kept throwing out answers, excuses to do the things I’d been dancing around since the moment I met Jane. “She’s my mate.” It got easier and easier to admit.
“Not for long.” The pirate’s scowl brought the seas to a standstill. In the hush that fell, he said in a deep voice, “As the commander of DJ’s Locker, and master of these seas, for the crime of defiling my daughter, I declare you guilty. Prepare to walk the plank!”
14
Jane: Daddy, leave my boyfriend alone.
The moment I left Oz—naked and horny, wearing only his shirt—I ran to the closest public railing I could find and shouted at the raging ocean. “Daddy, you stop this. Right now.”
The seas continued to toss.
I shook my fist. “I’m not a little girl anymore! I am a grown woman, and I can do what I like with who I like.”
Rather than my father answering, my mother appeared, rising from the waves. The water sluiced from her curvy frame, leaving her dry and yet still inappropriate in an outfit more suited to a tavern wench than my mom.
I averted my gaze and said, “Couldn’t you at least wear a bra, Mom? I don’t want to see your nipples.”
“How did I raise such a prude?” my mother chided. “The body is a beautiful thing.”
“Other people’s bodies are. Seeing you half-naked is just wrong.” And I’d already seen more than enough to last me a lifetime.
“You’re one to talk. Miss I’m wearing a man’s shirt and nothing else.”
Heat filled my cheeks. “I was in a rush.”
“You’d better change before your father sees you.” A wave rose over the ship’s railing and soaked me. I sputtered and choked, yet once the water receded, I found myself dressed in a modest version of my mom’s outfit. Buttoned to the neck. Don’t ask how. I didn’t understand it either.
I still had my back turned on my mother. “Are you decent yet?” I asked.
“Oh, for Neptune’s sake.” I heard a huff of annoyance, then a whoosh of water. “Is this better?”
When I dared to peek at my mom, she’d added a vest on top of the blouse. “Much.”
“Good. Now, come here and hug me.”
I knew my mother was dead, and the body in front of me was no longer the same one that had birthed me. I didn’t care. I ran into her arms for a hug I’d not realized I missed until now. How long since my last visit? Too long.
I burst into tears.
My mother patted my back. “Really, Jane. Tears?”
“I miss you,” I sniffled.
“We talk every week.”
“It’s not the same.” My lower lip jutted in a proper sulk.
“You know the curse that finally caught up to your father makes it impossible for us to leave the ocean, but you’re always welcome to visit.”
“Don’t you miss me?” I asked.
“Of course, I do, darling.” She rubbed my cheek. “But in life, as in unlife, things change. People have to move on.”
“So everyone keeps saying,” I grumbled. “First you and Dad, now Grandma. Why do people keep leaving me? Have I done something wrong?” Something to push them away?
“Oh, Janey. It’s not because of anything you’ve done, it’s more because you’re all grown up. You don’t need us in your everyday life anymore.”
“Says you.”
“Says your mother.” She stroked my hair. “You are doing perfectly fine on your own.”
“Then why do I feel like something’s missing?” Said in a soft voice. Even as I asked, I saw Oz in my mind’s eye.
“My poor, Janey.” Her expression softened. “This is why your father and I helped my mother with the spell she cast. Because while you are a beautiful, strong, independent woman, you don’t enjoy being alone. You really are happiest with someone around you.”
“That’s a lie. I’m not a people person.”
“This has nothing to do with being social. You are looking for a mate.”
“I don’t need a man to complete me.”
“Are you sure? I know I feel more whole with Theo than I did when I was alone. He is the thing that makes me happy.”
“Don’t I make you happy?”
She stroked my hair again. “Of course, my sweet Jane. But the love of a mate is different than a child. With children, you always know they will eventually leave to forge their own path. But a husband or wife, a best friend, a lover…they are forever.”
Forever. It sounded like a long time. “Spelling the locket means you don’t trust me to choose this supposed perfect mate for myself.”
“Is that what you think the spell does? Chooses for you?” My mother laughed, the sound similar to tinkling raindrops . “You obviously don’t understand how the charm works. Love can’t be compelled.”
“Then what are you expecting to accomplish with the locket?”
My mother’s tone was matter-of-fact. “Lead you to someone you could love, of course. But it will always be your choice.”
“So far, that locket led me to a drunken pirate and a sea monster.”
Mother tittered. “Your father doesn’t know if he should be glad or insulted that you didn’t fall for the first.”
“He looked a lot like dad, but his beard wasn’t fluffy.”
“Neither was Theo’s,” Mother said with a sigh. “I still remember the first time I saw your father. It was at an engagement party.”
“Whose?” I asked, not recalling having heard this story before.
“Mine.” Her lips curved. “Before I became a pirate’s wench, I was engaged to marry some fancy duke.”
“How?”
“Because my mother and father weren’t gentry.” She smiled. “I was a witch. It wasn’t hard to set myself up in a proper position and then find myself engaged to a nice-enough man. Handsome and rich.”
“Before you could get married, Daddy kidnapped you.”
“Actually, he kidnapped me right after the marriage but before the consummation.”
“Wait, you were married?”
“In name only.” Mom’s lips curved. “I made sure your father rescued me. From the moment I saw him at my engagement ball, oozing with danger, I knew I wanted him.”
“Then why get married to the duke at all?”
Mother rolled a shoulder coquettishly. “Can you think of anything more dashing than a rescue? I’d rendezvoused with your father a few times after that ball. Enough to know that he was the one for me. But I wouldn’t call off my engagement. Your father couldn’t stand the fact that another man was marrying me. He stole me during the reception and sailed us away on his ship.”
“And you fell in love.”
“We did.”
“And when did you and Dad get married.”
She chewed her lower lip.
“Mom?” I prodded.
“It didn’t seem important given how we felt about each other.”
I gaped at her. “I’m illegitimate.”
“Doesn’t really matter in this day and age.” She smiled hopefully.
I sighed. “I’m a freaking bastard. Just lovely.”
“Not the moral of my story.”
“What is? Because I am pretty sure it got lost in the rambling.”
“I was basically talking about how sometimes you know what you want, even if there are those who say you shouldn’t. You like that boy.”
“What boy?” I played dumb.
Mother smiled. “You like him. And that’s okay.”
“He’s not a warlock.”
“Do you care?”
“Not really.” The very thought of Oz filled my mind. Was he still in bed, waiting for me to return?
“Who cares if you’re not supposed to be together. Many would say I shouldn’t have hooked up with a pirate. I would have missed out on so much if I’d listened. So, do what feels right. What makes you happy.”
“And how am I supposed to figure out what that is?” What if it wasn’t Oz? Making the wrong choice seemed as scary as continuing the way I was.
“If you’re not sure, then find the locket,” was Mom’s advice as she stepped towards the rail and the rising wave that came to greet her.
My mother was leaving already, her skin drying out from being on deck too long. The curse didn’t let either of my parents leave the sea for extended periods.
I ran for her. One last hug. She whispered, “Follow your heart.”
My heart wanted a lion. But did Oz really want me? More and more I feared it was the locket making him think he desired me. What if the magic affected him and he didn’t realize it? What if he didn’t like me as much as I liked him? I wasn’t an easy person to love.
“You are perfect.” It was as if Mother had read my mind.
We parted, and she smiled at me as the wave began to lower. I noticed that the sea had stopped churning. A strange calm filled the air. I also realized something else. I’d not seen my father yet. Surely, he wouldn’t miss a chance to hug his little girl? “Where’s Daddy?”
The wave paused, and my mother appeared nervous. “He’s around.”
“Where?” A knot formed in my stomach. Then the truth hit me. Mother knew about Oz. If she knew… I gaped at her. “Oh, please tell me he doesn’t know.”
“What did you expect?” Mother held out her hands. “I tried to stop him, but when he heard you crying out…”
I blushed fifty thousand shades of red. “I was yelling because I was um…er…”
“Having an orgasm. I know. And so does your father, which was why he snapped.”
That didn’t bode well. “What did Daddy do?”
“He didn’t sink the ship.”
A positive sign. “So he’s sulking in the Locker?”
“Not exactly,” Mother hedged. “He paid the ship a visit.”
“He didn’t visit me.” Only, as I said it, my eyes widened. “Where is Daddy?”
“Where do you think?”
My eyes rounded more. “No. Oh, no. Please say he didn’t go after Oz.”
“Really, honey, what did you expect? And with a shifter of all things.” My mother tsked. The woman who fell in love with a pirate chiding me?
“It was just oral.” Good oral, and it would have been epic sex.
“A shame then that he’s not the one.”
“How do you know?” I asked. A shocking question, because when I was with him, it felt just right.
“Because if he were your true mate, you wouldn’t still be talking to me. You’d be saving him from your father.”
The realization that I wasted time galvanized me into motion. Daddy confronting Oz could only mean one thing.
“Daddy!” I yelled his name. “Don’t you dare make Oz walk the plank.”
15
Oz: Swan dive or cannonball?
As I stood on the edge of an actual plank suspended over an ocean that currently teemed with jagged fins, it occurred to me that I should probably be taking the situation more seriously. But instead, curiosity once more was my companion, and it wondered…where did the pirate find a plank in the middle of the sea? And did he keep those lion-eating sharks as pets? Because I had a saltwater pool at home that no one in the pride used—the whole hate of water-slash-swimming thing—and it would make a great home for a denizen of the deep. It even had a diving board that we could make our enemies walk.
Because how cool was it to be told to walk the plank? It was like the fantasy from every pirate movie ever. I truly hoped someone live-streamed this so I could watch it later.
If I survived. Because Theodore Davey—pirate and pissed-off father of one Jane Davey—didn’t seem interested in forgiveness as he presided over the gathering crowd.
“So, let me get this straight. Anyone who tries to make out with your daughter will get thrown to the sharks?” someone in the mob of faces yelled.
“Yes,” Captain Davey said flatly.
“What if he just holds her hand?” hollered someone else.
“Then he loses it.”
There was a murmur, and then a thunk as something came sailing from the crowd and landed on the deck by Davey’s feet. A golden object that glinted when the pirate lifted it with the tip of his sabre.
A locket dangled from the chain. Wouldn’t you know the damned thing would resurface now to taunt me.
“Ah, shit. My wife is going to kill me,” Davey grumbled. “Surely someone in the audience wants to date my darling girl.”
The crowd leaned away, and no one said a word.
“I would,” I offered.
“Not talking to you, fleabag. Anyone?” Davey shook the amulet.
All he got in reply was the shrill shriek of my sister. “Ozzie, get down from there. The safety manual specifically said no swimming with the sharks.” Jellia shoved her way through the bodies until she stood at the front of the crowd, Jinjur close behind.
“Your brother is going to walk that plank.” Davey turned to me. “Aren’t you?”
I shrugged. “If it makes you feel like a bigger man.” Taunting a pirate. What could I say? I lived on the edge. A glance down showed that to be quite literal.
“I’m going to enjoy watching you get eaten.” Davey pointed his sword. “Jump.”
“Don’t you dare obey that order.” Jinjur took a step towards Davey and flexed her claws. “Ozzie, get down.”
“Ozzie,” the pirate said in a mocking tone, “isn’t going anywhere. He’s my prisoner.”
My sister planted her hands on her hips and huffed. “Oh no, he’s not. He’s supposed to be the uncle who spoils my future cubs rotten. Unhand my brother.”
“He must pay for his crimes.”
“What crimes?” asked Jinjur. “Bad hair? Happens to even the lushest of manes in the ocean air.”
A reminder that I’d not bothered to run a brush through it. But at least I’d grabbed some pants, or I’d be standing in the buff, making everyone feel inadequate.
Davey sneered. “Your brother is a defiler. Guilty of leading my daughter into sin.”
“A pirate pontificating about sin. Ha!” Regal as a queen, my mother strode through the crowd, which parted for her before she even got close. Rumors must have gotten around about her sharp claws.
“Madam, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.” Theodore swept off his plumed hat and presented a deep bow.
“Don’t you waggle that beard and make flirty eyes with me. I know you’re married.”
“Alas, my heart is taken by a most demanding wench, but my first mate’s isn’t,” Davey offered.
“Not interested in negotiating, given that’s my son you’ve got standing on that plank.”
“On the contrary, it would seem I have something you want.” Theodore practically purred the words. Impressive for a dead guy.
“I want you to go back to the ocean and leave my son alone. Or else.” Mother growled, and her eyes glowed. Never threaten a lioness’s cub. Never mind the fact that I was a grown-ass man on the other side of thirty.
I looked down at the churning water. Getting torn to pieces might be preferable to this humiliation.
“I don’t need your help, Mom,” I grumbled. “I was handling this.”
“You call standing on the edge of death handling it?” Mother shrieked.
“Captain Davey has a valid reason. He caught me messing around with Jane.”
“And?”
Davey cleared his throat. “And it is a crime to defile my daughter.” Some of my manhood returned at the accusation.
“Defiled, ha. Try flipping that around, Captain Soggy Bear. I’ve seen your daughter. Throwing herself at him. No better than a hussy.” My mother sniffed.
Before Davey could take offense, I did. “Take that back. I won’t have you speaking about Jane like that.”
“What? You’d take the side of the witch over me?” Mother grabbed her chest.
“Her name is Jane, Mom.”
“Her name doesn’t matter, nor this farce of justice.”
“I am king of these waters!” boomed Davey.
“And I am his mother.” The finger jabbed in my direction. Once more, my manhood shrank.
“Then feel free to join him on that plank.” Davey swept a hand, the locket still dangling from it.
A pendant I needed to get my paws on.
“Daddy! Where are you, Daddy?” The strident cry was heard before I caught sight of the wielder of the voice. But it wasn’t long before I caught a glimpse.
My witch stalked the deck, flinging her hands left and right, tossing people out of her way. When the shifters she tried to move remained standing, her magic breaking apart on their frames, she waggled her digits and grabbed someone who was affected and slammed them into the unmoving person.
Effective and smart. Also, very hot.
“Hey, Glinda.” I waved. “What happened to my shirt?” Not that I minded her current look. She wore a long, loose skirt and a blouse tucked in, every inch of her covered like a present that needed unwrapping. I liked gifts.
“Sorry about my dad. You can get off that plank,” Jane said in a rush of words.
Davey cleared his throat. “Don’t you dare move, boy.”
“You did not just seriously say that.” Jane came to a halt in front of her father, brows arched and arms crossed. “Exactly, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Don’t you dare blame this situation on me. I came to say hello to my precious little girl, only to realize unspeakable things were being done to her.”
Jane’s lips quirked. “I couldn’t speak because I was enjoying it.”
My manhood completely revived and gained some ground at her claim.
“No. No. No.” Davey shook his head. “You did not just say that. My precious daughter is an untouched maiden.”
“I haven’t been a virgin in a long time, Daddy.” Jane appeared to take great satisfaction in the announcement.