Storm Unleashed: Phantom Islanders Part III

by Ednah Walters

  “That is Cernunnos. And those”—he indicated Gemini, the twins in Greek mythology,—“are two men battling over the love of a woman.”

  He had a story behind most constellations, and they were beautiful and funny.

  When we went back to the cabin, it was late. Nerissa was gone, and the shieldmaiden she’d been chatting with was alone at the helm. I recognized her as the sassy Donnelly.

  “Someone should take over soon, Donnelly,” Storm told her.

  “He’ll be here. Goodnight, Captain Storm. Goodnight, Silver.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Storm was gone when I woke up. I stood and stretched. Last night had been perfect. I wanted more of those with Storm. To learn more about his people, his gods and beliefs, his magic.

  No sounds came from the bed. Still, I checked on the queen mother. She wasn’t sweating anymore or shivering, but I knew it was only a matter of time. Athol had said things would get worse today. Gwyn was asleep on the lounge beside her bed.

  I pulled on the gown from yesterday and left the cabin. The captains were on the deck above the cabin with Kheelan at the helm. My cheeks grew warm when my eyes met Nerissa. She’d heard me last night. Possibly seen quite a bit.

  She waved, and I had no choice but to join them.

  Storm watched me with hooded eyes, a sexy smile on his lips. The impossible man was sharing his feelings with me again through our link, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy knowing how he felt. My body reacted.

  When I stepped on the deck, he left the others and came to meet me. Without missing a beat, he lifted me up for a morning kiss that went on forever. When he stopped, my head was spinning and the others were laughing.

  “I told you last night to use my cabin,” Nerissa said. “You two would still be at it instead of entertaining us.”

  “I told her the same thing last night, but she turned me down,” was Storm’s naughty answer. “She insisted the stars were better on the deck.”

  Laughter came from the other captains. Even Levi cracked a smile.

  My face grew warm. I couldn’t believe he was discussing last night with his captains. I pinched his ear.

  “Put me down, you scoundrel.”

  He lowered me to the deck but kept his arms around me. “Now you’re mad at me.”

  “I’m getting there.” I reached up and kissed him to show him I wasn’t really angry. The islanders had zero filters when it came to sensual matters. I’d have to get used to it. I turned to face the others and leaned against his chest. He lowered his head and nuzzled my neck, sending a delicious heat through me.

  “I was telling them why we can’t use our cabin,” Storm explained.

  “My cabin,” Nerissa corrected. “I’m taking over this ship since they burned the other one.”

  Storm ignored her. “Like me, they’d heard stories about the king’s consort, his son’s woman. We assumed they meant my mother, not the oracle. I explained the lie, why she’s sick, and how you rescued her.”

  “May I suggest something?” Kheelan asked.

  “No,” Levi, Zale, and Nerissa said in unison.

  Storm glanced at Kheelan and cocked his eyebrow.

  “If she’s not awake by tomorrow, can I see if someone messed with her mind.”

  “No-ooo!” the others chorused again. Zale even shuddered.

  “I’m going for a swim,” Levi said. “When he starts talking about invading minds, I get the chills.”

  “And the creeps,” Zale added.

  “It is like a rape of the mind,” Nerissa chimed in.

  Kheelan gave them an easy smile then sharply turned the wheel, and the ship swerved. Since they weren’t holding on to anything, they lost their balance and cursed him. He turned it the other way.

  “Juvenile,” Nerissa said, hanging on to a rail she’d caught.

  Levi and Zale gave him the finger. On the lower deck, the crew griped as they glanced at the helm. Only Storm, leaning against the deck rim with his arms around me, didn’t appear bothered. The others disappeared below, leaving the three of us alone.

  “What made you think of mind control, Kheelan?” Storm asked.

  “We do it to Tuh’rens all the time when we knock them out,” Kheelan said. “And they can stay out for hours. A powerful person could do the same to our people. An exceptionally gifted person could make anyone sleep for days.”

  “Powerful like you?”

  “Yes. Though I’d have to be evil to do that to another person.”

  Something Nereus had said about the oracle flitted in my head. He hadn’t wanted her in his head because she was rumored to read minds or do worse. What if…? No, if I voiced that, Storm might make it his mission in life to hunt down the woman.

  “Okay. If she’s not awake by the time we reach home, you can do the mind thing.”

  Kheelan saluted him. “Aye, Captain.”

  “And I agree with the others. What you do with that mind of yours is creepy,” Storm added.

  Kheelan chuckled. “I know. It’s a gift and a curse.”

  “Do you want me to take over the helm?” Storm asked him.

  “Nope. I’m good.”

  A splash came from behind us, and we turned to see Levi disappear under the rippling surface of the water.

  “Do you want to go for a swim, muh’Lexi? The weather is perfect.”

  I might have teased him last night about swimming, but I wasn’t ready to jump into the ocean naked with the captains and the crew around.

  “No, I’m hungry.”

  “I’ll feed you.” He picked me up and grinned when my stomach grumbled.

  Banan had taken over kitchen duty, since the Mac Lir’s cook had stayed with the ship. Someone must have gone for an early swim and caught fish because he was baking some and boiling more.

  After eating a hearty meal of fish and washing it down with honeyed tea from Lord Conyngham’s stash, Storm watched as Gwyn and I fed the queen mother the elixir from Athol, then broth made from boiling fish bones.

  Storm didn’t say anything. He just took my hand and started a tour of the ship, explaining different parts and how they worked. From the steering mechanism, including the wheel and the rudder to different sails. The different decks, from the highest poop deck, which had nothing to do with pooping, but was used to raise a flag and signal other ships, plus it was our special spot after last night, to the bottom one, the hold, where they kept the food, drinks, spare ropes, sails, and ship repair things. Then there were masts, the rigging, and the ratlines used to climb up the masts to fix the sails. Along the way we found nice uses for the nooks on each deck.

  I’d kissed guys before, but they had nothing on Storm. Kissing him involved all senses. Every time he stopped, I felt bereft, like my entire body was being deprived of the very thing it needed to survive.

  After what seemed like hours, we took over the helm from Kheelan, so I could have experience steering the ship. He taught what expression to use when directing the crew or turning the ship left or right, needing the sails up and out or tied up, and when sailing into the wind.

  Storm settled behind me and showed me how to turn the ship left and right, or the port and starboard of the ship. While I tried it, he found ways to distract me. He lifted my hair out of the way and rubbed his nose up and down my neck, inhaling. He kissed three different spots.

  “Did you know you have three beauty marks at the base of your neck?”

  “Uh, no.”

  He nipped at them, and I forgot I was in control of the wheel. It swung free, and the ship started to turn. A few crew members on the crow’s nest almost fell.

  “You forgot to warn them, lass,” Storm teased. “Helm’s-a-lee is the expression.”

  “Too late for that.” I righted the wheel I’d released while trying to ignore the looks thrown our way. I nodded to a few and received brief smiles.

  “Behave,” I warned Storm.

  He settled on the other end of the wheel and studied me with a tiny
smile.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Will you be okay if I leave you in charge?” he asked.

  “In charge of what?”

  “The helm.”

  “What? Now?”

  He fought a grin. “I’m going inside to check on Mother, and I know you can do this.”

  At least he was now referring to her as “Mother.” “What if…?”

  “What if what?”

  What if I fucked up? No, he was trusting me with the ship. “What if I want to listen to you talk to her?”

  “Not a good idea. You’ll start to cry, and I’d feel like a kraken’s breath for being responsible. Yesterday was enough. I learned I don’t like to see you cry or make you unhappy.”

  “Are you still focusing on the earlier parts of your life?”

  He nodded. “I’m catching her up on what she missed. That’s what you said I should do.”

  He was so adorable and clueless. His mother might not want to wake up because all she’d heard was how much she’d fucked up his life by leaving.

  “When are you going to get to the good parts?”

  “There are no good parts, she’lahn.”

  Like I said, adorable and clueless. “There’re always good parts, he’lahn. You know, how much you love her and miss her.”

  Storm scowled. “I don’t know her well enough to tell her I love her, and I can’t miss what I never had.”

  Oh, brother. “How about this? Tell her you can’t wait for her to wake up so you two can get to know each other again.”

  He considered that for a moment then nodded. “Okay.”

  “And how you can’t wait to show her your island and how much she’ll love it there.”

  “I don’t know if she’ll love it. She might want to go back to Tully.”

  “Tully is a tool. He’d said that only to piss you off or make you jealous. Don’t forget the castle. Tell her how you plan to build her one.”

  “I’d only said that to piss Tully off or make him jealous.”

  I narrowed my eyes when he grinned. “Now, you’re being difficult.”

  He ran a finger down my nose to my lips, pressed on the lower lip. I knew what he was doing. Deliberately trying to sidetrack me from our conversation. He leaned forward, ran his tongue along my bottom lip, caught it between his teeth, and nipped the sensitive flesh.

  I squealed. “That hurt.”

  “You taste good.” He leaned in. “Let me soothe it.”

  He did, laving it with his tongue before sucking on it.

  I got lost in the moment and, once again, forgot about the helm.

  Someone yelled something from the main deck, and Storm laughed. I missed what the person had said because I had blood rushing to my head and drowning out everything else.

  What had we been discussing? Building a castle for his mother.

  “So you’re not going to build her a castle?”

  “Maybe later. Right now, the jewels will go toward building the homes of the islanders first, furnishing them, and replacing whatever they lost.”

  When he said things like that, it only reinforced my love for him. I didn’t know how to explain it was better to focus on the positive instead of dredging up the ugly past. I knew he needed to let it all out and heal, but hearing about his past was heartbreaking. I’d only listened to a part of it, and I hadn’t handled it well.

  “After my father died, I’d visit his grave when things were really bad and talk to him. Sometimes, I’d be in tears over something my stepmother had done or said, but most often I was just frustrated by her. Nothing I did ever pleased her. Yet, whenever I’d reach his grave, I’d end up talking about all the great things happening in my life. Tommy and Sienna, and my blog. When I was done, I’d feel like a million bucks.”

  “So, you hid the truth from your father?”

  “No. That’s not… Okay, in a way, yes.” Argh, this was hard to explain, and he took everything so damn literally. “Talking to him was about me and how I felt afterward, not about him for the obvious reasons.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “He was dead and he couldn’t hear me, but I heard myself, and sharing my happy memories made me feel better. You and your mother are both alive.”

  “Are you saying I should censor what I tell her?”

  I studied his expression. Poor guy. He looked confused. I was doing a crappy job of explaining myself, and it was making things worse.

  “No, he’lahn. I’m saying you have a lifetime to talk and go over what she missed out on when you were growing up. But right now, you want her to wake up so you can start a new relationship.”

  “Ah, you want us to move forward, not look backward.”

  “For now.”

  He closed the gap between us, cupped my face, and leaned down to give me another slow kiss. “You are wise beyond your years, mo stór.”

  “No, I’m not. I just want you to be happy.”

  Storm grinned. “How can you doubt that I am?”

  I went on my toes and kissed him. “Go.”

  Instead of leaving, I got a kiss that made my toes curl and heat pool low in my stomach. Anymore of those and I was going to drag him below to any one of the officers’ cabins.

  “How about that cabin? It’s empty now,” he said. There was no hiding anything from him.

  I laughed and pushed him away. “It’s not happening.”

  “You are a mean lass.”

  My face grew hot when I realized we had an audience. How long had Nerissa been standing on the steps?

  I ignored him and nodded at Nerissa. “Hey.”

  “Are you trying to tilt the ship, little sister? My cabin is still empty.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed.”

  These people… No, my people were shameless. “It’s okay. I can wait.”

  “No, you can’t.” Storm jumped back when I tried to kick him. “As for you, I’m going to buy you a bell,” he said to Nerissa as he walked past her.

  She chuckled and continued up the stairs to where I stood at the helm. “He’s been threatening to put a cow bell on my neck for as long as I can remember.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m very good at sneaking and eavesdropping. I used to do it to him, Ryun, and Deck when we were little. They hated it. I didn’t get it. All they ever talked about was sailing the seas, and I wanted to do the same thing.”

  “Maybe they talked about other things when you weren’t around. Like girls.”

  “No, this was their girls-are-gross stage.”

  “Did you sneak up on him when he was in his tree, too?”

  The smile disappeared from her face. “He told you about his tree?”

  I nodded.

  “I tried a few times, and he got so angry. Even Ryun and Deck weren’t allowed in that tree after his mother left. He took an ax to it right after his grandparents died.” She sighed. “You’re good for him, Lexi. Possibly the best thing to ever happen to him.”

  A loud splash came from the sea, and Nerissa walked to see the cause. It was Levi. Zale appeared on the main deck, naked as a newborn baby. Nice ass. No tan lines. He yahooed and jumped in. Other crew members joined them, all stripping before jumping in.

  Okay, I’d seen enough asses to last me a while. The tattooed one that interested me was not one of them. Life was so unfair.

  Storm came for me before lunch, and once again, we ate in the captain’s cabin. Afterward, I asked him if he wanted to go for a swim. I promised to watch him from the deck.

  “Only if you join me,” was his answer.

  Since that wasn’t happening, I gave up on a possible drool moment. When he gave me a chance to pick a book from Lord Conyngham’s collection, I went for one about their gods and goddesses. Most of the books were in ancient languages, except for a few titles in English. Since I planned to master his beautiful language, the book I chose was in Gaelic Irish.

  We brought the lounge closer to his mot
her’s bed. The queen mother had had a rough morning but was finally asleep.

  “We’ll take over while you rest or stretch your legs. The crew is swimming and shifting if you want to join them.”

  “I’d probably drown,” Gwyn whispered, her expression bemused. “I haven’t shifted in years. Neither has your mother.”

  “You’ll get plenty of time and space when we get home,” Storm said, and Gwyn’s eyes grew misty. She quickly left the room.

  A bewildered expression settled on Storm’s face. “Was it something I said? I swear she looked ready to cry.”

  “Those are happy tears. Home for them has been the tower. Anything else was never a possibility, until you. You’re giving them a second chance at happiness.”

  His lips tightened, his gaze going to his mother. Without saying another word, he pulled me closer, and we spooned while he read and explained in English. His gods and goddesses were fascinating, and whether he read in Gaelic or explained in English, his accent was sexy as hell.

  “Do you remember the words you said to me before Captain Ren’s people pushed you overboard?” I asked when he closed the book.

  “Tá tú mo chroí, m'anam, mo gach rud,” he said.

  “What do they mean?”

  “You are my heart, my soul, my everything,” he said.

  They described exactly what he meant to me.

  “Tá tú mo chroí, m'anam, mo gach rud,” I said, hugging his arm and burrowing into his chest.

  He chuckled and pressed a kiss on my temple. When he said new words, I wanted to know what they meant.

  “I’ll teach you more, but not around my mother, lass. You wanted to climb the ratlines to see the world from the crow’s nest. The view is breathtaking.”

  We left the cabin.

  That night, we went back to the poop deck. I couldn’t say that name without wincing. I settled between his legs with our feet dangling over the side of the boat and watched the stars while he explained various Gaelic words he often used when we were making out. Some were sweet, and others were naughty. I repeated them to him while he laughed at my pronunciation. I elbowed him.

  “Look! A shooting star. Make a wish,” I said.