Chapter 9: Dinner with the Captain

Evie Stanton

Desmond led the way to Thane's quarters. As we stepped closer, the sound of the piano continued to get louder. It was a lovely melody, one that the crew seemed to like as they chanted and sang along.

Was Thane the one playing?

I had heard the music all week, but I never put it together it was him playing it.

That was difficult for me to wrap my head around. The man I had seen earlier with a blue dragon tattooed all over his chest, throwing Desmond around like he was a bag of potatoes. Dripping with sweat as his magnificent back flexed for every strike.

Even from several yards away, I could watch the muscles under the skin move and bunch impressively. I wanted to learn how to fight like that. He would win the fight, pull his opponent back to their feet with a beaming smile.

A genuine smile. Not something cruel or crooked. It was real.

Then he would see me, watching, and I had to pretend like I wasn't. I didn't want to believe Thane was anything but a brute, but that same man could play complicated melodies like it came to him naturally.

I remembered being lorded over by my mother as the music instructor tried to teach me how to read music and play the keys. My mother had told me how it was pertinent to learn music so I could always play for my husband.

Like my only purpose was to be his entertainment.

Music never came easy to me. I still don't know a G key from an F. Or even what they mean. While I enjoyed it, I was completely tone-deaf. And my mother never let me forget it. She dropped the lessons, telling me how I would have been perfect.

I hated that word.

And yet I strived for it.

To be the perfect demure princess. Seen, but not heard. A pretty face with no substance and how I shouldn't even bother anyway.

How husbands don't care about what's in your mind the same way they care about what's between your legs. I pitied my mother. She felt like a shell of a person.

And I was never going to end up like her.

I would sooner jump from that stone balcony to fly one more time before they clipped my wings.

"And you're sure that I can't sleep in the crew's quarters?" I asked as we came up to Thane's cabin.

Desmond laughed. "Sorry, Evie. It's either here or in the bilge, and those bilge rats are the size of dogs."

I liked Desmond. He didn't fuck around. "I'd take a bilge rat over your captain."

"You've never seen them," Desmond snorted, finding my response nothing short of amusing. "Cap promised me he'd be on his best behavior for you."

I tilted my head to the side, eyes narrowed. "Why don't I believe that?"

Suddenly Desmond's smile fell, and his voice dropped into a serious tone. "I've known Thane my entire life. Give him a little credit." He paused, raising both hands in concession. "Or give Katarina credit. She raised him well."

That was a good point. "Okay, fine."

He smiled again and knocked on the door, hearing a muffled "Come in," over the music.

Thane glanced at me from over his shoulder, not looking at the piano as he kept the tempo of his long fingers over the keys. I stood there, behind Desmond, cheeks flushing as I helplessly wondered what else his talented fingers could do.

Could Thane play my body as well as he could play piano?

My entire abdomen warmed, tingles climbing my spine as I watched Thane play. His fingers glided faster, the melody increasing to a fast crescendo, the men from the lower deck singing along.

But I forgot about them. I forgot Desmond even though he was two feet in front of me. I could only see Thane. The yellow glow of his oil lamp with the backdrop of his windows. The sight of moonlight over glistening water.

He wasn't wearing his hat, dressed comfortably in a cotton blouse, flared and open. The thick corded muscle strained against his neck. I wanted to take a bite out of it.

My palms felt clammy.

I was expected to sleep in the same room with him? This was a bad idea. Every other time we were alone together, I found myself torn between fighting with him or kissing him. I glanced over to his bed, unmade, and I wondered if I was expected to share a bed with him.

My thoughts were interrupted as Thane closed the fallboard on his piano with a loud clicking noise. He stood up, making me feel so much smaller in his presence.

"I take it that the rooms are still flooded?" Thane asked as he crossed his arms, leaning against the bench.

"Afraid so. We'll be pumping water until tomorrow," Desmond answered.

Thane nodded, seeming just as displeased as I was about having to share quarters. "I don't like it either," I exclaimed. "But Des told me I couldn't stay in the crew's quarters."

Thane's gaze flickered over to me, then back over to Desmond. "Des?"

He flashed Thane a smile. "Evie and I are on friendly terms now."

"Evie?" Thane asked.

"You don't get to call me that. It's Princess Evelyn Marie Stanton to you. Only my friends can call me Evie," I retorted.

Thane ignored me. "Has she eaten?"

"She is right here."

The corner of Thane's lips curled into a crooked smile. My knees wobbled when his gaze met mine. "My apologies, Princess Evelyn Marie Stanton, have you had dinner yet?"

"Oh, Evelyn is fine," I said with a devious grin. "And no."

I watched a satisfying expression of pure frustration cross over Thane's face. His tongue pressed against his front teeth, and he glanced at Desmond. "It's not too late to rescind my offer and throw her in the bilge, right?"

"Afraid so. I already told Katarina where Evie would stay," Desmond replied.

Thane eyed me again, mouthing, "You're lucky."

"Do you want me to send One-Eye up with dinner?" Desmond asked.

The Captain nodded once. "Yes, two portions, please."

"Aye. Aye." Desmond wrapped around me and left the cabin.

"Why's the cook called One-Eye?" I asked, slowly turning my gaze back to Thane.

"He's got one eye. With his lack of depth perception, it's a miracle we don't call him Three-Finger."

I laughed at his joke before slapping a hand over my mouth and clearing my throat, but Thane had already heard me, his own pleasant smile lingering over his lips. "So you play piano?"

"I do," he replied. "Do you?"

"Could never get the hang of it," I admitted, taking a few steps closer to him to get a closer look at his piano. He didn't move as I stepped next to him to glide my fingertips over the top of the case. Not even a speck of dust on it.

It was an older instrument but seemed well cared for, considering it was on a ship. It sounded nice, but I wouldn't be able to tell if it was out of tune anyway.

Thane watched me intently, shifting his weight onto a different leg. "It's not for everyone." A knock on the door interrupted his next thought as he brushed past me. "Let me get that. You can take a seat at the table."

For once, I listened, sitting at a small table next to the large ocean-view windows. I looked up toward the sky, seeing stars. I was normally ushered below deck when the sky darkened, so I drank up the sight.

Thane returned to the table, with two bowls of potatoes and brown gravy. It looked awful, but smelled divine. I had learned to expect that of dinner. Ugly to look at, but pleasant and warming on the tongue. My first meal was a learning experience until Rio convinced me to just try it.

"Would you like a drink?" Thane asked, retrieving a bottle of rum from his desk.

"Drinking with you? No, thank you," I retorted, scooping up a spoonful of potatoes and gravy.

"I need a drink to get through the night with you, princess."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I scoffed, dropping my spoon into my bowl. When he doesn't respond, I continue. "You know, loads of people respect my family. The kingdom likes us. At least more than the previous family."

Thane hummed, swirling the contents of his glass. He took a large drink of rum before sitting opposite me. "And what have you been told about the previous family?"

I paused, mulling over my thoughts before replying. "Not much. Just that they were corrupted monsters running the kingdom into the ground."

He didn't say anything, his unique eyes strikingly cold.

"I ask questions, but even the servants that served them won't say anything," I continued, unsure why I kept talking. His face gave nothing away, but I felt like he had his own opinions about what happened during the insurrection. "I guess they didn't want to cloud my judgment."

"They've already clouded it," Thane mumbled as he took a sip of his rum. His eyes darkened, lips set in a firm line.

My eyes narrowed, thinking of a response.

"Be careful who you discuss this with. You may think that everyone agrees the Stantons deserve the crown, but they don't," his voice sounded dark, a warning that sent a chill down my spine.

"Are… are you a loyalist?" I whispered.

He didn't answer, eyes boring into mine as he took another drink. "Riddle me this, princess, if everyone respects your family, if everything is so perfect, why did you sneak out?"

Perfect. God, I hated that word. Crossing my arms, I jutted my chin. "I told you. I wanted a drink."

"Isn't there booze in the castle?" Thane asked, quirking a thick, black eyebrow that framed those unique eyes immaculately.

"My parents never let me drink," I replied. "And I wanted one."

"So, your parents said no to their spoiled little princess?" I hated his tone. His lower lip pulled forward into a pout. The bastard was making fun of me.

I scoffed. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

"Don't I?" he tilted his head to the side. "You lived in a lavish castle. People waiting on you hand and foot, willing to do anything for you, and you threw a tantrum at being told no. You're not that complicated, princess."

Without thinking, I stood up, slamming my fists onto the table. Thane's eyes widened ever so slightly as I jabbed my finger toward his face. "Psychoanalyze me all you want, salope, but don't for one fucking second think that you know me. You don't know what happened so don't pretend that you do."

Thane rose from his seat to his full height. I stared up at him, not backing down for a second. Motherfucker thinks he has me all figured out. He should intimidate me, considering it wouldn't take much effort for him to kill me, but I couldn't find it in me to be afraid of him.

We stood there like that, leaning over the table, staring at one another seeing who would look away first.

"I'm beginning to think you're the one who needs the drink, Evelyn," Thane said, disrupting the stand off.

"I'll take that drink now," I agreed.

He turned from me and I sat down, returning to my delicious brown sludge. Thane placed a glass of amber liquid next to my bowl. "What was so bad that it sent the only Stanton heir running from the castle?" he asked, sitting across from me with a refilled glass.

I brought the rum to my lips, taking a big, scorching gulp. "I'm engaged."

"Oh? So you ran from Prince Charming?" Thane asked, genuinely curious.

"More like Prince Decrepit. He's my father's age."

I wish I could have bottled up the look of horror Thane gave me as he choked and sputtered on his next drink of rum. He cleared his throat. "Not your first choice, then?"

I laughed humorlessly. "The man fucked his way through every brothel in the country." I took another healthy sip. "Frankly, I don't give a shit about if he was celibate or not. I'd be his fourth wife and the hypocrite only marries virgins." The rum was making me overly chatty.

"You're a virgin?" My glare answered his question. "So that's why you were at that tavern?"

I shrugged. "Not exactly. I wanted enough trouble that maybe Robert wouldn't want to marry me anymore." A sharp exhale left my lips. "But even if I did go out and fuck a stranger, the man wanted the keys to the kingdom. I just didn't want that old man to be my first."

Thane was quiet for a moment, but it appeared the alcohol loosened his lips too. "When you offered me your broach, would you have had me?"

My cheeks flushed a deep rose as my stomach coiled. I crossed my legs under the table before I answered. "Maybe. Not anymore, though."

"No, of course not."

I took another drink of the rum, my face hot before I asked, "If you didn't know who I was, would you have fucked me?"

For once, I saw the mask of a blush rising from his exposed collarbone to the tips of his ears. "I would have kissed you, and if you kissed me well enough, you would've found yourself in my cabin, cuffed to my headboard under different pretenses."

A sensual flicker of heat licked right between my thighs at his words. My eyes dipped down to his full lips. Suddenly, I was bombarded with the fantasy of Thane's mouth and all those things that mouth could do to me. Arms restrained over my head, perhaps with his hand around my throat and his name on my lips.

I tore my gaze away from him, face unbearably hot.

"But not now. I'd sooner fuck a fish," he continued somewhat cheekily, clearing his throat and returning to his meal.

I cleared my throat again, squirming in my seat. "Of course. Bilge rats have more allure."

"Of course," he repeated, not looking at me.

"Of course," I replied again, pressing my thighs closer together, hoping to dampen the fire inside.