Sajja murmured, tilting his head invitingly. “Sit.”
Chapter 7
Cressida didn’t like any of this one bit. Most of all, she disliked that she couldn’t understand what they were saying, and felt at a profound disadvantage. Even in a life lived mostly among men, she had never felt so very different as she did walking through this village. These people were made in so many different, vibrant colors. Browns and golds and coppertones, their hair sometimes dark like Reza’s and sometimes orange or a tawny mix. None of the men wore shirts, and she noticed none of the women really did either. More than once, as they followed Chaiya from the big hut to another smaller one, she had to elbow one of the pirates before he got caught ogling too long.
Though she herself was hard pressed not to ogle. The men were all sapling lean and hard with muscle, the women all rounded and curving flesh, the picture of fertility. And there were more people here than she had imagined. The village was very large and wholly sustained by the island itself. A secret Eden in the middle of the sea, full of gorgeous people and thriving with life. It wasn’t any wonder Reza had been so fiercely protective of it. Or that he’d so longed to return to it.
They gave them each a meal in a large, thick leaf, of rice and fruit and fish. Cressida ate it hurriedly, starving once she’d tasted food that was not salted or brined or six months old. They ate with their hands and licked the lingering flavors from their fingertips when they were done. Then they waited, Chaiya having left them, and Kelly leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“Even here, there are politics.”
She nodded, eyes low. “I see that too.”
“Do you think he will betray us?”
She looked up sharply into his face. “No.”
“He has been gone from this place a long time, Cress.”
“He won’t betray us. We made a deal.”
“ You made a deal, I think.” He arched an eyebrow. “Didn’t you?”
“What do you want from me?” she asked him, exasperated. “One minute you want me, the next you want me to go to him . I made a deal with him, yes, and I gave myself to him so that he would help you .”
“But you wanted to give yourself to him,” Kelly fired back. “Admit it. Helping me had nothing to do with it in the end.”
“You are such a blind fool,” Cressida snapped. She got up from her seat and moved to the other side of the room, sitting back down away from him. The other pirates watched this, and Cressida could feel the weight of their attention upon her. She flushed, angry and embarrassed and uncertain. She thought she’d made the choice her heart wanted. She thought she’d made the choice her heart could live with. But she had not thought about whether or not it would be the choice that Reza’s heart could live with, and that left her feeling sick inside.
She resolved to get the jewel, to get her ship, and to get back to her senses and forget all of this nonsense. She had never before needed a man, any man, to fulfill her desires and affirm her happiness. She refused to believe that she needed one now. Either one. Not Kelly’s warmth and strength, not Reza’s fierce passion. Wanting them was not needing them, and she refused to find herself being passed back and forth between these men, the volleying prize they negotiated for while, really, they just wanted their own people. Reza wanted his island and Kelly wanted his den. She did not truly fit with either of them.
After some time, a shadow moved at the entrance to the hut, and Reza ducked inside. Kelly started to get to his feet, but Reza shook his head and sank down to a seat instead, nearer to Cressida but facing the Oso Armonia ’s captain.
“They will not kill you,” he said, looking between them. “But they will not help you either.”
Kelly snorted. “Great.”
Reza frowned. “I had to work just for that,” he said curtly. “And I got the chieftain to agree to give you some supplies,
Chapter 7
Cressida didn’t like any of this one bit. Most of all, she disliked that she couldn’t understand what they were saying, and felt at a profound disadvantage. Even in a life lived mostly among men, she had never felt so very different as she did walking through this village. These people were made in so many different, vibrant colors. Browns and golds and coppertones, their hair sometimes dark like Reza’s and sometimes orange or a tawny mix. None of the men wore shirts, and she noticed none of the women really did either. More than once, as they followed Chaiya from the big hut to another smaller one, she had to elbow one of the pirates before he got caught ogling too long.
Though she herself was hard pressed not to ogle. The men were all sapling lean and hard with muscle, the women all rounded and curving flesh, the picture of fertility. And there were more people here than she had imagined. The village was very large and wholly sustained by the island itself. A secret Eden in the middle of the sea, full of gorgeous people and thriving with life. It wasn’t any wonder Reza had been so fiercely protective of it. Or that he’d so longed to return to it.
They gave them each a meal in a large, thick leaf, of rice and fruit and fish. Cressida ate it hurriedly, starving once she’d tasted food that was not salted or brined or six months old. They ate with their hands and licked the lingering flavors from their fingertips when they were done. Then they waited, Chaiya having left them, and Kelly leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“Even here, there are politics.”
She nodded, eyes low. “I see that too.”
“Do you think he will betray us?”
She looked up sharply into his face. “No.”
“He has been gone from this place a long time, Cress.”
“He won’t betray us. We made a deal.”
“ You made a deal, I think.” He arched an eyebrow. “Didn’t you?”
“What do you want from me?” she asked him, exasperated. “One minute you want me, the next you want me to go to him . I made a deal with him, yes, and I gave myself to him so that he would help you .”
“But you wanted to give yourself to him,” Kelly fired back. “Admit it. Helping me had nothing to do with it in the end.”
“You are such a blind fool,” Cressida snapped. She got up from her seat and moved to the other side of the room, sitting back down away from him. The other pirates watched this, and Cressida could feel the weight of their attention upon her. She flushed, angry and embarrassed and uncertain. She thought she’d made the choice her heart wanted. She thought she’d made the choice her heart could live with. But she had not thought about whether or not it would be the choice that Reza’s heart could live with, and that left her feeling sick inside.
She resolved to get the jewel, to get her ship, and to get back to her senses and forget all of this nonsense. She had never before needed a man, any man, to fulfill her desires and affirm her happiness. She refused to believe that she needed one now. Either one. Not Kelly’s warmth and strength, not Reza’s fierce passion. Wanting them was not needing them, and she refused to find herself being passed back and forth between these men, the volleying prize they negotiated for while, really, they just wanted their own people. Reza wanted his island and Kelly wanted his den. She did not truly fit with either of them.
After some time, a shadow moved at the entrance to the hut, and Reza ducked inside. Kelly started to get to his feet, but Reza shook his head and sank down to a seat instead, nearer to Cressida but facing the Oso Armonia ’s captain.
“They will not kill you,” he said, looking between them. “But they will not help you either.”
Kelly snorted. “Great.”
Reza frowned. “I had to work just for that,” he said curtly. “And I got the chieftain to agree to give you some supplies,
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