The Mermaid's Pearl (Tears of the Deep Book 1) by Brooke Kennedy Page B

thankful. As he pulled me to my feet, his grip on my hand tightened. “Give the lady your thanks for her story,” he growled.
    His crew began to mutter their thank yous, but he didn’t stay to listen.
    He pulled me behind him as we walked back to his cabin; however, I didn’t want to be close to him. He was a human and too close of a reminder of what I’d lost. When we walked inside of the captain’s quarters, I didn’t say a word as I went into the washroom to change. I brushed water from the basin over my face and curled my hair around my finger nervously. I couldn’t stay in there for long; he would come looking for me. A long breath of air came from my mouth as I went back into the room.
    Aiden was sitting on the bed as if he was waiting for me, but I walked past him to sit on the window seat.
    “What’s the matter, lass?”
    “Nothing,” I said with a shrug.
    “Don’t close up on me, darling, I thought we were getting past that.”
    I shook my head and didn’t respond. Maybe we had been moving in a different direction, and I felt myself open up to him, but it didn’t change the fact of who we each were.
    Aiden stood up and began to put out the lights, except for the single candle beside the bed. As he tucked himself into the covers, he looked over to me. “Come to bed, Rae.”
    “No, I think I will sleep here by the window.”
    It was silent for a moment, but then the bed rustled. Aiden came to stand beside me. “You are not sleeping here. If I’ve done something to upset you then sleep in the bed, and I will put up pillows between us. I won’t touch you I swear it.”
    I was surprised at how calm and reasonable he was being with me, but it felt right to be by the sea, and that’s where I wanted to sleep. “I just need to sleep here.”
    He sighed and stomped over to the bed to retrieve a blanket and pillows. He walked back over to where I was and dropped them in my lap.
    “You can be a stubborn woman,” Aiden said as he ran his hands through my hair and pulled me to him. He planted a soft kiss in my hair before returning to the bed.
    A part of me did want to be in the large bed with him and not alone in the window seat, but I felt incredibly unhappy. I needed time away from the warmth of the captain’s body to think through what needed to happen next. The sound of the ocean on the other side of the window was the next best thing.
     

Chapter Twelve
    The sword swung toward me and I cried out, jumping away from the pirate and holding my own sword high.
    “You would make a bloody good pirate,” Aiden laughed.
    “I told you I could do it.”
    Just like I suspected, sword fighting wasn’t much different from fencing with the swordfish back home. After a night of tossing and turning, I had woken up angry and needing a way to get it out. I was able to talk Aiden into teaching me how to swordfight by winning a bet on how rough the waters would be when we went on deck. I had a connection to the ocean, and he had no chance against that bet.
    As we fought, I channeled my anger into every swing and let it feed my fury. It pushed me forward with every slice of the sword. I was angry at myself for giving too much information about merfolk to the crew, and I was angry that I couldn’t stop the calm when Aiden’s hands were in my hair. Either he didn’t care for me, or he was still holding back his true thoughts and feelings, and that made me angry.
    Once again, I brought the sword down towards him and his own collided with it to stop the swing. Aiden swirled away from me with laughter.
    “Good job, lass. You’re ruthless.”
    “You should know better than to underestimate me, Aiden,” I said excitedly as my sword stopped his from colliding with my body.
    It was such a rush, to be sword fighting with the renowned Captain Aiden. My blood pumped in my veins at the excitement. I wasn’t sure if he would really strike me or not. I was surprised at how rough he was handling me, but I wasn’t about to