Hook's Pan (23 page)

And she wasn’t thinking of Neverland, because like it or not, she knew this place
was
real, crazy as that made her feel. But discovering that there was actually someone in the world she enjoyed being around as much as him, it just didn’t happen. She’d seen love fail too many times.

“Oh my God,” she muttered, walking to the chest, “what am I saying?”

Love? She wasn’t actually thinking that word. Goose bumps raked her arms, her back, her legs…a cold sweat dampened her skin. He couldn’t love her. He didn’t know her.

Hands trembling, she grabbed hold of the chest. “Give me something Hook would like.”

It wasn’t until after she asked that she realized she wanted to please him, that there were times she was thinking of herself not as a ‘me’ but a ‘we.’ The mere fact that she’d just phrased her request with his name in it showed that she wanted to please him, wanted to see his eyes grow wide, fill with heat and desire.

A bright golden halo of light forced her to shield her eyes. When it cleared she looked down and then smiled. “Of course it’s red.”

Stomach fluttering with nerves, she swathed her body in the luscious silk dress. The red was so dark it almost appeared black in the dim lighting. But when she moved little flickers of light winked back at her. She had no clue how it was happening, because it wasn’t silver thread or tiny jewels catching the flicker of flame. It was part of the fabric itself.

They had a couple hours left, she could contain her OCDs for a bit longer. There was no need to be scared of what was happening between them, because she
was
leaving and probably never coming back. The thought comforted her, relaxed her enough to take a deep, fortifying breath. Running her fingers through her hair to give it a more flirty look, she squared her shoulders and went to meet him.

It was a ghost town above deck. Standing in shadow, she studied the empty stretch of ship, at the yards and yards of rope hanging everywhere, at the crates and barrels. In all the time she’d been here, she’d never really taken the opportunity to study his boat.

It was all wood, and iron. Or at least she thought it was, she had no clue what kind of metal was what, but it was black and looked like the stuff she’d seen in the movies. Old-fashioned looking lanterns swung overhead, casting flickering flame light along the deck. Actually the boat sort of reminded her of the ones she’d seen in old pirate movies.

But what was really weird to her, was that though she heard the men moving around, and even occasionally saw them, she had no clue where they went when they weren’t working the ship. The captain had literally made them all disappear. Apart from Monroe Smee she’d never even spoken to one.

“You have stolen the very breath from my body.”

Hook’s whiskey deep drawl made her jump, she twirled grabbing her thumping chest and did a sort of stutter laugh.

“You scared me.” Taking his proffered arm, she moved in next to him, enjoying the clean, male scent of his body. “Where is everybody?”

The ship creaked as it listed on the waters. “I’ve given them leave. I did not wish to share our time with a bunch of scallywags.”

Gazing out at the inky black sea, she couldn’t understand. There was no land as far as her eye could see. And she hadn’t heard anyone below deck when she’d made her way down the long hall. So where’d they go?
 
“But, we’re on a ship in the middle of nowhere. Where exactly did you send them? I didn’t hear anyone below deck.”

His lips quirked and her pulse fluttered like a hummingbird’s wing in the back of her throat. He had such a nice mouth, especially when he using it to tug on her nipples. The wicked thought made her stomach curl and she had to fight the instinct to just tell him ‘screw it, take me back to the room.’

Walking her toward the wheel, he patted her hand. His skin was so warm, felt so good against her cool flesh.

“This ship is like a portal. With a mere command, I can move between realms, it can even hover over land. That part of your book is right. I have sailed through London’s maze, seen the wonder of the pyramids, and the majesty of the great wall.”

“You can travel to Earth?”

Stopping, he turned to her, pulling her hands to his chest. Brushing a curl of hair behind her ear with his hook, his black gaze mesmerized her, she could see the stars in them again. A shower of them, as if falling from the heavens.

“I’ve only to think where and what I’d like to see and it would be done. Tell me, little bird, where do you come from?”

She licked her lips as everything inside her quaked. “A little podunk place called Lebanon, Missouri. Ever heard of it?” Lifting a brow in challenge, she waited for his denial.

Instead, he nodded. “I’ve heard of it. The same place Huckleberry Finn hailed from? Missouri.”

Always surprised by him, which she shouldn’t be anymore, she chuckled. “Yes, he lived in Missouri. And just like Huck, I can’t wait to leave. But for some reason, I can never seem to leave.”

Leading her to a small table and chairs she hadn’t spotted before, he helped her to sit. “But you have left.” Taking the chair beside her, he pounded his palm on the table and suddenly two plates appeared and they were full of food.

His plate had a turkey leg, with roasted vegetables on the side and all of it dripping in a brown gravy. The smell of rosemary and sage made her mouth water and her stomach grumble, suddenly aware of just how hungry she was.

She hadn’t eaten much since being here. It was weird, because when she wasn’t around food, she didn’t miss it. But the second she saw it she felt half starved.

Her plate was different than his. On hers sat a large bed of steamed shrimp and small bowl of cocktail sauce.

“I did not know what you’d like, I hope I ordered well. If not, you simply have to think what you want and it will appear.”

“Oh no,” she shook her head, “I love shrimp. It’s my favorite. Good guess.”

Appearing shy for a moment, he grabbed his turkey leg. “Actually, it was Talia’s favorite too. I just hoped…” he let his thoughts dangle, as if unsure whether to speak about Talia to her.

But she wasn’t offended. Being with Hook, it was different. Unlike everyone else that kept wanting her to turn into Talia again, he was the only one who seemed content with who she was now. Shrugging, she picked one up by the tail.

“Well, I guess we do share a soul, maybe parts of her are in me after all.” Tipping her shrimp toward him in a mock salute, she dipped it into her sauce and then took a bite, moaning as the tangy, sweet and buttery flavors rolled across her tongue.

They ate in silence, neither one feeling the need to spoil the moment with too many words. This silence wasn’t awkward or heavy. It was nice, two people simply enjoying being in one another’s company.

By the time she finished her plate, she was stuffed. There had to have been forty shrimp on it, easily. And she’d eaten it all. After that feast with the mermaids, he must think she was a huge pig.

“It was delicious, but my eyeballs are floating,” she chuckled, setting her plate aside.

Hook thumped the table once again and two glasses of wine appeared. His red, hers white.

Laughing, she took her glass by the stem and inhaled the sweet aroma of her drink. It was a fruity blend, smelling like raspberries and apples but with a tart aftertaste. Refreshing and delicious.

“I wish I had one of these at home,” she sighed with a case of table envy. “I hate cooking. Where’d you find this thing?”

“I stole it from a king. He had four, I figured he could afford to lose one.” He said it so casually she expected it to be another one of his jokes, but when he didn’t laugh she realized he must have been telling her the truth.

Tossing her head back she laughed hard. “I do like you, Hook. You’re so deliciously bad.”

His answering grin made her toes curl.

“You never did answer my question earlier, by the way. Where did all your men go?”

Chewing and swallowing the last bite of his potato, he took a sip of his red wine before answering. “I did answer. This ship is magic, but I think perhaps you should see what I mean, to fully understand it.”

Standing, he held his hand out to her. The moment they stood, the table disappeared.

She blinked.

“It knows when it’s no longer needed. It will reappear again when it’s time to sup.” His lips twitched and she knew he was proud of himself, the man was literally peacocking before her eyes and it shouldn’t be, but it was damn sexy.

“Anyone ever tell you have the ego the size of whale?”

“If you are only just figuring this out then I have not done my job well.”

She laughed and wondered that she didn’t have permanent laugh lines etched around her mouth already.

Releasing her hand when they got to the wheel, he grabbed onto it and slowly turned. “While you were dressing, I dropped my men off at the Pink Pearl. A gentleman’s club, if you will.” His eyes twinkled.

“I bet it is.” She tapped his back, then leaned into him. “So how does this ship travel?”

The wind whispered through his hair, causing his shirt to billow and flap and in that second she could totally picture him as one of the male models on a romance cover. He was perfect, this was perfect, and a giant part of her was starting to wonder why she was so intent on going back home.

What was waiting for her?

Bills.

A boring job at the library.

No friends, except for Betty, who visited here all the time.

She had no dog. No boyfriend. And a set of parents more concerned with making each other pay for the loss of their eldest daughter then making time for her.

“Like this,” he said, snapping her back to reality as he rolled the wheel. It rotated swiftly, and her eyes widened as a giant shadow tore through the sky. A big sphere of nothing that they were headed straight for. And when she said nothing, she meant nothing. It was like staring into a bottomless, black hole.

Clutching his back, swallowing hard, she whispered, “Please tell me you’re not taking us into that.”

“When I wish to move quickly between places, this is the only way to travel. Now hang on,” he roared, and then they were swallowed up into the void.

From the outside looking in it’d appeared empty…but moving through it, it was anything but. Lights swirled and danced around them, the smell of brimstone and fire sailed the breeze.

Sci-fi crap, that was Betty’s department. If she’d been here now, she’d probably have told Trisha that this was some sort of time warp thing. But Trishelle didn’t care about science or trying to explain the unknowable. She was a person that moved on emotion, that thought with her heart, not her head and all she knew was this was…fun.

This was the adventure she’d always craved, always wanted to find. When she’d craved leaving Missouri behind it wasn’t for the bright lights of Broadway, or LA. Not like she hadn’t been invited, but more that on some intrinsic level she knew neither of those places would fit the bill. Because she’d wanted more, something the mind—her mind—could never have imagined or fathomed. Something made of magic and fairytales.

The rush of wind and the heady thrill of the man both conspired to make her blood hot and her breathing hard. She was alive. For the first time in years, she felt absolutely, undeniably, alive. She wanted to cry out with joy, but her throat was so clogged with emotion she couldn’t. Instead, she pressed her face to his back and smiled, inhaling his spicy male scent with large, greedy gulps.

The dizzying flight began to slow.

“We’re here,” he murmured, turning just enough that he was able to drape an arm across her shoulders.

A question mark formed above her brows. Where was here exactly? It was so dark she couldn’t see anything. Were they still in the tunnel? But the moment she opened her mouth, the tunnel transformed and she gasped.

It was a world of shadow and illuminations. All around there was the barrenness of utter darkness, but within it burned pinpricks of green and blue light. Up above, down below, everywhere, surrounding them in a canvas of it.

“Where are we?” she asked in a voice grown high-pitched with excitement.