Yet the way Gabriella felt about Atom wasn’t work. It came easy. Natural. Even though she had just met the man, she got the feeling that Atom Loquacious would simply be too easy to love.
So logic dictated that it was anything but love. She wondered what that left.
“I’m sorry about your father,” she said while she stroked Atom’s back.
She wanted to say more. Her tongue tripped her words before they left her lips. She also wanted to do more than just stand here and pat his back. That’s what scared her the most. Even a week before the wedding, she had been happy with just a nightly kiss from Thomas. Yet this man ignited something deep within her. Just his presence set her soul aflame. She knew a simple kiss wouldn’t be enough to quench it.
Atom flashed her a weak smile. Gabriella’s stomach fluttered at the sight. Her yearn burned deeper.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I supposed I should have guessed as much. I’ve been waiting here for him for five years.”
“Five years?” Gabriella repeated in surprise. “You’ve been living alone here for five years?”
Atom nodded. “He said he would return. He said to wait...” He lowered his head, the words trailed off into mumbling.
“You poor thing,” Gabriella said. She patted the back of his hand.
Atom rolled his palm upward, catching her fingers in his own. Gabriella froze, unsure of what he would do next. She shot a glance to the rest of the crew, who were raising their hands as if in vote. When she looked back at Atom, he was clutching her hand to his chest, staring up at her with a profound look of sorrow.
“Why would he just abandon me? Why would he just leave me here?” His copper eyes glistened with the threat of tears.
“Maybe he didn’t,” Gabriella said.
Atom narrowed his eyes at her.
“Maybe he intended to return, but couldn’t,” she explained.
“So you’re saying he might be out there?”
Gabriella didn’t know what she was saying. She just knew she wanted Atom to smile again.
If the idea that his father was somewhere out there made him happy, then so be it.
“That he might be in need of help?” Atom asked.
“Well, maybe not—” Gabriella started.
“Then I have to find him,” Atom said over her.
Gabriella worried that she may have pushed the idea too far. Atom smiled and her worried thoughts faded behind the sound of her thumping heart.
“You’re right. I have to find him,” Atom repeated. He squeezed Gabriella’s hand before he released it. “Captain?”
“Yes?” the captain answered.
“I would like to hire your crew,” Atom said.
The captain lifted a brow at the man, then shot a look at Gabriella that chilled her to the bone.
Gabriella swallowed hard, lifting her shoulders in a sign of unsure denial.
“Of course when you are finished with your current labor, I mean,” he said.
The captain continued to eye him in silence.
“I realize that you might need an advance,” Atom said. “I have a little bit of money here with me, but I promise that when we reach our goal there will be a reward greater than money could ever buy. That of saving a human life.”
“What would you have us do? Exactly?” the captain asked.
“I have to find my father,” he explained. “If what you say is true, then he’s in trouble. He needs our help.”
“I don’t want to seem like a doomsayer, but people have been looking for him for years.
What makes you think we will have any better luck?”
“It’s meant to be. Your magnificent airship. My overwhelming need. Your crew’s sudden appearance. Don’t you see? This has the kiss of kismet all over it.”
“Is very coincidental, Captain,” Jax said. “Perhaps is destiny?”
Gabriella was surprised to hear that Jax believed in anything beyond her blade or fists. Or cooking pot.
“I think you should know,” the captain said, “we didn’t just come here by chance. We were sent here. I’m almost ashamed to say why.”
Atom would have none of it. He waved his hands in the air, dismissing her argument.
“Nonsense. It doesn’t matter what brought you here. The fact remains that you
are
here. Now please, will you take my offer?”
“Yes,” Jayne said. Everyone turned, surprised by her sudden outburst. “Captain, you have to say yes. Doctor Loquacious is a national treasure. If he is in trouble he should be rescued.”
“Great, now it’s a rescue mission,” the captain said.
“Captain,” Magpie said. “We ain’t got much else on the burner. We could certainly use the money.”
The captain turned back to Atom with a sigh. “I’ll tell you what. We’ve decided to offer you transportation back to the mainland. The trip will take a few days. When you get there you should seek out someone professional to handle your problem.”
“I don’t want anyone else—” the man started.
The captain raised her hand. Atom fell quiet. “We are a delivery service, Mr. Loquacious.
Not a detective agency. Not bounty hunters. Now, do you want the ride or not?”
Gabriella wanted to be angry with the captain for turning the work down. She supposed she understood where the woman was coming from. How did you look for a man who didn’t want to be found? Especially one who had abandoned his own son in an effort to remain hidden. The idea of it was heartbreaking. It was also familiar because she had abandoned her entire family in pursuit of her own happiness. Gabriella pushed the idea away before her guilt could bring forth tears. Instead, she placed a hand on Atom’s shoulder.
“The captain knows what’s best,” she whispered. “She’s never failed me.”
“As you wish, Captain,” he said. “I’ll pay for my fare of course.”
“That’s not necessary,” the captain said.
“I insist,” Atom said.
“You people are going to drive me absolutely mad one of these days.” The captain sighed again, running her hands through her thick hair. “Suit yourself, Mr. Loquacious. I’ll never have it said that I turned down a fare. You have an hour to gather your things. The rest of you fall in and prepare to return to the ship. We need to get back before Dot thinks the jungle swallowed us all.”
Lovers, Liars and Lessons in Linguistics
In which we are waylaid by unexpected events, and Atom shows his true nature.
By the time they made for their return, night had fallen, hard. The jungle canopy left the route back to the ship black as pitch. The crew had sense enough to bring a number of lanterns, but the jaws of the jungle devoured the light the moment it left the lamp. They traveled in a few tight circles, painstakingly slow.
Atom traveled light. Too light for Rose’s tastes. He packed his entire life into a single rucksack, the contents of which seemed to weigh nothing with the way he carted it with ease. He also eyed Gabriella in a worrisome way. Rose didn’t mind the idea of the young girl falling in love with the stranger, but Atom’s smoldering looks made even Rose’s blood boil with desire. She could only imagine what it did to the virgin in Gabriella.
Rose smiled when she thought of the workout Click was going to get when they got back to the Widow.
“You want him,” Click whispered.
“What?” Rose whispered with a start. “Don’t be silly.”
“Of course you do, my captain.” He shot a quick glance backward. “I can’t blame you. He has a certain charisma. A certain charm. And he’s not half bad looking. Not as handsome as me, but then again, who is?”
Rose shoved an elbow into Click’s side. He reacted with a comical gasp and fake stagger.
“You two okay?” Magpie called out. She traveled with Jayne at the back of the line. Jax traveled ahead—alone.
“Good,” Rose said, then laughed. “We’re good.”
“Yes, we are,” Click said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
She shrugged him off, and then glanced over her shoulder to the puddle of light that glowed around Atom and Gabriella who were just behind her. The couple walked closely, whispering what were sure to be sweet nothings, but the pair never touched more than hands. Rose smiled again, charmed by Gabriella’s chasteness. She remembered her first date with Daniel. How he planted a single, nervous kiss on the back of her hand before she closed the door on him. Rose hoped that Atom wouldn’t push the girl too far, or too fast.
“What’s on your mind?” Click asked.
“I was just thinking about us,” Rose said in a low voice. “How quickly you got me between the sheets. I must’ve seemed like such a wanton slut.”
“You? Never. Why, it took almost a whole bleeding month.”
Rose missed a step out of surprise. “What? Have you forgotten so quickly, you rogue? As I recall, I fell into your arms in two days. Three tops.”
“My arms, yes,” Click said. His grin spread wide. “But it was nearly a month before I had you on a proper bed, my captain.”
Rose laughed aloud before she could muffle the sound with her hands.
“I had you on the beach at first,” he continued in a teasing whisper. “Then the ship’s deck.
Of course the ship’s railing. And there’s always your desk, my personal favorite, by the way.”
Rose chuckled while Click quietly recounted their experiences.
“Then there was the engine room. I think Jayne still suspects we had a tryst on her cogs and clockworks. Then there was the time I made a meal of you on the mess hall table. Then what...about...the...” Click’s voice trailed off. His steps slowed.
“Click?” Rose asked.
“Someone is watching us,” he whispered. He returned to his previously brisk pace. “Keep smiling and laughing.”
Rose had learned long ago to trust Click’s natural instinct for trouble. Aside from the fabulous sex, it was one of the main reasons she kept him around. She forced a high, tittering laugh before she asked, “Who is it?”
“I’m not sure.” He unsheathed his dagger, holding it low. “Keep walking. Don’t let on that we see them.”
She kept her pace with Click while freeing her gun. As casually as she could manage, she held it across her shoulder. She heard the murmur of the rest of the crew behind her, then the soft snick of blades unsheathing. Jax already bore a blade, having commandeered Magpie’s saber for her own, leaving the lookout with only a dagger and a long face.
“How far are we from the ship, Atom?” she asked.
“About a half a mile, Captain,” Atom said. “We should arrive at the beach head any moment.”
Without warning, Jax came to a halt. The blonde tilted her head to the left, then the right, as if listening for something only she could hear. She turned back to the crew, saw the drawn weapons, and nodded. Click lifted his hand to hold out four fingers. Jax smiled a wicked grin while she shook her head. She lifted both hands, raising eight fingers. Rose grimaced. Eight enemies lurked in the inky blackness, and the crew was still a half a mile from the ship.
“Huddle up,” Rose commanded. The crew gathered in a tight formation, each facing outward, each brandishing a weapon of some type. Except Atom. When Rose suggested that he might want to bring a weapon, that the wilds of the jungle at night were nothing to be gentle with, he balked.
“Weapons are the last bastion of the savage,” he had explained.
Rose wondered how he felt about weapons now.
“I thought this island was deserted,” Jayne said, aiming her homespun shrapnel gun into the trees.
“Atom?” Rose asked.
“Yes?” he answered.
“A little help here?”
“Oh. It must be the natives.”
“Natives? You didn’t say anything about natives.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“We didn’t see signs of anyone on our way in,” Gabriella whispered.
“Because they didn’t want us too,” Click said.
“Keep tight,” Jax said. “They’re on all sides now.”
“Cap?” Magpie asked. “What do you want us to do?”
Rose searched her mind for the best course of action. Could they outrun eight enemies in the dark of the jungle? Probably not. She knew her girls would rather die trying get back to the Widow as opposed to being taken captive. Just when she was about to give the order to make a break for it, the vines before her parted and a tall man stepped out.
Rose thought she was used to the idea of a wild island native, having shared a bed with one for so long now. Click had her spoiled with his obsession of modern technology and his yen for western ways. The stranger emerging from the darkness of the jungle was the genuine article. A real island native. He made Click look like a New England schoolboy by comparison.
The man stood at least seven feet tall. He had a series of winding tattoos all over his naked torso, arms and legs, similar to Click’s only more numerous. Even his face was a myriad of designs, with blocky swirls layered across his chin and cheeks. A series of thin white tubes laddered down each ear, piercing the cartilage. Each ended in a large hollow piece that stretched his lobes to an unbelievable degree. A similar white tube rested in the man’s nose, just above his upper lip. The man leaned against a long, sharp spear. Rose’s eye wandered down for the briefest moment. When she saw his unclothed loins, she snapped her eyes back to his wild grin.
The man grinned in silence at the crew for a moment, then grunted something in his native tongue. Seven similar spear-wielding natives emerged from the underbrush, surrounding the crew.
The men stared at the intruders, but made no moves against them.
“Click?” Rose whispered.
Click said something to the tallest native, who cocked his head and listened, never losing his grin. When Click was done, the native said a few things in return. Click shook his head and furrowed his brow.
“No good, my captain,” he said. “Their dialect is too far from mine. It seems almost familiar, but then it slips away. I’m very sorry.”
“Great.” Rose turned back to the grinning native and smiled. Between her teeth she whispered, “Jax? Any ideas?”
“Yes,” Jax said. “I have idea there is more than what we see.”
“How many now?” Rose asked.
“I lost count after fifteen,” Jax admitted.
Rose groaned behind her smile. The tallest native, still grinning at her in return, motioned to his brethren and said a few words. He then looked back to Rose, made a wretched face that twisted his tattoos into hideous proportions while he pushed his tongue between his lips at her until it hung from his mouth like piece of dead beef.