I beam at my spidery new best friend. A deluge of warmth, calm, and security surround me. I’m as safe in this coat as I am in Teeth’s arms.
“If you are the owner of Pintarro Textiles, you must shite money. Why are you a pirate?” I don’t know what’s funnier, Bettina’s question or listening to a curse cross her prissy lips. She pulls out a chair and joins Catalina at the table, leaving two chairs empty.
“Because your dinner companions have found the secret to living happily ever after. Their futuresare best compared to fairy tales,” says Teeth from the doorway. He leans on the frame with a fire in his eyes as he scans the duster adorning my body. While the lace closes the coat, its open weave allows him a forbidden glimpse at my dairy and cunt as I move.
“Oh really, Captain, please enlighten me. Since I failed at love, tell me, what’s the secret to charming a prince into my bed like in the fairytales?” Bettina shoves a small fish into her mouth and chews as the tail flaps along her lips. Silly sister thinks she can disgust Teeth. I’ve kept the sordid details on his manners from her…or she wouldn’t make such a mistake.
“Why bed a charming prince when you can have a dirty pirate?” He reaches down his leathers to adjust his erection. Catalina and Bettina laugh, but I can’t help the familiar hunger growing between my legs. I sit to squeeze my thighs together. As much as I wish to learn about my soulmate’s personality, I’d rather study his relentless arousal in my presence. “Seriously, Betts, if you are sick of the constricting island towns, you’d make an excellent pirate.”
“Oh Sabrina, you should have seen your sister,” Catalina chimes in. She flinches when I slurp the tentacles of a baby squid between my lips. “I watched her fearlessly jump into the battle on an enemy’s deck. Oneflash of her dairy, and they were stunned into submission—”
“You? You flashed your dairy at enemies?” I sputter the questions at my sister. She stops yanking the spine from a second fish on her plate to nod at me. “Is that how you lost your buttons?”
“I learned from you,” she says quietly. “I misjudged you, badly. I’m sorry, Sabrina.”
“You were fooled by a rat who got his comeuppance…thanks to Catalina.”
“A toast to Lady Catalina!” Teeth shouts into the hallway.
Cheers blast through the entry as the crew shows their love for her. She blushes a delicate pink, at odds with the bloodthirsty lady who strangles men with her spider webs.
“What’s next on the agenda, Captain? Can I get married tonight?”
“First light in the morning, my love,” Chub says, pushing past Teeth to enter the room. Catalina bounces from her seat to embrace the short, red-bearded man. He swings her off her feet as he buries his face in her cleavage. Her squeal of delight warms my heart…and paints a green expression of envy across Bettina’s features.
How did this room become so full? Surrounded by my new family, my heart pounds in my throat. This is the happily ever after I’ve dreamed of sinceTeeth jilted me years ago. Why can’t I be normal and enjoy the camaraderie? I want to throw myself overboard.
“The happy couples must make some decisions before we set sail the following day,” Teeth says, entering the room with a lazy swagger. He twirls the remaining chair on one leg before straddling it. His fingers poise over my plate to steal a morsel… then retracts his hand when he finds my lunch moves on its own.
“Couples?” Bettina asks, shooting me a look of confusion.
“Chub and Catalina must decide if we will take the job promised to our last prize before we drop them off in Mexico or if it’s full sails west.”
“Captain, Catalina and I are at your service. We will stay aboard while you fill our crew’s coffers with honest work. Maybe it’ll be a spark of inspiration,” Chub says with a twinkle in his eyes. He sits in Catalina’s chair and pulls her onto his lap.
“What’s the honest work?” I ask, ripping a shiny, spotlight parrotfish into bite-sized pieces. All eyes are poised on the fish as I casually dissect it. Several of my companions gulp their verbal hash, but unfortunately, not Teeth.
“A wealthy family in Boston wishes to dispose of atroublesome family member. Seems the eldest son is a satyr, with a satyr’s appetite for quiffing high society’s virgins. His human-presenting parents claim they want him to disappear not because he looksotherbut because his reputation tarnishes theirs.”
“Do you believe them?” Bettina asks.
“Not in the slightest,” Chub replies with a rumbling laugh. “This is a rescue staged to look like an execution. While you ladies were recovering in here, the crew voted to give the satyr a chance to learn the sweet trade and earn a spot on the boat.”
“You are very kind to accept those who areotherso readily,” Bettina says softly to her half-eaten plate. Oh, I can hear the waves churning in my sister’s head. On land, she’d be destitute and alone. However, onPatricia’s Wish, she’d be one of Teeth’s hearties and able to earn a living wage. She’d explore the world from within a group of supportive friends.
But where do I fit in?
“Sabrina must decide if she will accept my marriage proposal, too,” Teeth declares, grabbing my hand where it rests on the table. He kisses my knuckles as my sister gapes.
“You must marry him!”
“She hasn’t answered,” Teeth answers in a frosty tone.
“Only because you don’t know what marrying me entails,” I say, dangling a slimy sand diver in frontof his nose. I maintain eye contact as I suck the fish between my lips and crunch the bones as I chew. To Teeth’s credit, he doesn’t flinch.
“Please excuse my sister’s vile table manners,” Bettina scolds me with a swat under the table. “She’s not used to eating at a table…because she’s usually dancing on them. Her foul behavior is to scare you off—”
“Dancing on tables? Foul manners? These two deserve each other,” Chub quips.
