Nick crouched to get eye level with the very obviously chiselled gap, and he peered through to see Kit standing midway down a long, empty hall, facing a door. The door was open only inches, a shadowy figure in the gap.
Her hand came out, catching Kit’s.
An unnatural stillness settled over Kit. Mini clambered over Nick’s back, trying to see too, the little brat jostling Nick until he hissed at him to stop wiggling.
“…them off,” his tattoo translated.
Kit reached for his gloves and slipped them off, hands visibly shaking. Desre snatched an uncovered hand.
Kit reeled back from the contact, and Desre snarled. The door flew open, and she stormed from her room, advancing until Kit’s back struck flat against the wall of the hallway. Fear flashed in his eyes. He was so much taller than her, so much stronger, but as she caught him by the neck, he seemed like a child pinned by a monster. Lantern light shone on Desre’s swollen nose and bruised eyes.
Mini made a sorry sound and slid off Nick’s back. The trapdoor opened and shut with a soft thud. Nick stayed rooted to the spot.
“You are born from a race of thieves, hardly better than wild animals,” Desre hissed. “And you all act as ifIrepulseyou.”
Something happened to Kit. His hands, in trembling fists at his sides, went slack. The tail, which had a stranglehold on his own leg, loosened, till the end rested flat on the ground. The fear left Kit’s face. “You don’t repulse me, my lady. I love you.”
Chills prickled over the back of Nick’s neck.
Kit, he had learned, wasn’t particularly good at hiding his emotions. When he was annoyed, his tail lashed. When he was embarrassed, he growled. When he was guilty or ashamed, his eyes darted around, avoiding Nick’s gaze.
The dazed adoration of Kit’sI love youwas genuine.
Desre must have realised too because her fury eased. The ugly hooks in her mouth settled into a grim smile.
It was wrong.
Nick had known Kit for only a week, but he knew beyond any doubt that he was petrified of Desre. Nick wasn’t looking at evidence that Kit had tricked or deceived him—he was looking at the reasonwhy.
“Good,” Desre purred. “Take those off.”
Kit’s hands slid to his trousers. In his haste to obey her, the wad of cotton holding the coffee beans spilled out, seeds plinking against Kit’s tail as they fell. He didn’t react to them, eyes glazed over.
Nick jumped to his feet and ripped the closet door open. The sound was drowned out by the entrance to the cabin bursting open at the same time. Men crowded the doorway, and Desre’s head whipped towards them, her shriek filling the air at the same time as they all cried out something Nick’s symbol didn’t translate.
Desre whirled away, retreating to her room and slamming the door shut so hard dust rained down from the ceiling boards. Another door opened, and Captain Hin, dressed in sleeping garments, emerged. He spoke to the men as he entered the hall. He hesitated at Kit’s side, but if he found it strange that the visiting captain was leaning against the wall with his trousers undone, shaking so hard his teeth rattled, it didn’t show on his face. Captain Hin glanced at Desre’s door, something distasteful in his expression, but he turned from Kit and left with his sailors.
Nick eyed Desre’s door, and he realised that Kit was doing the same, staring at the handle with his chest heaving.
Jesus Christ. Nick’s heart squeezed tight enough to bruise.
He quietly went to Kit’s side, who looked at him without seeming to actually comprehend his presence in the hall. “Come on,” Nick murmured quietly. He never backed down from a fight, so tip-toeing around someone was the last thing his instincts told him to do. But causing a scene when he was the one who was going to get hurt wasn’t the same as causing a scene that would get someone else fucking raped.
Nick retrieved Kit’s gloves from the ground and pushed the leather against Kit’s palm, careful not to actually touch skin. Kit’s fingers reflexively closed.
“Let’s go before she comes out.”
Nick guided him towards the exit only for Kit to stop, eyes flashing down to the floor.
Kit hissed out through his teeth, folding forwards to the ground.
Nick stopped in alarm, looking for injuries, but he realised quickly the source of Kit’s distress was nothing physical. He was staring at crushed coffee beans. Captain Hin had stood on two, reducing them to powder. Kit plucked up three intact beans and then twisted, desperately seeking the last one.
“Kit,” Nick hissed, eyeing Desre’s door. “Leave it.”
Kit ignored him, but Nick wouldn’t allow him to get stuck in the same situation again for the sake of one coffee bean. He caught Kit by the arm and pulled. Kit’s head snapped up, and he violently wrenched his arm free of Nick. Nick met Kit’s widened, wild eyes and swallowed hard.
“Kit,” Nick repeated. “Leave it.”
