Read Other Oceans: Book Two of the Hook & Jill Saga for Free Online Page A

Not just a peck, as her father might once have extended to her, but a real kiss, the kind that bound up her lips and sucked them in. His mouth was firm, and tasted like strong spirits.
    He let her go. “Remember, it’s Tom.”
    The object of his sudden affection was so stunned she didn’t react at all. She stood in the straw, blinking in the dim light of the brig for what felt like hours, listening to the key in the lock and his boots stomping up the steps.
    The girl drew the back of her hand across her mouth.
    Tom .
    Her lip curled. For some reason she didn’t understand, she wished he hadn’t kissed her. She couldn’t hear a kiss.
    She wished he’d hit her instead.
§ § §
    Mr. Smee headed for the master’s quarters, watched by the eyes of his shipmates. Eyes of men who had once been relieved not to walk in his boots. Envious eyes now, begrudging his proximity to the volatile captain, or rather, to the captain’s lady. One pair of eyes, dusky brown, followed his progress more intently than the rest.
    “Another service for your mistress, Mr. Smee?” Cecco’s armbands glinted as he hailed the bo’sun from behind the wheel at the helm. His English had improved over the years abroad. He now owned a fine command of the language, and he enjoyed the double meaning of his words.
    “Aye, Mr. Cecco. And I’m just the man for the job. Whatever it is!” Smee’s lilting voice was as melodious as the tune he whistled on his way up the steps of the companionway. As he climbed, he made sure his striped shirt was tucked, showing his taut torso to best advantage. She must need something done for her, some little thing. Something necessary, but beneath the captain’s dignity. Lucky thing for Smee— he had no dignity to be worrying about. He’d do anything for James Hook. Anything at all.…Absentmindedly, Smee knocked on the door. Aye. He’d do anything for her.
    Jill opened the door and backed up to make room as he entered. She had to gaze up to welcome him; Smee stood fully as tall as the captain. “Good morning, Mr. Smee.”
    Looking out on the morning’s activities, she found her eye caught by Mr. Cecco’s. Not quite condescending, she inclined her head to acknowledge the warmth of his greeting. Cecco had always been cordial, in spite of the beating he’d taken at her urging, and Jill was satisfied he didn’t hold the incident against her. He held his raw back erect, like a trophy adorning his body along with his earrings and his necklaces. Jill well remembered the Italian sailor smiling and kissing his fingertips in salute that night when, still a girl, she descended nervous and excited to the deck of the Jolly Roger . Whatever might pass between them in the future, Mr. Cecco held the distinction of having been the first of Hook’s men to welcome her here.
    Mr. Smee noted the direction of her gaze. His eyes tightened as they shifted to his shipmate. He cleared his throat. When the door was safely closed, Jill didn’t forget about Cecco, but she tended to necessity, presenting her back so charmingly to Smee that he ceased to care where her attention was anchored a moment ago.
    “Would you be so kind?”
    Smee grinned again. He had become adept at lacing her dresses, but found that, for some reason, it always took him every bit as long to perform the service as the first time. She’d worn forget-me-not blue that morning, to match her eyes. And the captain’s. Smee resettled his spectacles and began by gathering Jill’s hair and laying it over her shoulder. That task alone demanded a degree of concentration, and Smee was a man who never dodged his duty, however pleasant.
    Taking his time, he held off speaking as long as possible. He liked giving her this little pleasure. “The scarlet again today, Ma’am? Two days in a row!” Mr. Smee’s sinews belied his interest in domestic affairs.
    She opened her eyes and smiled over her shoulder. Once again, she had succumbed to the sensation of Smee’s hands in her