The Pirate's Ransom

26. Declarations

    Caspian wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her hard against him. She gripped his shirt angrily, but he didn't care. Prim kissed him just as he had imagined she would. A little uncertain, a little clumsily at first, then commanding and unrelenting. He threaded his fingers through her hair.

    "Don't stop," he murmured as she paused to catch her breath.

    She kissed him again and he could feel her heart racing. "You don't deserve this. You can't give me a proper answer."

    "I did. I told you exactly what I wanted."

    "But you still haven't told me what you see." Prim hooked her arms around his neck. "And I'm still mad at you."

    "Then tell me how to fix things."

    "Give me a damn answer. What do you see me as? What do you want from me? Do you love me?"

    He didn't answer right away as she kissed him. "I'm falling in love with you. I don't know if I love you yet. I see you as unexpected. I didn't plan for any of this to happen. I didn't plan to fall in love with you, Prim."

    "You kidnapped me. I'm technically your hostage. Everyone would call me crazy for forgiving you and allowing myself to love you."

    "I would call you crazy too."

    "You're not scoring points in your favor. You still have a few questions to answer, too."

    Caspian twisted so that she was the one against the wall. "I just want you. I just want to love you. I just want to let myself love you and I want you to love me." He kissed her gently this time.

    Prim half closed her eyes and rested her head against his neck. "Then gain my trust back. Earn my forgiveness. Be straightforward with me from now on. Let yourself love me and I will let myself love you."

    "As you wish, Darling."

    "And change your clothes. These ones are soaked."

    "I haven't had a chance to change yet. I've been a little preoccupied."

    "And rest. You've been awake for nearly forty-eight hours, I believe."

    "I won't get to sleep long. As soon as the wind picks up, we'll be moving again."

    "I didn't know we'd stopped."

    Caspian nodded, folding his arms around her. He would hold her as long as she let him. So far, she wasn't pulling away. "The rain and wind let up a little. Everyone is exhausted so we've dropped anchor for the time being. We're heading back to Port. This storm will be here for a few days at least."

    Prim lifted a hand to his hair and ran her fingers through it. "Would you give up piracy for me?"

    "I already told you. If you were threatened and I had to give up everything just for a promise that you would live, I'd do it."

    "But if I asked you to? If I asked you to step away from being a pirate, from everything that entails, would you do it? Would you leave the sea behind? Would you leave the Leviathan, the crew, your title as the Pirate King?"

    "If that is what you wanted, I would find a way to live with it. I would have to come back to the sea someday, though. I've vowed that I will not die on land." Prim closed her eyes, still toying with his hair. "And what would you do for me? Would you leave your pampered life behind and be a pirate's wife? Could you bear to spend your days on a ship with only vile sailors for company? Can you wake up each morning and accept that you may meet your end at the tip of a sword?"