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“AHOY BROTHER!” I SHOUT.
Henry blushes, shuts his eyes, and hangs his head at the sound of my voice.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to cry, you ol’ bootlicker,” I snicker.
Henry opens his eyes, laughing, and waves his hands about.
I look to Shelley for interpretation as I scoot in to take her place next to the car and help Henry from the car seat into his wheelchair.
“He says hello,” replies Shelley.
“Is that all he said?” I ask. “That sure was a lot of hand signals for such a simple greeting.”
“Um, no,” Shelley mutters. “He cursed you and called you a bunch of crummy titles that I’m not going to repeat.”
I laugh and put my hand on his shoulder and then I smile as I lean forward to make eye contact with him. “Can you believe it, brother? I still cannot. We’re on land!”
Henry tips his head back to chuckle and then reaches for Shelley’s hand and kisses it. He raises a brow as he points to her.
“Yes,” I say. “Who knew a couple of undeserving bootlickers could deserve such treasures. And to be saved by them, no less. She’s lovely. You’re a very lucky man.”
“Not that lucky,” Shelley sighs as she gets behind Henry’s chair. The tone of her voice is thick with disappointment and I escort her out of the way to push Henry myself.
“What happened?” asks Kumiko, coming down the front steps of the beach house as we head around to the back where the ramp is.
“They don’t want to operate,” Shelley replies.
Kumiko whines, “So, what does that mean?”
“It means they’re not going to take the bullet out, but if it moves any further Henry could lose more feeling, including control of some his bodily functions.”
“So, how do you keep it from moving?”
Henry shakes his head.
“We can’t,” confirms Shelley.
I gulp, feeling terrible. I’m pushing Henry’s chair. He can’t walk or stand and I recall a time I once stood over the lad aboard the Annabelle as Henry was forced to swab the deck after taking a lashing because he would not chop his hair when we had an infestation of lice.
I look at his head and chuckle to myself as Shelley rakes her fingers through the chopped strands.
I also feel a rake down my back that lands on my arse and I feel a squeeze of Kumiko’s hand. It makes the hair stand at attention on my arms, chest, and legs.
Yes, legs! I have legs, but I sigh.
Henry’s cut hair is proof his lover is his master and, like him, I’m not really a master at all, although I claim to be. The control, the power Kumiko has on me—she is my master.
Henry takes control of his tires and wheels himself up the ramp into the house.
As I trail behind Kumiko, I also grab at her bottom—her arse poking out of the short, cut blue frayed trousers. I slap one cheek, making Kumiko yelp and the dragon on her back eyes me with suspicion.
“I can pretend to be the master sometimes, can’t I?” I wink to the painted beast.
Kumiko turns to me with confusion. “What?”
I’m about to wrap my arms around her and load her mouth with a swabbing of my tongue when we are interrupted.
“Hey,” pants Athena coming up the ramp. She’s eyeing my legs.
“Hey, what’s up?” asks Kumiko.
“I knew Henry was coming back today and I wanted to see how he was and to let your boyfrie—” she stops herself. “You guys are together, I’m assuming,” she points between us as she fixes her glasses.
“He’s my boyfriend,” replies Kumiko with a smile and I stick out my chest.
“Boy? I’m not a boy!” I interject.
Kumiko fusses. “No, Orphelius, it’s another word of affection we use nowadays. It means you belong to me. You’re mine.”
“Oh!” I nod. “Then, I’m her boyfriend,” I confirm, “and her master and her baby.” It feels very odd to call myself by these short titles and say them aloud.
Athena rolls her eyes. “Oh-kay. Well, I got the juvenile dolphin reunited with its mother.”
“Yes,” I reply, “thank you. We’ve spotted them together.”
I wave my hand to encourage Athena to follows us into the beach house and I see Shelley is already at work in the kitchen. She is humming and dancing about as Henry twirls in his chair to pass her a few things. The show is quite entertaining and it fills me with such joy.
I’m also excited to eat more hot food. Kumiko raved about Shelley and Henry’s cooking. I had no idea the deckhand had such skills! However, instead of continuing to help his master, Henry comes to roll up next to me among the other ladies at the dining table, bringing a mechanical utensil and a piece of paper.
He writes: I want to see the sea witch.
“No,” I tell him because I know exactly why. Henry is hoping the sea witch might help him with his ailments. But it’s not because he wants to be fixed; in truth, I believe Henry is content with himself, but he wants to be fixed for Shelley’s sake. “Shelley loves you as you are,” I speak softly. “There’s too much risk and besides, you have nothing to trade.”
He puts the writing utensil to the paper: And Willis? He’s alone now. We can’t leave him out there.
Athena comes off her seat when she finishes reading the words. “Yes, what of the Captain?” she shouts.
I hastily reach over the table to cover Athena’s mouth with my hand and look out through the bay window. The ocean looks calm. I love my dear friend, Willis, but I do not want him to hear us talking about him being so close to the water’s edge. I fear Athena may have already spoken too much.
“Hey Kumiko,” interrupts Shelley. “What’s this?”
Shelley dangles a round, golden piece of treasure that I have not seen in a long, long time and I’m unsure if I should feel hopeful or dreadful.
“I don’t know,” Kumiko replies, “It was in the drawer. I pulled it out when I was looking for the flashlight.” Kumiko fidgets with the treasure on her finger—the ring.
Henry catches sight of the compass dangling from Shelley’s hand. His cheeks turn sallow before he looks to me and then out through the window to the sea.
In his eyes, I can see the reflection of the ocean rising and a wave—a massive swell of seawater is rising to a high crest above a lowering tide. A tidal wave builds with a fury.
I lean over to my side, clutching Kumiko in the seat next to me to pull her to my chest before she can notice what’s coming and I kiss her. I kiss her furiously so she has no choice but to stop breathing for a moment so I let her go.
Kumiko’s eyes are wide with fear—suspicious of my action. “What’s happening?”
I grip my lover tight in my arms. She instinctively clutches me back. “Orphelius?”
I stroke the few strands of hair lingering over her face and push them behind her ear. “Baby,” I say. “Are you wearing my most favorite of your lady’s attire, the one made for swimming, beneath your outer clothing?”
“My bikini?” she grimaces. “Yeah.”
“Good, because we’re about to go for a swim.”
*End of Book 2*
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