over his, making him stumble incoherently. So it would seem that he was allowed to touch me but I wasn’t allowed to touch him? I would have to test this hypothesis further.
After a brief interval he cleared his throat. “The body of the ship is the hull. The keel is designed ‘round it.”
I leaned back and rested the weight of my head against him. I felt him swallow and his heartbeat increased. His breathing became shallow. “What about the port and bow and all of that good stuff?” I was testing the limits, putting his temperament and my good sense at risk. What if he didn’t want to take that chance with me? What if he didn’t want me?
“Ah, um, port is facin’ forward centerline; anything to your left is port. And then bow is just the ah…front of the ship.”
He closed his eyes and sighed so deeply I felt his stomach clench against me. As he exhaled I could smell the clove and musk of him. I suspected it might set me off, cause me to do something stupid. I buried my face in the soft stubble of his neck, nuzzling the warmth and solace there.
“Addie?” His fingers danced on mine, in my hair, the edge of my face.
“Yes?”
“W-would you be real mad at me if I tried to kiss you right now?”
I smiled and looked up at him, every one of my senses buzzing. “I would be madder if you didn’t.”
He wrapped one hand in my hair and the other around my hip to pull me close. And in one of those instances that last eternities and only immortals are aware of, our lips anchored on the shores of each other.
We separated only when the need for air became unbearable. Even then, I clutched onto him as though he were the center of the universe and rested my forehead against his for leverage—my entire world was spinning.
He sighed in my ear. “Oh, what ’ave you done to me?”
For the first time in my life I didn’t have the proper answer. This wasn’t something I could study for, a formula I could memorize, or a textbook I could refer to. Instead, all of my reason and facts were failing me, and the blossom of an emotional experience was taking hold. I laughed to myself, maybe I was in more trouble now than ever.
Charlie smiled against me. “What’s so funny?”
I pulled away, despite everything my body was telling me. It was good to know there was still a little self-control remaining after all.
“Here I was only coming out here hoping to see some constellations.”
I heard Charlie snicker. “I ain’t seen nothin’ but stars since you got here.”
My neck craned upwards at the glimmering specks of fire in the sky. I imagined that was how the tiniest pearls at the bottom of the sea would sparkle. Individually, each was only a singular star that glossed over the night sky—but when looked at together, they reminded us of how insignificant and small our planet really was. I tried to trace the outline of a familiar shape with my finger and recognize an image there, but Charlie was trailing his hand up and down my forearm, making it extremely difficult to concentrate.
“Is that one somethin’?” he asked without looking up.
I laughed a little and pushed his arm away. “It’s hard to tell. We don’t exactly have stars like this in New Jersey.”
He pulled me back instantly; I knew I wouldn’t have the strength to resist again. “Tell me ‘bout it. I hardly saw nothing like this before I came out here, either.”
His comment had me thinking again and before I had the sense to stop myself, I starting blurting out questions.
“Hey, Charlie?”
He had buried himself in the crook of my neck and seemed content to stay there. “Hmm?”
“How did you get here? How did you end up becoming a thief?”
I could tell it was the wrong thing to ask. He released me and his arms moved as far away as they could get while I still tried to cling to them.
“I’m sorry if—”
“That was a long while ’go. It don’t matter now.” The gruffness in his tone scared me. Not because it was violent, but because it sounded as though he was turning away from me.
Desperate and in a gesture of good will, I ran my fingers through his hair and messed it about his face. “Doesn’t a girl have the right to ask a question every now and then? Maybe I’ll be