Pirate's Promise (Sentinels of Savannah #5) - Lisa Kessler Page 0,31
looked over at him with a nod. “I’ll send Greyson down with a pump.”
“Aye.” Drake jogged down the steps and disappeared below the deck.
They seemed calm. They’d been sailing for over 250 years. They could handle a storm.
Although they’d already sunk one Sea Dog. Ugh. She needed to do something. Aura yelled over the wind, “How can I help?”
A smile tugged at Colton’s lips. Was he enjoying this? They might live through it, but if the ship sank, she wouldn’t. “Greyson will need help pumping the water out of the bilge.”
She frowned. “Is this fun for you?”
He laughed, and Greyson jogged over as another wave battered the railing and flooded the deck. He caught her arm, keeping her on her feet.
She looked back and forth between the two pirates. “Shouldn’t we be worried about sinking?” She narrowed her eyes at Colton. “You aren’t immortal anymore, remember?”
“Aye.” He nodded, reining in his grin. “But we’re not going to sink. This isn’t a ship killer of a storm.” His gaze moved to the angry waves splashing onto the deck. “We haven’t sailed across the Atlantic in decades. Feels good to be battling Poseidon again!”
She shook her head. “I’d rather be dry.”
Greyson stood beside her. He was soaking wet, with a spark of adventure in his eyes that made her heart flip before she could remind herself there was no future for her here. Her job was all that mattered. Finding the sword. She couldn’t do that from the bottom of the ocean.
She shouted over the gusts of wind, “Need help pumping water out of the ship? I don’t feel like dying today!”
He shook his head with a crooked smile. “No one is dying today. We’re not going to sink.”
Easy for him to say.
He turned to Colton. “Where’s Drake?”
“Patching leaks.”
Greyson nodded and took her hand, sending a zing of awareness through her entire body. “Stay close.”
She followed him down the stairs, and the ship tilted so far to the starboard side that she squeaked, dropping to her knees. Holy shit. She sucked in a breath, bottling up her anxiety. She’d faced down monsters before, but this was her first storm at sea.
He helped her up, his expression more focused now. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. I think so.” She searched his eyes. “You’re sure we’re not going to sink?”
The ship groaned in answer, tipping the other direction. This time, her sea legs stayed underneath her, but her stomach twisted. Not having a window or fresh air was throwing off her equilibrium.
Greyson shook his head. “We’ve come through worse storms. This is nothing.” He squeezed her hand. “But we have a job to do. Come on.”
This didn’t seem like nothing to her. They hustled down more narrow stairways until her feet splashed through cold standing water. Her heart pounded in her ears. They were sinking. She had to get out of here. Panic licked at her insides.
As if he’d sensed her hesitation, Greyson turned around and held up the pump in his hand. It looked like a long cylinder, similar to a bicycle air pump, only this one had a hose on either side—one for intake and one to send it back out.
He lifted one of the hoses. “This sends the water back out, and while we get rid of the standing water, Drake is stopping the leaks. We do our job and let him do his. The Sea Dog is not going down. Not tonight.” He scanned her face. “But I need your help.”
She pulled in a determined breath and nodded. “Tell me what to do.”
He led her to the port side and handed her a hose from one of his shoulders. “Attach it to this side of the pump.”
She did as he asked, relieved to see her hands were still steady. He held the pump and attached another hose on the other side. After she’d finished, he set the pump and her hose into the water gathering at the bottom of the bilge and then carried the other hose to a porthole.
“I need you,” he grunted.
For a moment, her brain digested his words with an entirely different meaning.
He pointed to the porthole over his head. “I’ll lift you up so you can get the hose out.”
“Oh.” Heat rose to her cheeks. Why couldn’t she keep it professional with this pirate? She never should have kissed him. Too late now. She sloshed through the standing water, to his side, and took the hose. “So how are you going to…”