Against Dark Tides (Beneath Black Sails, #2)

by Clare Sager

“Of course I did,” he murmured. “Because it was never just the job. Wanting you and”—a shiver lifted the hairs on his forearms—“and letting myself have you—Vee, it wasn’t whatever it takes to get the job done.”

“I listen.” She lifted her eyebrows. “To others, to the situation, to my instincts, too, yes, but not those alone. I look at the information I have. I try to examine different facets of the problem, consider different outcomes, how it might affect others. But ultimately, I can only make a best guess. I think this decision will be for the best, but no one really knows until it plays out.”

“You have to do the best with what you’ve got. That’s all anyone can do.”

Her power was a curse. Her triumph was ashes. She was nothing.

“You came.”

“Of course I did,” he murmured, voice rumbling through her, grey eyes more intense, more vulnerable than their steely colour. “I’ll always come for you.”

I’ll always come for you.

“I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.” A grin lifted one corner of his mouth. “You see, no one else will have me. And”—he bit his lip again, the lopsided smile gone—“I missed you.”