If he noticed, he didn’t show it.
“Allow me to guess.” Hook said, as he gracefully sat down, holding his wine glass aloft in his good hand. “You refuse to care for your own needs until the needs of your brothers are met.”
Wendy cocked her head to one side, glaring at him steadily.
“Or, perhaps you would rather I throw myself off of the port side of my own ship,” he teased, his white teeth flashing in a wicked grin.
“For starters,” Wendy said, through clenched teeth.
At that, Hook threw back his head and laughed. The rich baritone sound of it caught Wendy off guard. With genuine surprise, she grasped, in that instant, that Hook wasn’t holding back. At that moment, Hook had dropped his proverbial defenses.
His laughter quieted and he sighed, still smiling broadly. “I will make you a deal, Wendy Darling,” he said, placing his goblet on the small table beside the large chair. He then leaned forward, leveling her with an intense and steady blue gaze.
She swallowed audibly, growing at once uncomfortable beneath his concentrated scrutiny.
“Give me your word that you shall not attempt to leave this ship or harm anyone on it,” he began, speaking each word slowly and carefully. “And I shall make your brothers into honorary pirates.” He stood then, his towering form making the cabin once more seem much smaller than it was. He took a slow, calculated step toward her. His silver hook flashed in a momentary beam of moonlight.
Wendy stepped back and found herself against the wall.
“At least, John shall be a pirate,” Hook seemed to reconsider, his expression introspective as he looked down at the floor and at nothing, in particular. “He’s grown and could prove quite useful on deck. Michael, however, reminds me too much of. . . . ” His eyes took on a distant expression.
“Of Peter Pan?” Wendy ventured, her voice shaking only a little.
Hook blinked and looked back at her. His eyes hardened. “Yes. Of Pan. And, therefore, he shall remain below decks as a cabin boy and under the close supervision of one or more of my men.”
“And why would I agree to such a thing?” Wendy asked, raising her chin defiantly.
“Because it would get them out of the brig,” Hook replied simply.
Wendy blinked. She had to admit that what he was offering was a better situation for her brothers than the one they were in now. But it would require that she promise not to try to escape. And she wasn’t at all certain she could agree to such a thing, for at that moment, escape was high on her list of things to do.
“Have we a deal?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Wendy gazed up into his deep blue eyes and began to feel very strange. Her knees were weak before, but now they felt positively like jelly.
As she began to drown in that bottomless sea, a fleeting thought occurred to her. She couldn’t believe that it hadn’t before. “Where’s Peter?” she asked tremulously.
Hook waited a good long time before replying. His eyes bored into hers, as if searching their depths for answers to riddles only he would know. Then, finally, without moving a muscle, and without looking away, he answered, “He is no longer on this ship.”
“Is he…”
“Alive?” He raised a brow. “If you can call him that.”
Wendy certainly wondered what Hook meant by such a statement, but she felt it would be better not to ask. Something in his eyes had hardened at the mention of Peter Pan, and she didn’t want to push things.
He took another step forward, closing the distance between them. A strange pink flush began to rise through Wendy’s neck and spread across her cheeks. Her belly felt warm and her breathing shallow.
This was not lost on Hook, who studied her in silence.
Best to end this now, Wendy thought. Before. . . Before I don’t know what will happen.
“You have a deal, Hook,” she said, summoning up the courage to stand a little taller. “I give my word that I will not attempt to escape from the ship, nor harm anyone on it, if you promise to release my brothers from the brig and care for them as you would the members of your own crew.”
Hook flashed a winning grin. “A wise choice, Miss Darling.”
He spun around and strode to the door of his cabin, flinging it open and calling for his first mate. “Smee!”
Smee appeared in the doorway. “Yes, Cap’n?”
“Tell Jukes to bring the older boy out of the brig and put him to work on deck. The younger boy can clean out the gun deck, but have Billy keep an eye on him.” Hook glanced back at Wendy and then added, “and make certain they have food and drink.”
“Aye, Cap’n,” Smee nodded, however he did not turn to leave. “Um, if you don’t mind me askin’ Cap’n -” He looked across the cabin at Wendy, who was still standing and still wearing her coat. “Is there anything you’d like me to get for the lady?”