by Ellie Pond
Crew Mates 3
Ellie Pond
Contents
Naomi
Daniel
Naomi
Daniel
About the Author
Naomi
The message had come through ten minutes ago. Well, the pounding on her door by a security team member happened ten minutes ago. Twenty minutes earlier, Ming sent a text message that didn’t wake her up. She didn't brush her hair, but had managed to brush her teeth. Her new boss hadn't asked much of her. And getting woken up at two a.m.? Even the restaurant manager didn't wake people up for emergency shifts in the middle of the night. What could a public relations manager possibly want with her at three a.m.?
Naomi tucked a hunk of platinum blonde hair behind her ear. Colette had rolled over and asked her where she was going. The message said ‘wear shoes you can hike in and bring a jacket—no phones.’
"Too bad he didn't tell you to wear something comfortable and bring a bottle of wine. Your new boss is seriously hot."
Naomi didn't sigh or smack her. It was the first time Colette had said something light-hearted about a guy in weeks.
"I’m not sleeping with my boss." Naomi found her other hiking boot in the back of the closet underneath the case of water she'd bought on the last port day. She crammed her foot into the boot, but it wouldn't go all the way in. Her hand in the toe of her boot, she pulled out a rock she had picked up on a port day in Mexico. She put her hand in the other before pushing her toes into it and found three pairs of hiking socks, stored from when she came on the ship two years ago. The stiff leather creased as she laced up the boots. After grabbing her purple Dark Wing zip-up jacket, she turned off the bathroom light. Her phone lit up the room.
"Take my torch," Colette mumbled. "Flashlight, whatever the hell it is. It's in the desk drawer." She rolled over.
“I'll see you . . . I don't know what the hell I'm doing. See you later, I guess?” Naomi got the flashlight out of the drawer. She flicked it on and off. Her shifter vision let her see in the dark, but the extra light was more of a comfort.
"Be safe, and if you get a chance, see if his ass is as hard as it looks. So yummy," Colette said into her pillow.
Naomi wasn’t going to lust after her boss, but she would play along if it meant getting Colette her spunk back. “I will, and don't be late for work. Doing double shifts is making you a bear to live with.” Fuck. She said the B—word.
Colette was snoring already. Thank goodness. Naomi closed the door and headed out. Ming's message told her to be on deck six on the Portside near the bow.
She climbed the four flights of crew stairs. This time of day, the elevator would be fast and empty, but she wanted to avoid any drunk passengers. At the top of the stairs, she stepped out behind a passenger. The shifter was singing to himself and hopping back and forth with little jumps. She shook her head. That's a weird kind of drunk. She passed him on the right and, as she did, a squeak came from the bundle he held to his chest.
The man bounced a little cub in his arms. The baby hiccupped and fussed. “You’re okay, let's go to sleep so we can go back to mommy.”
Naomi waved to the male as she walked by. Cute cub. She’d never have that with Braxton gone.
His lips thinned as he gave a small nod back and returned his attention to the cub. He sang a heavy metal song as he bounced down the corridor.
Naomi pushed the double doors to the deck open as a small group congregated near the tender. She gathered they would go off the ship. Where and to do what was a mystery. As she approached, the Captain’s broad back blocked most of the crew members gathered around him from her view. Edvard peered around the captain and waved at her. Her stomach scrunched. He had done nothing wrong. But she needed to end the arrangement they had. And she wasn't sure how he would take it. Edvard hadn’t been clingy, and he asked nothing from her. It wasn't a relationship. But something about the way she'd thought about Daniel made it feel wrong to be in Edvard's bunk.
She sighed. She didn’t want to see Edvard now. As a bridge crew pilot, it made sense he was here. Someone bounced in and out of the captain's shadow. Zach. She stepped next to the captain. Phin chatted with Zach. Beyond him, Daniel leaned over the rail talking to Sam, the ship’s seer’s apprentice, along with a female bridge crew member. Naomi didn’t know her. The girl’s braided dark-brown hair hung down her back, longer than Sam’s. Naomi didn’t have patience to grow her hair out. Her platinum blonde hair hung to her chin. The three of them stood super close, talking in hushed tones. She couldn't pick up on any words they said.
Romie, Rama's brother, waved to her from the back of the huddle. Romie didn't hang out with them much as he lived with his parents in one of the family rooms. Rama joked it let his parents keep a larger family cabin, but it might have been for his own protection. Every female would camp outside of his door if he lived on the second deck with the rest of the single crew members. He didn't even hang out with them much.
The captain turned his attention to her. "Naomi Earland. Good. Now we are waiting on your boss. Any idea where the hell he is?"
"No, sir. He texted me half an hour ago and told me to be here."
"Well, where the hell is he?" Smoke trailed above the captain's head. His emerald green eyes dilated to the slits of his dragon.
Shit, had she gotten her boss in trouble? "I might have missed a second text. I didn’t bring my phone as instructed." She hadn't missed his text though.
She didn't glance at Romie. The puma shifter would know that she wasn't telling the truth. And lying to the captain wasn't something she wanted to do, but neither was getting her chill boss in trouble.
The doors swung open, and Ming sauntered through them, his hair perfect and that ass . . . There was a lot of eye candy going on around her.
"Nice of you to join us, Ming." The captain stood with his feet shoulder-width apart.
"Couldn't find my boots in that postage stamp of a room of mine." His chin lifted at the captain.
Naomi took several steps back. Daniel was at her side and stepped in front of her. What the fuck? That was cute—like anyone could protect her from a dragon and a bear shifter having a fight. Her lynx bristled. Edvard moved forward too. Fuck. The door slammed shut on her arrangement with Edvard. That little motion told her he would get clingy.
"Naomi. Sorry for the late notice. I wasn't sure about bringing you, but I think it will be helpful in the long run." Ming nodded at her.
The captain nodded at Phin. The rest of the crew filed into the tender. Phin held open a black bag, and all the crew members dropped their phones in. Edvard offered her a hand onto the boat and she tried not to scoff. But he did the same for Sam. Sam batted her brown eyes at him.
Ming sat at the back of the tender and waved her over. Edvard, Phin, and Zach were crowded around the wheelhouse. Daniel stood next to the captain, both of them focused on the black horizon.
"Mind if I join you?" She plopped down next to Ming.
"I for one hope this isn't a total waste of time like last time." Sam yawned into the sleeve of her Dark Wing zip-up jacket.
"Last time?" Naomi asked. "Wait. Ming, what are we doing?"
"I suggest strapping in before they lower us the thirty feet to the water."
Naomi strapped in. She’d done this before—every crew member had to during their twice-yearly safety drills.
"Excuse me, Naomi. I need to pull the release pin next to your seat for the crane." Phin leaned in next to her and pulled a long pin out of a metal plate on the bottom of the tender. "Pin released."
"Copy, pin released,” came from the wheelhouse, where the crew strapped themselves in too.
Naomi glanced at Phin. He
nodded and joined the rest in the wheelhouse as they started to lower the tender. Dark Wing had slowed to a near stop. The jolt of the boat hitting the water still rocked them forward. Phin barely acknowledged her after whatever had happened between him and her roommate. She still didn’t understand. And Colette didn't keep secrets. The male wouldn't hold her eyes. Whatever happened was probably worse than she imagined.
The boat flew across the water. Naomi turned to Ming, her eyebrows raised.
"Right. Last month, the crew came to check out this island. And they couldn't land the boat," Ming said as if discussing his scores from his last round of golf.
The captain slid into the bench opposite them, across from Sam. "We tried to land here last month. But the high tide kept the tender off the beach we wanted to land on. This is top secret—only the crew on this boat and the FO have the details about this mission. I’m sorry we kept you in the dark. We are scouting an island for a new exclusive port for the ship."
“Bigger,” Ming added. “There's room for an airstrip and a resort.”
The captain nodded and joined the guys in the wheelhouse again.
"This better go better than last time." Sam crossed her legs.
"What happened last time?"
“They couldn't land because of the tide and then the engine for the tender broke down. They got it going again, but we never went ashore.”
Romie sat at the end of the bench. That explained why he was here as a junior engineer, floating around in the Atlantic on a tiny boat in the middle of the night.
"Why am I here?" Naomi turned to Ming.
"We will need sketches."
"Of what?" She didn't mean to be snarky, but really?
“The island isn't owned right now, but it's not in international waters either. We are going to put a packet together to spin it.”
"For investors?"
"You think he needs an investor? Not a chance he will let someone else dip their paws in his money. National waters means small island governments with government officers that have to be impressed and convinced that this is the right thing for a piece of rock they don't use."
Naomi blinked, not sure that she could do what the bear wanted. "I see. And what exactly am I supposed to draw? I'm not an architect."
“No. But you're clever. And the captain doesn't want to bring on a firm of architects to look at the island and risk starting a bidding war. Think friendly but vague, positive and fun resort buildings. Like the ones on the Dark Wing island already, just bigger and hotel-like.”
She would not roll her eyes; she would not roll her eyes at her boss. Her mother said more than once to her brother, "It’s a good thing you're so cute, or I might have lost you in the woods." She could envision Ming's mother saying the same thing.
The buildings on the stop-over island weren’t resort-like; they were cabanas and kiosks. There was a caretaker’s cottage and a small dorm for the dozen employees that lived there. Not a resort.
"The captain wanted you to see the land. He thought it might give you inspiration. Better than photographs. Don't worry about it, you'll do great."
Ming rested his hands on his knees. The boat was cutting cleanly through the water. “I’ll see if I can soften up the captain. He doesn't like it when I make him wait.” Ming tapped the thumb of his fist to his lip and laughed.
The male was playing with fire, literally. She hoped she wasn't the one who got burned. She squinted at the horizon but couldn't make out anything. Dark Wing was a glowing speck behind them. Daniel slid into the vacant seat between her and Sam. He nodded at Romie as he sat.
"Getting crowded up there?" Naomi ran her hand down her arm.
"Not really. Thought I'd come sit back here." Daniel sat sideways, facing her.
"Oh."
"How've you been?"
"Good. It's weird not seeing you at the front desk." More than weird—horrible. Like being gutted with a spoon. His whole old department was acting like someone pissed in their breakfast cereal. Eva was moody. Hope was becoming downright nasty, and Chad . . . Chad was lost. It was painful to see him so clueless. At least up in the shifter lounge check-in, Daisy said he was good at picking up towels. At the front desk, he didn't know how to do anything and he was driving Hope nuts.
Naomi had started working in the former closet that was now public relations. The lights they installed weren't right, but it didn't matter. Sometimes she'd even close the door and pretend it was a cave. Better than listening to Hope sigh.
"It's odd not being there. But I like what I'm doing now. I still get to help guests. Only the situations are a little different."
The wind took his words, but she got the meaning. He was moving on. Right. She had told him no. And Daniel was nothing if not a male of consideration. Too much kindness.
Her skin was boiling; she wanted to climb into his lap. Shit, she needed to stop thinking about it. The wind was blowing at her but, if it changed direction, the testosterone-filled boat would get a nostril full of her juices and that wouldn't work. Edvard was the only human on board the tender heading to the island.
"Hope and Eva miss you."
"I know; she tells me daily." Daniel let out a breath.
"You see her a lot?"
“Sure. She comes down to see me. Billy and Rama do too.”
Romie glanced over at his sister’s name but quickly lost interest and watched the horizon again.
"I didn't know that. I mean, I see Zach in the bar. I thought you were . . ."
"You thought I was what?"
"I thought you must have been on the night shift." Her words blew behind them.
Romie looked over. Damn puma shifter for catching her in a lie. But he said nothing, and Daniel didn't call her out on it.
What she thought was that he was hiding in his cabin, away from her. But instead, all of her friends were hanging out with him in his large but strange room.
"How's your head?"
"I've only hit that beam . . . well, I’m down to once a week now." His white teeth glowed in the moonlight.
"That's good."
"I thought I should give you some space."
Romie glanced over at them. So, Daniel played the white-lie game too.
The frequency of the engine pitch changed, and they slowed. A glance over the edge of the boat told her trees and rocks were not too far away. They motored around the north side of the island; a lava rock cliff soared up from the sea. They followed it for a while until mangroves and scrub palms dangled in the water. Crabs scurried along the limbs of the mangrove branches as the boat’s search light hit them. They motored along for a distance before they came around a reef. The light swept along the low natural beach that ended at the cliff. With the tide up, there wouldn't be any way to get to the beach. No wonder they couldn't land last month. The enclosed area was beautiful. And the way the natural rocks jutted out into the ocean made a natural harbor.
"It's deep here. That's why the captain and the bridge crew are so excited about this island." Daniel moved to the front of the boat.
Naomi nodded. Twice last month they weren't able to land at their day resort because powerful winds kept them from docking. It led to disappointed, cranky passengers. With a deep-water port, they would be able to dock in windy weather. And one of the biggest things her dinner guests would tell her after they pulled out of the port was they wished for more time at the island. Being able to cruise, stay at a resort, then cruise some more would thrill a lot of guests. A resort at the edge of the cliff would be stunning.
The female bridge crewman motored the boat up close to the sand, and Daniel and Phin jumped out into the shallow water. Edvard and Zach threw lines off the side of the boat to them, while the captain and pilot stayed in the wheelhouse. Her boss leaned against the center console. Phin and Daniel pulled the boat further ashore. All the while, Romie sat in the boat’s corner, quiet, watching.
"Excellent piloting, Ina. Ina and Romie will watch the boat and man the radio base." The c
aptain nodded to the two of them.
Romie stood when the captain addressed him, but then sat back down.
All the crew had radios but Ming, Sam, and her.
Edvard and Zach jumped off the boat. Ming jumped far enough that his shoes stayed dry.
"Come on, Sam," Phin said and put his arms out for her.
"You don't have to ask me twice, papa bear." Sam stepped into his arms. She nuzzled his neck as he carried her to shore, and it made Naomi want to tear them both up.
Why? Colette and Phin weren’t an item, but what had happened between the two of them hurt her friend. Not that she knew what had happened, but still.
"Want help, Earland?" The captain asked as he glanced back.
"Thanks, Captain. I've got this." Naomi stood on the edge of the boat. Her boots would not be comfortable if they got wet, but then it would be easier to shift and let her lynx explore the island anyway.
"What, does the cat not want to get her feet wet?" Zach called at her. Coming from a fellow lynx, the joke didn't bother her.
"I can carry you." Daniel looked up from the water. His hair blew in the wind.
"I can leap."
He beckoned for her to jump into his arms.
"Alright, knock yourself out." She slid off the side of the boat and into his arms.
The thing with wanting someone and not wanting to be with him is that it can confuse the fuck out of you. And her lynx wasn't being helpful. Daniel wrapped his arms around her, and her arms went around his neck as if they'd done it a thousand times before. He sloshed through the knee-high water to the beach and, instead of letting her down in the shallow water, he took the extra steps to the rocks near the cliff face. He put her down with slow, careful movements, and her body slid against his as her feet hit the rocks. His chest and cock were both hard.
She felt eyes on them, and she knew whose, although in the dim light he was the only one that couldn't make out her shuttering chest or how Daniel's lips were a touch away from her neck. The corners of her lips tugged up. She might get Daniel to change his mind about an arrangement if she played it right.
