Bare feet padded up softly behind him. “She’s not here,” Althea whispered disappointedly. “At least, I’ve seen no sign of her in the harbor….”

“No. I don’t think Vivacia is anchored here tonight. That would have been expecting too much luck. But she was here the last time I was, and I think it likely she’ll be here again. Patience.” He turned to her. In the concealing fog, he dared to catch her hand and pull her closer. “What were you imagining? That we’d find her here, tonight, and somehow manage to spirit her away without a fight?”

“A child’s dream,” Althea admitted. Momentarily, she let her forehead rest against his shoulder. He wanted so badly to take her in his arms and hold her.

“Then call me a child, for I had the same vain hope. That something could be simple and easy for us.”

She straightened with a sigh, and moved away from him. It made the damp night colder.

Wistfulness twined through him. “Althea? Do you think there will ever be a time and place when things are simple and easy for us? A time when I can walk down the street with you on my arm under the light of day?”

She answered slowly. “I’ve never allowed myself to look that far ahead.”

“I have,” Brashen said bluntly. “I’ve thought ahead to you captaining Vivacia and me still running Paragon. That’s the happiest ending we could expect from this quest. But then I ask myself, where does that leave us? When and where do we make a home for ourselves?”

“Sometimes we’d both be in port at the same time.”

He shook his head. “That isn’t enough for me. I want you all the time, always at my side.”

She spoke quietly. “Brashen. I cannot allow myself to think of that just now. I fear that all my planning for tomorrow must begin with my family ship.”

“And I fear it will always be so. That all your plans will always begin with your ship.” Abruptly he realized that he sounded like a jealous lover.

Althea seemed to feel the same. “Brashen, must we speak of such things now? Cannot we, for now, be content with what we have, with no thoughts for tomorrow?”

“I thought I was supposed to be the one to say such things,” he replied gruffly after a moment. “Still, I know that for now, I must be content with what I have. Stolen moments, secret kisses.” He smiled ruefully. “When I was seventeen, I would have thought this the epitome of romance: covert passion aboard a ship. Furtive kisses on the afterdeck on a foggy night.” With a step he swept her into his arms and kissed her deeply. He had not surprised her; had she been waiting for him to do this? She held nothing back; her body fitted sweetly against his. Her easy response stirred him so deeply he groaned with longing. Reluctantly, he separated his body from hers.

He found a breath. “But I’m not a boy anymore. Now this just drives me mad. I want more than this, Althea. I don’t want suspense and quarrels and jealousy. I don’t want sneaking about and concealing what I feel. I want the comfort of knowing you are mine, and taking pride in everyone else recognizing that as well. I want you in my bed beside me, every night, and across the table from me in the morning. I want to know that years from now, if I stand on another deck somewhere, on another night, you will still be beside me.”

SHE TURNED TO LOOK UP AT HIM INCREDULOUSLY. SHE COULD BARELY PICK OUT his features. Was he teasing her? His voice had sounded serious. “Brashen Trell, are you proposing marriage to me?”

“No,” he said hastily. There was a long uncomfortable silence. Then he laughed softly. “Yes. I suppose I am. Marriage, or something very like it.”

Althea took a long breath and leaned back on the railing. “You never cease to surprise me,” she observed shakily. “I… I don’t have an answer for you.”

His voice also shook, though she knew he tried for levity. “I suppose that’s all right, as I haven’t really asked the question yet. But when all this is over, I shall.”

“When all this is over, I’ll have an answer for you.” She made the promise, knowing she had no idea what that answer would be. Frantically, she pushed that worry to the back of her mind. Other things, she told herself, there were other, more pressing matters to deal with, even if those other matters did not make her heart shake as this had. She tried to quench her quick breathing and the yearning of her flesh.

“What happens next?” she asked, gesturing toward the muted lights.

He countered her question with another question. “Of those on board, who do you trust most? Name me two names.”