“I don’t give a damn how Amanda feels. I’ve come to fetch her, and she’s coming back with me. That’s all there is to it.”
At that blatant display of male arrogance, Amanda gasped indignantly. Stepping in front of Zeke despite his restraining arm, she glared up at Matt. Her eyes shot purple sparks at him while every inch of her small body shouted defiance.
“You don’t
own
me, Matt. I’ll stay with Zeke if I please.”
“The
hell
you will.” The fury in Matt’s eyes blazed anew. Reaching out to grasp her roughly by the arm, he started to turn away, pulling the resisting Amanda behind him. She struggled, but her strength was as nothing compared to Matt’s. He would have dragged her with him, willy-nilly, if Zeke had not stopped him with a hard hand on his shoulder.
“Wait, brother. Amanda is going nowhere she doesn’t want to.” Zeke’s voice was calm, but something about the flat, even tone said that this time he was serious. Matt turned slowly back to look at him, not releasing his hold on Amanda’s arm. She stopped struggling, looking from one man to the other with wide, alarmed eyes. There was no brotherly affection evident between them now; they were two hard-eyed men on the brink of doing battle.
“Take your hand off me, brother, and get out of my way.” Matt spoke with a barely controlled menace.
“And if I do not?” To Amanda’s horror Zeke seemed to be deliberately trying to rile Matt. They were glaring at each other as if they would come to blows at any moment—and relish the fight. Amanda bit her lip. Zeke was nearly as tall as Matt, with a wiry, whipcord strength, but he lacked Matt’s power. In a fight between them, Amanda had little doubt about who would emerge the victor. And she knew that she couldn’t bear it if she were to cause a rift between these two men who loved each other dearly, and whom she had come to love, each in a different way.
“Zeke, I’ll go with him,” she said softly before Matt could reply. Both men looked down at her, Matt’s eyes as hard as the hand that still encircled her arm; Zeke was frowning.
“You don’t have to, Amanda. He can’t force you to.”
“Can’t I?” Matt’s silky tone contained a threat. Zeke looked from Amanda’s face to Matt’s, his hazel eyes acquiring a steely gleam similar to his brother’s.
“No,” Zeke said with soft assurance. “I am captain here, and in command. Take a look around you, brother.”
Matt glanced swiftly around, and so did Amanda. She was surprised to see the two men who had rowed Matt from the
Rosimond
planted squarely behind him while the entire thirty-man crew of the
Eloise
gathered around them in a loose circle. If the
Eloise
’s men decided to take Zeke’s part, as he seemed to feel they would, Matt and his men would be easily overpowered. But she couldn’t let it come to that. Zeke was dependent on his brother for his livelihood, and, besides, the affection that had always flowed between the two of them had been heartwarming. She couldn’t destroy that, even if she wanted to stay with Zeke. Which she didn’t. Angry or not, she longed to be back in the shelter of Matt’s arms. If nothing else, her flight had taught her a hard-earned lesson: whether or not he loved her, she loved him. If his passion and his name were all she could have of him, she would take them and be grateful.
“Zeke, I will go with him. Please don’t cause any trouble.”
Zeke looked down at her. His mouth was still hard, but there was a gleam almost of laughter in the hazel eyes. She stared back at him, frowning. And then it occurred to her that the exchange between Zeke and Matt had been false from the start, at least on Zeke’s part. Why, only a few hours before, he had been bound and determined to return her to Matt whether she would or not. What had caused the sudden reversal? Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“If you truly want to go, I won’t stop you,” Zeke said to her, still sounding grim. “But if I were you, Amanda, I wouldn’t. At least not until I had the answers to a few questions. Why has he come high-tailing it after you, and why is he so angry that you left? He never cared before when a woman left him. In fact, he usually showed her the door.”
“Be quiet, Zeke,” Matt growled warningly. Amanda’s eyes searched his lean, handsome face, surprised to see a tinge of dark color appear in the high cheekbones. He still looked furious—but also strangely ill at ease. He met her gaze briefly, then his hand tightened around her arm. “Come, Amanda. We’re leaving.”
She resisted, pulling back against the hand that urged her forward. “No,” she said clearly. “Zeke is right. I won’t leave until you answer the question. Why
did
you come after me, Matt?” She looked up at him steadily, her head slightly tilted so that her hair spilled down her back in gleaming red waves. The setting sun caught the silky strands, gilding them so that her small face seemed to be surrounded by a fiery nimbus. Her violet eyes were wide and questioning as his gaze met them almost unwillingly. She looked very small and fragile in the full-skirted dress striped with the color of her eyes—and so beautiful that she took his breath.
“I told you—you’re mine.” The words were gruff. “You knew I’d never let you go. I had made that clear before you left. Which is why, I suppose, you sneaked off like a thief in the night.”
“But why
won’t
you let her go, brother?” Zeke prodded mockingly. “You often shared a woman. Why, I remember three that you passed on to me.”
Matt glared at him. “If you don’t keep your mouth shut, I’ll shut it for you with a great deal of pleasure. Especially if I find you’ve laid so much as a finger on Amanda. I haven’t forgotten that night you kissed her, and it will never happen again.”
“But what is so different about Amanda?” Zeke persisted. “You never minded sharing before—”
“Damn it, I
love
her,” Matt growled, dark red color washing into his cheeks and his eyes staring furiously at his brother. Amanda stood transfixed. She couldn’t believe what she had heard …
“Matt,” she said softly, wonderingly. His hand dropped away from her arm and he turned on his heel, casting a furious glance at the grinning circle of men as he stalked toward the ladder. As Amanda started after him Zeke caught her arm.
“You’d best gather your things,” he advised softly. “It’s a long way back to New Orleans.” Then he winked at her and grinned.
“Thank you, Zeke.” Amanda’s smile came from the heart. Then she hurried to her cabin, where she quickly stuffed her clothes and toilet things into her valise. Bright-colored tufts of several dresses and a tier of lace from a petticoat dangled from the valise when she dragged it on deck, but Amanda could not have cared less. She had a horrible fear that, having said what he had, Matt might actually leave without her. And at first she thought he had. Neither he nor his two men were on deck.
“
Zeke.
” She turned alarmed eyes on him as he walked to meet her.
“He’s waiting—in the boat,” Zeke reassured her, taking the valise from her hand and ushering her to the dangling ladder. Looking over the rail, Amanda saw the small boat bobbing below, with Matt in the prow and the two sailors ready at the oars. Matt looked up, scowling.
“Here, brother,” Zeke called blithely down, and heaved Amanda’s valise over the side. Matt caught it deftly and turned to set it aside. Then Zeke whispered to Amanda, “Be gentle with him. I think, for the first time in his life, he is feeling shy.” And he grinned broadly.
“I will,” Amanda promised, grinning back. Then, impulsively, she reached up to plant a soft kiss on his cheek. To her amusement Zeke actually blushed.
“I’m glad he’s down there,” he said, jerking his thumb at Matt, who was glaring up at them, his fists clenched in obvious anger. “Take care of yourself, Amanda, and my nephew or niece. And tell my cross-patch of a brother that I’ll see him when I return.”
“You take care, too, Zeke,” Amanda said softly, and then he helped her over the side.
Matt caught her as she neared the end of the ladder, his big hands hard on her waist as he swung her into the boat. Amanda clutched at his forearms for balance, looking up at him as he settled her on the seat, searching vainly for some sign of softening in his face. His eyes were like flint, and his face could have been carved from stone. When she smiled at him, his answer was a cold glare. Still, Amanda was happy. He had said he loved her, and he wouldn’t have unless he meant it. They could sort out whatever was troubling him as soon as they were alone.
When they reached the deck of the
Rosimond,
however, it became clear that Matt had no intention of giving her a chance to talk to him. He strode away from her, curtly instructing one of his men to show her to the captain’s cabin. Amanda stared disappointedly at his retreating back. Then, suddenly, she had had enough.
“Matthew Grayson, you come
back
here,” she yelled. He turned slowly, as if he couldn’t believe his ears, to find her glaring at him, hands on hips as the temper that went with the color of her hair crackled from her eyes.
“
What
did you say?” The tone was ominous.
“You heard me.” Oblivious of the gaping stares of the men as they looked from her slight figure to their captain’s large form, she tilted her chin at him belligerently. His mouth tightened as he strode back to her.
“Have a care, my girl,” he growled, grasping her upper arms and glaring down at her. “I have enough scores to settle with you.”
“I want to talk to you,” she said determinedly, ignoring his implied threat and matching him glare for glare. His eyes glittered as they met hers, and a tiny nerve began to jump at the corner of his mouth.
“I fail to see that we have anything to talk about.”
Amanda’s eyes blazed. “
Oh?
” She was quivering with temper. “In front of your brother and a whole ship’s crew, you said that you loved me. And you don’t think we have anything to talk about? Well,
I do.
”
The tips of his ears went red. His hands tightened on her arms, and there was a sudden vulnerability in his eyes that he tried to mask with an icy glare. He swore under his breath, and then he released one of her arms and began to pull her after him toward his cabin, nestled under the quarterdeck.
When they were alone, he let go of her, crossing to a cabinet and extracting a bottle of whiskey and a glass. Amanda leaned against the closed door, watching as he sloshed some of the golden liquid into the glass and bolted it back in a single swallow.
“Matt,” she said softly. His back was rigid as he gripped the edges of the cabinet with both hands. Then he turned slowly to face her.
“How fond of my brother are you, Amanda?” he shot at her, the telltale nerve still leaping in his jaw.
Amanda smiled at him. “Very fond. Just as I would be if he were
my
brother. And very grateful to him, too. He arranged all this, you know, Matt.”
“He ran off with you, you mean.” He eyed her grimly.
“No.” Amanda shook her head. “I begged him to take me. He didn’t want to—but I cried. Neither one of you seems to have any resistance to tears. And he meant for you to come after us. He would have taken me back himself if you hadn’t.”
Matt’s scowl wavered. “I must admit, I wondered about that message. He knew I’d come—and he’s damned lucky I didn’t throttle him. I went mad looking for you that morning. God knows what could have happened to you if you’d gone off on your own. I didn’t get Zeke’s message until that night—and by then I’d searched the whole town. He’s lucky it took so long to reach your ship—I had time to remember that he is my brother.” He hesitated, then shot her an uncertain look. “Why did you leave me, Amanda?” he suddenly asked in a softened tone.
She met his eyes with a tender gaze. “I couldn’t bear it any longer. It was torture being with you, thinking that you didn’t love me—when I love you.”
“Is that the truth?” His voice was curiously unsteady.
“Cross my heart.” She laughed a little, but there was a faint mist clouding her vision. He made a muffled sound deep in his throat, then held out his arms to her. She ran into them with a little choked cry.
They closed around her, squeezing her so tightly she could hardly breathe. His face came down to rest on her soft hair, lightly kissing the sweet-smelling strands. Amanda’s arms went around his waist, holding him close. He felt so hard and strong and solid against her. She knew, with a heart-quaking sense of wonder, that at last she had come home.
“I wanted you from the first moment I saw you on the beach,” Matt whispered into her hair, his voice thick. “You were so small, and so exquisite. But then I found out that your heart was as beautiful as your face, and I was lost. I loved you, Amanda, when you cried over my scarred back, though I wouldn’t admit it even to myself. And I loved you more the first night we made love. When you said you loved me … You don’t know what you did to me, Amanda. I was yours from that night on. I wasn’t going to abandon you to the machinations of that swinish brother of yours. When I left, I had already decided that you would come with me. I wanted to take care of you, spoil you a little, give you everything you didn’t have.”
“Oh, Matt …” That was all she could force through a throat that was suddenly tight. She had never dreamed that he loved her this much; it was everything she had ever wanted and more.
“I’ve been a swine to you,” he muttered. “I know it. How
could
I have thought you had betrayed me?”
She pulled a little away from him then, smiling up at him mistily and placing silencing fingers over his mouth.
“Hush,” she said softly. “We won’t talk about that. I understand.”
He smiled back at her, a crooked twist of his lips that said almost as much as the soft blaze in his eyes. “You’re an angel,” he said, catching her hand and pressing his lips into the palm. “My own red-haired angel. Marry me, Amanda.”
Her eyes glowed. “Yes, darling,” she answered, loving him with her voice as well as her eyes. His eyes flamed down into hers, and then he was swinging her off her feet, finding her mouth with his as he carried her to the bunk.