Like someone cracked a whip above his head, all the dark intensity in his gaze shifted to reveal a spark of anger. “Surely you don’t intend to hide behind this falsehood of loyalty to Richard.”
She twisted out of his hold and rose on unsteady legs. Free of his intoxicating nearness, sense returned. She shook her head. “It’s no falsehood. We are to wed. You know this.”
A wry smirk danced on his mouth as he stood. “A wedding that can’t take place if the bride does not return.”
Indignation rode her hard. The heaving of her chest began anew, and she whirled around with a fierce scowl. “You cannot keep me here forever!”
One dark eyebrow rose to mock her. “No? I see no one to stop me.” In three long strides he closed the distance between them. His hand shot out to yank the leather strap from around her waist and wind it tight around her wrists. He held them in one hand. “Did you forget you are my captive? I can keep you as long as I desire. No one will stop me from tying you here, or binding you in the hold.”
She gritted her teeth in a vain effort to still her tongue and tell him all the vile things that ran through her head. But at the sound of his low chuckling, her temper got the better of her. “If your intent is to keep me prisoner for eternity, I promise you I will find a way off this ship if I have to jump overboard. I may not possess the legs to sail, but I am quite capable of swimming.”
With a broad sweep of his arm, he gestured at the window. “Swim if you wish. You will tire. When you do, I will be there to haul you in. And when I do, you will still be bound, and still my captive. And if we wish to enjoy each other’s bodies, we shall.”
Spluttering, she opened her mouth to argue with logic, but sensible words eluded her tongue. All that tumbled loose was the ridiculous protest, “What you speak of is indecent!”
Pain flickered across his face, so insignificant she wouldn’t have noticed had he not moved closer to the light. With a nonchalant shrug, the momentary crease to his brow smoothed
,
and his devilish smile returned to lift the corners of his mouth. “I have no place among decency.” He reached between them and gave her trousers a tug. They fell to the floor in a useless heap.
She stood bare in front of him. His body heaved, his eyes glittered with an unsettling combination of anger and desire. Slowly, he skimmed a palm down her abdomen to press his fingertips between her legs. “Ah,
India
.” He shook his head as he slipped his middle finger into her slickened opening. “Surrender your false allegiances. Let me give you the pleasure you want. The pleasure we both need.”
Despite the flames that ignited in her blood,
India
shook her head. In one last desperate attempt to dissuade him from the idea, she whispered, “I have no wish to be with you.” It was a lie, but she refused to give herself again and insure she would bear his bastard.
Cain let out a hearty bark of laughter. He shook his head, his eyes alight with mirth. “I am a pirate,
India
. Do you think I give a damn what other people wish?” The burn of arousal fled from his gaze, replaced with the full strength of his anger. He removed his hand, strode for the door, and grabbed the knob. On a backward glance, warning filled his penetrating stare. “Your body speaks the truth. In my company, your mouth will do the same.”
The door shuddered in his wake.
She stared after him, shaken to the core. His fierce passion, the unacceptable thoughts he provoked—not once had she ever experienced such a wild rush. If he had been her husband, even her intended, she would have begged him to take her. Her body throbbed for him, yearned for his possession.
Only common sense had kept her from doing so as it was. They couldn’t throw all cares aside, embrace this shipboard life, and sin to their hearts’ content. And yet, the idea held infinite fascination. Leave the world behind. Throw away all responsibility. Shrug off the chains of society and follow the impulsive yearnings of her heart, wherever they might lead.
Embrace the fact they had been lovers instead of running from it. Allow her tongue the freedom to speak her fondest desires.
She squeezed her eyes shut tight and pulled in a steadying breath. No. She wouldn’t go that far. She couldn’t abandon her father, and she wouldn’t give up the hope that through time, she could convince Richard to allow
her the
complete freedom to make North Atlantic Freight the success it should be. She could make a life for herself in business, even if her husband never wanted to touch her. All hopes of that would vanish if she became Cain’s willing mistress. She might have a willful mind, but she still possessed her loyalty, her honor.
No matter how impossible it seemed, she’d find a way off
The Kraken
and return to
England
to honor her vows. While Richard didn’t make her pulse leap or fill her with the insatiable desire to strip away her clothes, he deserved her loyalty. Somehow, she’d find a way to crack through the layers of the pirate Cain and reach the buried gentleman. Cain might turn his back on loyalty, but Teddy would set her free.
351
Bound By Decency
14
G
uided by demons he had no name for, Cain thumped through the entry to the main deck. The door crashed into the wall and rattled on its hinges. His men gave him a wide berth as he struck a direct course toward the main hatch, flung it open, and descended the stairs.
What raged inside him he couldn’t explain. Never had he felt so out of control, both of himself and of a situation, than he did at this moment. In a thousand years he wouldn’t have dreamed he could
experience
the fury she ignited with her talk of loyalty and honor. Rage that spurred him backward into a world he had left behind and awakened parts of him he despised. He no longer knew himself. Was he the murderous pirate, who sought only his own satisfaction? Or was he Teddy, the perfect gentleman?
The depth of his desire for
India
stunned him. He could not think around her without the overwhelming need to touch her overriding thought. Another rover would have taken what he desired long ago. Even Drake, who despite his goading tongue possessed a streak of gallantry, wouldn’t abide by such torture. He would have the girl and do so in a manner where she believed the decision was hers.
It would be so easy to arouse
India
to the point where she forgot her loyalties. A few moments longer in the cabin, and he would have had her spread out beneath him, her legs parted in welcome. Yet, Cain couldn’t bring himself to cast
India
’s protests aside and prove the falsehoods of her claim that she didn’t want him.
He raised a fist and hammered on Drake’s door.
Confound it all, he had known kissing her would be a mistake. He’d expected her refusal, anticipated her protests. What he hadn’t anticipated was that she could arouse him so thoroughly that he lost all reason.
He set his jaw. Nor had he foreseen she could provoke him so completely with her loyalty to Richard, that he’d entertain the very real idea of keeping her aboard
The Kraken
until he’d had his fill of her.
The reminder of his treatment of her sent another bout of self-directed hate slicing through him. No matter how he had once tried to hide behind adopted manners and Teddy’s gentlemanly demeanor, he was, at the core, a bastard of the vilest kind.
His first insistent knock went unanswered, and he pounded again.
India
claimed loyalty to one who didn’t know the meaning of the word. To a man who would forsake her in a heartbeat, were it not for the fortunes that came with her family name. Once Richard acquired her father’s fortune,
India
would quickly find herself cast aside. When her beauty passed, when her body filled out from childbirth, Richard wouldn’t honor her with the same allegiance. He’d take his fill of every whoring mistress he could find in every flat, carriage, or urine-covered alley
London
had to offer.
Why Cain should care, he had no answers for either.
He pivoted on his heel and squinted down the dimly lit hall. Where the devil was Drake? Reggie’s behavior deserved punishment, and as the scoundrel’s ward, Drake must see to its execution.
The sound of laughter drew Cain to the galley, where he found the wide room amassed with seamen, knee-high in their cups.
“Cap’n!” a rough voice called out. “Sit ye down an’ fill a mug or two.”
“Or three or four,” another voice added from a shadowed corner.
Cain forced a grin and waved a dismissive hand. “I will sit this round out.”
“Aye, he be havin’ better things ta do,” a man at his left murmured to his balding companion.
“The girl,” someone taunted with a chortle. The voice rose courageously. “Come bri
ng her here, Cap’n! We’ll show ’er ’
ow ta be a seaman.”
As laughter erupted, men lifted heavy tankards and raised their voices in congratulatory toasts. Cain’s blood heated as he peered through the shadows in search of the foolish tongue that didn’t know its place. At the rear, one man didn’t drink. His one-eyed gaze held Cain’s. Malice glinted behind the steely stare.
John Slater.
The sight of him clenched Cain’s fingers into a tight fist. The scurvy bastard should be locked in the hold. Preferably chained to a bulkhead while Stuart rubbed salt into the whip marks across his back.
Boldly maintaining eye contact, Slater lifted his tankard to his mouth. He closed his eye only to toss the spirits back, then set the heavy wooden mug down on the scarred table. Rising, his mouth twisted into a hard
,
cruel line.
Cain knew the look. Knew the intent behind Slater’s challenging glare. He’d seen the same from Slater on more than one occasion when a man dared to break the oaths of the brotherhood. Only in years past, Cain had the security of knowing the recipient would soon find himself at the end of Slater’s pistol.
Cain took a step forward, intent on relieving himself of the problem before it could take life.
“Cap’n!” Young Jim hollered from behind Cain.
With a sidelong glance at Slater, Cain reluctantly turned around. Removing the threat would have to wait. The urgency in Young Jim’s voice demanded nothing less.
“Cap’n, there’s a ship! About twelve hundred yards off starboard, sailing at six or seven knots.”
As the men caught Young Jim’s exclamation, every pair of eyes riveted on Cain. No one moved. No one muttered. In the heavy silence that descended, tension mounted, so thick a cutlass could cut it. The moment they’d all been waiting for had arrived.
To deny them would open Cain to mutiny. He’d promised to reward them well, vowed they would leave no passing ship untouched. Already he turned away from a likely prospect, and to do so now would make him weak. Unfit to lead. If they didn’t immediately cast him over to the sharks, they would take pleasure in his torture, and
India
would become their sport.
Yet the excitement he had once known at the prospect of a fight failed to ignite. Dread rolled his stomach into a hard knot, and regret turned his veins to ice. If he issued the order, all hope of returning to a decent life was lost.
He stared at Young Jim’s eager expression. Invisible chains snapped around Cain’s wrists and weighed him down. This was his fate. The only life Richard left him. If he intended to survive, he could make only one decision.
With a short nod to the men gathered at the tables, he murmured, “To your stations.”
As raucous shouts broke out, Cain pushed past Young Jim and made for the stairs. He took them two at a time, his stride determined, full of false purpose. A fight they craved, a fight they would get. God take mercy on his soul, for he knew no alternate course.
Drake hailed him from the quarterdeck with an enthusiastic shout. One foot propped on a crate, he was every inch the cunning captain Cain had once called equal. Now, looking at him brought a feeling of such self-loathing Cain grimaced. He too had once relished the loss of life. Had gloated at the prospect of easy victory.
He looked starboard and took in the three tall masts across the water. Studied the flying Royal Standard of France atop her tall
main mast
. Six knots…
The Kraken
would overtake the heavy-bellied vessel without effort. This was no challenge, no battle worthy of great skill, no conquest to fuel pride. What they embarked on was nothing less than slaughter.
With a sad shake of his head, Cain fought down the voice of reason. He told himself the Frenchmen invited trouble by sailing waters so close to
Nassau
. Rationalized that if she bore false colors, the foolish pirate at her wheel should know better than to come within such close distance to an inbound ship. Particularly when
The Kraken
made no pretense of hiding her identity as she sailed into port.
He glanced up at his Roger and searched the twin skulls for the villain that slept inside his soul. In the ripple of the indigo silk, the last of his decency slipped into the wind. He inhaled deeply and bounded up the stairs where Drake handed him a bracer of pistols and a cutlass. Cain buckled the leather belt around his waist, closed his fingers around a leather-wrapped hilt. In one swift draw he pointed the cutlass skyward. “Bosun, pipe to quarters!”
“Aye, Cap’n, pipe ta quarters, it be!”
No sooner did Stuart’s echo die off, than the shrill note of his short flute rang over the decks. In answer, men who had milled about aimlessly took on new purpose. Energy thrummed through the crew. Mutters became eager shouts. Sails shifted, furled and unfurled. Ports creaked open. Forgotten ropes found neat and tidy homes.
Drake looked to Cain with an approving nod. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”
Cain gave him a disparaging frown and turned to the helmsman. “Strong and sure, Stormy. You know the course.”
Drake’s seasoned helmsman returned the order with a gold-tinted grin. “Aye, me knows the course by heart.” He gave the wheel a slow half turn.
“And you,” Cain nodded at Drake. “Tell Reggie to prepare the guns. Warn the cur I’ve not forgotten about the ropes. I will deal with that matter once this one has passed.”
“Cain, Cain, Cain.” Drake shook his head with a robust chuckle. “An’ here I thought you were makin’ progress.” He bounced down the stairs before Cain could reply, but his sing-song voice rang out, “Woman, oh woman, there be no greater spell than the one she hath cast over me.”
Cain ground his teeth together so hard he feared they would crack. One way or another, Drake would pay for that remark.
****
A
t the sound of heavy feet pummeling across the decks,
India
ceased pacing. Shouts broke out and drifted through the cabin’s walls. Above the ruckus, a shrill pipe struck a handful of notes. She cocked her head and squinted at the door.
Beneath her feet, the boards vibrated as something heavy rolled in the compartment below. More voices filtered through the flooring, their words clearer. She dropped to her knees and pressed an ear to the smooth wood.
“Larboard gun crew, standby. Starboard cre
w, load yer great guns an’ run ’
em out. Stand to it ‘till we come midships. Snap to it! Lively now! We
’
aven’t got all day.”
Reggie.
The hair on
India
’s arms lifted as she rocked back to her heels. Frowning, she rubbed away goose bumps. Had His Majesty’s Navy finally tracked Cain down? As unease twisted her stomach, she braced a foot on the floor to stand. Halfway to her feet, Cain’s voice thundered beyond her door.
“One gun, Reggie. Give ’
em one gun!”
Deeper within the ship a voice repeated his command. Then beneath
India
’s feet, Reggie bellowed, “Cannon two, fire!”
A deafening blast shook the ship.
India
stumbled, but caught herself on the back of the chair. God in Heaven, this was happening. The Navy had found Cain, and his ridiculous pride forced him to stand and fight. He’d get himself killed with such foolery.
Cannonade returned. Something heavy whacked into the hull and sent a crystal glass plummeting off Cain’s shelves. It shattered at
India
’s feet. One jagged sliver pierced the top of her bare foot. With a yelp, she jumped back. She bent over, gingerly plucked the shard free and tossed it inside an open, empty crate.
By the saints’, he’d get them
all
killed.
She flew to the door and jerked it open. The Navy wanted her. If the commander saw she was unharmed, he’d cease his guns. Then all Cain had to do to save his crew was turn her over. In exchange for her release, she’d convince the
c
aptain to let Cain go free.
She hurried through the narrow corridor and pushed open the main deck’s door as Cain barked another order down the deck.
“Broadsides now! She wants to fight—fill her full of holes! Fire at will! In twenty yards, sweep her rails, clear off the quarterdeck!”
India
opened her mouth to call out to Cain, but he ducked under a thick rope and darted toward the bow. In one fluid move, he grabbed another line, used it as a counterbalance, and jumped up on the forecastle. With a pistol in one hand, he waved the men his way. “Forward ho, men. Pistols and powder. Starboard crew—prepare the hooks.”
As the guns beneath
India
’s feet let out a terrible racket, a sea of bodies rushed to fill the rail near the starboard bow.
India
braced herself with a hand on the doorframe. She watched in horror as Cain’s men fired. Heard the terrific wails as the balls struck home. Bodies crumpled, then toppled overboard.
The Kraken
drifted closer. Another round of cannon fire made the ballasts shudder. A spray of tiny balls shot from
The Kraken’s
hull to strike the opposing vessel’s impressive mainsail. The canvas shredded into fifths, as if it had been set upon by a massive pair of claws.