Of Noble Birth (15 page)

“But the Crown is giving
great latitude to merchants. The Queen is intent upon keeping the
effects of the coming war at a minimum. Maybe your father has
decided to trade in timber or hemp.”

“I can’t imagine that. My
father has specialized in opium, textiles, sugar, and tobacco for
so long, trading with either the United States or China, that it
seems out of character.”

“So we’re going to
intercept the
Eastern Horizon
and find out what’s going on?”

“Exactly.”

Trenton spat over the
railing. “The
Horizon’s
captain’s not going to like a second go-round. He
was furious the last time.”

“Frenchmen are always
passionate about something.”

“What about the ships
destined for China?”

“They won’t be carrying
much until they stop at Calcutta. Which reminds me, what about the
opium from last week’s take? Did you make sure that every last
crate was dumped into the sea?”

Trenton nodded. “Aye, but
I hated to do it. Opium is worth quadruple the value of any other
cargo we’ve taken.”

“Just remember the war, my
friend. You agreed with me then.”

“I still do. The opium
habit is a cursed thing. I’m just getting greedy in my old age.” He
waved a hand. “It all seems so futile. Even if we dump it, there’s
tons more reaching the shores of China every day.”

“I don’t want any part of
it, regardless,” Nathaniel insisted. “England may have won the
right through brute strength to import opium into China, and I may
have helped her do it. But I’m out of service now, and I refuse to
make money from the trade.” He grinned. “Raiding my father’s ships
is definitely more to my liking. That way, only he gets hurt, not
thousands who live each day for another pipe.”

“We might not think it’s
so much to our liking if we ever get caught,” Trenton muttered.
“This last escape was a little too narrow for my comfort. What if
Mary hadn’t sent Rat to warn us? Newgate isn’t a pleasant place to
spend the rest of one’s life, you know.”

Nathaniel measured Trenton
with his eyes. “My father is an impatient man. I don’t think he
would bother with Newgate.”

* * *

Alexandra glanced up as
Nathaniel walked into the cabin, then finished biting off the
thread she had used to mend Tiny’s shirt. She had been relaxed,
almost enjoying the solitude of her work, until the pirate captain
appeared. His presence always unnerved her.

She tried to ignore him as
she leaned toward the candle to better examine her
handiwork.

“What are you doing?” he
asked.

“Tiny needed some help.”
Alexandra neatly folded in her lap the shirt she had mended. “You
don’t expect me to sit idle the entire voyage, do you?”

Nathaniel watched her
dubiously. “Forgive my skepticism, but such selfless service on
behalf of a poor sailor hardly seems compatible with your station
and upbringing. Not to mention your character. I feel it only fair
to warn you that he wouldn’t betray me or his mates. Not for all
the shirts in Bond Street. Or even a beautiful woman.”

Alexandra’s spine
stiffened. “A pirate counsels me on character?”

“Hardly a pirate.”
Nathaniel crossed to the bed and shrugged out of his shirt. “But
since you’ve taken it upon yourself to do some mending, perhaps
you’ll see to this. I just tore the seam.” He tossed his shirt into
her lap.

Alexandra tried to hold
her gaze away from Nathaniel’s tanned chest, but it seemed to
wander there almost of its own volition. He stood facing her, his
shoulders square, the muscles of his arm chiseled as if hewn in
stone. A blush rose to her cheeks as the memory of that chest,
solid against her back, flashed unbidden in her mind.

“No.” She stood and placed
the garment on the desk. The shirt was still warm and smelled of
Nathaniel, heating her blood in a way she had never experienced
before. She dared not touch it.

She turned away so she
would no longer be tempted to stare at the handsome spectacle he
made. What was there about this man that titillated her every
nerve? “I’ll sew when and for whom I want. I’m not one of your men.
You’ll not command me.”

Alexandra heard his tread
on the floor behind her, but she held her ground until Nathaniel
reached over her shoulder to run a thumb lightly over her jawline
and slowly down her neck. Then she couldn’t restrain a
shiver.

“What’s wrong?” he
murmured. “Must you list to ensnare Tiny’s humble heart? I am the
only one who can set you free. Am I too much of a
beast?”

“I have no desire to
ensnare your heart or any other. Tiny was simply kind, and I—I—”
Alexandra forgot what she was about to say as Nathaniel’s lips
replaced his thumb at her nape.

“I’m your sister,” she
gasped, trying to whirl away. But her words sounded unconvincing,
even to herself, and he easily restrained her.

Turning her to face him,
he asked, “Are you?” His eyes glimmered with a light Alexandra had
never seen there before as he moved closer, so close that his
sweet-smelling breath fanned her cheek. “Would my sister let me
touch her like a lover? Kiss the slim column of her
throat?”

His head bent to follow
the suggestion of his words, and for Alexandra, the world stopped
revolving. Swaying toward him, she could think of little besides
the yearning to feel his mouth on hers.

She hated this man. Why
was she doing this? she wondered, as his arm curved behind her
back, pulling her against him. His mouth was only a fraction of an
inch away when her befuddled brain finally produced the answer that
had momentarily eluded her:
He’s testing
me. He wants to know if I’m Anne or the seamstress I claim to
be.

Suddenly the terrifying
picture of Rat’s leering face conjured in Alexandra’s mind, and she
remembered how essential it was that Nathaniel believe her to be
his sister. Rat was waiting for when she was no longer valuable to
Nathaniel, for when he discarded her, as he would if he learned the
truth.

Denying herself the very
sweetness she longed to taste, she shoved Nathaniel away with a
strength born of panic. “How dare you?” She attempted to put as
much loathing into her words as she could muster. “I’m your
sister.”

Nathaniel’s breathing was
ragged as he continued to stare into her eyes. He wet his lips, as
if he would kiss her still; then with a heavy sigh, pulled
back.

“Aye. You’re a heartless
wench,” he said, and with that he turned on his heel and
left.

It was dusk, and difficult
to see very far, even with a glass. After patrolling the
Mediterranean Sea for more than a week, Nathaniel was ready to give
up. No Greystone ships were to be found. The message Rat had
delivered must have been garbled, or the schedule of shipments
altered. Either scenario was entirely possible.

Nathaniel strode to the
wheel. “Tack to the east and make another pass. If we don’t find
anything, we’ll head back come morning,” he told the ship’s
navigator.

The boat shifted as his
instructions were carried out, and the
Vengeance’
s course was set for
another sweeping circle. They moved at a moderate speed, sails
billowing like huge pillows in the sky, while Nathaniel watched the
sun melt into the water.

The color of the ocean
darkened to inky black, mirroring the stars that began to shine
overhead, and he thought he would never leave the sea. It was the
mother he never knew, his teacher, his healer, his
friend.

“Are we going to head
back?” Trenton came to stand beside his captain, and Nathaniel’s
eyes shifted to his friend’s face.

“Aye. I thought it strange
that a ship of my father’s would put in at a Russian port. Although
England has yet to declare war, it is only a matter of time. Soon
English ships will no longer be allowed in Russian ports like those
of neutrals.”

“Ever since the Russians
destroyed the Turkish squadron at Sinope last November, war has
been inevitable,” Trenton agreed, propping himself against the
railing. “England can hardly allow her ally to sustain such
aggression without some kind of support. If Czar Nicholas takes
Constantinople, he’ll control the overland route to
India.”

“Regardless of our allies,
England could never stand for that.” Nathaniel sighed, watching the
dim shadow of Garth climb about the rigging, trimming and adjusting
the sails. “My father has eluded us, this time. But there will be
other opportunities.”

“Do you think he purposely
leaked faulty information?”

“Perhaps.”

“Is Rat in league with
Greystone?”

“No, he wouldn’t have
placed his life in our hands if he were. I think the schedule was
altered after we received our information. If my father was wise,
he would make more last-minute changes.”

Trenton grunted, then
moved away as Nathaniel looked heavenward.

If only life could be so
peaceful, Nathaniel thought, his mind once again returning to his
half sister. After the day he had almost kissed her, he had ordered
a hammock strung in his cabin. He slept there himself, giving Anne
the bed. He’d offered no explanation, nor could he think of a good
one. Nathaniel only knew that he avoided any contact with her
because the test he had given her had backfired. He had meant to
finally put his mind to rest concerning her identity. But that was
hardly the outcome of their brief encounter. Now touching her was
what he craved most.

He pictured her long blond
tresses curling down around her face, her large green eyes gazing
up at him with their thick, sooty lashes, and couldn’t help but
smile. She was beautiful. And stubborn. And courageous. And so damn
tempting that sometimes he couldn’t sleep for listening to her
every movement in the bed.

Nathaniel swore. How could
a man desire his own sister? It wasn’t natural. But there were
times when he wanted to caress her tenderly, to protect her from
the world, and to his utter mortification, feel her soft flesh
beneath him.

He had to think of a way
to rescue Richard, he decided, and rid himself of Anne at the
earliest opportunity.

* * *

At dawn Alexandra braved
the sailors and the chill air to visit the deck. She stood near the
bulwarks, gazing out to sea, enjoying a rare moment of
tranquility.

Though the sun peeked over
the horizon, the water was still dark and glassy, with occasional
white foaming waves that splashed high into the air. The sight
captivated her. She had not seen its equal for beauty. But even the
prospect of such a spectacular view had not been the reason
Alexandra had left the cabin and risked running into Rat again.
Nathaniel was. He had washed, shaved, and brushed his teeth before
leaving their cabin only moments before, and she had followed
him.

What was it about him, she
thought irritably, that made her listen for his step at the door,
hear his voice amid the hum of many others? He was a
blackguard.

He looked dangerous,
stealthy, full of grace and power. Yet he was not like the usual
ruffian. No common slang marred his speech, and an air of
authority, even magnetism, flowed from him. Alexandra could hardly
keep her eyes on the splendor before her, knowing that he stood
nearby.

“...
we’ll stop there next trip...”

She enjoyed the rich
timbre of his voice as she listened to him talk to Garth somewhere
behind her, and she thought about the fabric she had found in his
trunk. She longed to create something with it, but the garment that
kept coming to mind was none other than a full dress shirt for the
pirate captain himself, which made no sense at all. Why would she
want to please him? Or was it simply that his physique so easily
lent itself to the creation of beauty?

Alexandra allowed herself
a sidelong glance at Nathaniel, then felt the blood rise in her
cheeks when she found him watching her. She looked quickly back to
the east, trying to ignore him, but a moment later he came to stand
beside her.