Authors: Heather Manning
One of Ivy’s eyebrows rose.
"What did you do to her, Captain Emery, to make her like that to you?" Her friend was obviously avoiding him.
"I am not certain what I did to her, Lady Shaw. She seems to dislike me quite a bit, does she not? Oh well, she is simply a spoiled little girl who cares only about herself and what she can do to make herself more beautiful than she already is. Lady Dawson is far more concerned with her looks than with anyone else’s well-being."
"Now, you do not know her well enough to jump to an imprudent conclusion like that, Captain Emery," Ivy chastised.
"All I know about that woman is she always acts spoiled and mighty like that when she is around me, regardless of what I do or say. I can never seem to please her."
****
Eden snuggled close against the warm, hard body she was sleeping beside. She did not want to open her eyes. Did not want to face reality. Wanted to sleep longer, to feel safe longer.
Caspian's hand stroked her hair sweetly. He must have woken before her, or perhaps he had never even fallen asleep like she had.
Wait… Caspian…
She had been so weak last night she had let him hold her while she slept! Eden let out a quiet groan.
How could she have
encouraged
the dear, horrible, dear man to do such a thing? It was terribly improper. She cringed to think of what Aimee and Ivy would say.
Her eyes snapped open to discover Caspian grinning down at her, an adoring expression on his charming face.
"Good morning, Eden. I pray you are feeling better today? I know that last night was terribly trying for you. No woman should have to go through something like that."
"Get away from me, Captain. I… please forgive me for allowing you to hold me while I slept, I beg of you." She shivered. But Caspian had proven his true character by her misstep. With any lesser man, her trust may have been violated. Caspian was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word, even though he was not properly bred and born in the estates of England. No, he was a true gentleman who would never do anything to hurt her. Eden was sure of it.
Still, it was improper to have slept in his arms. She rose and clambered to the bulkhead. When she realized all she wore besides her tattered chemise was the quilt he had placed on her last night, and it was slowly sliding off of her, she wrapped it tightly about herself in a flash.
She stretched her neck, which had formed a terrible crick from spending a night in an armchair.
He smirked but sobered quickly. "I must apologize, milady. You asked me to hold you last night. Really, I had every intention of placing you back on the bed once you fell asleep, but I fear I, too, fell asleep. Can you ever forgive me?"
She frowned at the lightness of his tone.
"Must you always be so aloof with me, sweetheart? You seemed so close to me last night. I had thought maybe… after last night… what we both said…"
"I am sorry, Caspian. I really am. You have been so kind to me; I should not act in such a manner toward you." She looked down, suddenly immensely fascinated by a plank in the deck.
"That is much better, milady." He chuckled and swooped down to kiss her on the cheek. His scent of salt and leather teased her nose. "And don't you forget, sweetheart, you told me you loved me last night."
Eden felt her face flush to what she was certain was an uncomely red. Had she told him that last night? She had barely come to recognize the fact herself. Her mind certainly had been in a fog after Kelton had attacked her.
The captain simply grinned at her reaction.
"As you have declared your love, might I have the privilege of a good-morning kiss?"
She frowned at his nerve. What gave the man the audacity to ask such things of her? But as he leaned toward her purposefully, she could not resist him. She did not care how early in the morning it was and how improper it would be. All she cared about was how badly she wanted to kiss him.
His lips devoured hers, and she felt her insides and her knees turn to mush. She drank in his strength, winding her arms around his strong neck. She needed his strength.
When he finally released her, both of their breathing had become labored.
"Thank you ever so much, my love. I believe no matter what happens; now I shall have a good day at work." And with a quick wink, he strapped on his weapons and left.
****
Aimee plunked down onto the narrow cot and sighed. Captain Emery definitely was an infuriating little man. She did not care one whit if she had been rude to him above decks. Truly, she had developed a headache. Whenever Captain Emery was around, she seemed to acquire one.
She closed her eyes, trying to get him off of her mind and focus on the reason she had agreed to go on a voyage with him.
Eden.
Aimee felt something in her stomach tighten. They had been sailing for a long time and had not run across a single ship on the list Captain Emery had made. She could not help but think of the terrible things that could have happened to dear Eden.
She squeezed her hands together and wondered if they would ever find her friend. Aimee glanced down, below the cot she was perched on, and scanned the deck below her. Luckily, she had not seen a rodent in a couple of days.
Captain Emery actually had done something she had asked him.
She groaned out loud. Why did every thought that passed through her head lead her straight back to the infuriating, ego-centric idiot who was sailing the ship?
****
Ivy had to chuckle at Aimee and Captain Emery. With how vehemently the two people despised each other, she knew there was some kind of affection or at least attraction growing between them, whatever it might be. Ivy found their squabbles quite entertaining on her voyage over to the colonies.
If only Eden were here to join them…
Ivy missed their happy little trio. It caused her to shiver to think they might never be together again. She knew it was the right thing to do to go searching for her dear friend, but she could not help but worry about William back home, also.
She needed to find Eden and get back home as quickly as she could.
****
Caspian watched the myriad of twinkling stars in the midnight sky above him. They were truly quite beautiful, a work of God. But nothing compared to the woman resting in his cabin.
Eden had told him she loved him! Why, he was nothing short of elated. Perhaps she would agree to marry him when they reached the port. He definitely could not wait to claim her as his own wife if she would just have him.
He yawned and realized it must be well past midnight. His night watchman looked close to sleep, but Caspian was in too good of a mood to chastise the man for slacking on his job. He was tired of being the grouchy captain.
He thought of returning to his cabin, but after Eden had declared her love for him, and after she had let him hold her like she had last night, he knew it would be improper for them to sleep in the captain’s cabin together, even if Reed was there. A sleeping six-year-old did not make the best chaperone.
Instead, Caspian relocated down to the belly of his ship where there was a small, relatively tidy storage cabin. He hoped that down there, he could at least catch some form of rest.
****
Lord Clive Rutger stood at the bow of the ship he had rented to search for his runaway sweetheart. He could not be too far away from that blasted woman by now. How could she have done something like this to him, her own fiancé? Their wedding had been planned to take place nearly a week ago. Did she know what a disgrace she was bringing down upon him? After all he had been through, she had brought yet another embarrassment to his name. All of London had been snickering and gossiping both behind his back and in front of him ever since they heard she had run away.
Clive would show her. He would teach her he would not be dismissed easily like some common servant. He had every right to own her, and he would in time. She was his, and he would have what he had been promised.
This would not turn out like last time, when she had run away into her bedchamber and barricaded herself there. He would not let the little flower escape him. He would have his own wife. She was no one else's but his.
Before that happened, however, the girl would pay dearly for what she had done to him. She would rue the day she ran away from Lord Clive Rutger and rejected his advances.
Clive’s gaze found the ship they were nearing every minute under the cover of night. Was Eden on it? He somehow sensed she was.
As soon as they neared the vessel, the captain whose services Clive was paying for announced they approached a ship called
Dawn’s Mist
.
After Rutger had interrogated some men at the docks, he had found out the
Dawn’s Mist
had left London the day Eden turned up missing. He had been told it was sailing for the Caribbean.
Clive discussed the situation with the captain.
They came to the conclusion that, rather than starting an unnecessary battle, Rutger should sneak onto the ship and scout out any signs of the woman. He was ready to do so.
Eden would deny him no longer.
Chapter Sixteen
Aimee watched as Ivy laid herself down on the narrow cot across from hers in their small cabin. "Any news of Eden's whereabouts?" She had been wondering about the progress they had made on the voyage, but she had no wish to talk to the captain of their ship.
"Nay, but we shall reach Port Royal in less than a week, according to Captain Emery. We should hopefully see her before then. Captain Emery checked with the docks before we left and according to their records, the only ship that left for Port Royal that day was called
The Dawn's Mist.
He says we will keep an eye out for a vessel with that name and the one Lord Rutger hired. From what Captain Emery can tell, with how the winds and the currents are acting, there is a chance we could outrun Lord Rutger and find Eden first. If not, we will have to intercept him or save Eden if he already has her.”
Aimee inhaled a deep breath. Everything would be much easier if they could only find Eden first. "I certainly hope we find her before he does because I fear for her safety if that monster finds her first."
****
Eden leaned back against the armchair, inhaling its rich smell of salt and leather. Caspian's scent. She had not seen him all day. How she missed his strong, comforting presence. She began to wonder, should she be craving a man's company like that? Perhaps not. Maybe she truly was a woman of loose morals as Lord Rutger had always accused her of being.
The cabin door was propped slightly open because Eden had wanted to allow a slight breeze to enter the cabin. Heat out at sea could get quite stifling. Eden frowned when she heard a sudden scuffling noise outside the door. Was Caspian finally back? It was already later by far than when he normally came back after his duties as captain. Generally he would spend a majority of the day up on the decks with her cooped up in the cabin and in Reed’s company and come back inside to her for their evening meal at about what she thought, according to what Caspian had explained to her about the ship’s bells, was six o’clock. After that, he would go back up on deck and sometimes take her for a walk in the evening’s cooler breeze, and he would return to his cabin about the same time as when she was preparing to go to sleep. They had formed a comfortable little routine between the two of them.
But today he had not even stopped by to eat his evening meal with her. Eden had already tucked little Reed into bed. Maybe there was trouble brewing within the crew, and Caspian was simply settling it and he would return in no time. Surely that was the case and nothing had gone terribly awry. She was afraid to go up on the main deck to find out.
Eden glanced over at Reed, who was sleeping on the bed, looking like a tiny angel. His long eyelashes were lowered, casting a shadow onto his flushed cheeks. She stepped closer to the dear boy and brushed some of those reckless blond curls out of his face, and then pressed a soft kiss onto his forehead. Not only had she grown quite fond of Caspian, but she had also come to love his little son. She loved him as if he were her own child.
Which she almost wished he was. Quickly, she bid the thought from her head. No matter how great of a man he was, she could never think of marrying a man. She had vowed to herself she would never marry, and she planned to stick to that promise. Even though her heart warned her against it…
Eden shook her head to clear it of those troubling thoughts and stepped up from her position in Caspian’s armchair to look through the porthole at the vast night sky. The ocean was almost as black as the night, and the sky was dotted with bright, white stars. She sighed. Nights at sea were truly beautiful. That was one thing besides two others she would miss if she stayed in Port Royal.
The sea seemed endless during the night, but sadly, she knew that was not so. Just a couple of days ago, Reed had mentioned seeing palm trees on the horizon during the battle. Soon they would reach land, and she would have to bid Reed and Caspian farewell.
The sharp creak of a wooden plank jerked her from her thoughts.
She laughed silently at her own foolishness. The ship made noises like that all the time. Yet why had this one frightened her? Glancing at Reed who still slept peacefully, she leaned back against the bulkhead behind her.
The door opened.
****
Eden could not move from her position. Her throat constricted in terror. This had to be a dream. Just a nightmare. That was all. This just
could not
be happening. It could not be real.
Lord Clive Rutger took a step toward her. She shriveled against the bulkhead. All of those old fears of being hurt by a man were reignited again in a full, petrifying blaze.
All of those fears that had finally been put to rest by Caspian’s love.
Where was Caspian? Why was he not here, protecting her, saving her from this wretched man like he had promised her he would?
Lord Rutger sneered at her, and when he saw Reed lying on the bed he grabbed her by the top of her arm. Rutger dragged her out of the cabin. Eden struggled to take one last look at Reed. She knew she should scream, but the sound would wake Reed, and she did not want the poor, sweet boy involved in her issues. He would not be hurt by this evil man if she had any say in the matter.