Embarrassed, in case he had seen the direction of her eyes, she tipped the water can and dumped the near scalding water over his head to run down his mighty chest.
Scott jumped up, screeching. "What are you trying to do, burn me alive?" He grabbed a towel nearby and dabbed at his chest, rapidly turning bright pink from the onslaught.
Danielle put the water can down heavily and backed to the window seat as far as she could get from him. "Well you’d think a big strong man such as yourself would not have so tender a hide!" She kept her eyes on his face so they would not dwell on his nakedness.
Scott glared at her. "Maybe I should put you in the tub and see what your tender skin would do! Probably peel right off the bone in one so fragile!" Scott normally thought himself to be a fair man, but at this instant he would liked to have wrung the neck of the lad that had nearly unmanned him with the hot water. His eyes locked with hers until she had to look away. His glance never left her as he continued to dry himself. He watched to see if the little devil didn’t have something else planned for him.
Scott went to the built-in cupboard and pulled out a heavy woolen blanket. "Here, Dan," he tossed it to her. He moved to his bunk and lay down and pulled the covers over his naked form. "Blow the candles out and get some sleep. There will be a lot of work for you to do tomorrow."
Danielle had caught the blanket in midair and was still standing there dumbfounded as the captain leaned his head back and closed his eyes. First he had walked around the room with absolutely no modesty and now he went to bed stark naked! She inwardly groaned as she blew out the candles and felt her way over to the window seat.
She curled up under the heavy wool, fully clothed, and tried to relax. But relaxation was very slow in coming. The man just a few feet away from her filled her mind. The most hated privateer of all France lay sleeping in the same room with her without a stitch of clothes on. She had to admit that he was most handsome and remembering her eyes feasting on him in the tub caused a smile to cross her lips. If she wasn’t careful her mouth was going to get her in trouble. Her mother had warned her that one day her fiery temper might be her downfall. She did not know why everything this privateer did and said made her blood boil so. Gradually her mind emptied and her exhausted body took control and put her into a deep sleep.
When she awoke, Scott was already dressed and pulling on his knee length boots. He noticed her movements and, as she sat up, the fact that she was still fully dressed, cap and all. The lad was a strange one. He was at the open door before he spoke.
"Ricardo will be showing you your duties. If you want food you had better make haste to the galley." He stepped through the door and closed it behind him.
Danielle went across to the door and latched it. She pulled her cap from her head and let the dark mass of hair fall about her shoulders. She spied the captain’s brush on a shelf below a mirror on the wall. She brought it through her hair as fast as she could. The injury on the side of her head was still sore and tender but ignoring the pain she twisted her hair onto the top of her head and slipped her cap over it once again. After splashing water over her face she left to go to the galley.
Ricardo came in as she was finishing eating, holding an empty bucket and a hard bristled brush. He sat it down beside her.
"You’ll need those later. But first, follow me." He led her through each cabin and below deck where most of the seamen slept. In each, he pointed out the chamber pots and told her she was to empty and clean each one daily.
The odor below deck where the majority of the seamen made their bed was the worst. She gagged a couple of times because of the odor, before she finally learned to hold her breath as she carefully carried each one above deck to toss its contents into the sea. Then she scrubbed each with lye and salt water before returning them to their previous spot.
When she had finished she went to Ricardo for her next chore. He motioned to the bucket and brush he had given her earlier.
"Now you will scrub the deck." He looked at Dan wondering why Scott had demanded the lad be kept so busy. He handed the young man a new box of lye and left him to his duties.
Danielle filled the bucket from the barrel of seawater and started on the quarter deck. The captain was steering the ship and his eyes watched over the men at the sails and hanging in the ratlines as they adjusted the rigging. She kept her backside away from his view as she started dipping her brush in the bucket and scrubbing every bit of dirt and grime from the deck. The process was slow and before too long her back and shoulders were screaming in pain. Her hands were bright pink and stinging from the use of the strong lye soap.
It was starting to get dark as she pitched the last pail of dirty water over the side. She trudged into the galley with the empty bucket. The seamen were at the evening meal. She got herself a plate of food and sat down at the end of the long table as far away from them as she could.
"So, lad, how do you like your first day of sea duty?"
Danielle looked up at one of the older seamen talking to her. "I don’t like it. I never imagined myself a cabin boy and still don’t." She knew she sounded angry but she was too tired to care. The seaman then turned back to his meal and ignored her after that. She felt a little guilty for showing his friendliness such disregard.
A few of the men looked her way but on the whole she was ignored. No one else said a word to her. When she took her pewter plate into the back of the galley and cleaned it, Cook handed her the captain’s tray.
"Thanks, Cook," she mumbled and forced her tired body to make its way to the cabin.
Scott was at his desk, a large map spread out before him. He did not acknowledge her presence at all, so absorbed he was in his task.
Danielle put the tray on the table with more force than she intended to, rattling the pewter dishes. She didn’t care, she was angry. Was this then to be her lot in life? To be his slave from sunup to sundown? She was dead tired and the man at the desk looked as fresh as he had that morning.
Scott glanced over his shoulder at her and raised a dark eyebrow. He could see the exhaustion written across her face. He turned away before she saw the satisfied smirk on his face. The lad needed to build some muscle and Scott was determined to see that it was done. At least the lad was not as quarrelsome this eve.
When he moved over to the table for his meal, Danielle went to her window seat and sat down. She leaned her aching back against the wall and stared out the window at the white crest of the waves sliding down the side of the ship. Gradually her exhausted, tortured body slid down to lie on the seat and her eyes closed for the night.
When Scott readied himself for bed he threw the wool blanket over her before he blew out the last candle.
At dawn she was awakened by a heavy hand shaking her shoulder. She opened bleary eyes to see the captain smiling down at her.
"Come on lad, there’s work to be done. Wake up!"
Danielle tried to sit up and groaned aloud with pain. She managed to get her bare feet on the floor but didn’t know if they would hold her when she tried to stand. She heard Scott laugh out loud as he went through the door and closed it behind him. With jerky movements she forced her legs to move to the door and locked it. She leaned her back against it and raised a hand to massage the back of her neck.
This morning it took her longer to finish with her ablutions, as every movement sent surges of excruciating agony throughout her entire body. Finally she left the room to begin another day of endless labor.
After the chamber pots were taken care of, Ricardo set her at the bow of the ship to mend a sail. This was more to her liking as she plied the needle through the heavy material pulling the rend together. The sun beat down upon her back soothing her tired muscles.
Danielle found her eyes continuing to glance up at the captain on the quarterdeck. For a man that large and muscle-bound he moved across the swaying deck with a sort of grace. At the wheel he stood with legs apart, his thighs straining against the tight black pantaloons. His face was turne
d forward into the wind, where its breeze rippled through his dark, curly hair. She found herself envious of its freedom and wondered what his hair would feel like rippling through her fingers. She looked back down at the sail. Why did her body betray her when she looked at him? There was something about him that made her short of breath and brought a tingling low in her stomach. She had to admit how magnificent he looked holding onto the large wheel, guiding the ship through the waters. She laid the net aside when she was finished and continued to enjoy the sight before her.
"What are you staring at?" It was Ricardo and he was puzzled by the look on the lad’s face. Was it admiration he saw there?
"Nothing. I just finished my repairs and was taking a minute to rest. Or is that not allowed?" She snapped unduly at the kind first mate. She had felt embarrassed to be caught staring at the sea captain.
He glanced down at the young lad. He looked exhausted. "No. You have been working very diligently. It’s going to be dark soon anyway, so go back to the cabin. You can wash and get ready for the evening meal."
"Thanks." She knew she should apologize, but was afraid that would seem a feminine thing to do. She moved across the deck to the captain’s cabin.
The days continued on in dragging hours of repetition. She would finish one task and Ricardo would find her another one to do. Finally, a day came when he told her she could quit early.
She entered the cabin on light steps to find Scott already there before her. He had pulled the tub out into the room. She presumed he wanted to bathe. Her shoulders slumped as she went to bring in the water. When it was full she sat the last can of hot water within his reach and went to her window seat, her only sanctuary in the room.
Scott stripped his clothes and sank into the water’s depth. He leaned his head back against the side and closed his eyes. The silence was a little unnerving and he peeked out to see his cabin boy looking out the window. He had his back to the man in the tub when suddenly the slender figure turned to the side in front of the window. The sun shining through her clothes left nothing to the imagination. Scott’s eyes widened at the obvious breasts shadowed beneath the shirt. The bath forgotten he stood and stepped out of the water. He started to dry himself, thinking he had to be mistaken when the sun once more revealed the profile of the definitely feminine form across the room. His arms ceased their drying motions at once. He stood staring in shocked surprise. Slowly he stood straight and tossed the towel over the edge of the tub. A smile turned up the corners of his mouth. This explained so many things.
He casually walked across the room, unmindful of his nakedness. Danielle felt him draw near and looked up at him and flinched as if he were going to hit her. He saw her reaction and arched his eyebrow. He reached out and before she knew what he was doing had pulled the knit cap from her head, tossing it aside. Free from its confinement, her hair fell gently downward framing her face. His eyes widened in pleasure. Before him stood the willow slender figure of a woman. Scott stared down into her face. Her beauty astounded him, so much so, that he could not look away. She reminded him of a gypsy temptress. Above her ivory skin, her hair was black as a moonless night, startling in its contrast to her fairness. It hung in tangles of disarray to her waist. He wanted to bury his lips in her tresses as he suddenly longed to bury himself deep within her body.
Danielle gasped and grabbed at the top of her head, thinking in one insane moment she could cover her disguise with one small hand. "What made you do that?" she shrieked.
"Your masquerade is over," he smiled.
Scott’s cool, grave eyes studied the woman in front of him. Under her slim brows, her eyes, much too feminine to be a lad’s, were not quite as dark as her hair but fiery in their depths, looking up at him in anger and fright.
A burning passion slowly rose within him. Scott had seen many a woman in his day but never one such as this. Her breeches left no doubt of her perfect figure, and made it all the harder for Scott to restrain his urges instead of taking his pleasure on her as he would a London whore.
She frantically looked across the room to the door. She could not move. The way was blocked by the captain standing so very close to her.
To the man towering over her it left only the vision of thick lashes throwing shadows against her flushed cheeks. He reached out to touch her silky skin.
Danielle felt the gentle feel of the backs of his fingers against her face and jerked away from him. "Do not touch me, Pirate!" she spoke in her true voice.
"And what if I do? What would you be able to do about it, my little gypsy?" His words were a caress across her skin.
"I’ll kill you that’s what!" She knew she sounded absurd considering his size, but she didn’t know how else to reply.
He threw back his head and laughed. "With what? A bucket of hot water?"
Most men wouldn’t stand up to him the way this little termagant was doing at the moment. Fire was spitting out of her eyes, and he saw her hands squeezed into fists by her side. Her anger aroused him more than ever.
Before she could start screaming about something else he moved closer to stand within inches in front of her. He knew how to shut her up. He reached around her, his hand on her waist and brought her roughly against his bare muscular chest. She placed her hands between them, trying to keep him at a distance to no avail. His other hand tipped her chin up.
She watched his greenish eyes sparkle down at her. She lowered her gaze to stare at the strong mouth descending upon her own. The kiss was gentle and searching, his lips moist against her skin. She struggled and shoved at him but he never relinquished his hold. He applied pressure with his kiss until her lips were forced open. His tongue sought her own, moving over it in fiery motions. One hand came up to cup her full round breast in his hand. His thumb stroked the nipple until its peak firmed from passion.
Danielle thought she was going to faint. It was suddenly too hot in the room and she could hardly breathe. Her struggles ceased as her own desires came from deep within her very being to explode to the surface. Her hands stopped pushing at his bare chest and slid up to clasp his head closer to hers. Her fingers threaded in the waves of his hair, still damp from his bath. She stood on tiptoe to reach his neck and strained against his mouth in complete surrender. She had no control of her body’s reaction and melted herself as close to him as she could. He was so gentle and his magic hands moved over her body at will.
Scott released her waist to let his hand slide farther down to her buttocks. He cupped her roundness and pulled her tight against the naked male hardness of his arousal between them. Danielle groaned aloud, the tempest of her emotions on fire. My God, what was she doing? She had to get control of herself. These thoughts flitted through her mind, but her body was acting differently. She prayed Scott would stop before he ravished her completely but, on the other hand, she prayed he would never cease.
Scott released her mouth and Danielle vaguely felt his lips form a smile above hers when they moved to her cheeks, her eyes and back to her mouth, covering it with molten sweetness.
She had never wanted it to end, this strange powerful craving that was overwhelming her so completely.
Finally he released her lips to rest his chin upon the top of her head. His breathing was ragged as she rested her cheek on his chest, hearing the pounding of his heart. There was no woman ever before who had set him aflame so readily. Though he knew she was innocent, he felt her fire scorch him with a passion not unlike his own. His loins ached for want of her. His hands shook even now as he held her protectively against his chest. He vowed to have her but knew if he were to keep her he must move slowly. This brave little minx was not one to ravish and toss aside. Hell, she was virginal for God’s sake! He realized that would not keep him from claiming her but he wanted to treat her gently. He knew instinctively he did not want her to ever leave. He had to figure out a way to keep her.
"How did you know?" she questioned softly, shaken to the core by her own traitorous body of moments earlier. Her legs felt so
weak that if he stepped away she was sure she would fall on her face.
"You turned sideways at the window," he chuckled into her hair. You have a couple of attributes that even a half-blind man would have had to notice."
His teasing remarks cooled her ardor immediately. She pushed herself away and stepped from him. He released his hold allowing her freedom. Once away from his embrace her anger leapt to the forefront. "Is this what I am to expect from you now? Will you add rape to your other misdeeds?" She knew she sounded like a shrew but it helped clear her mind of the previous few minutes.
Scott stared down at her. He thought her beautiful before but now, in her anger, he found her breathtaking. He was aware of nothing save the woman before him. Her nose was small and straight, her lips were slightly swollen from his kisses, and long black hair with its bluish sheen swirled in gentle waves about her breasts. Dark eyes tapering slightly to an almond shape glared up at him. Her shirt front was separated and gave full view to the soft valley between her breasts rising and falling with each breath.
"I don’t think it would have been rape… do you?" Scott’s hungry eyes feasted on her. The tip of her nipples made protruding little bumps on the front of her shirt. His eyes continued over a flat stomach, nicely rounded hips, long shapely legs and finally the tiny bare feet, before rising once again to dwell on her bosom. He longed to hold them in his hands, to taste their sweetness.
Danielle watched his gaze devour her and cursed. "You swine!" She grasped the edges of material together over her partially exposed skin.
"What is your real name?" he spoke his voice husky with emotion. He was trying to forget how she felt in his arms held tightly against his chest. If he didn’t get his mind on something else he would throw her on his bunk and have her now.
The woman drew herself up proudly. "And if I choose not to tell you?" She was being ridiculous she knew, but she wanted to lash out at him for causing her body to betray her in such unknown passion.
The Gypsy Witch Page 5