The Pirate Lord

by Vanda Vadas

  When next Zach glimpsed the topmast, it was to see his lieutenant’s descent, the sail secure. Seth stepped onto the deck and let go of the rope. The ship lurched forwards, throwing him into the path of a giant wave. It breached and crashed through the ship’s railings.

  Zach watched in horror as his lieutenant was thrust like a child’s rag doll across the deck and over the rail. ‘Man overboard!’

  The two-word alert chilled Eloise to the bone. She sat huddled on the floor beneath the desk. White-knuckled hands clutched a sturdy wooden leg. Howling wind had made it impossible to recognise the man’s voice.

  Zach. Was he safe, or had he …?

  She could not allow herself to complete the thought.

  Gripped with terror, she saw an image of Zach struggling to keep his head above water, under duress with sea-filled lungs. She held her breath as if it were she who’d been drawn deep beneath the ocean’s surface.

  The ship suddenly pitched to one side. Eloise lost her hold and slid along the floor, smacking her back into the opposite desk leg. She rolled over in pain, and latched onto the leg to prevent being flung in another direction.

  She could hear frantic shouts and raised voices from the deck. Ceiling lanterns swung back and forth in their metal hooks. Cutlery rattled inside drawers, pewter crockery clanged about behind locked cabinet doors and glass bottles clinked side by side. A telescope and compass clattered along the cabin floor over maps and papers.

  Outside, rain lashed against the windows and skylight. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed. The world was coming to an end.

  Eloise thought about the vessel and crew sinking to the bottom of the ocean, the ship their coffin. She didn’t want to be entombed inside the Justice or laid to rest in a long line of wrecks to litter the ocean floor.

  Somebody shouted for the captain, his voice filled with terrifying alarm. Eloise scrambled to her feet and staggered to the door. There, she hesitated. Either she follow orders and stay put, or, at the risk of her own safety, she could venture forth and satisfy her desperate need to know Zach was not harmed.

  Struck by indecision, she strained to hear his commanding voice above the noise of the storm.

  Nothing.

  If she couldn’t hear him, then sighting him would allay her fears. Just one glimpse and she’d immediately retreat back inside the cabin. She unlatched the handle, pushed the door and slipped outside.

  The door slammed shut behind her. Her back pressed against the solid timber. She held tight to the handle as a blast of wind and rain barrelled into her. Cold water washed over her bare feet and she felt the sting of a thorough drenching.

  Through slitted eyes her gaze swept the mêlée on deck. No sign of Zach. She called his name. The wind threw it back at her.

  Through the blinding rain, she saw crewmen standing single file, stretching from one side of the rail to the other. As she lifted her head to better see their purpose, the ocean dumped a wave on her, knocking her over, sending her sprawling belly-down across the deck. She screamed and came to a crashing halt, wedged between the deck and the bulwark.

  Seawater spewed from her mouth. She raised her head, coughing, gasping for air, and squinted to focus on the strained faces of the men and their tense bodies. One thick length of rope passed through their hands and snaked over the side of the ship. She hauled herself up, clung to the edge, and looked down into the water.

  Seth! He struggled to swim towards the rope.

  Her heart filled with sickening dread.

  And almost stopped when she saw Zach breach the surface, the rope looped around his middle. Stroke after stroke, kicking his feet, he fought against the ocean’s current and propelled his body forwards until he latched onto the lieutenant’s arm.

  Another threatening wave loomed at his back. Eloise screamed Zach’s name to warn him. His head snapped around.

  Distracted and unprepared, the men were swallowed by the wave, forcing them under. Eloise watched in helpless terror and stretched her arm over the rail in vain.

  Her lungs burned from repeatedly screaming Zach’s name.

  Desperate to be of some use in his rescue, she scrambled across the slippery deck. She tripped over her sodden skirts only to rise again and stumble forwards until her toes found purchase on the timbers.

  She shouldered her way in between the line of crewmen and with trembling hands seized the lifeline. Fear for Zach and his lieutenant gave strength to her grip and pull.

  ‘Heave! Heave!’ Eloise cried, in unison with the crew.

  Each man, slick with sweat and saltwater, worked with steadfast urgency in the wind and rain, passing hand-over-hand on the rope to reel in the men.

  Inch by inch the rope retracted. Eloise barely noticed the coarse hemp fibres abrading her palms. The heavy weight at the end of the line offered her hope.

  Zach was still tied to the rope. Alive, she prayed.

  Where was the lieutenant?

  A confident cry bolstered their spirits. She saw men rush to the rail, bent at the waist and leaning perilously over the edge. In a flurry of commotion and shouts, the line of men collapsed to the deck, taking Eloise down with them.

  Above the driving rain and wind, shouts of triumph accompanied the successful rescue. Eloise lay on her side, spent of energy and breath. She didn’t care that her drenched clothes scandalously moulded to her body like a second skin, or that her hair must look like matted seaweed plastered across her face.

  She looked up just as lightning slashed across the sky. There, in the white flash of light, she saw Zach standing over her. Tall. Strong. Breathing hard.

  She closed her eyes against the blinding rain. Familiar arms scooped her up and pulled her close to a body whose scent she recognised beneath the smell of brine and rainwater.

  Her cheek pressed against his chest, comforted by his pounding heart beneath her ear. There was tension in the arms that bore her weight. In his stiff stride.

  She glanced up to see the determined set of Zach’s strong jaw. Sections of jet-black hair stuck to his forehead and cheeks. Water streamed down his face, neck and shoulders.

  He stared down at her. His dark eyes glittered. In them, she saw the intensity of his accusation, at her disobedience of his order to stay inside the cabin.

  Nevermind his disappointment, his anger or the punishment due her crime. She knew only sweet, lightheaded relief.

  Let him tie her to the lashing post and flog her until she was dead. She would rest in peace knowing that he lived.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The storm abated as swiftly as it had begun, giving way to a clear, late afternoon sky.

  The ocean settled down to a gentle swell. No longer did the wind’s high-pitched screams force access through every possible flaw in the ship’s design. The Justice creaked and groaned, protesting aches and pains of its wounds in the aftermath of nature’s tantrum.

  Zach looked around him. His men lay slumped about the deck, exhausted. He’d afford them time to rest, a brief reprieve to catch their breath before seeing to the ship’s maintenance.

  He slapped his hand to the mainmast and looked up. It stood tall and proud. The bowsprit, foremast and mizzenmast had also withstood the storm’s challenge. Every sail was yet to be inspected. The slightest tear stitched, tackle and rigging tested and tightened.

  The crew below deck had fared well. Food supplies had been well stowed, although his men would wear the disappointment of a few smashed barrels of rum.

  Men had taken shifts to work the bilge pumps and empty the ship of excess rain and seawater. Just as well. The water would soon turn foul and lead to a sewage-like stink. At worst, the timbers would weaken and rot.

  Satisfied things were in hand, Zach turned his attention to the person who’d stayed uppermost in his mind.

  Shivering, bedraggled Eloise. When he’d carried her to his cabin, he’d stripped off her drenched clothes and laid her in his bed, noticing the dark bruises forming on her porcelain skin. She’d watched hi
m, barely conscious, and made not the slightest whimper when he’d rubbed salve into her chafed palms.

  He’d left her tightly tucked beneath warm blankets to save her falling from the bed while the storm still raged outside the cabin.

  And in his heart.

  In the midst of the storm, when she’d screamed his name, he’d thought the worst. That jeopardy had tapped her on the shoulder, ready to snatch her from him. He’d suffered bereavement of that sort ten years ago, having been robbed of his identity, his home and country. Sighting Eloise safely on the ship, clinging to the rail, had taught him one thing.

  She was unequivocally lodged in his heart. A seed planted so deep, he feared its bounty would steer him off his life’s course.

  Revenge was all he knew, the only thing to flourish in his long-dead soul. Her righteous influence was damned inconvenient. He didn’t want the distraction of a woman who’d caused cracks to appear in his steadfast resolve to ruin Gareth.

  Stubborn woman! She’d disobeyed him.

  He opened the cabin door and spied her sitting by the galley window. She whipped her head around and shot to her feet at the sight of him. She was mistaken if she thought that drawing the blanket tightly around her would somehow ward off his reprimand.

  He shoved the door closed and secured the latch.

  She swallowed. ‘Zach, I –’

  ‘Do you have any idea what your act of defiance might have cost?’

  Her gaze fell to her feet. ‘Your life.’

  ‘And Seth’s!’

  She flopped back down on the chair, guilty as charged, with her chin on her chest.

  Seething, Zach stepped towards her. ‘And the third life you endangered?’

  Her head snapped up. ‘There was another?’

  Remorse-filled eyes did nothing to calm the thunder in his veins. ‘It could have been you who’d been swept out to sea! I wouldn’t have known a thing about it. Life and death was at the whim of Mother Nature.’

  ‘She let me live,’ Eloise muttered.

  ‘That’s no excuse for you to disobey my order to stay in this cabin!’

  In his mind’s eye he saw Eloise tossed overboard and swallowed up by the sea, the only mistress he’d learned to predict. Like a crazed, jealous lover it sucked her under and denied her the breath of life.

  Denying him the possibility of a wife and ch–

  The unbidden thought left him reeling. Think. Recover.

  He spun on his heels and retreated to the opposite side of the cabin lest he speak the delusional sentiment aloud.

  She blurted out an earnest-sounding apology. ‘I’m sorry! I heard someone yell man overboard. I had to be sure it wasn’t you because … if anything were to happen to you …’

  Ridiculous to think she genuinely cared for him. ‘You need not fear, Eloise. Should anything befall me, then by chain of command you’ll be safely returned to England. You have my word on this.’

  He strode back, his large frame looming over her. ‘I want your word that in future you’ll do exactly as I instruct. You’ll obey orders just as my crew must. You’re my responsibility as much as them.

  ‘I cannot be your guard or chaperone every minute of the day and night. When I ask you to do something, it’s for a reason and with purpose. You might successfully navigate your way around the mores of society and ballrooms, but do not presume to know or understand the perils and pitfalls of life at sea or aboard my ship. Is that clear?’

  Her eyes brimmed with tears, making the green irises all the more brighter. Dark shadows beneath her lower lashes lent a haunting look to her pallid skin. ‘I deserve your censure, but if your life was threatened I would again seek to do everything possible to assist you.’

  He seized her shoulders and hauled her to her feet. ‘I forbid it!’

  Courage returned in the upward tilt of her chin. ‘Then punish me as you would punish any man who disobeys you.’

  Stunned, his hands fell away from her shoulders. ‘Punish you?’

  Her eyes softened and she tentatively raised a hand to his cheek. ‘I couldn’t bear to lose –’ Her hand retracted and covered her mouth to stifle a sob. Her lids closed, squeezing the tears from her eyes.

  It suddenly hit him. She’d left the cabin in search of him. Not to deliberately flout his authority, but driven by the same fear as his.

  The fear of loss.

  Good God! He couldn’t possibly mean anything of consequence to her. He tried hard to ignore welling emotion; told himself to walk away, deny the need to take her in his arms and hold her close. He tried to drive from his mind the compulsion to never let her go. Futile!

  He couldn’t bear to see her upset. With a curse he took her face in his hands, pressed his lips to her forehead and stroked her still-damp hair. ‘Don’t cry, Eloise.’

  She clasped her arms about his waist. The loosened blanket slipped from her shoulders faster than Zach could catch it. Soft and naked, her warm body pressed against his skin, leaving him agonisingly aware of the swell of her breasts and her vulnerable delights.

  The intimate contact proved his undoing. ‘I thought I’d lost you.’ The breath of his hoarse whisper feathered her lips. He inhaled her breath as if it were his own. ‘Don’t ever risk your life for me. Swear it!’

  ‘No.’ She shook her head, the movement sweeping her mouth over his.

  ‘You will do as I say.’ He pressed his lips to hers and gave no quarter for her to refuse the command.

  She moaned, surrendering her response.

  To his surprise, her mouth opened. She eagerly thrust her tongue against his before slowing immediately with lush velvety strokes. Splayed hands at his back pressed fingernails into his puckered scars. The movement against his sensitive nerve endings seared him with pleasure rather than pain.

  His mind was not the only thing set to explode. Need burgeoned beneath his breeches and nudged her bare belly. He held back a blistering oath when her hands slid between their bodies and loosened the buckle at his waist.

  He caught her wrists. ‘Eloise!’

  She raised lust-laden eyes to his. A rapid pulse beat in her throat and her quickened breath fluttered over his chin and neck.

  The cabin air turned thick with desire.

  Zach struggled with his strength of will. He’d promised himself not to make this mistake again. And yet, how could he deny her when she stood naked, aroused, wanting him?

  Some promises were meant to be broken.

  His most base instinct urged he take her and celebrate their victory in life over loss.

  He tugged the breeches past his hips, releasing the thick column of his sex.

  She gasped. In fear? Surprise? It was the first time since her sight had returned that she saw this part of him.

  She glanced up. Her eyes shone with keen curiosity; a deepening desire that turned his arousal iron-hard. Gingerly, her fingers curled around him. He hissed through clenched teeth. When she gripped him tighter, he pulsed in her palm.

  ‘No,’ he ground out. ‘I won’t last.’ He slid his hands beneath her bottom and lifted her. Instinctively, her legs coiled around his waist, her arms about his shoulders.

  He slanted his mouth over hers in a deep, heated kiss, one that drew from her a sound of helpless need.

  She tilted her hips. Moist warmth from her centre pressed against his stomach. She was ready for him. He broke the kiss to look upon her face. Green, dilated eyes stared at him with longing like no other woman before her. A tremor rocked his heart.

  Several strides and he had her sitting on the edge of the bed. Her legs opened, inviting him in. He peeled off his damp breeches and sank to his knees before her.

  His hands cupped her throat, as one thumb caressed her lips. Her pink tongue swirled around it, drawing the thumb into her mouth. Zach let out a tortured groan. Her bold initiative threatened his sanity and yet she looked at him through trusting eyes. His restraint walked a tightrope. Perhaps her purpose was to tempt him to the point of losing control. />
  He began her seduction by skimming his fingers down either side of her neck, across her shoulders, over her arms and to her wrists. She quivered beneath the feather-light touch.

  He continued the journey along the top of her legs and reversed the languid caress over sensitive inner thighs, stopping just short of her auburn triangle.

  Her breasts rose and fell with each deeply drawn breath. She looked at him beneath heavy lids, resting her palms on the bed to support her weight. Her head dropped back, hair falling in a wide gossamer curtain. Zach kissed her exposed throat and nipped the tender skin behind one ear.

  Her body, naked and open to him, brought about a primal need to conquer, to keep and to protect. He rested one hand on her hip. With the other, his fingers sought and stroked her cleft. She was warm and dewy, gyrating against his touch.

  Her sweet murmur took Zach higher. He grew harder, thicker. Delaying her release heightened his sexual frustration. He parted the delicate folds and filled her with two fingers. She gasped as he massaged her wet sheath, feeling her muscles tighten around him. Under the spell of his languid strokes, her head tipped back further, her spine arched, breasts thrust upwards. Her arms shook.

  Zach slid a supporting arm around her waist and took a nipple between his teeth.

  Another gratifying gasp escaped her throat.

  He throbbed, aching to fill the very passage his fingers stroked. Fast-fading control had him gently push her back to lie on the bed. Still kneeling, he lifted and placed her thighs over his shoulders. Her scent intoxicated him as if he’d spent weeks liquored up on rum.

  He bent to her slick flesh and circled her cleft with the tip of his tongue. With a breathless cry, she clenched the sheet in her fists.

  Her eyes opened and glimmered with a mixture of desire, shock and sudden uncertainty. She panted. ‘Is this how you mean to punish me?’

  Sail the stars! If this was punishment, he’d gladly inflict it on her for all eternity.

  ‘No, Eloise. I mean to pleasure you.’

  He held her hips firm and dipped his tongue inside her. She tasted of heaven, a nectar so sweet it would sustain him for life. The vibration of his sigh against her flesh made her buck. Her head lolled from side to side, knuckles white against the sheet. Incoherent words left her mouth.