by Lee Bross
As they neared the carriage, Tomas turned in surprise. “Done already? And no packages?”
His eyebrows rose in suspicion, but Sophia only grinned. “Can you believe there was absolutely nothing that caught my eye after all?”
“No, I cannot,” Tomas mumbled as he helped them into the carriage. He climbed in and picked up the reins.
A very pretty but disappointed-looking young washerwoman stood in the doorway of the laundry shop and watched them pull away. Tomas gave her a quick wave, and the girl blushed before ducking back into the doorway. The streets were even more crowded now, and it took almost an hour to make their way back to the townhouse.
“Tell me more about Louis,” Arista prompted, and Sophia eagerly told her everything about him.
By that time they arrived home, Arista knew what she had to do. Grae might not want to talk to her, but she had to tell him about Louis. It all seemed too contrived, especially given that the young man clearly had ties to Wild.
Though she couldn’t tell Grae everything, she had to tell him enough so that he would intercede and protect his sister.
Arista would not let Sophia get mixed up with a thief.
Tomas had no idea that Grae did not want to see Arista, so he was more than willing to take her to the docks. She’d never been there dressed as a girl before, and more than one admiring glance was thrown her way as Tomas maneuvered the carriage through the tight spaces created by the crates of goods in the process of being loaded and unloaded. Shouts and loud thumps and the sharp smell of unwashed bodies filled the air. How had she never noticed it before? Dozens of men from various ships moved about as if they were following the steps to an intricate dance. How they didn’t crash into each other, especially while pushing carts piled high with cargo, she’d never know.
When Tomas finally stopped in front of a massive three-masted ship, Arista could not stop the warm rush of admiration. It was beautiful. Moored next to the wharf, bobbing on the river, the ship’s elegant design was on display. Intricate carvings covered the hull, and a figurehead of a woman stretched proudly out in front. Small windows lined the front of the hull in a neat row, and the mahogany wood gleamed in the sunlight. Hundreds of lines of ropes stretched in all different directions, creating a weblike effect that she could make neither head nor tail of.
On board, men rushed all over, checking ropes and scrubbing down the decks. Arista and Nic had sat watching enough times to know that the rituals of sailors rarely deviated. They were preparing the ship for another departure. Grae would sail away from her in the near future.
Small panels in the side of the ship brought Arista back to the reality of how dangerous Grae’s job was. If attacked, cannons would be pushed through them to fire on pirate ships. Had he fought another ship on the open ocean? Faced pirates?
There was so much she didn’t know about him. That she wanted to know. She rubbed her arms to push away the chill at the thought of Grae in danger.
“I’ll go get Mister Graeden, miss. You stay in the carriage. The docks ain’t no place for a lady.” Tomas jumped down and tethered the horse to a post, then jogged to the gangplank that led to the deck.
She almost protested that she’d spent plenty of time in the area, and had never suffered more than a swipe to the ear, when she remembered that it was different now. Then, she had been dressed as a boy, and had garnered nary a glance; but now, men eyed her as they passed. They grinned with interest, and a few were brazen enough to say hello. Arista ignored them all. Instead she sat quietly, clenching her hands tightly in her lap. She had her knife strapped to her thigh if she needed to use it, so that provided a small measure of comfort.
It was only a few minutes before Grae appeared. The top buttons on his crisp white shirt were undone and he had rolled his sleeves up, revealing tanned forearms. He had on black pants tucked into tall black boots, and he stood with his feet wide apart. In this light he looked less a highwayman and more a pirate.
She saw Tomas point to the carriage, and Grae’s gaze caught hers. He stood, hands on hips. From this distance she wasn’t sure if he was happy to see her or not. Tomas jogged back to the carriage.
“I’ll just grab a pint at the tavern there. Send for me when you’re ready, miss.” Tomas nodded politely and walked away down the dock.
Arista braced for more anger. Given their last conversation, she didn’t doubt Grae would dismiss her altogether. When he started down the gangplank toward her, she couldn’t stop her pulse from quickening.
The wind blew his dark hair across his eyes and he pushed it back absently. He looked as wild and strong as his ship. Possessiveness washed over her, though she had no claim to him. He stopped next to the carriage and cocked his head at her. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
God, he was beautiful to look at. Every time he was close, she found it hard to breathe. To even remember what excuse she had invented to see him again. “I needed to talk to you. About Sophia.”
“Is she okay?” Worry immediately replaced everything else. His knuckles turned white where they gripped the side of the carriage.
“She’s fine. She took me…” Would Grae tell his parents what Sophia did when they thought she was shopping? Coffeehouses were not exactly the place where proper young ladies went. “There’s a boy. Louis. I’m worried that he may not have her best intentions at heart and she seems…very fond of him.”
She couldn’t tell Grae that he was working with Wild without revealing her own connection.
“You’re worried about Sophia?” His expression bordered on disbelief.
“Of course I am. She is young and beautiful and trusting and I don’t want her to get hurt. Maybe you should look into this boy, make sure…” She stopped talking. Grae had started to smile at her and it was very distracting.
This close, she could see flecks of dark blue mixed in with the grey of his eyes.
“Why are you smiling? I’m being serious. He’s…” she tried again.
“Do you know why I was angry the other night?” he interrupted.
Her head spun at the sudden turn in topic. “No.”
“I was worried your actions would cause harm to my family. That you had no regard for their safety and were simply using them to obtain your goal. That you were using me as well.”
“I told you…” she started to say, but his finger against her lips stopped her cold. Or, red-hot, judging by the heat coming from where he touched her.
“I believe you now. You came here despite every hateful thing I said to you, in order to protect my sister. I wouldn’t have been surprised if you had never wanted to speak to me again, given my behavior. I will look into this Louis person, and thank you, for looking after Sophia.”
Her eyes darted away from his, landing on the ship behind him. “I wanted…” She sighed, finally pulling her eyes from his ship. “She’s my friend. I care about what happens to her.”
She looked everywhere but at Grae. Things between them had shifted again and she wasn’t sure what to say. Maybe she should find Tomas and go home?
“Arista?”
Warmth flooded her entire body when she heard her name from his lips. It had been so long since she’d heard it spoken and the fact that it came from Grae only made it that much more special. She sought out his gaze and found him staring at her, but she couldn’t say anything. Not when so many unfamiliar feelings were making themselves known at once.
It was as if all sounds on the wharf had fallen silent and it was only the two of them.
He leaned closer and took her hand, pulling it to rest on his chest. “Knowing what you’re doing only makes it worse. People don’t hide their distaste for your Lady A persona. Every time you go out, you put yourself in danger, and it makes me sort of crazy to think about it now. I’m sorry I overreacted last night. I just want to be there at your side to keep you safe, even if it puts me in danger as well.”
“That’s the problem,” she said. “I would never do that to you. This is my
life, and I have to deal with the consequences of it. You don’t. I can’t drag you into it.”
Grae lifted her hand to his lips, and heat bloomed under her skin. “What you don’t understand is that I’m already one hundred percent in it. There’s something about you I can’t stop thinking about. You have an air of mystery that is intriguing.” He grinned at her, and she knew his anger from the previous evening had evaporated. “But there is more. There’s a look you get in your eyes—as if you’re on a great journey, but have gotten lost along the way. All I want is for you to let me guide you back.”
She choked on her own breath. He’d seen that? She tried so hard to hide any emotion. Bones loved to find any weakness and exploit it. Arista had learned to become numb very early on. Yet Grae had managed to find her beneath the shell she’d erected.
The fact that he saw her, really saw her and not someone Arista had created for protection, meant more than she could ever say. Around Grae, she didn’t even want to hide. The thought was terrifying and exhilarating.
“Would you like a tour?” he asked. “You said you’ve never been on a ship before. I’d love to show you.”
A small gasp escaped from her lips, and she smiled. “Very much.”
He reached for her hand and helped her out of the carriage. Excitement bubbled in her veins. Grae steered her toward the gangplank, keeping his body between her and the men moving about on the deck. His hands settled on her waist to steady her as she started across the wooden bridge between the dock and ship, which was much narrower than it looked. The water lapped at the wharf as they climbed, and she tried not to look down. Tried not to think that if she fell, she would drown.
The ship dipped suddenly, and the wood beneath her feet shifted. She scrambled to hold on to something, but there was nothing except for a rope strung as a makeshift rail. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.” Grae’s soothing voice in her ear stopped the frantic movements of her arms. His arms tightened around her waist and he drew her back against his front. “Relax. The more you move, the more the bridge moves. One step. Now another. That’s it.” Grae guided her and she clung to his voice, careful not to look down. When she finally set foot on the solid wood of the deck, her legs were almost too wobbly to stand.
All thoughts of Louis and Sophia were gone, replaced with the awareness that she could have fallen into the Thames.
“Are you afraid of the water?” Grae asked softly.
“I can’t swim,” she whispered. “Someone tried to teach me once, but I could just never learn.”
“Well, if you fall in, I promise I’ll jump in after you.”
Arista swallowed the lump of fear still stuck in her throat. “That would be greatly appreciated. Should that day come.”
She met his stare and saw more than just that one promise in his eyes. He seemed to offer so much more without saying anything, and she didn’t want to look away.
“I’m okay now,” she said. “Thank you.”
Grae nodded and took her elbow. “We’ll start above deck with the basics. I don’t want to bore you.” He steered her away from the railing, away from the crew working steadily on what seemed like every part of the ship. How they knew where every rope went baffled her. There were so many, strung up and down and across.
“I want to know everything,” she said breathlessly. “How do they know which rope does what?”
“When you spend all your life on a ship, it becomes second nature. I could shimmy up that main mast when I was six.” He pointed to the tallest mast, which stretched proudly toward the sky.
Her pulse thundered in her ears. Why would anyone willingly climb that thin pole? “That’s crazy.”
“It’s a necessity. The crow’s nest—that platform you see there—it’s a lookout. Land, pirates, storms—they’re all easier to spot with a spyglass from up there.” The rocking of the ship seemed to make the crow’s nest sway dangerously back and forth. She could hardly keep her footing on the deck. Up there, she would probably tumble right out.
“I can safely cross ‘lookout’ off my list of possible future positions,” she said with all seriousness, which made Grae laugh again.
“You’d make a better cabin boy, anyway,” he teased. Heat climbed into her cheeks. He had no idea how close he was to the truth.
“What do all the ropes do?” she asked as Grae led her farther up the deck. He spent the next half hour explaining the intricacies of how the sails were raised and lowered, and how the ropes wound around pulleys were used to change direction at a moment’s notice. There were even more ropes connected to cables that could raise and lower the cargo below deck. Arista tried to follow the lines to see how they worked, but there were just too many to make sense of them all.
“There are one hundred men on board when we sail, and every one of them knows how to work the ropes. Even the cabin boy,” he teased.
“I’m slowly losing any usefulness I thought I might have had on board.” She meant to jest with him, but his eyes darkened and he grew serious.
“If you sailed with me, you would never have to lift a finger. I wouldn’t let you,” he said into her ear.
She pulled away and walked several steps toward the front of the ship, then looked over her shoulder with a smile. “I’m not used to being idle. There must be something I could do.”
Grae took three long strides and he was there, right behind her. She felt the heat from his body and waited for the touch she knew would come. Whenever they were together, it seemed like he could not keep from initiating some kind of connection.
But this time, he did not. She didn’t dare move, and it became a test of wills. The muscles in her neck tensed as she fought the urge to take a step back, enough so that their bodies would be touching.
“The front of the ship, where you are currently standing, is called the bow. Below this deck are the crew’s quarters and the cannons, and then on the lowest level, the cargo hold.” His hot breath washed over the edge of her ear as he spoke, and she really didn’t hear much of what he said. Something about cargo, maybe? A shiver of anticipation raced down her spine when she felt the faintest brush of a touch on her neck.
“This is my favorite place to be when we are at full mast, slicing across the open ocean. It feels almost like flying.” The ship bobbed and dipped suddenly, and Grae wound his arm around her waist and pulled her securely against his front. It was second nature to rest her hands on his forearm.
They stood like that, staring out over the Thames together, until someone cleared their throat behind them. They turned and Arista almost lost her balance.
“What can I do for you, Joseph?” Grae asked, not taking his arm from around Arista.
The huge bald man nodded to Arista, and she tried to smile. He seemed to be as wide as he was tall, and without a shirt, she could clearly see the thick cords of muscle that covered his torso. But that wasn’t what caused her apprehension. A long, jagged scar ran from just above one eye, down across his face, and ended under his jaw on the opposite side. Men with scars like that were usually fighters. Bones employed men like him because they had no morals.
“’Scuse me, sir. There’s a problem with part of the rigging. It won’t take but a minute.”
Grae clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll take a look with you. Oh, Joseph, this is Arista. Arista, this is Joseph, my right-hand man. He’ll be the second in command on this next trip—isn’t that right, Joe?”
Joe grinned and shook his head. “It’s nice to meet you, miss. And no, I’ll not be his second in command. I’ll feed this bunch, but I won’t be telling ’em what to do unless they set foot in my galley.”
“You’re the cook?” she asked.
“Not just a cook. Joe is a genius. The meals he manages when we’re down to the last crate of dried parsnips and some dried fish would make you weep. I wouldn’t sail without this man.” Grae beamed at Joe, who actually looked like he was blushing now.
The banter between the two men belied their friendship.
It was clear that there was a deep bond there.
“Will you be okay here for a few minutes?” Grae asked her.
“Of course. I could stand here all day and never grow bored with it.”
Joe grinned at her, then raised an eyebrow at Grae. “Found a like-minded soul, I see.” Grae smiled right at her and it warmed her heart. That look made her feel like the only person in the world. Now a blush was filling her face.
“I’ll return him posthaste,” Joe said, practically dragging Grae back down the deck behind him.
Arista walked to the very front of the ship and stood at the rail. A light breeze ruffled her skirts and brought the thick odor of the river to her nose. What did the ocean smell like, so far out at sea? The river was a muddy brown color, but she imagined that out at sea, it was so blue that the sky and water blended together. The ship swayed and bowed again, but this time Arista kept her balance. Already she was getting used to being on a ship. She could do it. Go all the way to India.
Lost in her daydreams, she didn’t hear Grae return several moments later.
“It’s a much better view when you’re at sea,” Grae said.
She turned and found him holding a tray with some bread, cheese, and exotic-looking fruit that was yellow with bumps all over it. “Joseph insisted I bring you something to eat. Said a good wind would blow you away.” Grae set the tray on a barrel next to the rail and motioned her over. “So what do you think of the ship?” He watched her expectantly, as if her answer really mattered to him.
“It’s amazing. I’ve sat and watched the ships from the wharf for years, but never imagined what they looked like from this side. It really is beautiful.” She smiled at Grae and he stared back at her. The moment was perfect.
For once, the grey fog that sat heavy on London had parted and the sun shone down on them. Birds chirped and the sounds of the men getting the ship ready were almost comforting. She felt like she belonged for the first time ever. Nothing had ever felt so right.
“Are you really a widow?” His question took her by surprise. She’d all but forgotten the ruse that had brought her to his parents’ home.