Karen Michelle Nutt

by A Twist of Fate

  His chuckle vibrated against her. “I’m glad I could be of service to ye then.” His hands slid over her back.

  With a sigh, she enjoyed his loving caresses. It wasn’t too long before her lids grew heavy and she drifted to sleep.

  ****

  Keldon had his pipe in his mouth and he carried his ancient bagpipes with him. Vincent watched his friend closely and noticed the tension that emanated from him had melted away to contentment and he had a good guess to why.

  "You have made amends with your wife? No?" Vincent asked.

  Keldon removed his pipe from between his lips and returned the smile. "Aye. All is weel... for now.” They were silent for a moment, as they listened to the water lap against the side of the ship. The night was clear and calm and they both hoped the good weather would last. Keldon looked at Vincent again. "Ye best get some rest."

  He nodded. "See you in a few, Buchanan."

  ****

  Nicholas knew Keldon would be busy above deck for a while. Even so, it was dangerous to sneak into the captain’s quarters, but he thrived on risks and taking one to see how Annabelle fared was nothing he couldn't handle. He quietly entered the room, closing the door behind him. He made his way to the bunk, where she slept peacefully. He sat down beside her and touched her long slender arm. She rolled toward him in slumber and he couldn't resist planting a kiss on her lips. She responded and put her arms around him. He nuzzled his mouth against her neck and she moaned with pleasure as she murmured her lover’s name.

  Nicholas stopped cold and pushed her away. His sudden movement caused Arianna to wake fully. She grabbed at the blankets and held them to her chin, her eyes betraying her wariness.

  "Bloody inferno! You share his bed, again," Nicholas accused barely able to keep his voice controlled.

  "He's my husband," she shot back.

  "I bloody well know who he is. You don't have to remind me. But you told me it was over between the two of you, long before we started our affair. You lied to me. Are you playing me for a fool?"

  "No. No," Arianna pleaded. "Let me explain.”

  He didn’t like her tone and he sensed he wasn’t going to like her explanation either. He tried to stop her, but she was determined to tell him anyway.

  "I don't remember what we once shared,” she blurted out.

  He frowned. “What are you saying?”

  “I don't have a memory of anyone or anything until a little over a week ago."

  He narrowed his eyes. "What do you take me for?"

  "Just listen. I fell and hit my head. I lost my memory. You’re a stranger to me, as much as my own husband has been. I'm slowly beginning to learn who I am, or who I used to be. So far, what I’ve discovered isn’t pleasant. Frankly, I don't know why you care for me, other than maybe we shared a common goal of sorts, and an ill advised one at that.” She took a breath. “Nicholas, we were wrong about Keldon. He's not the vicious killer we portrayed him to be. Didn't you see that today?"

  "He's fooled you for now, but he'll soon show his true colors. I know what he's done. Have you failed to ask him about Richard Hawkins?” Her silence told him she hadn’t mentioned the man's name to him. "I see. And what should I expect from you? Will you tell Keldon of my plans? Should I plan on being marooned somewhere for being a traitor or worse?"

  "I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re not a bad person.”

  “Well thank you so much.”

  “Nicholas, please,” Arianna pleaded.

  Anger burned through his veins. Their relationship was over and he didn’t understand why. “Please what, Annabelle? Please forgive you for tricking me. Please forgive you for making me fall in love with you when you didn’t give a damn. Am I getting close?” Her eyes pooled and he looked away. “Christ. Just answer my question and I’ll be gone. Are you going to tell Keldon about me?”

  “I won't betray you, Nicholas. I owe you that much, but you must give up this quest. We were wrong about Keldon. He’s a good man and he'll give up this life of piracy."

  "You seem sure of yourself," Nicholas spat as he wondered how she came to this conclusion.

  "I am sure,” she insisted. “After this adventure, I will convince him to change his ways."

  Nicholas was silent as he stared at the woman he thought he’d been in love with and realized he looked upon a stranger. She claimed Keldon was a decent man and it held a ring of truth to it. Keldon had shown mercy to his foes and in the battle, he came to his rescue. If anything, he owed the man for saving his life.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose with frustration. "For the love we once shared, I'll give Buchanan a chance.” He leveled his gaze on her. “If after this adventure, he swears to never pirate another ship, I'll give you my word that I'll not seek revenge on him.” Without waiting for her to respond, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the cabin.

  He went above deck and stood in the shadows, gritting his teeth together tightly as he tried to regain control of his emotions.

  He listened to Keldon play the haunting music from his bagpipes. How he loathed Keldon Buchanan, but curse it all, he respected him, too.

  Before he had met Keldon face to face, it had been simple. He hated him for changing his life forever. He had made a pledge to take his revenge, anyway he could. He purposely sought out Buchanan's wife. He was going to use her to bring Keldon down, but he found Keldon could care less about his wife, or at least that was what he had thought. To his own dismay, he had fallen into his own trap and fell in love with the beautiful Annabelle Buchanan.

  She had started out to be a vibrant distraction and he thought he could forget about what Keldon had done. However, Annabelle then voiced her demands. She wanted revenge of her own. She claimed Keldon mistreated her. Now he wondered if that had ever been true. At the time, it was easy for him to believe her. He wanted to judge Keldon Buchanan a dishonorable man.

  He plotted with Annabelle to set a trap for Keldon, knowing in the end the man would dangle from a rope. Their plan was falling smoothly into place. Only now, Annabelle claimed not to remember any of it. She didn’t remember sharing her dreams with him, or that they had planned to run away, once Keldon was out of their lives. If he didn't know better, he would swear Annabelle Buchanan was a different person all together. To make matters worse, working side by side with Keldon made him see the man in a different light.

  Keldon’s crew held only admiration for him, not fear. He witnessed the way Keldon dealt with his enemies. He had treated them fairly. Could what he had heard from Richard Hawkins’ crew been an exaggerated fabrication of what had really happened? For the first time, he doubted the truth of the story.

  He had made a muck of his life and all in the name of revenge. He was in love with a woman who was never his and he had wasted months plotting to bring down a man who didn’t deserve to die. "What am I to do?” Nicholas hadn’t realized the music had stopped, or that he had spoken aloud until he heard Keldon's booming voice.

  "Who's below? Show yerself."

  Nicholas moved away from the shadows. "It is only I, Captain, Nicholas Sherborn."

  "Sherborn.” Nicholas saw him settle back and his voice loss its terseness. "It is late. Ye should get some rest."

  "I was heading down below.” Nicholas turned to leave, but Keldon called him back.

  "Ye fought well today. I will no’ be soon forgettin’ the fact. I am proud to have ye aboard.” Keldon’s face showed the admiration he felt.

  "Thank you, sir," Nicholas answered feeling like a loathsome rat.

  ****

  Keldon played his bagpipes again. The music drifted down below to where Arianna lay awake. She whispered the words that belonged to the sweet melody, for she knew the song well, though Keldon had insisted she shouldn’t have. He had even insisted she couldn’t play the harpsichord and yet she could. These things plagued her. It didn’t make any sense.

  The words to the melody flowed freely from her lips. She racked her brain, trying to remember how
she knew them. Nothing about her life seemed to fit. It was like she was living it all for the first time.

  She closed her eyes and listened to the music that seemed to call from her past… another time. Arianna fell asleep with those thoughts drifting in her mind. She dreamt of people who she recognized, but she couldn’t recall their names. She tried going to them, but they walked a different path, locked away in another world where they couldn’t see or hear her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  With her injured foot wrapped, Arianna could put pressure on it with only mild discomfort. She placed her cap low on her head, covering her ears and tucking most of her hair underneath the rim. Satisfied no one would question her as anything but the cabin boy, she left the quarters and went up above to make herself useful.

  Macab, the ship’s surgeon would have his work cut out for him as he took care of the wounded from yesterday’s skirmish. Macab was a big burly man with carrot-colored hair and a gruff voice. As soon as he spotted Arianna, he put her to work finding out which men needed attention the most.

  Haunted and unsure faces peered back at her. She offered them something to drink and cleaned out the wounds the best she could.

  Macab set to work on stitching up a man’s leg. The gash ran from the knee down to his ankle. The man bit down on a leather strap grimacing in pain, while two crewmen held down his arms. Arianna cringed as she walked past, heading for the young boy huddled near the crates. The boy stared, his eyes wild with fear.

  Arianna disguised her voice, by lowering it a few octaves to keep up her facade of being the cabin boy. "Don't be scared," she said, hoping to put the young boy at ease. "I'm only going to clean your wounds.” The boy’s eyes darted back and forth as if looking for a way to escape.

  "Leave that one be," Macab yelled to her. "The boy doesn't want any help."

  Arianna would have obeyed the surgeon’s orders, but the boy was holding his upper arm and she could see the blood oozing between his fingertips. She couldn't leave him.

  "I just want to take a look at that arm," she coaxed, pointing, hoping to make him understand.

  The boy shook his head and yelled, "Rester!”

  Arianna’s brows furrowed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean. You must let me clean your arm or an infection will set in.”

  The boy turned away, hugging his knees close to his chest.

  Arianna took a step closer and the boy shrieked, jumping to his feet, poised for battle, but then he swayed on his feet. Arianna watched in horror as the boy’s eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the floor.

  Arianna ran forward and knelt down. The boy’s chest rose and fell evenly, but she feared he passed out due to a lack of blood. She unbuttoned his shirt and with a gasp of surprise, she flipped the material close again. Her gaze flew to the boy’s face—long lashes, smooth cheeks. “You’re a woman,” she murmured. She quickly buttoned the shirt and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed.

  Macab caught Arianna’s gaze and walked over to her. "Well the lad has finally succumbed. Let's get his shirt off so I can take a look."

  "No!” Arianna blurted, losing the deepness of her voice. The surgeon eyed her, suspiciously. She didn't know what to do, but she knew she couldn't let the surgeon remove the unconscious woman's shirt. A little more calmly and in a deep voice again, Arianna made a suggetion. "I’ll tear the sleeve, so the boy doesn't catch a chill."

  Macab shrugged. He obviously didn't care one way or the other. He just wanted to take care of the wound and move on to his other tasks. He took out his needle and thread. "What a scrawny lad, this one is," he commented when he lifted his patient’s arm. “He’s near skin and bones.”

  "Don't you have to disinfect the cut?" Arianna hovered over Macab’s shoulder.

  His eyes narrowed. "Why don't you check on someone else? I can take care of this one."

  Arianna was reluctant to leave, but she couldn't think of an excuse not to. When she had the chance, she caught Vincent Aubrey’s attention and hurried over to him, pulling him to the side.

  "Is something amiss?" he whispered, concern lining his features. "Your foot is bothering you. No?"

  "No, no. I'm fine, but there is someone you must speak to."

  "Who might that be?"

  She leaned close and whispered, "One of the men from the other ship isn't a man at all and I think she only speaks French."

  Vincent shook his head. "Another woman aboard, what are we to do?” His lips curved into a grim smile. "Show me where she is.”

  By the time they reached the young woman, she had awakened and was threatening Macab with one of his instruments.

  Vincent quickly moved in and rapidly spoke the girl's language.

  The young woman hesitated, realizing she understood Vincent. He continued, calmly talking to her, soothing her.

  Tears pooled in her eyes and she finally let the weapon slip from her fingers.

  “Damn crazy bugger,” Macab cursed as he retrieved his surgeon’s blade.

  Vincent ignored Macab and spoke to the girl again.

  She eyed Arianna closely, tilting her head, making Arianna squirm under her scrutiny. Obviously, Vincent revealed her identity.

  Then in two strides, the woman threw her arms around Vincent. His eyes widened and he looked at Arianna for help.

  Arianna grinned with a shrug. “It must have been something you said.”

  He pursed his lips together, but he returned the embrace, patting her back.

  "I had no idea the bugger was a lass," the surgeon proclaimed in his defense. "I wasn't trying to molest her. I was only checking for any other wounds. What a shock to find two...” He cleared his throat. “Well let’s just say she wasn't no lad."

  "It's all right. I'll take it from here," Vincent assured him.

  “Aaah good riddance, I say.” Macab returned to his duties without a backwards glance.

  Arianna moved closer to Vincent and the young woman who held onto him as though her life depended on it. "What did you say to her to make her trust you?"

  "I told her what I had to. I told her that you were also a woman. I also let her know I would protect her, as I would you.” He nervously cleared his throat with a chuckle. “Literally, I insured her I would slit any man's throat that laid a hand on her."

  Arianna gaze riveted to his. God, the man wasn’t jesting. “Oh.”

  ****

  The young woman was Bernadette LaQuil and her presence aboard, the Good Intent spread like wildfire. Arianna kept a low profile having no wish for the attention Bernadette was receiving. The men hovered, some leered, but Vincent was good to his word and demanded the men behave.

  Vincent learned the full story of Bernadette’s plight, starting with her abusive father. Once she’d been old enough, she ran away with a young man thinking she would start a new life. He betrayed her also. Bernadette claimed a woman proved open prey to any man’s desires. She decided she would become the hunter and disguised herself as a man. Since she didn’t have money to pay her passage, she signed up on a working ship, hoping to find a port where she would call home.

  Unfortunately, pirates had captured the ship she’d been on and the only way to survive was to join them.

  Bernadette was only nineteen years old, living a lifetime of hardship and regret. She wasn’t use to men treating her kindly and it didn’t surprise Arianna that the young woman latched onto the only man who had ever shown her a shred of decency. She became Vincent's constant shadow, but if his gentle words and tentative glances were any indication, he didn't mind Bernadette’s attention.

  When the other men tried to approach Bernadette, she would give them a fierce scowl and yell at them in a very colorful and creative French vocabulary. The men may not understand what she spat at them, but they didn’t miss her intent.

  Vincent would shake his head at her and smile. "Ah, my little brave bear, I am the man. I protect you. No?”

  Bernadette hung on his every word.

  “Sh
e’s infatuated with you,” Arianna said.

  Vincent’s gaze riveted to Bernadette, who was helping Higgins with ropes. She glanced at Vincent, her lips curving into a smile.

  Vincent turned away clearly flustered. “She’s like a sister to me.”

  Arianna touched his arm. “Then be careful with her. Don’t crush her heart.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Arianna sat at the table stitching one of Keldon’s shirts. She heard the door to the cabin open then close. She knew who entered and smiled when his large hands covered her eyes.

  “Guess who?” he whispered near her ear. His other hand skimmed her breasts.

  “Hmm. I’m not sure.” She inhaled deeply. “You smell of pipe tobacco and the sea. Is this Vincent?”

  He growled. “He better no’ be so familiar.”

  “Oh Keldon, how could I not know.” She put down the shirt and turned in his arms accepting his kiss.

  “Do ye know what ye taste like?” he asked.

  “No, what?”

  “Like wicked temptation and sinful pleasures.”

  “Is that so.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her up out of her seat so she leaned against him.

  She nudged her hips. “My, my, what have we here?”

  He brushed his firm mouth back and forth over hers. “Maybe I’ll show ye.”

  “Maybe you better.”

  His eyebrows shot up and he smiled. “Aye.” He picked her up and carried her to the bed, his lips working magic on her senses.

  “It feels like we’ve stopped moving.” She arched her back as he trailed kisses down her neck.

  “Aye, we wait now until the Spanish frigate is spotted.”

  She gripped his arms and he looked at her. “Keldon, do you have to do this?”

  He brushed her hair away from her face. “Shush now. Ye doonae need to fear, Arianna. My crew knows what to do.”

  “But what if something goes wrong?” Her voice caught in her throat.