by Howe, Cheryl
“I thought so. A waggoner is a book of maps, and you would be lost without them. Captain Drew just gave you my job because you’re a girl.”
Felicity knelt so they could be face to face. “He didn’t give me your job, I promise. I’m glad you got here when you did. As you can see, I’m making a mess of things.”
Her admission of failure seemed to appease him. “I’m Hugh. What’s your name?”
“Felicity. It’s very nice to meet you, Hugh. How did you come to be the cabin boy on this ship?”
“Hey, are you the one who didn’t want me around here? My papa and Captain Drew said I couldn’t be the cabin boy anymore because of grown-up things I didn’t understand. Are you the captain’s woman?”
After she caught her breath, she searched for an appropriate answer for a child. She didn’t have one, and the boy’s vocalization of her dark desires stunned her. “I’m not sure what you mean. I’m merely a guest.”
Hugh narrowed his gaze, as if she were teasing him. Apparently, he didn’t appreciate her discretion. “You know. He kisses you and takes your clothes off. Pirates love women. That’s all they talk about.”
The warm blush in Felicity’s cheeks turned cold. “Pirates? You spend time in the company of pirates, do you?”
In a stance she’d seen Drew use, the boy folded his arms over his bare chest. “You’re on a pirate ship, you know.”
Drew was a pirate. The knowledge should have surprised her, but the revelation instantly filled in all the gaps left by his version of the truth.
Before Hugh figured out he had told her something he shouldn’t, she quickly disguised her rampant interest behind a sweet smile. “Would you tell me what a cabin boy does on a pirate ship? I don’t think I’ve ever met one before.”
Hugh’s small stature swelled an inch or two as he started talking about instruments and how Captain Drew liked his cabin tidied. He took her hand and led her over to a chair in front of the table. After instructing her to sit, he reverently brought out instruments, and maps from a cabinet hung on the wall. He explained them carefully while instructing her not to touch.
“You never told me how you got your job, Hugh.”
“I’ve always had it.” Turning the pages of a book of maps while pretending to figure out a course with a two-pronged device he had called a divider absorbed him.
“How long have you known Captain Drew?” She picked up a compass and examined it.
“That’s not a toy,” he warned. “I’ve known Captain Drew since before I was born. He and my papa were servants.”
She put down the instrument. “Servants? Servants to whom?”
“A mean man, but they couldn’t leave because they were ’dentured. But I don’t think Papa was a servant. He was something worse, but I forgot what his job was called.”
The word eluding Hugh came to her easily, but the servant part baffled her. She couldn’t picture the commanding Captain Drew in any form of servitude.
“Indentured servant?” she said, surprised. That’s what Drew had been. And Solomon a slave.
“That’s it.” He nodded, then continued with his imaginary navigation. “That was a long time ago. Papa says they would still be in that bad place if it wasn’t for Captain Drew. That’s why we have to forgive him his wild ways.” He stopped and gazed up at her. His eyebrows knit together, a serious contrast to his round, childish eyes and turned-up nose. “But we shouldn’t act like he does.”
“I see.” She wondered what wild ways Drew had that even pirates had to justify. To think, she’d actually hoped to join the ranks of his romantic casualties.
“That’s how I know you’re his woman. He likes women, and especially pretty ones like you.”
“I’m not his woman.” She was torn between being flattered that Hugh considered her pretty enough to be one of Drew’s women and furious that he had so many. Hugh’s revelations did what her hours of prayer hadn’t. She wouldn’t continue to be willing prey.
Hugh stared at her, a worried expression pulling down the corners of his eyes. “Don’t be mad. Did I do something to make you mad?”
She forced her tight lips into a smile. “I’m not mad.”
“Captain Drew said women get mad for no good reason sometimes. That’s why we’re not supposed to have any on the ship.” He paused, looking confused. “Are you Captain Drew’s wife?”
“Oh…no!” She doubted her adamant denial would have convinced anyone but a child that she found the thought preposterous. The rush of yearning brought about by Hugh’s simple but farfetched question flustered her. It wasn’t that she wanted a rake like Drew for a husband; it was just that it had been years since anyone had thought of her as a possible bride to a man so desirable.
“Wives are different. Not like the women the crew sneak on the ship sometimes. But you’re not like them, I can tell.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re nice and pretty too. Pretty woman aren’t nice sometimes.” Hugh closed the book of maps.
“More words of wisdom from Captain Drew.” She couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her voice, even for Hugh.
He raised his wispy eyebrows. “But you’re different, like my Mama and Laura, or Captain Drew wouldn’t have brought you onboard. You’re the only one he’s ever brought onboard. I just heard about the others. I didn’t see them.”
The clearing of a masculine throat caught both of their attentions. Hugh twisted in his seat. Felicity glanced over the boy’s head. She had no idea how much Drew had heard, but his eyes glittered with amusement. As if his sudden appearance was not enough, his state of undress stole her breath.
He stood just inside the open doorway, the portrait of a pirate. Barefoot, bare-calved and bare-armed, he braced his hands on his hips, challenging everything and everyone. He still wore the same clothes from last night, minus the white shirt and boots. In addition to the multicolored vest and breeches reaching just below his knees, he had added a red sash at his waist, complete with the hilt of a vicious-looking short sword jutting above its wide band.
He looked more tanned than yesterday and his skin glowed with perspiration, as if he’d just been performing heavy labor. A thick muscle jumped in his right biceps, reminding her that she stared. When she glanced back to his face, she found him assessing her with the same intense regard. His humor had vanished. Their gazes held and her pulse quickened, as if he had touched her physically. She wondered if he was also recalling last night’s encounter. There were reasons she should turn away from him, not let him see the effect he had on her, but she couldn’t remember them at the moment.
Hugh’s nervous babbling returned her to the present. “I was just putting your tools away, Captain Drew. You should have seen your room. Felicity made a big mess.”
The man turned his attention toward Hugh. “You two seem to be becoming well acquainted.”
Nodding his head in agreement, the boy smiled with strained enthusiasm. “She was asking me all sorts of questions and I was very helpful. She doesn’t know anything about being on a pirate ship.”
A muffled groan indicated Drew’s displeasure at that information. “Hugh, you were asked to stay away from my cabin. You have other duties to perform, and my guess is those duties are being neglected.”
“Anybody can untangle the berthing lines. I know why you and Papa don’t want me in here, but Felicity isn’t bad. She’s nice.”
Drew crossed his arms over his chest. “Perhaps Felicity wants her privacy.”
Hugh glanced at her. She couldn’t help but smile reassuringly in the face of his anxious expression. He turned to Drew with renewed confidence. “Oh, no. She likes me. We talked about all sorts of things.”
Drew slammed the door shut, then strode toward them. He spoke to Hugh, while his gaze bored a hole through her. “I can only dare guess at the topics you two discussed.”
She tried to think of something to add to the conversation, realizing all she had done was gape at Drew’s bare arms since he’d en
tered the room. With his every movement, muscles rippled under his tanned skin. She wondered if she’d ever seen so much of a man’s bare body. Erik had kept on his knee-length shirt during their brief encounter, but she doubted he looked anything like Drew.
She cleared her throat. “Hugh enlightened me on subjects I would never have imagined to broach. He’s a lovely boy.”
Drew grunted his response and returned his scrutiny to Hugh. “Regardless of your newfound friendship with our guest, you were told to stay away from my cabin. You disobeyed an order.”
Hugh’s bright features crumpled. “But I’m a lovely boy.”
The child’s glance toward her for confirmation of his tentative statement melted Felicity’s insides almost as effectively as Drew’s presence. “It’s really my fault. I let him in and then kept him when he wanted to leave.”
“I see. Perhaps you’re the one who should be punished.” Drew’s wicked grin emphasized the promise in his voice. Any discipline he doled out to her would be laced with more pleasure than pain.
Hugh leaped from his chair to stand next to Felicity. He squeezed the tips of her fingers. “He doesn’t mean it.”
“Hugh, leave us.” Drew’s stern command would make anyone question Hugh’s reassurance. “I want to talk to Felicity alone.”
The boy didn’t seem half as startled as she. Drew was a pirate, she reminded herself. And the worst womanizer she’d ever had the misfortune to meet. She stiffened, tightly clasping her hands in front of her. From this point on, she’d be insensible to his charm.
Hugh paused beside Drew on his way out. “Are you going to tell Papa?”
Drew ruined his bloodthirsty pirate facade when he reached down and rubbed the boy’s head. “You know I have to. We both promised after the last time.”
Hugh’s eyes glazed with the first signs of tears. “Yeah, but this isn’t as bad as playing in the ammunition hold.”
Drew glanced at Felicity. “I don’t think your father would agree. Now get going before he finds you himself. I’ll try to break it to him gently.”
Hugh dragged himself to the door with his head down. Drew stopped him before he reached his destination. “It’s very important that you tell no one about Felicity.”
“Because she’s your woman?” Hugh’s whispered words held a conspiratorial tone.
Drew’s gaze again drifted to her, but lingered several seconds too long. “Yes.”
She held her breath, hoping the burning in her belly had not risen to her cheeks. Her fortress was breached with the first heavy blow. No one had ever claimed her as his.
Hugh seemed oblivious to the other secrets lurking in the room. “And you don’t want anyone else to know because you don’t want to share.”
The child’s assumption appalled her, but Drew seemed pleased he understood. “Right. Remember when Smythe and Red got in that fight last summer? You wouldn’t want the same thing to happen to me.”
Hugh shook his head, his eyes wide with understanding. “Red lost an eye and has to wear a patch now, and that yellow-haired girl didn’t even have all her teeth.”
Drew dropped to one knee and stuck out his hand. “It will be our secret, then.”
After a vigorous shake, Hugh dashed from the room. When he stopped abruptly at the door, he almost fell over his feet. “Good-bye, Felicity.” Hugh waved, then disappeared.
Drew stood, closed the door Hugh had left open, then strolled back to her. His movements were slow and purposeful. “Alone at last.”
She gripped the chair in front of her for support. Her back went rigid with a combination of trepidation and anticipation. She wondered if he intended to continue their tryst from last night. Hugh had confirmed a moment before that Drew had no scruples. He didn’t dance on the thin line between right and wrong—he crossed it. She should be appalled or at least frightened. Unfortunately, the only thing the pounding rhythm of her heart acknowledged was that he had called her his woman. How was she going to be able to resist him?
“You never mentioned you were a pirate.”
He gently but firmly tugged the chair from her grasp and shoved it under the table.
“I never denied it.”
Even his admission didn’t make his deeds seem real. Who was the man who’d nursed her back to health and ruffled Hugh’s hair? She tilted her chin defiantly. To her shame, it took all her willpower not to part her lips in invitation.
“I should have known. Your manner proclaims your profession loud and clear.”
He seemed to be slowly leaning into her, but he abruptly straightened. “Are you talking about last night?”
He looked like kissing her had become the farthest thing from his thoughts. His disinterest insulted her. He was a womanizer and she was a woman. Apparently, she wasn’t ready to return to the black-clad spinster just yet. She’d seen herself with new eyes and sworn he had too. “You could have been honest with me as you promised.”
“And that would have been better for you? You wouldn’t have been offended when I declared my intention to prop you on the dinner table and have my way with you?”
An ember of dizzy heat burst in her chest and rushed to her limbs. Lord, but if he would only stop talking about it and...
Drew retreated to the far side of the table and rubbed his brow as if he had an intense headache. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to offend you. I promise nothing like that will happen again. I only came here because I noticed the door open.”
She should be grateful at his vow to be honorable, but his dismissal of the passion that almost persuaded her to toss aside years of rigorous repentance hurt. While she had lain awake last night wanting him, he’d been able to put her aside.
“All I want to know is why you got involved with an honest man like my father.”
He began to put away the instruments Hugh had strung-out all over the table. “It’s a long story.”
“I have time.”
“Well, I don’t. I’m trying to captain a ship, and since I’m a pirate other people want to keep me from doing that.” He continued with his task, ignoring her.
She grabbed his bare arm with the intention of yanking him around to face her, not to mention give him a view of the cleavage even a Puritan minister couldn’t help but notice. “Were you an indentured servant?”
He didn’t budge at her hard tug on his arm. “If you insist on touching me, I’m going to have to take back my promise.”
“Hugh told me you were an indentured servant and Solomon was a slave. Did you help him to escape?”
Her hand looked pale and small against the width of Drew’s tanned arm, leaving her with a desire to see how it would compare against the broadness of his chest. She followed his gaze to the low-cut neckline of her dress. In the gap she knew he could most likely see clearly each of her full breasts, including the tips of her dark nipples. They hardened at his bold stare. Her depraved nature, a weakness she found impossible to control in Drew’s presence, had always been her worst enemy. Even a pirate had more restraint than she.
He flicked his gaze back to her face. “I don’t think you laced your bodice correctly.”
“Oh, and you know all about how a women’s dress should be fastened? Or should I say unfastened?” She hoped her show of anger would explain the tremble of desire that shook each breath. “Hugh knows more about the base appetites of men than I do.”
He dragged his eyes away from her bodice. “Would you like me to teach you, love?”
She forced herself to meet his gaze despite his lewd offer. His smooth words mocked his passion of the night before, but that didn’t stop her from wanting him to show her his skill. “You’ll say anything to avoid my questions.”
He circled her waist with one arm, pulling her snugly against himself. “Not true. I Just think it would be more interesting if you answered mine.”
Through their clothes, she could distinctly feel his body harden in places she shouldn’t even know existed. Despite her nagging longing, she didn�
��t have the courage to answer his question honestly. “Were you an indentured servant or weren’t you?”
His abrupt release left her wishing she hadn’t been so blunt. “I was. But I cut my service short. I found the life of an indentured servant nowhere near as enticing as the handbill had promised.”
His typically glib response to an event that had to have been painful aroused compassion in Felicity. She couldn’t resist touching his cheek in a comforting gesture he didn’t ask for and probably never would. “I can’t see you voluntarily signing your life away for seven years. You must have been desperate.”
He stiffened at her touch but didn’t pull away. For once, he didn’t meet her gaze directly. “At twelve, I was a little more humble. Nor was my servitude exactly voluntary. My mother died and my relatives couldn’t afford me. It was better than starving.”
She stroked a wild lock of hair from his forehead. “What about your father?”
He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. “What about him? I’m sure my departure suited him nicely. He had a legitimate son and didn’t need his bastard around to further spoil the bloodline.”
His tone remained light, but his tentative kisses across her knuckles warned Felicity she had wandered into territory far more dangerous than mere lust. And she’d thought her betrayal devastating. She slipped her free hand around the back of his neck and leaned into him.
“A ship sighted starboard,” bellowed a voice from the deck above.
They jerked away from each other. Solomon sounded as if he were in the room with them.
“I wish I’d never got that bloody speaking-trumpet. It’s supposed to only be used to yell at other ships, not to terrorize the captain.” Drew’s words didn’t match his tone.
He sounded relieved by the interruption rather than annoyed. Avoiding Felicity’s gaze, he escaped to a porthole that had already been cranked open. “Raise their colors and come about.”
When he returned to the table, he ignored her completely. Straightening the mess left by Hugh suddenly seemed a task of life-or-death importance.