by Liz Tyner
But Ascalon. The sails were quiet and the ropes made no noise as they were tightened and loosened. Nothing creaked or groaned.
He watched the sea.
He wasn’t sure if his eye had spotted the sun’s reflection from a glint of metal—maybe a spyglass—or perhaps some creak from a ship had carried across the wind to his ears. But he knew something was out there and he didn’t think it a myth, but something man-made.
Gidley stepped beside him, voice matching the quietness of the sails. ‘I seen it, too. Don’t know what it is, but I know what it has to be.’
‘I saw a glint in the sun,’ Ben said. ‘I expect we’ve a spyglass trained on us right now. And a ship’s coming closer. Before long, everyone will know she’s there.’
*
Within hours, all eyes could see the ship. The sloop had one mast and her bowsprit stretched near the length of the hull. The vessel skimmed along, bow jutting out like a proud chin.
‘The flag. It’s white.’ Benjamin could barely make out the colors, but that one glared as strongly as a skull would have.
Gidley swore and threw his cap to the deck. ‘White is the colour of ambush.’ He picked his cap up and slapped it against his trouser leg twice, then donned it again. ‘Bet they have as many dif’rent colour flags as we do. We can’t outrun ’er, but she’d have to be lucky to sink us—if we didn’t have such a high dose of bad luck on board.’
‘Gid,’ Ben snapped out the word.
‘Not sayin’ nothin’ particular ’bout the women, but my special braces broke this mornin’.’
Ben levelled his gaze at Gidley and the man took a step back and gave a shrug of apology.
‘Yer got a point, Capt’n. If the women could sink a ship, that sloop’s the one they’d choose.’ He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead, then tucked the cloth away.
‘It’s the Greek,’ Ben said. ‘I knew he wouldn’t just let her leave.’
Gid whispered, ‘My supposin’ is we should tell them about the other good-luck pieces we carry. Swivel guns and flintlocks.’
‘All hands ahoy,’ Ben shouted, giving the command for everyone to be on deck. Men scurried, some with concern on their faces, others with a gleam in their eyes.
Without a doubt, the sloop was after two particular items.
Benjamin stood, eyes locked on the horizon, letting himself feel the situation and letting himself take in as much of the other ship as he could.
Every man stood listening, silent, hardly moving so that any sound from the other vessel could surround them. The sloop could easily close the distance.
Benjamin let out a breath, words quiet and controlled.
‘They won’t shoot straight away. They won’t want to hurt the women.’
‘Temptin’ fer us to just start shootin’ and keep sailin’.’
‘True. But we could be wrong.’
‘And the sun could rise from the west in the mornin’.’
‘I can’t blame the man for wanting her, but I can stop him from taking her.’ Benjamin wondered if he talked of himself as much as he did of Stephanos. ‘How can I fault a man for not wanting to let someone like her go?’
‘She’s an eyeful—even with that pointy nose.’
Benjamin only glanced sideways. ‘Her nose isn’t pointy and you should not be looking at her so close.’
‘Yer prob’ly don’t want to hear my view of her backside then, eh, Capt’n?’
Benjamin faced Gidley. Saw the lifted brow and lifted two of his own. ‘We will be letting the sloop close—so I can stuff your carcase on it and pay them to dispose of you as they wish.’
He turned, taking several long strides to the physician’s cabin.
Chapter Twelve
Thessa gasped at the look on the captain’s face. Gone was the calm sea-look of his eyes. Instead she saw the same look of a maelstrom.
‘I must speak with you now.’ He summoned her to the outside of the cabin, but stopped as soon as the door closed behind her. His body shielded her from sight of anyone else and his hand moved over her shoulder, resting on the wood at her back. She could not have moved an inch if he decided to stop her.
The captain stood so close, even the pine smell of the burnished wood around her didn’t completely cover the smell of shaving soap tinged with toughened male.
‘Thessa,’ he spoke softly, the word sounding like an endearment, but his eyes didn’t soften. His mouth opened and he started to speak, but stopped. She saw the rise and fall of his chest. She turned cold and she couldn’t move, wishing him to hurry and fearing what she would hear.
Her insides churned with the same force as when her mother had warned her that sometimes people never recover from an illness, and sometimes they know they will die, and sometimes the hardest part is saying goodbye to daughters.
‘The day is going to get worse for you before it gets better.’ His words were direct, low—a rumble across her body. ‘A ship is following us. Could it be Stephanos?’
She darted her head sideways, but couldn’t see anything around his shoulder except water. He knew the location of the other boat and blocked her from seeing it.
‘You know I can’t let him have you,’ he spoke. ‘That card has already hit the table and been trumped. You played it.’
She took a sharp breath. ‘Do I have no say in this?’
‘You did when you swam to us. You will have another chance in England, assuming we are all alive then. You are in my protection. And if he reaches us, as he will with the faster vessel, I will not let his men board. I cannot take the risk to my men’s lives. And if you decide to go, I will think it is only because you wish to prevent bloodshed, not because you wish to leave willingly. If you’d wanted Stephanos, you could have had him. You put yourself on Ascalon to get away from him—in the night. I must believe in your actions.’
Her arms and legs felt as if she’d swum around the island. Before either of them spoke again, he stepped back and held out his arm. She looked at it. Neither moved.
‘We’re going to look at a vessel and see if you recognise it,’ he said.
She slowly reached her hand up and latched her fingers under and around his sleeve.
‘Such enthusiasm.’ The words hardly reached her ears, but the vibration of his voice trembled inside her.
She didn’t answer, but looked past the rigging to see the other ship in the distance. ‘I want this to be over. But I am afraid of what the end will bring.’
‘We will find out soon. I will see to that. Right now, with your help, I am requesting a meeting with him.’
She pulled her hand from his arm, facing him. ‘You want him to see me with you.’
‘Absolutely.’ He reached out, took her fingers and placed them back on the fabric of his sleeve.
His jaw had no slack in it. His eyes changed when he searched the seas. This man could kill, but then she knew Stephanos was the same. His men had a way of boasting—just a whisper spoken too loudly, and easily denied if questioned, but pointing to deeds she didn’t want to know about. Now she saw more clearly than she’d ever seen before—of a world beyond the island of Melos.
The captain leaned so close that she doubted anyone from any distance could tell their faces didn’t touch.
The quiet of his words didn’t soften them any. ‘If you wish to return to him, Thessa, you may, after we reach England. I will know you are completely free of him then. You will be able to leave if you wish, assuming my brother and your sister agree. I will be leaving you with them.’
*
Benjamin led Thessa to the stern of the ship. They were too far for weapons to reach the distance.
He watched her, a different kind of unease than he’d ever felt before simmering inside him. What if she truly did wish to go with Stephanos, or what if she became hurt in a fray? He could not think of such things. Sometimes a ship was far too dangerous a place for a man. And a woman should not be exposed to such risk.
She dropped his arm a
nd leaned forward, gazing at the other vessel.
‘Look familiar?’ he asked. He bent towards her, less than a finger width separating them, and cursed himself when he felt his breath catch. He clamped his hands down on the rail and stared at his fingers for a minute to clear his thoughts. He noted the bent fingers. He’d not felt the pain until the fight was well over. Danger numbed parts of him and heightened the senses he needed, and he was thankful for that.
He bent his head, shut his eyes and asked for strength, wisdom and safety for his men. And that Thessa and her sister not be hurt. When he raised his face, he thought perhaps he should have also asked for patience, but that was one thing he didn’t particularly want.
Thessa’s fingers skittered at the rail, never stilling.
He waited, not speaking. She had too much explosiveness in her movements to keep quiet. Her shoulders leaned forward, head moving as she squinted towards the ship. She wore a braid down her back and oversized shirt and trousers. At a distance, she could be mistaken for a male, but standing this close, no man with blood in his veins would think her anything but female.
‘Stephanos,’ Thessa said, confirming his suspicions. She turned, meeting the captain’s eyes, and shrugged. ‘Thinks himself a pirate.’
He calmed himself before speaking. ‘You would see no need to tell me of this earlier, certainly, because I would have no reason to be informed of such an unimportant detail.’
She didn’t turn her face his way. ‘I thought— He might not have followed us. He didn’t in the small boats that first night. I escaped him.’
‘We had swivel guns. Doubtful those small fishing boats had anything more deadly than a hook or a net on them.’
‘Why would a man want a woman who leaves him in front of everyone?’
‘To show everyone he could keep her? To best the woman? Because he has nothing better to occupy him? Because she swims like a fish and has a face mesmerising enough to be put on a figurehead carving?’
Her eyes widened at his words, but she didn’t address them. ‘I could have thought he might follow. But I wished to be wrong. The sea is big and how can two ships find each other in such a place?’
‘Pirates do it all the time.’ He put his hand up to shade his eyes. ‘It’s how they fill their bellies. If a ship is leaving one port, going to another one, using the wind to puff the sails—no mountains hide her.’
‘I thought Stephanos did not tell the truth about having the fastest ship. He’s boastful.’ He heard the pique in her voice. ‘I had hopes a man who sailed all his days might be able to best him.’
Lips in a thin line, Benjamin turned to her. ‘I appreciate you informing me of all the matters I need to be aware of. Perhaps there is something else you might have in mind that you do not think I need to know, but I could consider of some interest. You might find it interesting that a sloop is built for speed and a merchant ship is built for cargo.’
Benjamin could see her individual eye lashes and the darkness of her eyes. He didn’t need to be feeling compassion for a woman who’d neglected to mention that her betrothed was capable of piracy and had a fully outfitted ship. Not that it would have mattered, but still, she should have told him.
She nodded, her tongue just brushing the inside corner of her lip. ‘I cannot think of anything else you need to know.’
‘Why did you become betrothed to a pirate?’
‘He thinks himself a pirate. He spends too much time on Melos to be at sea overlong.’ She stared at him. ‘And how could a woman, who has no weapons and no one but her sisters, tell a pirate she does not wish to marry him?’ She leaned a breath closer to Benjamin. ‘At least he offered marriage. The other men did not and he kept them from us.’
Benjamin flinched the smallest movement. Her teeth were clenched and she dared him with her eyes to challenge her words.
When she realised he did not disagree with her, she spoke. ‘I do not see how he could be a true pirate, although I know he is not a kind man. He rarely sails from the island. In his mind, it is his kingdom.’
Then her shoulders fell. ‘I feared asking too many questions. The island is not an easy place to live. And one cannot live peacefully there if Stephanos is enraged. No one can. He might not be the true ruler as the dragoman is who lives away, but Stephanos does as he pleases and all on the island does as Stephanos pleases. He doesn’t often fight. But, when Stephanos fights, he believes the only way to win is if the enemy is destroyed. He does not fight to win—he fights to wash away all signs his enemy ever lived.’
‘I will keep what is on my ship and I have no concern with fighting to the death if it is his choice. A captain’s word on his ship is law and so is his sword when a thief tries to take from the ship. They’re going to get close. We’re going to let them. It’s our only choice other than shooting the first shot.’ He took his hands from the rails and heard the quiet behind him. He would make one last check and see that the men had not forgotten their earlier training.
He’d been in a fight with pirates once before. Twice if you counted the tavern skirmish.
One man stayed in Benjamin’s memory. The man had charged with a knife, but Ben hadn’t been easy prey. The man had a fistful of Benjamin’s hair and they’d been body to body when Ben’s knife had ended the pirate’s life. While sliding to the floor, the dead man’s fingers had trailed the side of Benjamin’s face. He could still feel them.
His words were as soft as he could make them. ‘Stay in your cabin and, whatever you do, do not get close to Stephanos or to me. That is the most dangerous place to be in a sea battle—by either captain.’ He let his lips turn up. ‘And tell your sister the same. Though don’t throw yourself in front of her if she doesn’t listen. Foolishness in a fight is not rewarded with victory.’
Thessa frowned and turned to stare at the other ship, squinting as if trying to locate the face of the man she’d left behind.
Ben looked at the other vessel. After she closed the distance, the sloop would turn her sails into the wind to come alongside them.
And without his will, his hand cupped Thessa’s cheek, pulling her to face him. ‘I am baiting the trap,’ he said and knew the words were merely appeasement for what he was going to do.
The feel of her cheek against his palm took him from being a captain to being a man looking into the eyes of his beloved. Every time he gazed into her face, he saw something that made him forget how a man was supposed to act and start thinking of those treacle-laden words that made a woman smile.
Touching her, he realised he’d completely erred thinking Thessa had any resemblance to the stone statue. She was far more appealing. Thessa’s image truly should be put on a ship’s figurehead.
She watched him just as intently as he looked at her.
His lips closed over hers, tasting, letting her femininity caress into every part of him. The kiss fired up his spirit. Erased the memory of what she’d forgotten to tell him. The touch of her lips cloaked him in armour and told him such beautiful things.
He didn’t know if the wind kicked up or the waters exploded in movement, or if all the changes were just inside him.
He moved back, his fingertips still touching the underside of her jaw, and her eyes watched him as if she’d been in the same tumult he’d experienced.
Gidley’s cough reached Benjamin’s ears and brought him back to his senses.
Benjamin remembered he had not just the eyes of the other ship on him, but his own men. Then he cursed himself and backed away from her lips. He could have merely moved his face close enough so the other ship would think them entwined. He could have made it obvious to his crew that he’d not truly kissed her, only acted.
Instead, he’d told his men even more than he told the other crew.
A captain had to almost appear immortal to his men. He had to command them to take actions which would risk their lives. And whatever else, he could not appear to be under the spell of someone they thought a powerful creature who might wish to see th
em dead.
A romp with a woman would not hurt a captain’s authority, but being under her spell could destroy it.
He was a bloody fool.
Benjamin grasped Thessa’s upper arm. ‘Now he’s seen you. If this is Stephanos, he will not be able to put off his attack any longer. He will strike. We know what he wants.’
He watched Thessa’s face and saw her trying to sort out her own reaction and her own feelings. He knew what to say to bring her mind back to the ship. She would recognise the face of every man on that ship. ‘If she fires on us, we will sink her.’
Only a flicker of her lashes told him she’d heard his words. She stepped back from him.
He felt the movement all the way to his midsection, but had to concentrate on keeping everyone on board the ship alive.
‘I understand that you must try to sink him,’ she said. ‘He is not a coward. He will do the same.’
‘Except you are here to keep us afloat. He wants you.’
‘I don’t think it will matter to him—that he will want to keep this ship afloat because I am here.’
‘I do.’
He watched as she considered the words.
‘I...I do not want to see people die because Stephanos wishes to marry me,’ she said.
‘I do not wish for him to be killed, but I’m not risking my men. Or my ship. Or anything. I know what he wants and what he will not get.’ Benjamin bit out the words. He would not give a pirate a thread from his ship. Nothing. The Ascalon was his mistress and another man could not have anything from her except her gunpowder.
But all his armaments would be worthless if he could not keep Thessa.
Some of his men were untried in battle, but not most. In some form or another his crew had proven themselves tough. Either being waylaid in a port, or against Boney or during a fight on another ship. Two of the men had even sailed on a ship with a letter of marque.
In a fight, when the sound of volleys began and the gunpowder burned into the air, he knew of only three types of men—cowards, ones with duty and ones with a desire to kill. And his men were not cowards. They didn’t have blood lust either. But if they saw one of their own fall, duty changed. Blood lust it would be.