Bound by Decency

by Claire Ashgrove

  “Aye, we’ll run her up until her bottom touches sand. Then we’ll drop anchor, and Drake will row ashore.”

  As if Cain’s answer had given Drake a cue, Drake bounded down from the quarterdeck to disappear within the sea of sailors spread out across the main. He reappeared near the forecastle and hauled on the ropes that secured the dinghy. Someone passed Drake a pistol, then a second. He stuffed both into the leather belt at his waist and gestured for another man to give over his sword.

  “Good heavens, Cain, what’s he doing?”

  “Alex is…shall we say…temperamental. Bound to be in a murderous rage about losing Triton’s Jewel.”

  India recoiled. “Enough to attack us?”

  “Not us. Drake.” Low laughter rumbled in his throat. “You see, in Alex’s mind, Drake is likely at fault for this. They were sailing together when they learned about my predicament. Drake left Triton’s Jewel to arrange my escape.”

  She was missing something. Some piece of information that put the gaps together and explained why two perfectly capable captains were both sailing together, and how either one of them could blame the other for their predicaments. But Cain urged her back to the wheel before she could question him further.

  “I’ll return shortly.” He moved toward the stairs.

  “Wait. Do you even see Alex out there?”

  As he descended, Cain answered, “Red shirt. Black pants. Near the trees.”

  India scanned the shore but couldn’t make out anything red, let alone anything that looked remotely human. The Kraken encountered friction on her hull, slowing her forward motion. To India’s surprise, the ship eased to a stop, only the very tip of her bow lodged in the submersed sands. The dinghy hit the water with a splash. Drake and four others poured over the side. With nothing left to do for the immediate moment, India released the helm and moved to the rail, squinting into the trees once more.

  This time, her target gave himself away. A shot rang out, and grey smoke clouded around a maroon shirt, not red. Standing beside a clump of tall flowers nearly the same color, Alex blended in naturally.

  God in heaven, Alex was worse than India had imagined. Firing at his friends, the very same friends who sought to aid him—he was as crazy as the post described. She shuddered, dreading all the more having to meet this notorious killer.

  Two more shots peppered the air in rapid fire. The men in the dinghy ducked. Someone swore. On the decks, however, laughter rumbled.

  In a manner of supreme idiocy, Drake stood up in the rowboat. His voice carried across the short distance. “Marooned you be, marooned says me! What fun to be marooned with ye!”

  India choked on her own saliva. If her ears weren’t deceiving her, amusement filled Drake’s voice as well. She’d have sworn he possessed sense. And nothing about this matter was remotely humorous. For heaven’s sake, he could lose his head!

  Alex stepped forward, abandoning his place of concealment amongst the foliage. Long black hair dangled loose all the way down to his waist. He brandished still smoking pistols in both hands. “Rot ye, Drake! I’ve no use fer ye! Take yer sorry arse away an’ leave me be, I say.” He fired another shot that pinged into the water near the dinghy’s starboard side.

  India’s eyes widened like saucers. Saint’s toes! She must be hearing things. That was no sea-brined sailor’s voice. She leaned over the rail to get a better look.

  Alex sloshed into the water, approaching the dinghy, as Drake, who’d jumped over the edge, waded toward the shore.

  India’s jaw dropped on a silent gasp.

  Bloody hell, Nightshade was a woman!

  351

  Bound By Decency

  30

  Pistol at the ready in case Drake needed a distraction, Cain stood amidst the other men, desperately trying not to consider India’s veiled suggestion that he invite her to stay aboard The Kraken. The display in front of him made it easier. Drake lunged at Alex. He caught her leg but lost his own and belly-flopped into the frothy tide. His momentum, however, unbalanced her as well. With an enraged shriek, she toppled backwards, landing on her bottom.

  Drake took full advantage of her inferior position. Surfacing long enough to splutter, he grabbed her other ankle before she could wrestle free and tugged her beneath him, ceasing the thrashing of her legs. Her arms stopped out of the sheer need to hold herself out of the water.

  “Get off me, ye sorry, yellow dog!”

  While Alex’s words carried on the wind, whatever Drake might have said became lost in it. Cain had a pretty good idea what it might include. Certainly not a warm welcome. And the way Alex’s hand cracked across Drake’s face reinforced that opinion.

  Cain chuckled to himself. Thank the heavens he hadn’t lost his heart to a woman like Alex. A temper was one thing. A lighted stick of dynamite altogether different. Taking Alexandria Loris to bed was like sleeping with a viper.

  Against his will, his gaze strayed to India. Her long hair caught the breeze that rolled off the coast, giving her an ethereal appearance against the backdrop of a clear blue sky. As she’d held the helm he had felt her happiness, it radiated off her so powerfully. She’d made herself at home in an environment that could have easily wilted her, and she wanted to stay. He’d like for her to stay. With a warm and willing woman at his side, the months would pass tolerably.

  But she’d seen only a fraction of shipboard life. She didn’t know how to fire a pistol, let alone how to wield a sword. Women like Alex, who shot first and asked questions later, who trusted no one, even those closest to her, survived. Women like India, good of heart and pure of soul, perished.

  No matter how she shucked the chains of propriety, the traits that made her so special would return to claim her. Her path wasn’t this wildness of the sea, this brutal no man’s land of sun and water and survival. No, indeed, hers was far more narrow. While she would find ways to push her natural boundaries, the same tethers she resented would pull her back into a comfortable place.

  If he cared for her, and God above he did, he had no choice but to discourage her from this idea of staying on The Kraken. To refuse her outright would only spark her ire and her determination. This decision she must come to on her own, and his responsibility lay in leading her to that inevitable parting choice.

  “Damnation, Drake, put me down. There is nothing wrong with my legs,” Alex protested without her earlier ire.

  Cain glanced over his shoulder as Drake complied by setting Alex into the dinghy. He climbed in after her and gestured at the oars. “’Eave, men.”

  At the command, Cain hurled four thick ropes over the rail to four men who stood in calf-deep water. When they caught them and waded toward the stern, preparing to haul The Kraken off the sand bar, Cain called out, “Aloft, topmen! Hands, get her under way!”

  He watched the dinghy’s approach, no further direction required to put The Kraken out to sea. Less than four hours ago, Alex’s presence concerned him. Now he found himself grateful for her company. In the days that lay ahead, his crew would catch her fervor for recapturing her ship. They’d feed off her bloodlust like sharks feasting on fresh meat. Their animal instincts would emerge, showing India a drastically different truth. Alex herself would illustrate the standards that India must—and could never—meet.

  If somehow he was wrong, and India could indeed metamorphosize to such a degree, he must do everything in his power to prevent that tragedy. If he allowed India to become Alex, he committed a greater sin than murder.

  Resolved to what he must do, he resisted returning to India’s side and clambered up to the forecastle. Alex’s hands gripped the rail. He reached down, grabbed one, and hauled her aboard.

  “Cain! Now why couldn’t ye have rowed out to fetch me? Did you have to send this lout?” She scoffed as she nodded at Drake.

  Too many years had passed since Cain last seen Alex for him to find a suitable retort. He grabbed her in a bear hug and spun her around. When he set her on the ground, she leaned back in his arms wi
th a husky laugh. “I wouldn’t have shot at your handsome head.” She gave a fistful of his hair a playful yank. “How the devil are ye?”

  “I’ve seen better days,” Cain answered as he returned her hair-pull greeting. “As I’m sure you have as well.” He stepped back, releasing her. It dawned on him her quartermaster, who sided with Alex in all things, was nowhere to be seen. “Where is Will? Is he the reason Triton’s Jewel is on the runaway account?”

  “Nay, Grog is. The last I saw of Will, they’d chained him in the hold.” She grunted. “He’s in the middle of the fun, while four days I be sittin’ here, bored out of my skull.”

  “An’ plotting revenge, I’m sure.” Drake moved closer to Alex, one arm winding around her waist.

  Alex’s bright smile faltered. She took a half step sideways, neatly evading his embrace. Even for the display of temper she’d treated them all to, her avoidance didn’t fit. As a rule, Alex spent her anger, and then she forgot the matter. Also as a rule, her passion for pleasure knew no boundaries. To resist Drake after a long separation suggested she suffered a deeper upset than Drake’s decision to aid Cain. Had she tired of him perhaps? Had nearly three years as bedfellows stagnated and grown stale?

  Drake pursued, undaunted. He edged behind her and set both hands on her trim waist. “Careful how you flirt with him, love. Cain’s a marked man.”

  “Marked? By whom?” She patted Cain’s shoulder with a coy smirk. “The last I be hearin’, the only mark ye bear is a tailor-made noose.”

  Cain let out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t fill her head full of ideas. I’m not marked.”

  “She’s on the poop, steering his precious ship,” Drake continued in his usual mocking way.

  Violet eyes glinting, Alex lifted her gaze. Her deeply tanned face tightened with harsh lines of disapproval. “Well, well,” she murmured. “What do we have here?” Her gaze cut back to Cain. “Did you find a pet?”

  In all the time he’d known Alex, Cain had experienced a multitude of things he’d like to do to her. One dangerously drunk night four years ago, he’d done most of them, including near strangling her. Which had led to all the rest. But not once, in his wide array of thoughts had he ever wanted to place his fist square in the middle of her beautiful face.

  He wanted to now.

  Only the sharp, silent reminder that Alex’s absence prevented her from knowing his plans for Richard stayed the fist he curled at his thigh. Through clenched teeth he ground out, “Her name is India Prescott.”

  “Richard’s intended,” Drake supplied.

  “Hm.” Much like a lioness that had caught the scent of a wounded gazelle, Alex smiled. “I do believe I’ll say hello. Welcome her aboard, an all the like.”

  Even Drake bristled at Alex’s sugary tone. He caught her wrist, reliving Cain from the duty of halting her trajectory across the deck. Steering her back around, he pinned her in his embrace. “Let’s handle introductions later. You an’ I have a bit of catchin’ up to do, an’ a ship to hunt.”

  Alex dug her heels into the ground. Placing her palms against Drake’s chest, she shoved out of his embrace. “She knows my secret. I’ll just be makin’ sure it stays intact.”

  “No.” The authoritative word popped out before Cain could stop it, though he knew it to be a mistake the moment it fell off his lips.

  Alex’s eyes clashed with his. “No? My ears be failin’ me. Ye bring a landlubber, ally to the man who signed yer death warrant no less, to rescue me, and tell me I have no right to protect my interests?”

  Cain’s gaze lifted once more to India. She looked on, her delicate features full of curiosity. His protective instincts swelled, along with a hot rush of the same uncomfortable emotion that had hit him when he last kissed her in his cabin. Driven by that powerful feeling, he leveled Alex with a hard look. “Let’s make this clear. You’re aboard my ship. For now, she is with me. I killed Slater for trespassing against her person, and our friendship won’t save you from the same fate if you think of offending her.”

  As Alex’s darkly tanned face colored with fury, Cain left the lioness to her master. Ducking beneath the bowline, he stalked to his place at the helm. He didn’t doubt Alex would follow. Or that he would be spared her fury. But he’d made his stance clear, and though she’d be loathe to, she’d respect his warning. Alex possessed too few friends to dispose of those she trusted.

  ****

  A tremor of fear stirred in the base of India’s spine as Cain mounted the poop deck stairs with a she-devil on his heels. Despite Drake’s attempts to halt Alex, she stormed through the crew, raven hair streaming out behind her in a wild mess of untamed curls. She bounded up the stairs as if she were master and commander of The Kraken, one hand wrapped around an overhead line, the other on an ivory-handled pistol tucked into the waist of her dungarees.

  She stopped before India and cocked her head. Contempt gave her full mouth a wicked twist. “India, it is?” She jammed her thumbs into her waistband and made a slow circle around India. Her violet eyes swept from the top of India’s head to her toes, then back to her face, inspecting every inch like a slaving master might examine a young buck. “What a pretty thing you are.”

  Anger jolted through India, but she couldn’t decipher whether it came from Alex’s snide remark or the fact Cain hadn’t prepared her for this meeting. If he’d told her Nightshade was a woman, her tongue wouldn’t still be trapped by shock. She might have found a decent response. Any reaction other than the pitiful way her eyes drifted to Cain in search of guidance.

  “Alex,” Drake warned as he reached for her arm.

  Before his fingers could close around her bicep, Alex twisted away. She leaned her elbows on the helm’s thick support block, propped her chin in her hands, and looked up at Cain. “A bit dainty, don’t ye think?”

  India pursed her lips and glowered at the back of Alex’s dark head. A thousand different curses rose to the tip of her tongue, but she bit them all back, certain if she said the wrong words, they would be her last.

  “Enough, Alex,” Cain muttered as he looked behind him to navigate The Kraken into deeper waters.

  Drake set his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Come along, love. I think you’ve said hello quite well.”

  “Do ye?” With a shrug of her shoulders, she dislodged Drake’s palm. Ducking under his arm she turned her attention back to India. “I say, I have plenty more to say.” She caught a lock of India’s hair and drew it over India’s shoulder. “So ye are to wed the traitor.” Laughter bubbled in her throat, low and husky, filled with the gravelness of sand. “Cain never fails to amaze me. What better revenge than to shag the bride afore she speaks her vows.”

  India’s tongue broke free against her better judgment. “There are no vows to speak.”

  “Oh, now, Cain,” Alex purred. “Ain’t that sweet of her? Ye’ve charmed her so thoroughly she won’t be weddin’ poor Richard now.” Beneath her breath she tsk-tsked. “Such a shame. It’s too bad she can’t wed ye.”

  To India’s complete surprise, Cain whirled on Alex, a fierce growl rumbling in his throat. “Speak your peace, wench, and get off my deck.”

  “Very well.” Alex’s expression sobered in a blink. She bent to look India in the eye, her expression deadly for all its lack of emotion. The flat ring of her voice held sheer malice. “Ye be knowin’ things ye shouldn’t, little bit. I’ve half a mind to dispose of ye now, but Cain’s forbidden it, an’ I be owin’ him a bit of good cheer for aidin’ me, an the like.” Her hand drifted down to the short sword that dangled off her left hip. “One word about what ye be knowin’ about me, about my identity, and I’ll be seein’ yer tongue carved out.”

  India’s blood ran overwarm, a burn that threatened to possess her. Perhaps she couldn’t tell this sea-witch what she thought of her, but it didn’t mean she had to stand for the abuse. She’d done nothing to provoke the legendary Nightshade, and if Cain and Drake felt no need to speak on her behalf, she wasn’t about to grovel for Alex�
��s trust. Let the men tell her that her secret was safe. Let the men diffuse this loaded cannon. India wouldn’t hear another minute of it.

  Pushing past Alex, India beat a hasty retreat from the poop deck. The laughter that rang out behind her fueled the fury that boiled in her veins. With a heavy shove, she set the door to Cain’s private hall shuddering on its hinges. She swept down the corridor and barged into his cabin.

  Inside the dimly lit confines, her unspent anger had her feet wearing a hole in the planks. Back and forth she made the short trek between the bed and his desk. How dare that pathetic excuse for a woman insinuate Cain’s charms and good looks swayed her out of impending wedlock. True, she’d fallen for his handsome face, but her decision to refuse her vows had nothing to do with something so childish. A fact Cain could attest to, if he’d felt so inclined.

  Another thought stopped India in her tracks. Had Cain set out to sway her with seduction? A shiver gripped her. Had she somehow become an even greater pawn than what she’d originally believed? Alex greeted Cain intimately. Their names circulated together. Could it be possible that the both of them enjoyed something more intimate than friendship? Did Alex’s unpleasant greeting come from the fact Cain had another woman aboard his ship?

  India dropped her head into her hands and massaged her temples. Don’t be absurd. Cain’s desire for her was real enough. Last night proved that beyond all argument. Moreover, he lacked the cold disregard necessary to execute such a plan. If Alex and he were involved, she would have come to his aid, not Drake.

  But why had he said so very little in her defense?

  Lifting her head, India took a deep breath. She would not let Alex unravel her. The Kraken was her home, at least for now. Cain hadn’t leapt at the suggestion she stay, but he hadn’t refused either. She still inhabited his bed, and unless that changed, she had no cause to suspect his strange behavior came from anything other than the fact he was focused on putting his ship to sea.