by Paula Quinn
A friendly thief who didn’t pick or pilfer the way some of the other sailors were doing, but whose victims offered him their money willingly.
He was so good at what he did that it was no wonder he didn’t trust anyone.
He drank with them all, but once or twice, when his warm gaze met Trina’s across the sea of heads, his eyes were clear and coherent. The strangers thought he was drinking with them but he wasn’t. She wondered why.
When she wasn’t taking in the sights and sounds of him, she watched Mr. Bonnet cheating at dice and Gustaaf lifting his fourth cup of wine that he hadn’t paid for to his lips. Her eyes caught Mr. Bonnet lifting a pouch of coin from a man’s pocket.
As if all the drink, the laughter, and the smoky seduction weren’t enough to mesmerize her, music filled the halls, haunting, beguiling tempos played on guitarra and lute. It was all so foreign compared to home. She loved it. She loved the mystery and the newness of it. This was adventure, traveling to other lands and living, even for a night, the way different people lived.
This was what she wanted. She didn’t want to go home. She wanted more nights like this one, where they laughed and lived and cheated and sang. More nights getting to know Alexander Kidd and what he was about. She didn’t want to go home. She had to tell him. She would not get on Captain Delgado’s ship tomorrow. No matter what, she would not. She would earn her way. Even steal if she had to. Somehow, she would make her kin understand that this was the life she chose. Anything else and she would die a slow death. She looked for Alex to tell him and saw that he had left the table but was just now returning to it. Her belly tied in a knot over the prospect of talking to him. Fool, she chastised herself. She was no child and he was no god. Still. Knots.
Jacinta Barros reached him first. She glided into his arms out of nowhere and Trina was close enough to watch his arm come up around her. She sat forward in her chair, hoping he couldn’t see her with the other bodies in the way. She didn’t want to see him kiss another woman and before she could stop herself, she left the table.
She hoped Kyle wouldn’t follow her and looked around for him. It seemed he, too, had found the company of a woman and didn’t notice her departure.
She should have left the Hall instead of returning to the archway and watching the captain against her will. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him while he laughed with Senhorita Barros, touched her and drank, or so it appeared, with her. Trina wanted to leave but Kyle was still engaged in his own private party with a woman… a woman who looked very much like Jacinta. A sister, no doubt. There seemed to be a dozen of them. Raven-haired, exotic beauties whom any man would offer his heart to.
Her eyes settled again on the captain, now being tugged along by the delicate Jacinta. Trina didn’t blink while he mouthed his captor’s name, stopping her and then reaching his beringed fingers to a lock of her hair escaping her veil.
Trina didn’t want to see any more. Turning away, she left the Grand Hall and entered the courtyard. She couldn’t go back to the ship by herself. She looked around at the tiled archways. Which one led to the rooms? She couldn’t remember. She turned in a circle, looking at the six identical archways and feeling dizzy for the first time since leaving the ship.
Three quarters of the way around, she nearly toppled backward when she came face-to-face with Alex in front of her.
“Where are ya goin’?” he asked her.
Lord help her, but she felt faint. How many cups of that delicious wine had she had? No more than three. Or four. She fought it. Now was not the time to show weakness. “Anywhere that is away from ye, Captain. Now if ye will excuse me…”
She took a step forward and tumbled into his arms. “I seem to…” She patted her forehead. “I fear I’ve had…”
“Too much wine,” he finished for her. She looked at him above her, and then went still while he hoisted her up with one arm curled about her back.
She grew weaker and his arm grew more secure.
“Come, ya need fresh air.”
“Where is yer lady friend?”
He shrugged his shoulders, dismissing the topic of Jacinta Barros and setting her nerve endings on fire when his shirt stretched over his chest as he leaned down to her. He practically carried her out of the house and into the cool night, saturated with the fragrance of pine and rose. Her head felt light but her heart, heavy. Why did he want her to leave tomorrow? Did he like her at all? She liked him. Why had she drunk? She never drank at home. Then again, the MacGregors’ homemade whisky tasted nothing like the delicious port of Caso do Alberte.
“Caitrina,” he said softly, beguiling her senseless. He slipped his arm down hers and entwined their fingers. “Come, there’s something I be wantin’ to show ya.”
For a moment, Trina couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. Had he refused a night of passion with a beautiful woman to stay with her? She would have taken a few more moments to mull it over in her mind, but his hand felt too big, too warm, and oh so intimate she nearly stumbled into him again. It had to be the wine.
He pulled her forward, hurrying them along the quiet roads. When he smiled at her over his shoulder, something pulled in her chest.
“Where are we going?” she asked breathlessly.
“Ya will see.”
She trusted that he hadn’t planned something nefarious for her. He was a pirate, and a son of one, after all. Piracy flowed deep in his veins. He plundered ships, cities, and women with the same carefree abandon. But she trusted him.
“I like it here,” she told him while he brought her across Rossio Square.
He smiled and she realized that his easy, casual humor was one of the things she liked best about him. Little fazed him. He always seemed confident that whatever the situation, the outcome would work in his favor.
“Lisbon is one of me favorite places,” he told her while they strolled together. “Everyone is pleasant because their pockets are full.”
She stayed quiet while he led her down more alleys and darkened roads. He slowed his pace as they turned a corner.
“While I was enjoyin’ drinks with Senhor Morgado,” he told her, releasing her hand and sweeping his arm across her path, “I remembered that ya wanted to see the church.” He smiled while she gaped, breathless at the glorious church bathed in torchlight before her. “’Tis more beautiful at night.”
She’d never seen anything so grand and majestic in her life. She wanted to get closer and feel the full effect of it. She took a step along the path he offered then paused, stilled by his confession of him remembering her while he worked. She didn’t think he considered her at all. “But ’tis late,” she pointed out on a quavering breath. “Can we enter?”
“’Tis what we came to do, beauty.”
She smiled and led the way.
She wasn’t prepared for what she saw when she stepped inside São Domingos Church. Thousands of candles lit the vaulted ceiling, casting gold and crimson shadows along the high altar and the red marble columns supporting the sculpture of the Holy Trinity. A feast for her eyes. She closed them and let the scent of candle wax fill her lungs.
She sensed he had come up beside her. She opened her eyes and took his hand in hers. “Thank ye fer bringing me here.”
“Does it remind ya of home?” he asked quietly.
“We have no stone masterpiece like this on Skye. But God inhabits every church. ’Tis the feel of Him that’s familiar.”
He looked around, taking in the majesty of it, then returned his smile to her. “’Tis peaceful.”
She nodded and slipped into one of the polished wooden pews. “Do ye pray?” When he shook his head, she folded her hands in front of her. “Do ye mind if I do?”
“Nay, lady,” he told her softly. He remained quiet while she did.
“I dinna’ want to go home, Alex.” She shared her confession in the rosy light of the church. “I dinna’ want to marry Hugh MacDonald. I want to stay on Poseidon’s Adventure, with ye.”
“Wh
o is this Hugh MacDonald?” he asked, and she wasn’t prepared for the urgency in his dark gaze. Amid thousands of candles, the sight of him stilled her heart. The beauty of the church paled in comparison to the man beside her. “Ya haven’t spoken of him before.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Just a neighbor to whom my faither promised my hand. I didna’ speak of him because I chose to ferget my destiny while on this adventure. But I know I cannot avoid it. Now that my head is cleared once again, I know that my kin would never stop looking fer me. I canna’ cause them such sorrow.”
“Aye” he said quietly. “’Tis best.”
“Aye,” she told him soberly, leaving the pew to head back to Caso do Alberte to meet up with Kyle. “Best fer everyone else.”
Chapter Eighteen
Captain Delgado was a very agreeable man. When Trina explained to him early the next morning that she had just come to have a look at his ship before they set sail, he agreed to give her a tour.
She never expected him to attack her. Hell, she’d told him her cousin would be along any moment to join her. She’d told him Captain Kidd would see her off as he’d promised he would. Why would Delgado attack her when she had men coming? When he clasped his fingers tight around her wrist and dragged her toward one of the hatches on deck, she knew he was a fool and she was in trouble.
Taken by surprise, she had only a moment to react. She kicked him in the kneecap as hard as she could, and then elbowed him in the gut when he released her to grasp his knee. There was no time to reach for her dagger or his before he grabbed her by the hair and hauled off to backhand her in the face.
The blow never came. Instead Captain Delgado crumbled to the ground in a heap and Alex stood in his place, his face a mask of fury, dangerous and deadly—until he looked at her. He stepped over his fallen victim and scooped her up in his arms. He crushed her to him and then held her at arm’s length to look her over again.
“Are ya hurt? Did he harm ya, Caitrina?”
She shook her head and gazed into his eyes at the concern there. “I’m unharmed.” But her father was right about the world. She didn’t mind danger. She just wanted to be able to protect herself in it. She didn’t mind Alex saving her this time either. She wasn’t a prideful fool. She was grateful to him. Out here in the world, fighting was very different when men fought to actually kill you. “How did ye know I was here?”
“I saw ya leavin’ the house and followed ya.”
She scowled at him, but he’d already bent to rifle through Captain Delgado’s pockets. He came back up with a pouch of coins in his fingers. “Fergive me fer almost settin’ ya to sail with this pig.”
“Is he dead?”
“Not from a blow to the head, but we should go. His crew will be either wakin’ up or returnin’ to the boat.”
He took her hand and hurried with her off the ship. When they were safely away, he paused, turned to her, and handed her the coin. “Keep it. Ya earned it.”
She smiled at him and took in every inch of him, from the sensual nuance of his movements to the subtlest change in his expression. She wondered if reading him so easily was attributed to her lessons from Kyle, or if Captain Alex Kidd presented himself so openly to all, unconcerned with being unguarded. He allowed her to dive deep into his warm, dark gaze and feel him touching her before he actually did. And when would he touch her again?
She accepted the pouch and lifted her skirts to tie it to the band around her calf, which already housed a dagger.
She felt his eyes on her, on her leg, felt the heat coming from his gaze. He wanted her. She shared his sentiment. She wanted to feel the tightness of his muscles all around her, as if he were restraining some beast he feared setting free on her. She wanted him to kiss her again. Saints, she wanted to take him by the collar of his coat and pull him down to her waiting mouth.
“Stay with me fer a while longer, Caitrina.” The shaky nuances of his voice revealed what it cost him to say those words.
Trina stared deep into his eyes. Did she just hear him right? Did he ask her to stay? Her heart skipped a beat, and then another, making her light-headed.
“As part of me crew,” he continued. “I spoke to Kyle earlier this mornin’ and he has agreed to it. I cannot trust any man but meself to bring ya home. But it will have to be after I find me treasure.”
Her knees felt too weak to support her. They threatened to crumble and cast her into his arms. He wanted her to stay aboard his ship, as part of his crew, while he hunted for his treasure?
“Aye.” She didn’t need to think about it. She couldn’t have refused him if she tried. She didn’t want to try. She wanted to stay and sail off to… “Where is it we’re heading?”
“To the Caicos Islands in the West Indies.”
Och Lord, help her not to faint. She steadied her breath and kept herself from jumping up and down. “The Caicos Islands in the West Indies.” Could she possibly get away with living this life? The answer, she knew with a shallow breath escaping her lips, was no. Her kin loved her too much to let her go without a trace. They would search for her and hunt for him until they found him and killed him.
She had to refuse. She had no other choice.
“As much as I want to stay,” she said a bit broken-heartedly, “I could not live with the thought of losing… anyone. My kin will search fer me. They will come, Alex. My father and Kyle’s, our uncles and the saints know who else, will find us. As skilled as ye are, ye will not defeat them all. I want no fighting.”
“I will take care of that when the time comes.”
He was a fool not to fear them. “I canna’ go with ye.” She felt like weeping. “I shall go home and figure oot a way to live my adventures with my kin’s blessing. Thank ye fer a lovely pair of weeks. I shall never ferget… Why are ye laughing while I’m bidding ye farewell?”
“Ya’re not goin’ anywhere.”
“I do it to save yer life!”
He looked up at Heaven again but grinned indulgently when he returned his gaze to her.
“Alex, ye dinna’ understand. They’ll come and if ye fight with them, someone will die, ye or one or more of them. I realize the danger I put ye in, and I’m so terribly—”
“If I don’t lift my blade to them”—he cut her off—“will they fight me unarmed?”
“Of course not. They have been savage but they are not withoot honor.”
“Then I won’t fight them.”
“Nae?” She stared at him, waiting for him to laugh in her face. He didn’t. “This is yer chance to get rid of me, Captain. I’ll let ye put me on another ship home. I’ll go withoot word. But if ye promise not to fight them, I will trust ye with yer word and continue with ye.”
He chuckled but looked away, as if he wanted her to believe he didn’t care if she stayed or left. After another moment, he seemed to come to some conclusion that didn’t please him. Then he said, “I promise, I will not fight them.”
Trina stood silent for a moment, just looking at him. She’d given him a choice, and he chose for her to stay.
Fearless.
Before she could think about what she was doing, she stepped toward him, grasped handfuls of his coat in her fists, and pulled his mouth to hers.
Her dominance was quickly answered with his body enveloping hers. He drew her in close to his hard angles and fit her face in his hands. He stroked her with his thumb along her cheekbone and with his tongue, devouring her mouth. When his arm slipped down her back and hauled her in closer, she felt faint and delirious with want.
“Captain.” A man cleared his throat and then repeated himself again, harsher this time.
Trina pulled herself away from Alex’s arms and looked up at Kyle.
“Take yer hands off my cousin.”
“Kyle—”
He held up his palm to silence her without taking his eyes off Alex. “Heaven ferbid a woman should get away withoot ye seducing her first, aye, Captain?”
“Normally”—Alex nodded and
stepped away from her—“ya would be correct, MacGregor. But yar cousin is not goin’ anywhere. Ya’re both stayin’ with me.”
Kyle laughed. “Ye think I would let her stay so ye could have yer way with her?”
Trina stepped between them and gave her cousin a stern look. “Kyle, no one is having his way with me. I wanted to kiss him.”
“I cannot let her take all the blame,” Alex told him. “I wanted to kiss her, too.”
Trina’s heart flipped in her chest and made her smile, despite her cousin’s angry glare.
Bound to the honor instilled into all of Camlochlin’s children by Kate Campbell, their grandmother, Kyle pulled his claymore free of its sheath. “Captain, I’ve heard many tales aboot what a scoundrel ye are. I willna’ let ye seduce her. We are leaving yer company and if ye try to stop me I will draw yer blood.”
Alex cast him a challenging smile but folded his hands behind his back. “I cannot lift my hand against ya, MacGregor.”
“Why not?”
“Because I just promised yar cousin that I wouldn’t hurt any of ya. I may be a scoundrel, but I keep me word.” Alex smiled at her and then walked away, leaving her with Kyle.
Trina turned to her cousin. She didn’t know what to say to him. She knew he meant well, but she wanted to punch him in the nose. She pinched his arm and gave it an extra twist instead, then stormed away.
“You will make certain he gets this letter?”
Senhor Moreno nodded his head and took the parchment in his hand. He didn’t know this trader, but a closer look at him revealed that he was definitely a seaman. His boots were stained with salt. He carried a cutlass, and his clothes were a bit threadbare. His skin was heavily tanned from many hours in the sun and his fingernails could use a good scrubbing.
“And you say this Mr. de Gaulle in Brittany is expecting word from you?”
“Aye,” the trader answered. “He awaits word in the port city of Saint-Malo.”