by Jewel Adams
The large shadow that stopped beside her told her of the presence she’d already sensed. Closing her eyes, she forced down the flames tickling to burst to life because of his nearness. She clung to her resolve and anger for his prideful refusal to listen to her.
For the last hour, he’d contained his anger. Seeing her now and her deliberate refusal to acknowledge him, sent Rogan’s blood coursing in heated madness. His cock firmed under the fire of passion he seemed unable to contain when he came close to her. Rogan cursed the day he’d laid eyes on her. Nothing had gone right since. What the hell are you, my gold-eyed witch?
“You can still catch him with the Raven. The schooner sails with twice or more speed than any ship on the ocean.” She turned and looked up at him. His strong, handsome profile was staring out at the Raven’s wake as if he hadn’t heard her, but she knew he did. “Tell me, Rogan, is it pride or anger that makes you refuse to believe me?”
“You are either a very foolish woman, Madame…”
“Or what, Rogan? Desperate?” She took a deep breath. “I don’t care for either label. It’s more than that. I need men to get the Raven back to New Orleans. You need to get your ship back so you can continue to steal, burn and loot helpless victims.” Corin got to her feet and leaned against the rail. “It seems to me we both have what the other needs so…why not strike a bargain?”
Rogan turned to face her and managed to conceal all the humor suddenly taking away his anger. She was so different; he almost enjoyed letting her think she could control her present condition, wondering how far she would take her outrageous behavior.
Corin couldn’t help searching his closed expression. She wished his unguarded anger would come back, so she’d know what he was thinking.
He’d not missed the return of her abandoned attire… with it came the courage she’d shown him before. The woman was a mystery, and Rogan became set on discovering every nuance of the beauty. “A bargain is something one shouldn’t enter into lightly, madam.”
It was a warning that gave her goose bumps, but Corin wasn’t in a position to back down. Rogan may be a pirate, but of the choices she already saw, she’d rather face the Dragon. “If I help you get your ship, will you help me get the Raven to New Orleans?”
The easing of the muscles in his throbbing neck and stern jaw should have made Corin jump overboard, but her single-minded goal made her dismiss the victorious light in his gaze.
“All right, Miss McCloud, you show me the Black Council’s port and where my ship is, and I agree to get the Raven back to New Orleans.”
Walking up to him, Corin held out her hand to close the deal.
Rogan accepted her offer and pulled her hard against him. He captured her lips, ending the unspoken protest. He plundered her mouth, delving into the jasmine honey of her warmth. His hand at her back pressed her hard against the evidence of what he wanted to plunge inside the velvet recesses of her feminine heat. For now, Rogan settled for pillaging her sweet mouth against the valiant battle of her awakening passion. She felt all warm and curvy. Rogan ground the full fury of his cock against the heat of her sexual fire, and when she no longer fought his touch but sought his powerful body, his hands held her up against his fire. The tiny moan she uttered was all woman, full of the same arousal overtaking his male power to possess, but the small shiver he felt pass through her stilled his ardor. For now, it was enough to know she wanted what he did, even if her anger in the admission still battled her desire.
Setting her from him, he held her soft bare arms until she regained her composure, and the pride flared back at him as if she could melt him with those glowing embers.
“What was that for?” Rattled beyond thought, she jabbed her finger into the rock wall of his chest.
“Men shake, madame. I sealed my vow in the only way appropriate for the bargain you so desire.”
Her mouth snapped shut; the wicked gleam in his eyes said he wouldn’t mind ensuring she understood.
Corin turned away with as much composure as she could gather. “Please come to my cabin.”
“Gladly, madame.”
She spun on him and scorched that smirk off his face. “You’re pirating ways won’t get you the information. On my ship, you are Rogan, and you can leave the Dragon and all his lecherous ways out on the waves!”
Bowing before her, he said, “The lady is right, my apologies.” As she stormed righteously away from him and out of hearing distance, he added, “For now, little cat, but soon the tides will shift. I did warn you to be careful.”
~ * ~
“This shows nothing!”
“Of course not. You must match it to the charts.”
“I know every island on the charts, madam, and none are like this one.”
No, there wouldn’t be… not all the islands were discovered yet. The Black Council found one that wasn’t on any maps. “My charts are rather… unique.”
His thick dark brow rose, and he clucked his tongue in a scoffing noise.
“Please, Rogan, some things about the Raven and what I show you, you must accept. My… father, well he was rather an inventor and an explorer of great detail.” Lies? She held nothing to convince him, what harm could she be doing by inventing a man for this one’s mounting questions?
Giving up all pretense of hiding the charts, she hoped he would believe her as she pulled them from the wardrobe. “The detail is unsurpassed, Rogan, and I must insist they don’t become known. I shouldn’t be showing these to you… please, swear what you see won’t leave this room or pass your lips.” She sounded as dramatic as the pirate’s blood oath.
He’d never seen her shake so visibly, and it struck an odd feeling inside that made him want to ease the worry and fear darkening those almond eyes. “All right, Corin, I promise whatever you show me in here won’t be repeated.”
For a second, all the doubts doubled. She could be exposing too much, and yet, she saw no way of preventing it.
Unfolding the charts across the table, she stepped back and waited for him to look at them. She bit her lip as she watched the emotion beginning as he scanned the maps and realized exactly what they held. His hands moved over the maps in awed reverence. She heard his breath suck in over what she knew he’d see and realize… all the inlets, bays and coves, all with the depths and reefs marked and recorded in ways unknown to any sailor now riding the vast ocean.
The minutes seemed to hammer away before his gaze tightened and swung back to her. “Corin?”
“Please, Rogan, just believe it is real and true in every detail. The island you want is there.” She reached over and placed her finger on it. “The bay is probably hidden to passing ships because of the outreaching arm of mountains encircling the mouth. From the drawing on Billings’ map, it looks as if they have positioned cannons up on the cliff front to guard the entrance.”
She knew he wasn’t looking at the map or the bay her finger fought to hold to, but she couldn’t make herself look up at him. “There is a small cove on the west side of the island. Raven could easily anchor there if necessary, but I think we still have time to beat your ship there if we go around the island and cut across here and intercept her on this side of the Black Council’s island.”
His fingers curved firmly around her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “Explain this… no, everything. The ship and charts like none known. That equipment…where are you from?”
His hand stilled her denial, forcing her not to pull away. “Tell me, Corin.”
The command was softly spoken, but firm and wouldn’t be ignored.
Corin slowly raised her gaze to his; she forced herself to see what they held. The questions and disbelief were all there, but there was something more, almost protective and unyielding in the way he looked down at her. Her heart beat wildly to answer, but the fears and arguments against letting anyone know wouldn’t let these new and untested emotions rule. “No answers, I’m sorry… I can’t.”
His thumb pressed against her bottom lip to
stop its trembling. “You will tell me, Corin. I swear you will give reasons for the fear dulling the fire in your lovely eyes.” His lips brushed hers in a gentle but commanding promise, leaving her visibly shaken by the invisible force encircling her. Her fear wasn’t over escaping this masterful man, but a living, breathing one that he would not believe in her, and suddenly Corin possessed the undeniable desire to have Rogan’s trust.
When he went back to her maps, she tried to calm the rush of unwanted feelings coming over her.
“How fast is she really?”
“Who?… Oh, the Raven, fifteen knots in the best conditions. Otherwise, she clocks at ten to twelve.”
“The Tempest at full sail will reach six to eight. You are right, we could still intercept her. I will tell Dan and Terry.”
He left her, and Corin sank into the chair, suddenly very tired. No sleep in over twenty-four hours… Corin always needed eight hours sleep. She’d been running on nervous energy the last few days, and it finally caught up with her.
~ * ~
She looked so very young and lost, asleep with her head on her arms. Careful not to wake her, Rogan gently lifted her up in his arms and took her over to the bunk.
“Rogan?”
“Yes, go back to sleep.”
“Can we catch your ship?”
“Yes, now go back to sleep, Corin.”
“Be careful of the square rig, she gets…” Corin’s warning whisper faded as she drifted back to sleep.
“And what warnings do you give yourself, my little cat? The mystery surrounding you holds much danger for you, and yet you let me see. If only you trusted me.”
Rogan went back to the charts and spent the next hours answering so many questions of the sea’s mysteries. What she shared with him tonight was greater than any buried treasure.
His gaze went back to her many times over the other more unbelievable things her charts spoke of, things men’s dreams were made of. Watching her sleep, he couldn’t shake the conviction she held the answer to more questions than he’d ever expected to think of. Was he the mad one to believe she, like her schooner and charts, was not of his world?
His finger played over the small print at the bottom of the map where the words copyright and the date first rocked, and then shattered his very existence. “What kind of storm did you survive, Corin McCloud?”
Rogan relieved Dan and took the wheel for the night. Too many unanswered questions wouldn’t allow sleep to intrude. He listened to his companions hollering in amazement over the accommodations as each took his turn at the marvelous bathing room.
If they’d seen even half the things he’d found during his exploration, they’d be climbing in that flimsy lifeboat and heading for any accessible shore.
Shaking his head, Rogan knew damn well Corin had been the one to stack everything in the bow’s hull. He’d amazed himself by camouflaging her things further by stacking the crates in front of the strange collection.
Funny, but he really didn’t think he needed her answers to understand half of what he’d found. “But you will tell me, my little traveler, because only then will I know you trust me.” And it became very important to Rogan that she did. “You’re here now, and I’ve every intention of making it a permanent condition. No matter what it takes to convince you.”
Chapter Seven
Discovery and Danger
The shouts cut through Corin’s sleepy haze, making her sit straight up and instantly awaken.
Rogan’s shouted orders sent her scurrying to wash and change. “How long did I sleep?” Groaning, she didn’t want to know.
Not feeling as contrary as she did, Corin once again changed back into her boyish baggy pants and one of the captain’s large shirts over her tee shirt.
She gained the deck and blushed at the laughter in Terry and Dan’s looks.
“Well, our sleepy head awakes.”
“How long…?”
Dan’s fatherly pat on her back as he passed helped take away the sting of his answer. “Tis’ the second day, but no problem we couldn’t handle. She’s a real beauty, your Raven is.”
Corin wanted to crawl back into her stowaway cubby, and never come out again. So much for all her boastful talk about being in charge—Two days!
“Lassie, the cap’n wants you… you’d best go on over.”
Squaring her shoulders and all five foot three of herself, Corin deserved whatever chastising he gave.
Rogan never saw a woman look so ashamed in his life.
“Good morning.”
He could imagine what she expected. “Corin, would you take the helm? I need to check the charts… keep her on this heading.”
Rogan reached over and closed her fallen jaw, gently bringing her over to the wheel. Once her hands were on it, she instantly came to the task. Damn, but she could sail as well as any man he knew.
Before he left, he turned back to her. “Oh, I think we beat her. There should be two small atolls up ahead; there is a small but navigable inlet between them. I think we can lay in wait for them there.”
She never took her attention off the Raven and gave him a small nod of acknowledgment. Rogan took the time to look back at her and took in every inch of the boyish figure she projected. “Lady, I can’t wait to see you in something decent.” Regretfully he knew it would be some time before that happened.
Right now, if his calculations were right, the Tempest would be reaching the atolls by dusk and should drop anchor. The area from here on held treacherous reefs too dangerous to take at night. “No wonder no one ever found this.” Diamond’s island was not only isolated but came with built-in fortifications. Only those aware of the passage through the forbidding reefs would ever try to get near the island. “Unless they possessed Corin’s gift.”
~ * ~
Corin issued the orders to reef the sails and drop anchor, never realizing Rogan stood behind her the whole time. When at last they were settled, she turned to discover him watching her.
“Where did you learn to sail?”
Did she see respect in his expression? Not wanting to hold false hope, she pushed the thought away. “My…”
“Father? I’d be very interested in meeting this wonder of a man.”
So would I. She gave no answer but asked the question she’d been worrying over. “How will you get her back?”
“The Tempest?”
Her eyes rolled at him as if to say, of course, earning his warm laughter. The sound of it seemed to reach her heart the way the deep baritone played over her own lighter beat. “You should do that more often, Captain.”
He didn’t realize how long ago he’d stopped laughing. It felt nice. Another gift, my strange cat?
“You haven’t told me how? Billings’ men aren’t going to just hand her over.”
“No. In fact, I suspect they’ll be a little put out over my visit tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes, she should be anchoring very close to here. How are you at silent sailing?”
“At night?”
He nodded. “All three of us need to get on board. Can you handle her alone, Corin?”
If she said no, he wouldn’t leave her, strange how she knew that. “Not here, unless I have a moon.”
“It is full, unfortunately. I’m hoping we can get close enough to swim in unseen.”
“In these waters? Are you nuts? I’ve seen at least ten sharks on that sand bar out there.”
“A sailor afraid of sharks?”
“Let’s say I hold a healthy respect for predators of all shape and sizes, especially out of my own element.” When he turned his face away from her, she moved in front of him. “Listen, why not take the lifeboat?”
She couldn’t believe he would do this. “Damn!”
“What’s wrong besides me, Corin?”
“It won’t hold all of you. You and Dan are too big with Terry.”
“Forget it, Corin!” He knew exactly where her starry thoughts were looking.
>
“Rogan, Dan can handle the Raven alone better than I could.”
“That’s a lie, and you know it.”
“Fine, but you, Terry and I will fit in the raft, and you know that is the truth. I can handle myself and probably won’t be seen as easy as Dan. Who the hell do you think snuck onto Billing’s brig and saved your…”
Corin almost squealed over the sudden hold he took of her arm and shook her with.
“Enough! You’ve made your point.”
She’d gone too far and regretted it, but just the thought of them swimming at night in these waters scared her silly.
When he stormed off, she felt the tears stinging her lids. “I don’t care if they eat him!” Stomping her foot. “I don’t.”
But the large man watching the exchange and both people storming away from the other knew otherwise. A slow satisfied smile came over old Dan’s sly lips.
~ * ~
The afternoon dragged for Corin as she fretted over Rogan’s stubborn refusal to listen to reason. Her unexplained feeling and anger drove her to the crow’s nest to watch for the Tempest. More than she’d admit, she hoped the billowing sails she finally spotted would disappear. When they didn’t, she knew she’d have to tell them of the ship’s arrival. As Rogan said, they anchored practically on the other side of the small island they hid behind. The small group of trees kept their presence a secret, but anything above a whisper, once the wind died at dusk, would give them away.
Climbing down the mast, she kept having visions of shouting, just to end his plan. Only knowing how she herself felt about the Raven prevented it. Rogan’s Tempest was his livelihood; she couldn’t be responsible for taking that from him. So, in anger, she begrudgingly whispered that she spotted the ship’s arrival. They all took turns going up and pinning her location.