My Seaswept Heart

by Christine Dorsey

  A memory of what they were doing when the dolphin knocked into their boat sprang to her mind and Anne felt tingly all over. She also felt foolish. “Are you planning to catch us something to eat today?” Neither the question nor the tone was pleasant. Anne realized it as soon as the words blurted from her mouth. But she couldn’t seem to help herself.

  He shrugged in that noncommittal way he had, and reached for the harpoon. “I didn’t know ye were so fond of raw fish.”

  “I’m not.” Anne let out her breath. “But I am hungry... and thirsty.” Parched was a more accurate term, and the tropical sun had barely begun its climb into the heavens. With nothing to shade them... Anne couldn’t even finish the thought in her own mind. So she concentrated on watching the captain as he leaned over the side, makeshift spear held at the ready.

  He seemed stronger today. The wound on his shoulder had scabbed over during the night, and his fall of unbound, sun-bleached hair hid where they’d hit him.

  Whereas Anne could feel the effects of the sun on her skin, and could only imagine how red she was, Jamie MacQuaid only grew a deeper brown from their exposure. He removed his shirt to fish, and his large body was covered only by a pair of breeches that clung to his lean hips. When he leaned forward and they slid lower, the skin was lighter, but still appeared darkened by the sun. She couldn’t help wondering how far down one had to go to find untanned skin.

  Her gaze dropped to his feet. They were wide and long toed, planted firmly on the boat’s bottom. Of course they were as bronze as his face and hands. And like much of his body, spattered with burnished, curly hair.

  “There ’tis a likely candidate to break our fast.”

  Anne’s gaze leaped up from contemplating the muscles in his legs, to where he pointed. Just below the surface she spotted a large orange and turquoise fish. It was beautiful and she almost hated the fact that he would have to kill it.

  He lifted his arm, balancing himself as the fish swam closer. Anne was so intent upon watching the grace of his movements she barely noticed the shape approaching from the other side. When what was happening did register it was too late. “Watch out, Jamie!”

  Her warning came the same instant the dolphin slammed into the boat. Jamie lost his tenuous hold on stability and tumbled over the side. Anne screamed and jumped up as the boat rocked precariously.

  He was only a blurred shape beneath the surface, seemingly going deeper. “Jamie! Oh God, Jamie.” Anne wrung her hands not knowing what to do. In the meantime the dolphin batted his head against the side, splashing water.

  He was coming up. Anne started breathing again as bubbles broke the surface, followed by his head. He shook wet hair from his face and laughed, and Anne, who felt on the verge of tears, could have taken an oar and knocked him over the head.

  “I fail to see what you find so amusing.” She reached out to help him aboard, glad to see he’d held onto the spear.

  Ignoring her hand Jamie hiked himself onto the boat. “I’m afraid I let the fish get away.”

  “I shouldn’t wonder.”

  He wiped both palms down his face, and grinned. “I see our friend is back.”

  “If that’s what you wish to call her. She’s the one who knocked you overboard.”

  “But ye didn’t mean it, did ye, Lucy girl?” The dolphin seemed to nod her head in agreement, and Anne knew she’d been out in the sun too long to even imagine such a thing.

  Again, the captain spent his time playing with the sea creature, seemingly forgetting about the need to find them food. He petted and talked, and Anne crossed her arms and watched with growing annoyance. She was thankful, though the captain obviously wasn’t, when the dolphin swam away, again executing a series of swoops and dives.

  “Now do you suppose—” Anne began only to have him hold up his hand to silence her.

  Jamie shaded his eyes and squinted toward the south watching the porpoise. “What do ye make of it?”

  “Make of what?” She was beginning to think longingly of the taste of raw fish, a testimony to how hungry she really was. She was also hot. Wishing she didn’t feel quite so naked without it, Anne shed her jacket. When she looked up the captain was still watching the dolphin, who to Anne’s consternation appeared to be swimming back toward them.

  “Look what you’ve done. The poor creature is besotted.” Anne folded her arms. “And we aren’t in need of a pet.”

  “Nay.” Jamie’s eyes narrowed as he followed the dolphin’s progress. “’Tis more than that.”

  “More than what? What are you doing?” Anne watched as he pulled the oars off the bottom and settled them into the slots. “Don’t you think we should find something to eat first?”

  “Later.” The captain started to row, pausing when the dolphin turned, as if he hadn’t spent most of last evening preaching the uselessness of such an endeavor. When he noticed her expression, Jamie grinned. “I think Lucy wants us to follow her.”

  “Follow her?” Anne grabbed for the sides of the boat. “Are you mad? Lucy is a fish.”

  “Not precisely. Dolphins are animals much like a dog or horse, only they live in the ocean.” He shook his head when her eyes opened wider. “I know it sounds like foolishness.” Jamie bent into the oars, working hard to keep up. “But I’ve heard tales.”

  “Tales? What kind of tales?” Anne fell forward when he pulled up the oars.

  “Where did she go?” Jamie scanned the swells, giving a whoop of joy when he spotted Lucy. “Be a good lass, Annie, and turn about. Keep an eye out for our friend.”

  It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. But after sighing loudly Anne did it anyway. They might as well die following a dolphin as picking a random direction. And the dolphin was friendly. She played and splashed, swimming close to the boat, then diving deep only to surface and arc into the air. And she led them further and further south as the sun crept to its zenith.

  She even stopped when they did.

  “’Tis sorry I am, Lucy, but I need a rest,” Jamie called out as he pulled in the oars. “And something to eat.” He grabbed up the spear and peered over the side. “Keep watch Annie and let me know if she deserts us.”

  Anne accepted the filleted fish with only a hint of distaste. She didn’t eat hers nearly as fast as the captain did, but then she wasn’t so sure that they needed to follow the dolphin. “Tell me about these tales,” she reminded when they were again rowing south.

  “’Tis just pirate lore, or so I thought.” Jamie grunted as the oars sliced down through the water. “Stories of sailors being saved from drowning by sea creatures.” He shrugged.

  “Dolphins?” Anne chanced a glance over her shoulder. “Aye, dolphins usually.” He paused. “Though occasionally the savior is a mermaid.”

  Anne’s lips thinned when she heard his chuckle. “What exactly do these dolphins do?”

  “I don’t know exactly. I never paid that much heed. But I do recall that they befriended men.”

  “And saved them?”

  “Aye.”

  Anne didn’t need to ask if that’s what the captain believed the dolphin was doing now. It was obvious he thought that. And Anne wanted to believe it, too. But the idea was so preposterous.

  Still, as the afternoon dragged on, and the dolphin did seem to be leading them, a kernel of hope bloomed. And Anne began watching not only the antics of the porpoise, but the muted edge of horizon where the sky met the sea.

  She saw nothing.

  Even when the shadows turned the sea a deep cobalt, heralding the end of another day.

  “We won’t be able to see her once the sun sets.” Anne voiced the worry that was nagging her mind.

  “’Tis all the more reason to hurry now,” he responded. But Anne could read the exhaustion in his voice.

  “You should rest,” she said, turning toward him.

  “And be accused of doing nothing?”

  “You’ve done plenty today.” In truth she didn’t see how he was holding up as well as he was. She
was weak from hunger and thirst and the constant exposure to the sun. And all she’d done was sit and watch the dolphin, while he rowed.

  When darkness finally did shroud their world, making it seem smaller, there was nothing to do but stop. Jamie settled on the boat bottom, and was asleep before Anne had a chance to ask him anything.

  She sat for a while staring out into the night, hoping for some sign that the dolphin hadn’t deserted them. But she could see nothing, and soon settled into her own corner. But sleep didn’t come as easily to her. She wanted to crawl over next to the captain and cuddle against his chest, but decided against it.

  When she did sleep it was to dream of dolphins and mermaids and men of the sea who swam with them, their bronzed muscles gleaming in the water. It was a fantasy world, sparkling and erotic, making waking up all the more unpleasant.

  The reality of her existence was skin that felt dry and burned, muscles sore and cramped and a mouth so parched her tongue felt swollen. Anne opened her eyes, only to close them again. There seemed little reason to even sit up.

  It was the captain’s voice that finally made her throw an arm across her eyes and struggle up. He appeared in equally poor spirits as he called out the dolphin’s name.

  “She isn’t there,” Anne said, after she twisted around, scanning the endless, endless expanse of sea.

  He spared her a scathing look before calling out, again. “Lucy, I’m ready to follow ye again.”

  “The dolphin can’t hear you,” Anne snapped. “And she never could understand you. So you might as well stop all your shouting.”

  His eyes met hers again, hard and narrowed, and this time they held. “I don’t believe I need ye to tell me what to do.”

  “Well, you obviously need someone.” Pent-up anger, at herself, at the situation, exploded.

  “And ye think ye should be that someone, I suppose.” Jamie sat forward on the seat facing her, hands clamping his knees. “Nay, I don’t suppose. I know. You’ve been trying to order me about since the first time I laid eyes on ye.”

  “I merely asked—”

  “Ha!” The boat rocked with the force of his delivery. “Ye never merely anything in your life. And ye certainly didn’t ask. Ye demanded. And when I wouldn’t listen ye drugged and kidnapped me.”

  Anne opened her mouth in rebuttal, then clamped it shut again. What he said was the truth. But she had her reasons. Reasons he didn’t seem to care about.

  “You’re a bossy wench, Anne Cornwall. And ’tis nothing I hate more.” The words poured from his mouth like venom from a snake. Once begun Jamie seemed unable to stop them. Not that he wanted to, he assured himself. Every syllable he uttered was true.

  At least he thought it was until he saw her face. Her dirty, sunburned face. Her full mouth quivered and if he didn’t already know that she wasn’t a female prone to tears, he would swear she was going to cry. Not knowing what else to do, he reached out, grazing the tip of her chin with his finger.

  Anne didn’t think she had the strength to bat him away, but she did. Except he didn’t stay away. Instead he lunged forward onto his knees, grabbing her shoulders and pinning her on the seat. The boat rocked, the sun glared and the heat from his hands burned through Anne’s linen shirt.

  “I shouldn’t have called ye that.”

  Anne raised her chin. “Why not? It’s what you think of me.”

  A grin played with the corners of his mouth. “Aye,” he admitted. “’Tis true in part.” His grip tightened when she tried to squirm away. “But ’tis not all bad ye know.”

  “You’re going to tell me now that you like bossy wenches?” Anne’s brow lifted skeptically.

  “Nay.” He did grin now. “But ye do have a few other admirable traits.”

  At the moment Anne couldn’t think of a thing about her that was appealing. “Such as?”

  “Your courage.”

  “I’m not courageous.” Anne sucked in air. “I’m really frightened.”

  He seemed to shrug that off. “Considering the circumstances anyone would be a fool not to be scared.”

  “Are you?”

  Jamie let his hands drift down her arms. “Aye.” His eyes held hers for a long moment before he straightened and continued. “Do ye know what else I like about ye other than your obvious feminine charms?” His gaze traveled over her as slowly and thoroughly as it had that first time they met.

  Anne experienced the same tingling, the same flutter in her stomach. “Tell me.”

  “You’re a woman of action. Ye don’t just sit by and let someone else take care of ye.”

  “But you said you didn’t like that.”

  “I know,” he said, his grin wicked. “’Tis a puzzle, isn’t it?”

  The breeze picked up, catching his hair and showing glimpses of the gold loop in his ear. He loomed before her looking every bit the pirate, and Anne couldn’t seem to mind. Slowly her smile spread, until it was as wide and playful as his.

  They were two people alone in their world. Destined to die, but somehow feeling a bit better.

  Jamie slapped his knees. “Seems to me ’tis time I went fishing.”

  Though Anne protested the captain insisted he’d do better with the knife if he went over the side.

  “Don’t fret, I can swim.” He carefully unwrapped the yarn holding the knife to its makeshift shaft.

  “But what if there’s a shark?”

  “Then I’ll be climbing aboard before ye can miss me.” With a splash he was over the side.

  Anne watched as he took a deep breath, then jackknifed his body and dove under the water. The sea was so clear she could see him as he dipped and turned. When his head broke the surface he was streaming water and grinning. Tugging the boat to one side he slide a squirming fish off the blade.

  Several more times he went under, and always he came up with a bright-colored catch. Anne was beginning to think he was right about going into the sea when she lost sight of him beneath the boat. She sat back, waiting for him to surface, growing more nervous by the second when he didn’t.

  “Captain.” She leaned over the side, sticking her hand into the water and swirling it around. She could see nothing.

  “Jamie!” She scurried to the other side searching the depths. Her heart pounded as she called again and again. But still there was nothing but endless sea, endless sky.

  Suddenly the water’s surface not two rods to her left exploded with a burst of streamline gray. Anne screamed and clutched the sides of the rocking boat, sure that some terrible sea monster had devoured the captain and would eat her in one gigantic bite.

  But it wasn’t a sea monster, but the dolphin, cavorting with its friend. The captain waved a hand. “Look who I found.” He dove beneath the surface only to push up beside the boat. With a heave he pulled himself in, splashing water everywhere. His hands slicked the hair off his face and he braced himself on the seat.

  Already the dolphin was by them, swimming and bounding its way south. Jamie watched a moment, then turned to face Anne. “’Tis not just my decision.” He continued when her expression registered bewilderment. “Do we follow the dolphin, or...”

  Anne tilted her head. “Or stay where we are?”

  The captain shrugged. “Rowing in another direction is an option.”

  Shifting around, Anne caught sight of the dolphin, then looked back toward the captain. “I suppose it can’t hurt to follow Lucy.”

  But she was wrong, Anne thought later that day. It did hurt to follow the dolphin because they’d started out with hope, and now as the sun burned down to their right, that hope was fading.

  Anne glanced around at the captain from her post in the front of the boat. He’d been rowing almost nonstop for hours, only pausing when a rain shower brought welcome relief from their thirst. They’d lifted their faces, drinking their fill, saving what fresh water they could in Anne’s shoes.

  And then he’d grabbed the oars and continued rowing. Now his strokes were more and shallow, moving
them slower and slower toward some unseen and more than likely nonexistent destination. “You should rest,” she said, lowering her eyes when he looked up.

  “Later,” was all he said.

  “This is foolishness. You’re so exhausted you can barely lift the oars.”

  He didn’t respond, but Anne could see the tiny nerve jump in his cheek as he clenched his jaw.

  “Captain MacQuaid...”

  “What?” He splashed the oars into the water and yanked them back. “Now ye want me to stop. Make up your mind, woman. Before it was row here and there. Well, I’ve decided I’d rather die of fatigue than hunger and thirst.”

  “Fine.” Anne turned back around in a huff. Let him row and row and row. He could follow the stupid dolphin to the ends of the earth for all she cared.

  Anne shaded her eyes scanning the water. Where was the silly creature anyway? If she’d lost sight of it the captain would—

  Anne blinked, then rubbed her eyes and blinked again. If she wasn’t mistaken... “Captain MacQuaid. Captain.”

  “All right, Annie, I’ll stop in a wee bit and do some fishing.”

  “No, no, it’s not that.” Anne took her eyes off the horizon long enough to spare him a look. “It’s... I think I might see—”

  “Land,” he whooped as he shot to his feet.

  Chapter Twelve

  It took them longer to reach the island than Anne thought. She kept her vision focused on the gradually clearing specter of palm trees, afraid if she glanced away they might disappear, and be swallowed up by the sea. But she called out encouragement to the captain, who seemed to have a sudden spurt of renewed energy. The oars dipped and splashed in rhythm with the raucous song he sang under his breath. Anne wondered if he even realized what he was doing.

  Her spirits were so high she didn’t care if he crooned of loose women with breasts as large as melons. As long as he rowed.

  Shadows darkened the landscape as they approached the embracing arms of the cay. The water within the outstretched semicircle of coral rocks was a cool turquoise that reminded Anne of the captain’s eyes. But she didn’t mention the comparison to him.