by Jackie Ivie
“So?” Linna slid her head sideways, feeling the swish of her hair as it moved to curtain them, as well as the movement of her strap as it slid down her arm. She watched him look at it. Then up again at her.
“You’re not angry?” he asked.
The little crease was in his brow again and Linna moved her fingers to follow it. “How old are you, Cord?”
“In years or experience?”
“Both.”
“About seventy-two.”
Linna traced down to his nose, sliding her fingernail along the skin. There wasn’t one wrinkle to mar the perfection of him. “Seventy-two,” she echoed.
The door swung open and both looked that direction.
“Here’s another breakfast for six. Eat up.” Simons’ voice was clipped and angry as he set a tray down and picked up the other one. “Feeling better?”
“I’ll survive.” Cord stretched as he said it. Linna had the best vantage point as she watched every inch of him harden then relax. She didn’t have to see Simons’ reaction. She heard it in his words.
“Lucky us. The mast-thing didn’t fare well in the storm. We’ve lost valuable time. They could use your help with the sails and such, I’m sure. There’s few as handy with the rigging.”
“Perhaps you should take it up in my absence. They might not even notice the difference.”
Simons stood. “I’ll keep with my cooking.”
“Lucky...as I just said,” Cord parodied. “Shut the door on your way out.”
“Want me to bolt it, too?” Simons asked snidely.
“No. We’ll secure it from this side. Won’t we, Linna love?” He turned back to her as he said it. Linna watched Simons’ expression freeze in place as he watched. The man looked positively evil.
She ignored Cord and kept her gaze on Simons until he left, shutting the door behind him.
“You did that on purpose,” she accused Cord.
“Did what?” He sat to do the food justice and patted the bedding beside him.
“Enticed him.” She stood instead and went to the door. She slipped the hemp strap over the knob. It wouldn’t be as effective as a bolt on the other side though.
“What is this room, Cord?”
He shrugged and shoved another bite of eggs into his mouth. She waited while he finished and swallowed before answering. “My berth.” He shoved another bite in. At the rate he was eating, he was going to have it all inhaled before she joined him, but Linna wasn’t thinking of that. There was something about being in a room that could be bolted from the outside that was bothersome. It should have occurred to her before.
“Why does it bolt on the outside then?”
He scrunched one side of his face as he thought that over. Then he shrugged again. “Don’t know. Don’t care. Come. Your eggs are getting cold.”
“They can lock us in, and we couldn’t get out.”
Cord choked on his food. Linna almost went to his aid before he slammed a fist to his chest to gasp for breath. Then she knew why. He was laughing. He was laughing at her. The sound brought a smile to her own lips before she stilled it.
She put her hands on her hips and faced him.
“What’s so amusing?” she asked, when he finished and wiped at his eyes with the quilt.
“You,” he replied.
“Me?”
“Bebe, those men haven’t a prayer of keeping me in. That door is only so much kindling if they try.”
The endearment he’d used was undoing her and tying her stomach in knots. She looked at him puzzled.
“I’d go right through it. Easily. I have a certain reputation, love. It was earned.”
He shoved an entire piece of toast into his mouth, although he had to fold it in fourths to do so. The breakfast for six was rapidly disappearing in front of her eyes. Linna shook her head at it. She’d ordered the meals for the slaves at home and knew there wasn’t one who could keep up with Cord. It was going to be extremely expensive to feed him and manage his household.
If he had one.
“A reputation for what?”
He patted the bedding beside him again. “Eat something first. You’re carrying my son, remember? He needs fed, too.”
“I’m not carrying your son. I’m carrying my daughter.”
He stopped chewing and stared at her as if the idea hadn’t even occurred to him. Then he smiled, making her knees weak and her heart skip without the slightest bit of effort. His words added to it. “Fair enough. Feed our daughter then.”
She went to her knees. “I hope you’re a good provider because at the rate you eat, we’re going to need a large food storage.”
“Don’t have to be. Simons does all the procuring and such for me.”
Linna nearly spit out the egg in her mouth at the thought. Simons lives with us? She wasn’t going to allow it! Not the way he fawned over Cord and detested her every breath. She wouldn’t be able to relax a moment.
“Calm down, cherie. He’s not worth it.”
“What?”
“You’re shaking.”
“I won’t have that—that...man near me. Don’t you see how he is?”
“Of course I know how he is. Everyone does. It doesn’t bother me. It shouldn’t bother you. The man’s harmless.”
“No he isn’t, Cord. He’s anything but. He...he’s obsessed with you.”
“So?”
He stopped chewing long enough to ask it. Linna’s eyes widened.
“So?” she repeated.
“So...he wants me. He can’t have me. So what?”
Linna pulled her knees to her chin and munched on the corner of a piece of toast. She’d already watched Cord ingest an entire loaf, unless she missed her guess. He’d put away about two dozen eggs, too, and was still shoveling in more. It was astounding.
“Why do you keep him around? He’s disgusting.”
“True. He’s useful, though. Bright.”
He opened the lid on the pot and ignored the steam that rose to enshroud him. Linna didn’t. If anything, the damp mistiness made him more eye-catching as it glistened on skin-covered sinew…and nothing else.
She diverted her gaze. She wasn’t going to get any answers if she didn’t ask the questions. She could sigh over the man parading as her loving husband later.
“Creamed wheat. Useful man. My favorite. See what I mean?”
Linna watched as he made a stack of toast halves and ladled on porridge until his plate was covered. “Do you always eat this much?” she asked. No wonder he’d been starved, she thought.
“When I can get it. You haven’t noticed by now that I’m not a small man? Simons is a good cook. You’ll see.”
“He doesn’t like me,” Linna replied.
“He’s jealous. Wouldn’t you be?”
She tried to ignore the arrogance behind that question. He probably had every right to feel that way. More.
“It’s worse than that, Cord. Simons isn’t just jealous, he’s obsessed. He thinks of you as his. His. He salivates whenever you’re near. I know. I’ve seen him.”
“It’ll be your job to convince him otherwise then, won’t it?”
“My job?”
“I have a wife now. You. I don’t have any room in my life for a travesty of a man like him. Convince him of it.”
“Can’t you just tell him to leave?”
“Why would I do that?”
“He’s evil. I know it. He was probably on a pirate ship because of it, too.”
“Oh Linna, please. You’re seeing things that aren’t there. He was impressed into it for being caught with a prominent man. In dishabille. He told us of it.”
“You believed him?” She didn’t know why she still argued with him, only that she was. He wasn’t listening to her, and she had to make him see. Simons was dangerous to her. His every look promised it.
Cord shrugged. “No reason not to. I don’t care what he did, or what he is. You shouldn’t either.”
What are your weapons again, Linna? Then sh
e remembered and put both of them to use. She reached for Cord’s hands and held them in both of hers. At least, she’d stopped his feasting, she told herself. “He worries me, mon cher, and that isn’t good on the babe.”
He winked at her. “Nice attempt. I’m impressed.”
Linna flung his hands down and pushed away. “You’re impossible!”
“So is this discussion. Leave it. Eat.”
“I don’t want Simons near me.”
“Fair enough. He usually shadows me. I’ll tell him to stay away.”
“When he can’t get you, Cord, what’s he going to do then?”
“Are you worried?”
“I already said I was. Maybe you should listen next time.”
“Over me? How sweet.”
“If anything happens to you, what will I do? Where will I go? Who will help me?”
“Did I just say sweet? Change that to stupid. I meant selfish and self-preserving.”
“I’m serious, Cord.”
He sighed. “Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’m very good at defending myself. I’m even better at attacking. I don’t turn my back anymore, Linna love. I only have one scar, remember?”
“It won’t be that kind of fight. He thinks like a woman, doesn’t he?”
“Probably.”
“Well, then he’ll fight like one, too. Women don’t fight fairly.”
His eyebrows rose, as if he was considering her words before answering. “Now, you tell me.” He said with mock surprise and slapped a hand to his forehead.
“I’m serious. Simons wants you. When he finally realizes that he can’t have you, that’s when the trouble will start. Take my word for it. A scorned woman has been written about for centuries.”
“When he realizes it? Jesus woman! Don’t you think for a moment along that line! He already knows I’ll never accept what he offers. He knows it and accepts it. Christ! Could you find another subject?”
“He...loves you, Cord.”
He swore even more viciously. “He fancies me. He’ll never have me. Another man will come along that will take his interest, then I’ll be last week’s rotten lettuce. Until then, I use him. I use it. You know how this works. You do the same thing.”
“I do not.”
“Tell me you didn’t do the same thing with that whelp you were wedding. He chased after you, didn’t he? And you let him. You used him, didn’t you? Same thing.”
“Maybe I did want him, and you interrupted a very loving couple right at the start of their marital bliss. Ever think of that?”
For the second time that morning, he laughed, although this time he didn’t have a mouthful of food to choke on. “Right. You’re very amusing. Go on. Tell me more.”
“There’s no more. That’s all there was to it. I loved Luthor very much and you prevented me from marrying him.”
“Right. That explains your constant emotional weeping, your depression, and let’s not forget...your performance last night.”
“Last night?” she echoed, feeling the blush clear to her hairline.
“You have to bring his face to mind last night, did you?” he asked tightly.
Linna put the toast down. She wasn’t hungry. She was disgusted. At Cord. At herself. At Simons. “Oh very well, Cordean Raoul Larket. I knew Luthor was obsessed with me. I used him. It’s still not the same.”
“Yes it is. Same emotion. Same thing. Only difference is, Simons is the wrong gender, although he usually keeps it hidden better. I’m surprised you found out so easily.”
“That’s just my point. The man’s dangerous. He didn’t know you were married and once he found out? Well, he didn’t keep anything hidden. He doesn’t have to. I’m his enemy. I’m his competition. He made sure I’d know it by staking out his territory. Women do things like that. Warning each other off.”
“His territory?”
“You. More specifically. You and him. Whatever that means to him.”
He pierced her with a look. “You really want me to rid myself of him? Do you think that will make him less dangerous?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I won’t know where he is then. That would be worse, wouldn’t it?”
Linna bit at her lip in thought. Cord was more intelligent than she’d suspected. A lot more. That discovery would take a bit of time to assimilate. Spectacular looks, amazing prowess, and smarts, too? God had been too heavy-handed with Monsieur Larket’s blessings.
“I’ll miss him, too. I hope you’ll be as good.”
“At what?” She put as much innocence on the question as she could. It wasn’t successful. She didn’t need his sobered expression to vouch for it, although she got it anyway.
“Not that. I’m not the least bit like him, sweetness. Not the least bit. I love the ladies. Quite well, I might add. Or have you complaints you need to voice?”
“I—”
“I keep telling you, the man’s useful. Extremely so. Gets anything I require, almost the moment I require it. I owe him, too. He’s the reason I have the signed papers about my service with the British Navy, the resultant mutiny, and my being on wanted posters now...which consequently, is also the means to get to the person behind all of it.”
“Wanted poster?” she stumbled over the word, and felt the small amount of sustenance she’d taken revolting in her belly.
“Pirates have prices on their head, baby.”
“Prices?”
“And a noose with their name on it.”
“A...noose?”
“Of course a noose. For the gallows. When they hang me. But not just yet. I’ve got one more thing to do before then. Just one. Then, it doesn’t really matter what happens.”
“It doesn’t?” she whispered it. Something was squeezing at her heart. It was thudding painfully, too. She could hear each and every beat.
“You’re not going to faint again, are you?”
She was on her back before that happened.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Linna watched the room spiral about her, sometimes getting dimmer, sometimes brighter, always sickening. He’s a pirate! A murderer! A wanted man! Her mind kept screaming it between bouts of hysteria she knew better than to voice. A pirate! A wanted man! Dear God, I’ve wed a criminal who plans on ending his days on a gallows! Expects it!
“You all right?” Cord leaned into her view, and she slapped at him with both hands.
“Get away from me! Don’t you ever come near me again!”
He easily captured both hands and put them at her sides. “Stop swinging. You’re might be harming my baby.”
“Don’t ever touch me.” She said it in a quiet, dead tone, and waited until he lifted both hands from her.
“This the anger I was expecting before breakfast?” he asked, when he’d moved to a sitting position next to her and pursed his lips.
“I am never going to forgive you, Monsieur. Never.”
“For what? My past? I can’t undo it.”
“For...shaming me. For forcing me to—to...bed with you! For ruining my life!” And most of all, for making me love you!
“Forcing you? Forcing? I could hardly prevent you. Don’t twirl about the truth there, bebe. I know. I was there, remember?”
“Don’t call me another endearment. Just...don’t. Don’t you dare.”
“Make me understand this anger then. I already told you I was on the ship. You already had a chance to rage at me over it.”
“You never told me you were a criminal!”
“I’m not.”
“Right.” She used his own phrasing against him. “Try again. Try real hard this time.”
He sighed hugely. Linna watched it as dispassionately as possible. Why does that still affect me?
“It’s the truth, Linna. I spent ten years in hell and I didn’t even do anything to get there.”
“Right. Like that happens. Care to try again?”
“I suppose you expect me to say I murdered my family or some
thing? Or maybe I raped my way into being a criminal. Maybe I planned an insurrection against the monarchy. Would that suit your fancy?”
“You were there. You tell me.”
“I never had a chance! I was sixteen, fresh-faced, and innocent. Oh. Hell. I don’t know why I bother!”
“If it matters, neither do I,” she answered smoothly and in a low tone. She had his attention with it, too.
“You trying to shut off emotions, are you? Takes years. Trust me.”
“I’m never trusting you again.”
He sighed again. Since the room had ceased rotating, she had a very good view this time. He was still striking, still handsome enough to make her swoon, still set her heart to racing…but it’s all a lie! She had to close her eyes.
“Have you no idea what you’ve done to me?” Her voice cracked. She couldn’t help it.
“Yeah. I married you and saved my child from being an unwanted bastard. That’s what I did.”
His voice was as dead-sounding as she was trying to make hers. Linna kept her eyes closed. “I would never have let Luthor know. I would have been raised my baby in safety, security, and love.”
“So he could have turned into a snob-nosed, mealy-mouthed, self-righteous fool like yourself? No thank you.”
“What do you mean ‘no thank you’? I would have taken care of him! I would have sheltered him. He’d never need to know what his father was.”
He blew the sigh so violently, it lifted strands of hair on her. “And just what am I?”
~ ~ ~
If she’d known him better, she have recognized and been warned by his tone. He’d seen many a brave-acting fellow frightened by it and what it meant.
“You’re a common criminal. Lower than the beggars off the streets! Lower even than the homeless offal calling themselves humanity!”
Cord stopped the fists from forming but it took all his concentration. She was determined to find a weakness. Well. He didn’t have one. She had a bite to every word though.
“You seem to know an awful lot about one such as me, without even knowing me. I’m not a criminal, lady. Never have been.”
Sobs shook her, making her body shudder. The emotion from the delicate frame in front of him had him reaching to gather her into his arms and shelter her.
She slapped his hands away. “Don’t you touch me! Don’t you ever touch me again! You’re far too filthy! I won’t stand for it, do you understand?”