by Bold, Diana
She wanted to remain childless and never let any man touch her in passion again. It would be worth remaining alone and unloved just to see the earl die without his precious heir.
Her gaze darted to Daniel’s closed door. He had a lot to answer for, and she preferred to channel the emotions inside her into anger instead of giving in to the anguish that lurked just beneath the surface.
She got to her feet, marched over and flung open the door. The sound was very loud in the silence of the small room. Daniel sat bolt upright, looking confused until his gaze settled on her face.
“Kate,” he whispered, his voice rough with sleep. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I read your letter to darling Philip,” she told him. “I know everything. I know you and your father bribed Talon into seducing me.”
Daniel paled, putting his hands up as though to ward her off. “God, Kate. I never thought you’d snoop through my private correspondence.”
“And I never thought you were such a conniving, low-down, lying jackass.” She’d lost all semblance of control. She knew she should try to be quiet, but she was beyond caring if someone heard her. “I trusted you. I thought we were friends.”
“We are friends. I’m sorry if this hurts you, but it was for your own good, you’ve got to believe me.”
Her temper flared even hotter. “Don’t you dare try to make it sound as though you had any regard for my feelings.”
His blue eyes were imploring. “I wanted you to have a child. I wanted you to know love and passion. I wanted you to have all the things I could never give you.”
“You wanted to return to your lover. You’ve never given a damn about me. God, I feel like such a fool to have fallen for your belated attempts to pretend you did.”
“When you calm down, I’m sure you’ll see there was no other way. Once you hold our precious child in your arms, you’ll realize it was for the best.”
“Our child?” She laughed, making no effort to rein in her rising hysteria. “No baby of mine will ever be yours, Daniel.
He flinched and looked away.
“I’m through talking to you.” She would never let him know he’d helped break her heart in a million pieces. “And you can tell that scheming brother of yours to stay away from me. I never want to see him again.”
* * * * *
The storm hit the ship with all its fury at dusk. Talon couldn’t believe his father had let such incompetent fools behind the wheel of one of his finest ships. Instead of circling the storm, Percy had tried to outrun it. Now they were in a maelstrom of twenty-foot swells and continuous lightning.
Talon had volunteered his services, knowing the captain needed every able-bodied man if they were to have a chance of surviving this. But within two hours, he knew they were fighting a losing battle.
From the coordinates he’d stolen a peek at earlier, he figured they weren’t far from the Virginia shore. He began to think about the skiffs fastened to the sides of the ship.
Once the ship began to break apart, he wouldn’t be able to keep Kate safe. He refused to subject her to a lifeboat full of angry British sailors.
He knew his own skill. The wisest course of action was to get himself, Kate and Daniel into a boat of their own, where he at least had a semblance of control over their fate.
He needed supplies, lots of them. Blankets, food, fresh water, a weapon, oilcloth… He mentally ticked the items off in his mind. He would take what he needed and not worry about anybody else. His first priority had to be the safety of the people he cared about.
Strange that he’d come to include Daniel in that number.
Stealing into the pitching galley, he took everything he could find then went back out on deck, securing the supplies under the canvas that covered the most out-of-the-way skiff. No one paid any attention to him, and he prayed his luck would hold.
Ducking his head against the wind, he struggled down the side of the wheelhouse and headed for the hatch that led below. A figure appeared ahead of him, and he was surprised to see Daniel.
“What’s wrong?” Talon grabbed his brother by the shoulders, peering at his face through the rain, yelling to make himself heard over the noise of the storm.
“It’s Kate,” Daniel yelled in return. “She knows everything. I’ve never seen her so furious. She told me to tell you to stay away from her.”
Kate knows. For a moment, Talon couldn’t move. He saw his dreams of a future shatter like a fragile piece of crystal. Then his shock turned to rage. “You told her, didn’t you? I can’t believe you’d do this to me. You miserable son of a bitch!”
Daniel shook his head and backed away. “I didn’t tell her. I swear, I didn’t. I never wanted her to know.”
“Then how did she find out?”
Daniel had the grace to look embarrassed. “She found a letter I was writing. I wanted Philip to know I’d be returning to him soon.”
“Ah, shit.” Talon shook his head in disgust. There was no use arguing about it. He needed to go to Kate, try and explain things to her. He wanted to tell her about the decision he’d made this afternoon.
Daniel said something else, but the wind snatched his words away. Talon ignored him, turning to go below deck. But before he’d taken more than a step or two, a blinding flash of light sent him careening against the hatch.
Talon looked up at the mizzenmast, crying out when he realized it had been hit by lightning and was crashing toward his brother. He tried to move forward, to knock Daniel out of the way, but the ship was riding a swell, and he couldn’t push away from the side of the wheelhouse.
“Daniel!” He screamed the word, but he might as well have whispered for all the good it did. The deck was in chaos and the mast crashed down, clipping Daniel and knocking him to the wet deck.
The ship pitched back the other direction, and Talon surged forward. He knelt beside Daniel, pulling his head into his lap. Blood streaked his brother’s temple, and there was a huge knot on the side of his head.
“Daniel,” he muttered, shaking him. “Daniel, wake up.”
Daniel lay silent and still. Talon placed trembling fingertips to his brother’s pale throat, but he couldn’t feel anything, not even the faintest beat of life.
He was stunned by his sense of loss. Even after today’s betrayal, even though he wanted Kate for his own, he hadn’t wanted it to end this way. No matter what Sutcliffe thought, over the last few weeks he’d grown certain he and Daniel shared the same blood.
Just when he’d given up and was lowering Daniel’s head back to the deck, his brother moaned and his eyes fluttered open. “What happened?”
Talon closed his eyes in thanksgiving. “I thought you were a goner, Daniel.”
Daniel gave a weak laugh. “I don’t plan on making it that easy for you.”
“Can you stand? We need to get the hell off this ship. Now that the mast is gone, it’s just a matter of time before it goes under.”
Daniel nodded. “I’m all right.”
“Good. Make your way to the skiff that’s farthest aft, and I’ll go get Kate.”
Chapter Eighteen
The cabin door crashed open. Kate jumped, her nerves on edge, then relaxed when she saw it was only Talon. He stood in the doorway, his gaze riveted on her face, then used his foot to slam the portal closed behind him.
He was soaking wet, his hair plastered to his head, his clothes outlining every lean, muscled inch of his body. Despite her anger, she still appreciated his stark male beauty. His father had chosen him well. He was everything she’d ever wanted.
“What’s going on? What was that noise?” Just after Daniel had left, the entire ship had given a violent shudder, and her fear of the storm eclipsed her earlier fury.
“Lightning hit the mast.” He rubbed his hand over his face and leaned against the door for a moment. “The ship is going down. We need to get to a lifeboat.”
“The ship is sinking?” She shook her head, unable to believe him. “That’s not fu
nny.”
“It’s no joke.” He strode to his trunk and began pulling things out. “Go change into those trousers you wore when you first came on board. Be quick. Grab the quilt off your bunk and anything else you think might be useful.”
She stared at him, shocked at the sharpness of his tone. He’d never spoken to her this way before.
“Now!” he snapped. “We’re running out of time.”
She scrambled to her feet, spurred into action by the truth in his eyes. The ship is sinking. This wasn’t the time to tell him how much he’d hurt her. She hurried into her cabin and donned the boy’s clothing then grabbed her heaviest cloak and the quilt.
When she returned to the sitting room, Talon was going through Daniel’s trunk. She blinked in surprise when he pulled out a revolver and tucked it into the waistband of his trousers.
“I’m ready. Where’s Daniel?”
“Daniel should already be in the boat.” His voice was harsh, leaving no room for questions or accusations.
But she couldn’t resist one little jab to let him know how furious she was. “Did he tell you I know about your lies?”
Talon paused and gave her a long, searching look. “Yes. But there’s no time for this now. We have to get to a lifeboat before there aren’t any left.”
He strode toward her, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the door. His hand was gentle despite his harried manner, but she shook it off. “Don’t touch me. Don’t ever touch me again.”
“All right,” he murmured, eyeing her as though she’d lost her mind. “But you have to come with me now. Go ahead and hate me. I deserve it. But please, just do as I say for the next ten minutes.”
She nodded, and he preceded her out into the narrow passageway. She followed him, shocked to find the corridor full of ankle deep, ice-cold water. She fought to stay on her feet as the ship swayed and bucked beneath them. He climbed the steps that led to the hatch, waiting at the top.
“It’s going to be rough out there. I know you don’t want to touch me, but if the wind is too much, don’t hesitate to grab my hand. I don’t want you blown overboard.”
As soon as he’d finished speaking, he opened the hatch, letting in the ferocious wind and rain. Kate gasped and swept her cloak around her shoulders. It was nearly impossible to battle her way across the deck by herself, and she found herself clinging to Talon’s waist, letting him pull her forward through the chaos.
None of the men even glanced in her direction, but it seemed an eternity before Talon reached the skiff. He stopped so suddenly she slammed up against him.
“Damn it,” he cursed, prying himself away. “Stay here,” he bellowed, struggling to be heard over the roar of the wind. He wrapped her freezing fingers around the rail. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”
Then, to her shock, he kissed her, fierce and hard. Before she had a chance to protest, he was gone. She clung to the rail, blinking to see through the driving rain as he made his way to a lifeboat being lowered just ten feet away.
He waved his arms, yelling something, but the wind stole his words away. One of the men scrambled back up the rope and swung his beefy arm in Talon’s direction. Talon blocked the punch and then pulled out the gun, aiming it at the sailor’s face.
The battle of wills lasted several seconds, but then the two men got out of the boat. Talon gestured in her direction, and she realized he wanted her to join him. She pulled herself down the rail, every step a battle.
“I told them to find their own damned boat. I’ve already provisioned this one,” he yelled when she was mere feet away from him. “I don’t know where Daniel is. If he doesn’t get here fast, we’ll have to leave without him.”
She nodded, wondering why it mattered. The sea rose toward the deck like some nightmarish monster. The tiny lifeboat would never stay afloat in this raging maelstrom. They were all going to die.
He pointed to where the lifeboat hung suspended above the seething waves. “You’ll have to jump for it, Kate.”
Jump for it? It seemed impossible, but one look into his flinty eyes convinced her. There was no other way.
She jumped.
* * * * *
Talon hesitated for several minutes after Kate was safely aboard the skiff, searching the pitching deck for any sign of his brother. Daniel was nowhere to be seen. Had that blow to the head been worse than he’d thought? Had Daniel been swept overboard while Talon was below gathering Kate?
If his brother was still alive, he’d be here by now, wouldn’t he?
Surely, he realized the seriousness of their situation.
His gaze caught and held on several men who were making their way toward him, that bastard McGuire in the lead. Cursing under his breath, he waited for one moment more, searching the chaos desperately for a glimpse of Daniel. Then he leapt into the lifeboat and released it, letting it fall into the churning fury of the ocean below.
They were thrown against the ship then tossed away, as insubstantial as a piece of seaweed. He glanced over at Kate and saw that her eyes were huge in the pale oval of her face.
She yelled something, but he couldn’t hear her. It didn’t matter. He knew what she was asking. She wanted to know why he’d left Daniel behind.
The answer was far from simple. If there weren’t so many other things to worry about, he knew he’d be racked with guilt. But searching for Daniel would have meant losing the skiff, and he was sure Daniel would have wanted him to save Kate. Daniel wouldn’t have wanted all three of them to die.
He wanted to reassure her, tell her everything was going to be all right, but he wasn’t certain of that himself. He’d lived on the sea most of his life, and there had been many times when it had challenged him, made him fight to survive. Always he’d emerged victorious and exhilarated by the battle.
This time was different. He didn’t have a beautiful, seventeen‐mast schooner and a crew of seventy able‐bodied men at his side. He had only a skiff, his strength and his wits.
It didn’t seem nearly enough.
Kate huddled beneath her cloak, soaked by the rain, buffeted by the wind, her lovely eyes filled with accusation. If she died, it would be his fault. He’d made her trust him and then betrayed that trust.
If only she hadn’t found out the truth. If she’d just look at him with love one more time, he might be able to pull off the miracle it would take to get them to shore.
He hated this feeling of impotence. There was nothing he could do right now, nothing but hang on. The waves would continue to toss them where they willed until the storm died down. By then, they could be hundreds of miles from land, stranded in the middle of the Atlantic, dying slowly as their food and water ran out.
He rubbed his burning eyes, praying they lived through this, hoping he hadn’t made the biggest mistake of his life by taking Kate off the ship. He wanted a chance to tell her about his crew. He wanted to tell her what had motivated his betrayal and beg her to forgive him.
Everything had seemed so simple this morning, and he clung as hard as he could to the memory of the peace that had washed over him when he’d realized how much he loved her. He refused to believe he’d ruined everything irreparably. Because if she wouldn’t give him a second chance, what was the point of hanging on? What was the point of living?
* * * * *
Kate huddled beneath her raincoat and glared at Talon through the sheeting rain. He was insane. He’d taken her off the ship, which, while broken, was still a much safer place to be than this speck of a lifeboat. Any minute they could capsize and be tossed into the sea with nothing to hang on to but each other.
At this point, she’d rather drown than hang on to Talon Montgomery.
She was strangely calm considering the fact that she’d lost her virginity, had her heart broken, and left her husband to die all in the space of one day.
“You’re going to get us killed.” She didn’t even know she’d spoken the words out loud until Talon turned in her direction and cupped his ear.
> “What?” The roaring wind and crashing waves made it almost impossible to hear him.
“You’re going to get us killed,” she screamed. “I can’t believe I came with you. Not after all you’ve done.”
He made a slashing motion with his hand. “I can’t hear you. Can’t this wait until the wind dies down?”
“What if the wind never dies down? What if we end up on the bottom of the sea?” She was still screaming, her frustration rising because she knew he was only hearing half her words.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” He moved forward and grabbed her arms, shaking her a little, his blue eyes intense. “I swear I’ll get us to shore.”
She stared at him. “I don’t believe you. I’ll never believe anything you say again.”
Pain flashed in his eyes, and he released her. He said something, but she didn’t hear it because a huge wave washed over them, drenching the boat with icy water. It filled her nose and mouth, making her choke and gasp for air.
Drowning was a horrible way to die, she thought, struggling to breathe. She didn’t want her life to end this way.
Talon forced a bucket into her hands. “Bail,” he yelled quite distinctly. “I know you hate me, but I need your help. If you don’t bail for all you’re worth, we will end up at the bottom of the sea.”
* * * * *
The storm continued throughout the night, but as dawn broke, the seas calmed. Talon glanced at Kate, who bailed mechanically on the other side of the small boat. Her head drooped with exhaustion, her hands moving independently of her mind.
He reached out and stopped her, putting his hands on hers, stunned by how cold they were. “It’s all right, Kate. It’s all right. You can stop now.”
She looked up at him, her eyes glassy and unfocused. He yearned to pull her close and share his body heat. But she wouldn’t appreciate that even now, so he fought the impulse.
Instead, he reached beneath the seat and pulled out the bundle of blankets and clothes he’d kept dry with a large piece of oilcloth. He spread the oilcloth across the wet hull and then placed several blankets on top of it.