Chapter 55
When Anne entered the captain’s quarters, her grasp lingered on the brass door handle.
Jack approached her, draping his hands over her hips, his teeth finding her neck. “You were wonderful today. Delicious, too.” He smelled like a tavern.
She turned, stopping him with a palm to his bare chest. “What did that paper say?”
“What paper?” He teased. His fingers slid up her torso to the crossing laces of the calico shirt she still wore. His shirt.
She stilled his fingers. “The one you burned in front of everyone?”
“Really, Bon?” he said, loosening the lowest lace below her sternum. The hardness in his trousers pushed into her. “Can’t it wait? Have mercy. I’m burning for you—the most gorgeous woman in the Caribbean.”
She took a step away, staring at his red, glazed eyes. His beautiful face and angular jaw. “The crew has trepidations.”
“The whole crew? Or a certain female friend?”
Anne frowned.
“Fine,” he said, throwing up his hands. “Not sure what’s put you in a foul mood.” He knocked into the table and cursed. “It was a proclamation from Sir Nicholas Lawes.”
Anne spun on him. Another warrant? This time from the governor of Jamaica? God have mercy. They were getting hemmed in on all sides. “How could you keep this from us?” she spat. “We have a right to know.”
“We made the impression we hoped for,” he beamed, a glint kindling in his pupil. “The Revenge is earning her name, a ship so fast they’re chasing their tails.”
He leaned in to kiss her, and she tilted her head away, stunned. “Not now, Jack.”
He tried again, not hearing.
“I said no.”
The mirth leached from his features, his usual warmth shifting slowly into an unreadable coldness. The gold of his brown eyes hardened into stone. “It’s always ‘no’ with you these days, isn’t it? No time to think or consider. Just an immediate ‘no, no, no.’”
Anne crossed her arms as if stabbed. “That’s not true.”
“You said ‘no’ to returning to Cuba, where you and our baby could be kept safe—you’re welcome!”
“Jack, I didn’t mean—”
“You said ‘no’ to staying in the hold during raids, ‘no’ to my orders as captain. You made me look ridiculous in front of the crew. And now this? Abandoning me, doubting me when I need you most? You used to love me.” He flung out an arm, the contents on the table knocking to the floor.
The hourglass shattered, sand flooding onto the rug.
“I do love you, Jack.” A scared little girl inside her froze, a piece of her she’d long buried. “Of course I love you.”
Make him happy.
Make the cruel words stop, his smile return, the world upright again.
He stepped toward her, alcohol on his breath, a finger running over her neck. “You no longer welcome my affections. What’s happened to the fire of a woman I used to know? Her sense of risk, fun, adventure?”
His words stung like a slap. “That isn’t fair, Jack.”
“How can you be so cold? You’ve become unfeeling and selfish. I hear a lot about you and your many concerns these days, but what about my needs? Be generous. Think of how I might feel. I’ve been waiting all day to get you alone.”
“I do think of you,” she ground out. Her gaze flicked to the door. She should leave. Let him tantrum alone. She’d seen this before and knew what would happen if she stayed.
Her feet didn’t move. Why couldn’t she move?
This was Jack. Her partner, her country, the father of her unborn child. He was her joy, her delight. Without that glow, his adoration and the shelter of his effusive love, she shriveled. Became unrecognizable to herself.
“All I want is your happiness,” he continued, face fevered. “To give you pleasure. I love you, Bon.”
“You’re drunk.”
“You’re pulling away!” He gripped her wrist, and a shiver of apprehension rose in her gut.
She knew the movement Mary had taught her, how to get free of his hold.
Still, she didn’t move.
Wouldn’t move. Couldn’t.
His mouth pressed into hers, his fingers gripping the hair at the base of her skull. He moaned, then dropped his clutch on her wrist to remove the rest of her calico shirt.
No.
Did she whisper it?
Scream it?
Did the word ever leave her lips?
He ripped off her shirt, then fumbled with the belt of her trousers. She stiffened as if paralyzed. Growling in frustration, he picked up her inert form and carried her to the bed.