Chapter 7 #2
Her female vanity was stung by his implication that no man would look at her twice otherwise. Snatching the cap up, she began to hunt for the hair pins scattered across the floor, but he left the door and advanced on her with a muttered curse.
“If you put it up, I’ll just take it down again.” His voice lowered to a throaty hum. “And you know what happens when I take your hair down.”
When he stepped nearer, she decided it might be more prudent to abandon her hair pins.
Before she could react, he tore her cap from her fingers, then balled it up and stuffed it in his trouser pocket. “You may leave now. Silas is feeding the women. Go have your dinner. But I expect you on deck in half an hour—and the other women with you.”
“What for?”
“We should tell the rest of the ship about the conditions of our bargain, don’t you think?”
The other pirates? Good heavens, until this moment, she hadn’t thought about the fact that they’d have to be informed. She certainly had no desire to be around when they were.
He stood very close now, and when she lifted her face to his, his eyes challenged her to refuse.
A trick of the light made her fancy she saw horns buried in the raven-black whorls of his hair.
She shook her head to clear it. He wasn’t a mythical creature, no matter how much he resembled one.
He was human and could be bested. She just hadn’t yet figured out how.
“What’s wrong?” he bit out. “Afraid to face my men when I tell them that their happiness has been delayed, thanks to you?”
She sniffed. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
His expression softened. Slowly, he lifted a hand to stroke the hair away from her cheek. She withstood his touch, determined to show him that he didn’t frighten her. Although God knew he did.
“I can well believe you fear nothing,” he said, dropping his hand from her cheek.
“I suspect you would take on the entire English realm—or the American nation—if you had to.” He lowered his voice.
“But be warned. I’m no fancy English lord to be governed by a slip of a woman, no matter how sweetly she kisses.
If you stir up rebellion among those women again, you’ll have good cause to fear me. I promise you that.”
Then he swept his hand mockingly toward the door.
Head held high, she passed over the threshold, then hurried onto the deck as he closed the door to his cabin. To her chagrin, several pirates looked up as she came on deck. When they exchanged knowing grins, she halted, a blush spreading over her cheeks.
Good heavens, how she must look, with her cap gone, her hair down, and her lips reddened! What they must think of her!
She stiffened her spine, ignoring their laughter as she swept between them toward the hatch.
The wretched scoundrels! They were probably used to seeing women leave their captain’s cabin looking as if they’d just been seduced.
No doubt they thought she’d already succumbed to the Pirate Lord’s despicable overtures.
She crossed the deck purposefully. She had succumbed a little. But just a kiss. Well, two. Or was it three?
Good heavens, it didn’t matter how many; that was the end of it. He’d said so, and she certainly intended to hold him to it. There would be no more kisses between them unless that blackhearted pirate forced them on her!
Petey joined the pirates on deck and perched on a nearby barrel, waiting uneasily for the captain to speak.
God save him, how was he to get the little miss out of this mess?
When he’d sneaked aboard the Satyr, he’d had no plans in mind.
He’d only known he dared not go back to England without Miss Willis.
It was less a sense of duty and more a fear of what the earl might do to him and his family if he did.
Oh, sure, the blighter had seemed reasonable enough, but a reasonable man didn’t pay a sailor an ungodly sum to spy on his sister.
Besides, Tom needed that job in the earl’s household, especially now that Father had lost the butcher shop.
But Petey felt as if he’d jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
The earl was a man to fear indeed, but the Pirate Lord—
Petey groaned. He’d nearly lost his bloomin’ breakfast when the pirate captain had threatened to maroon him. Thank the good Lord he’d thought to mention Father. Of course, Petey had exaggerated his own ability. And what did a pirate want with a butcher anyway?
Petey looked up to where the Pirate Lord paced the quarterdeck, his hands clenched together behind his back and his face drawn in anger. He’d been in a foul mood ever since he’d called for everyone to assemble on deck.
Did the little miss have something to do with it? She had a mouth on her, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d used it to chastise the captain. For her sake, he hoped she hadn’t. Anybody could see the Pirate Lord wasn’t to be trifled with.
Suddenly, the women emerged from the hatch behind Petey, led by Miss Willis. He caught her eye as she passed, but she could only give him a helpless look before she went on.
“What’s this all about?” he heard a man mutter beside him. It was Silas, the one who’d passed out the food a few hours ago.
The first mate answered. “I don’t know. But that Lady Sara has something to do with it. You can be sure of that.”
Petey swallowed. Pray God she hadn’t condemned all the women to some horrible fate with her troublemaking, though he had to admit the women had been treated well thus far. He scanned the crowd, looking for little Ann, but she was so short he couldn’t catch a glimpse of her.
As soon as the women had gathered on deck, the Pirate Lord beckoned to Miss Willis to join him on the quarterdeck, and she went, though her face wore a wary expression that made Petey anxious.
Once she stood at the captain’s side, nearly dwarfed by the fearsome man’s great height, the captain began to speak.
At first, Petey could hardly believe the man’s words. A colony? The pirates were starting a colony? And they wanted the women to join them as wives? When the Pirate Lord had taken the ship and said they wanted wives, Petey had thought it some wicked joke. But apparently, the bastard meant it.
Who’d have thought it? Pirates generally loved their gold too much to settle anywhere. But the other pirates behaved as if this was no news to them. Indeed, Petey could see them looking the women over already, trying to decide which ones they wanted.
A shiver passed through him. His little Ann would be taken by one. Nay, that couldn’t be! If Petey was a pirate now, he’d be allowed a wife as well, wouldn’t he? And he would fight any man for Ann.
After that, Petey only listened with half a mind to the conditions that the captain placed upon the courtship—that the elderly women would be exempt and the children would go with their mothers.
All Petey could think of was Ann … how sweet it would be to have her to wife …
how grateful she’d be to him for saving her from the pirates … how much he wanted to kiss her.
His pleasant musings were abruptly shattered when the first mate called out, “And what of the earl’s sister, captain? Must she choose a husband as well? Or are we to assume she’s already taken?”
Amidst the chuckles of the pirates, Miss Willis stared ahead in stony silence, her cheeks red as a dawn sky. Petey held his breath, waiting for the pirate captain’s answer.
Captain Gideon cast his first mate a quelling glance. “You may not assume anything, Mr. Kent. And yes, she’ll choose a husband like the rest.”
A shiver of horror snaked through Petey. The blighter! Force Miss Willis to marry a pirate? Unthinkable! Not a lady like her!
All his dreams of marrying Ann vanished. If Miss Willis was included in the women to be courted, Petey had only one choice: he must do his duty. He’d have to marry her—or at least pretend to marry her—to protect her from those other bounders until he could restore her to her brother safely.
Oh, but Ann—
Peter sternly scolded himself. Ann was a pretty little thing, to be sure, but his duty must come first. He couldn’t let his family down by ignoring Miss Willis’s welfare.
Captain Gideon was scowling, as if the topic of Miss Willis’s future husband didn’t sit well with him either.
But he continued speaking, his voice even and cold.
“Now that you know the situation, I expect you to behave with discretion. We want to start a colony, not a bawdy house. You’ll treat the women with respect or you’ll answer to me for it. ”
Miss Willis glanced at him, surprise on her face, but he ignored her.
“Barring any bad weather, we should reach the island in two days. Until then, your duties will remain the same as usual, but you may visit with the women during your free time. See that you don’t neglect your duties to do your courting. ”
His gaze fell on the mass of uniformed women that split the crowd of pirates in half, like a pretty ribbon tied to a black post. “The women will be allowed freedom of the ship as long as they don’t interfere with the running of it.
But at night, they’ll be locked in the hold and a guard posted in case any of you think to have the wedding night before the wedding. ”
Some of the men grumbled, but that quickly subsided when their captain frowned at them.
Then he looked over the crowd, his gaze stopping on the man beside Petey.
“Silas, I’m charging you with finding out what skills the women have.
And make a list of what tools they’ll need for sewing and such.
Although we’d best steer clear of Santiago for a while, once we’ve reached Atlantis, I may send a few men back to another Cape Verde island for additional supplies. ”
“The women already have the necessary tools for sewing,” Miss Willis broke in. “They were given implements and some cloth aboard the Chastity, and I believe most brought them aboard the Satyr.”
The captain turned to her as if he’d just noticed her standing there. There was no mistaking his dislike at having his speech interrupted. “Thank you for your informative report, Miss Willis,” he said dryly. “Is there anything else you’d like to add?”
Under the force of his gaze, she colored, but stood her ground.
“Well, yes, there is. If you don’t object, Captain, I’d like to continue with the reading and writing lessons I’ve been giving the women.
” When Captain Horn raised an eyebrow, she hurriedly added, “Any of the men who’d like to join us may do so. ”
That brought a chorus of laughter from the pirates, and Petey thought he saw the captain himself smile.
Then the Pirate Lord sobered. “You heard what Miss Willis said, boys. You may join the ladies for schooling if you like. But only when you’re not on watch.
” He cast a long, hard glance over the crew, then added, “You’re dismissed. Behave yourselves.”
As the crew dispersed, Petey waited on his perch, since he couldn’t get back to sanding the deck until it was cleared. While he waited, he watched the captain, whose eyes were on Miss Willis. She seemed oblivious to the fact that the captain followed her every move. But others noticed.
“No matter what the cap’n says, he wants that girl for himself,” Silas said a few feet away from Petey.
Petey stole a glance at Barnaby, who looked skeptical.
“I’m not so sure,” Barnaby said. “She’s an English noblewoman, and you know how he feels about them.”
“I don’t care if she’s the damned Queen of England. Didn’t you see how the man looked at her? Like he hadn’t had a good meal in two weeks and she was a prime bit of beef.” Silas tapped the tip of his pipe against his teeth. “Aye, he wants her all right. The trick will be gettin’ her to choose him.”
“That should be no problem. Any woman Gideon wants, he gets. If indeed he wants her, he’ll have her begging him to marry her before the week is out, mark my words.”
Petey turned to gape at the two men in horror. It was one thing to try to protect Miss Willis from a pirate by marrying her. But go against the Pirate Lord? God help him, that would be like putting his mouth in the maw of a shark!
Suddenly Barnaby seemed to feel Petey’s eyes on him. “What are you looking at, mate? Go on with you! Get to your duties!”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Petey mumbled. He walked toward where he’d left the deck bucket and picked up what the sailors called a prayer book, a palm-sized soft stone used for sanding the hard-to-reach spots of the deck.
But as he dropped to his knees and began scrubbing the teak boards with wet sand, he couldn’t stop thinking about Miss Willis.
He had to find a way to speak to her. He had to warn her to tread softly around the captain.
Because if she weren’t very careful, Petey might find himself having to do something drastic to protect her from the Pirate Lord. And he didn’t relish having a set-to with that monster of an American sea captain. Not one little bit.