Chapter 13 #2
“She was cryin’,” Petey interjected. “I seen her come up here alone, and I was worried she might hurt herself, so I followed her and found her sittin’ all by herself on that tree there and sobbin’.
” He cast Ann a tender look. “She thought you and me was in love. I couldn’t let her go on thinkin’ it, not when it hurts her so.
” His voice lowered. “Especially since it ain’t true. ”
The look that passed between Ann and Petey then was so sweet that a lump swelled in Sara’s throat. Suddenly she wished it was she and Gideon sharing that look.
As soon as she thought it, she groaned. Gideon indeed! The man knew nothing of affection or sweetness. All he wanted was to own her body, and he wanted that only because she wouldn’t give it to him. He was like a little boy coveting his playmate’s toys.
Ann’s gaze was on Sara now. “Since Petey’s explained it all to me, I understand what he has to do.
Truly I do.” It sounded as if she were trying to convince herself.
Dropping her gaze, Ann smoothed her skirts with her plump hands.
“There’s no way out of it. Petey must marry you to keep you safe from the pirates. I see that now.”
To keep you safe from the pirates. Ann said not a word about being kept safe from the pirates herself. She just accepted the notion that Sara was somehow more important, that Sara deserved more protection than she did.
Never had Sara been so aware of the unfairness of England’s class system.
Here was a woman whose every chance for happiness had been snatched from her, a woman whose only crime had been in stealing to buy medicine for her mother.
She’d lost her freedom and her mother before she’d even been old enough to find a husband or have children.
At last she’d found a man she cared for, one who obviously cared for her, and he too was to be snatched from her for the most frivolous of reasons—so Sara wouldn’t face a scandal if by some slim chance she were rescued from Gideon and his men.
It wasn’t right. Despite her talk of fairness and equality, Sara had tacitly accepted Petey’s sacrifice as if it were her due, without even stopping to ask if it were what he truly wanted.
Well, not anymore. “Peter isn’t going to marry me.” Sara’s voice was firm. “If I’d guessed how you two felt about each other, I wouldn’t have agreed to this arrangement. Now that I know, I certainly can’t go through with it.”
“But miss—” Petey began.
“That’s my final word, Petey. We don’t know what the future will hold, and I won’t let you marry me when you love another.” When he opened his mouth to protest again, she cut him off. “We might be here for years. You never know. It’s foolish to behave as if this might end any day.”
A hopeful look passed over Ann’s face, but Petey crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest. “And what about the Pirate Lord? He’s got his eye on you, y’know. If he thinks y’re free—”
“I’ll deal with that in my own way,” Sara said, hoping she sounded braver than she felt.
“I don’t like it,” Petey grumbled, then noticed how the hope faded from Ann’s face. He moved swiftly to her side and slid his arm around her waist. “It’s not that I don’t want to marry you, love. It’s just that I got a duty to Miss Willis.”
Sara sighed. Petey would never relent as long as he thought she needed protecting. And certainly from the way Gideon had spoken to her that morning, he intended to pursue her no matter what.
She went very still. Actually, that could work in her favor. “I know what we can do. We can use Gideon’s stubbornness against him. After all, he said he would do whatever he must to have me.”
“When did he—” Petey began.
“Never mind that,” she said quickly. “The point is, as long as I insist on choosing you, he can’t force me to choose him.
” Her words came out more quickly as her idea took shape.
“Indeed, the more I resist, the more likely he is to put off making the women choose until I’m free to choose him.
And since that day will never come, we can stall him endlessly. ”
“Endlessly?” Petey sounded skeptical. “Beggin’ your pardon, miss, but I can’t see the Pirate Lord waitin’ on your leisure forever. He’s bloomin’ stubborn.”
Truer words were never spoken. “Still, all we need is time to think of a plan, a way to get us all freed.” She cast the couple a fond glance.
“In any case, it’s better than forcing you two into a miserable situation.
” She faced Ann. “What do you think? Can you pretend to be strangers when you’re around the others? ”
Ann bobbed her head. Clearly, she’d do anything to hold on to Petey.
“Good. That’s what we’ll do then.”
Petey tightened his grip on Ann. “And if the pirate surprises us? If he grows tired of workin’ on you and turns to some other lass? If he abides by his promise to make the women choose husbands in a week? What then?”
“Then the two of you will marry, and I’ll fend for myself as best I can.” When he scowled, she added in solemn tones, “You know that’s the only thing to do, Petey. Do you really want to see Ann given to some man without her consent? Because that’s what Gideon will do if she doesn’t choose anyone.”
That apparently decided him. In a gruff voice that held a hint of relief, he agreed to her plan.
“Good. Now why don’t you two go on back before someone realizes you’re both missing? And you’d better separate before you reach the beach.”
“Aren’t you comin’ with us?” Petey asked.
“In a minute. I want to explore the area.”
Petey looked as if he might protest, but when she cast him a mutinous glance, he shrugged and led Ann off toward the stream.
The truth was, she wasn’t ready to face Gideon again.
Those pirate’s eyes of his seemed to see right through her civilized veneer, to show it for the thin protection it was.
She was still reeling from his admission this morning—that he’d turned down a night with Queenie because he wanted her.
She needed a few moments alone to prepare herself, to marshal her wits for the battles he forced her to fight. A few moments, little enough to ask.
She should’ve known Gideon would never allow her even that.
“They make a pretty couple, don’t they?” came a husky male voice behind her, startling her nearly out of her skin.
“What?” Whirling, she found the pesky object of her thoughts ducking beneath the low-hanging branch of a gnarled oak to enter the clearing.
Instantly, her heartbeat accelerated to a panicky rhythm. How long had he been there? How much had he heard? Did he know what she and Petey were planning?
“Wh-who makes a pretty couple?” she stammered.
“Ann Morris and Petey, of course.” He leaned back against the oak, looking irritatingly sure of himself. “I just saw them headed down the stream.”
The faintest sprinkling of sunlight through the branches limned his dark hair with golden highlights, and his trousers hung low on his hips, exposing far too much of his muscle-taut belly.
If not for those trousers, he would certainly look the part of the first Adam, all well-wrought sinew and tanned skin.
An image of him in a fig leaf sprang into her mind before she squelched it.
Jerking her gaze from the tempting picture he made, she focused on the break in the trees through which Ann and Petey had disappeared.
How heartily she wished she’d gone with them.
Then she wouldn’t be trying to lie about them to a half-naked man who stirred the most unladylike thoughts in her.
“Yes, well … Ann and Petey are good friends, you know. He thinks of her as a little sister. He looks after her.”
Gideon pushed away from the oak. “The same way he looks after you?”
“Yes, of course,” she babbled, then corrected herself. “No, I mean, not the same exactly. His affection for her is more … more brotherly.”
“Brotherly?” He stepped closer, his booted feet barely making a sound on the patchwork quilt of dead leaves and live brush. Skepticism laced his tone. “It’s a pity she feels less sisterly.”
Sara’s gaze shot to his. How did he know that?
At her look of surprise, he shrugged. “Ann practically worships Hargraves. Told me so herself a couple of nights ago. I even got the impression that she hoped to have him for herself.” His eyes narrowed, scanning her face. “It must be breaking her heart to see him with you.”
Sometimes Gideon was far too perceptive for his own good. Her blood pounded in her ears. She mustn’t let him guess the truth! “You obviously misunderstood Ann. Really, Gideon, she thinks of Petey as a brother. I’m sure of it.”
“Then why was it her he escorted down to the beach, and not you?”
She swallowed. This was becoming thorny.
“I told them I wanted to be alone.” That, at least, was true.
“After days cooped up on a ship with hundreds of other people, I needed space to breathe. Surely you can understand that. With all the women demanding so much and the children always asking questions, I just couldn’t take it anymore.
I mean, days and days of…” She trailed off.
Good heavens, she was babbling, and whenever she started babbling, he suspected her of lying.
She shot him a quick glance, but he no longer seemed to be paying any attention to her. His gaze had shifted to a spot above her right shoulder.
“What is it?” she asked, starting to turn.
“Don’t move!” Though he gave the command in a low voice, he spoke so forcefully she obeyed at once. When his expression grew grim and he still kept his gaze fixed beyond her shoulder, a shiver of fear skittered down her spine.
She kept her voice as low as his. “Tell me what’s going on, Gideon.”
“Listen carefully, and don’t panic.” With his eyes still on that wretched spot behind her, he slid his right hand slowly to the hilt of his saber.
“What am I not supposed to be panicking about?” He was scaring her to death, the wretch, and probably for nothing!