Chapter 22 #2
When there was a chorus of discontent, he said, “You all like roast pork, don’t you?”
The children nodded.
“Well, then.” He stood and brushed the sand from his breeches. “We must get some for you. But we’ll return before nightfall, and then I’ll tell you another story, all right?”
“Yay!” the children shouted.
When he went to Sara’s side, Ann stood up, casting him and Sara an indulgent smile as she motioned to the children to gather around her. “Come, children, let’s go down the beach. I think I saw a turtle’s nest not far from here.”
Sara cast her friend a grateful smile as the children tripped off, leaving Gideon and her alone.
“You’ll be gone all day?” she asked as soon as the children were out of earshot, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
He grinned as he came up and drew her into his arms. “You sound like a wife, and we’re not even married yet.”
“Do you mind?”
“Not for one second.” He kissed her soundly, his hands roaming to places they certainly shouldn’t. Not on an open beach, at any rate.
When he drew back, she clung to him, feeling inexplicably reluctant to let him go. It wasn’t as if they normally spent every waking moment together. But for some reason, today she couldn’t bear to part from him. “I could go with you.”
He laughed. “And do what? Load our rifles? Butcher the meat and dress it? Carry it back for us? You’ve got better things to do than trail through the brush with a group of smelly men on the hunt.”
“You know that’s not the reason you don’t want me to go,” she grumbled. “You and the others just want to be free to grunt and scratch yourselves and swig grog without having to worry about what we women will think of you.”
“Now that you mention it—”
“Oh, go on with you,” she said in a tone of mock disgust, pushing him away. “Just don’t expect to come to bed tonight stinking of grog and pig’s blood.”
“Don’t worry.” He caught her to him. “After half a day of ‘grunting and scratching myself and swigging grog,’ I’ll be more than ready for a bath.” He tugged her blouse out with one finger and peeked inside it wickedly. “And a few other pleasures I can think of.”
“Gideon!” she protested, a blush staining her cheeks. Would she ever get used to his bold behavior?
Probably not, she thought as his eyes darkened and his hand tightened on her waist. She was already trembling in anticipation of his kiss.
“Captain!” shouted a voice from inside the forest. “Are you comin’ or no?”
With a groan, he released her. “Yes, confound it. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She reached up to kiss his cheek. “Go enjoy yourself. And bring us back a good, fat porker for the wedding feast.”
“That’s my intention, my love,” he said with a smile. Then he turned and strode up the beach toward the trees.
Her heart pounded as she watched him stop to wave, then disappear into the forest. My love. He’d called her my love. It probably meant nothing, but it gave her hope. Soon he would say more than that. She was sure of it. She could hardly wait until then, so she could say the words back.
Lifting her skirts with a sigh, she wandered along the beach. She was so absorbed in her dreamy thoughts of Gideon that she didn’t notice how far she’d wandered from the others.
Until someone grabbed her from behind. Clapping a hand over her mouth, he dragged her back toward the trees. Terror struck her at once, and she began to struggle furiously in the man’s arms.
“Let go of her, Petey!” hissed a voice as she and her captor entered the woods. “You’re scaring her!”
“Don’t scream, little miss, all right?” a familiar voice murmured in her ear. “I’m letting go of you now.”
She answered by jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow.
“Ow!” he cried as he released her. “What the bloomin’ hell was that for?”
She whirled on him, eyes blazing. “For scaring the hell out of me, you dunce!”
“Hell?” said another familiar voice. Then Jordan moved from behind a tree, looking gaunt and pale and very out-of-place in his tailored frock coat and trousers. “Your vocabulary has changed somewhat since last I saw you, Sara.”
“Jordan!” Her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of her dear stepbrother. She threw herself into his open arms and buried her face in his shoulder. “Oh, Jordan, you’re here!”
“Yes, moppet, I’m here.” His arms tightened painfully around her. “Are you all right? Have those devils hurt you?” He held her at arm’s length as he scanned every inch of her. “You look all right, but I know that doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’m fine. Truly I am.”
He brushed her hair from her cheek as he searched her face. “You have no idea the tortures I’ve suffered, imagining what horrors—” He broke off. “But it doesn’t matter now. I’ve got you back at last. You’re safe now.”
Guilt struck her. Safe? How was she to tell him she’d been safe all along? Here she’d been enjoying herself, making a new life and falling in love, while Jordan had been suffering on her behalf.
It wasn’t all her fault though. Oh, if Gideon could only see her brother now, he’d understand just how unfairly he’d behaved by kidnapping them all.
Gideon. Good heavens, what was she to do about Gideon and Jordan?
She pulled away from her brother. As she groped for some way to tell him how matters had changed in the past month, she covered her confusion with questions. “How did you get here so quickly?”
“As soon as the Chastity returned to London, the captain came directly to me with his tale of the capture. I set off at once for the Cape Verdes, the last place where the ship had made port. As I worked my way through the islands, hoping for some information about where the pirates camped, I found Petey on Sao Nicolau, waiting for a berth on a ship back to England. He led me here.”
She hadn’t considered that such a thing could happen, although if she’d been thinking, it would have occurred to her that Jordan would leave as soon as the Chastity docked in England. Now he was here. And she wasn’t the least bit prepared for him. “Where’s your ship?”
“Petey did a hasty survey of the island before he left here, so he brought us into a secluded harbor where my men could wait while he and I fetched you and his fiancée.”
“Speakin’ of which, guv’nor—” Petey began.
Jordan waved him off. “Yes, go on and find her. But make it quick, before the ship is discovered. Sara and I will wait here for you.”
Good, she thought as Petey hurried off. She needed a few moments alone with Jordan without Petey’s interference.
He turned back to her, his face grim. “I know you want the other women rescued, Sara, but I had to be sure you were safe first. Once Petey finds his fiancée, we can return to the Defiant.”
She looked at him in surprise. The Defiant was the pride of his fleet. She could hardly believe he’d risked it for her.
“I would have brought the Navy right to this place,” he went on, “but I knew if I did, your reputation would be sullied forever. I had already paid the captain of the Chastity to lie about what happened during the pirate attack, so I thought I’d best bring one of my own ships and not risk a scandal. ”
“But Jordan—”
“Don’t worry,” Jordan went on, as if she hadn’t spoken. “I have enough armed men and cannon of my own to put an end to this nest of pirates. We can sink the Satyr before the bastards are even aware of what happened. Then we can—”
“No! You mustn’t do that!”
He looked at her as if she were mad, then his face altered. “Oh, yes, I’d forgotten. Petey told me that the women were sleeping aboard the ship. Well then, there’s nothing for it but to take the Satyr safely out to sea before we attack. I have enough men—”
“Jordan, please! You can’t do any of that!”
“Why not?”
She wrung her hands, searching for a way to tell him. “Because I won’t let you. I can’t let you hurt Gideon.”
“Gideon?” he echoed, his eyes glinting hard as oak in the dim sunlight that filtered through the trees. “You aren’t by any chance speaking of Captain Horn, are you? The Pirate Lord? A man who has plagued English seas for the past decade? A ruthless criminal with—”
“He’s not ruthless!” she protested. “And he’s not a criminal. Not anymore.”
“You mean, because he claims to be settling on this island? Petey told me all about the man, whom he absurdly seems to admire. But I’m not blinded by romantic legends of piracy, Sara. I see the man for what he is.”
“But he’s not what you think! He’s not this . . . this terrible creature they’ve made him out to be in the papers. He’s intelligent and kind and—”
“And he kidnaps women for sport.”
She swallowed. That one was hard to justify. “Not for sport. But yes, he did kidnap us. It was a foolish thing to do, and if you give me enough time with him, I can persuade him to release those women who wish to leave the island.”
“Give you enough time?” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Sara, this isn’t one of those puling old men on the Navy Board whom you can sweet-talk into doing what you wish! This is a war-hardened criminal!”
“You don’t know him!”
“And you do?” His eyes narrowed as he scanned her form, taking in her casual attire and bare feet. “Exactly how well do you know this pirate?”
Fighting down a blush, she averted her face from her brother. “Well enough. I love him, Jordan. He’s asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted. We’re to be married day after tomorrow.”
“Over my dead body!” he exploded. “If you think for one minute that I’ll stand by and let you make a mistake like this—”
Her gaze snapped back to his. “It’s not a mistake! I know perfectly well what I’m doing!”
“Yes, just as you knew what you were doing when you set your sights on that deuced Colonel Taylor!”
She jerked back from him. “Why you . . . you—” She broke off, dragging in great gulps of the air in an attempt to control her temper. “How dare you compare them? Colonel Taylor wanted my fortune. Gideon wants nothing from me but my affections.”