Chapter 22 #3
Jordan rubbed the back of his fisted hand, looking as if he wanted to plant it in someone’s face.
Probably Gideon’s. “Listen to yourself. You’re defending a man who’s hated the English nobility from the day he first set sail.
Do you have any idea how many Englishmen that pirate has stolen from?
How many women he has ravished, how many—”
“He would never ravish a woman—not unless she begged it of him,” she blurted out. Then furious color stained her cheeks, making her look away. Bother it all, she shouldn’t have said that, not to Jordan, of all people. “I-I mean—”
“You mean, he has seduced you,” he said, his voice thunderous. He stuck his hand in his breast pocket and pulled out a pistol. “Now I’ll have to kill him.”
She threw herself at him, holding on to his rigid arm with all her might. “If you hurt one hair of his head, I’ll never forgive you!”
“I can live with that,” he growled as he tried to thrust her away. ‘Now where is the bastard—”
“Don’t you dare! I’ll . . . I’ll betray you to the pirates before you can leave this island! I swear I will!” Gideon’s men wouldn’t harm Jordan without her say. They’d come to trust her, and perhaps even respect her.
Gideon, however, she wasn’t so sure of. If Gideon thought for one minute that Jordan had come to take her back, Gideon would throw him in irons. She must do whatever she could to keep the two men apart.
Jordan stared at her with mouth agape. “Turn me over to the pirates? You would do that?”
“I can’t let you hurt him, don’t you see?
I can’t let you bring your men in here and destroy Atlantis.
We’ve worked too hard for it. Can’t you understand?
This is a town now, a place where people live and work and have families.
You can’t just bring your . . . your cannons in here and level the place. I won’t let you!”
“It means that much to you, does it?”
“This place means everything to me,” she said quietly, and meant it.
His gaze dropped from hers as he replaced his pistol in his breast pocket. “Very well. I’ll do as you wish.”
She stared at him suspiciously. “What do you mean, ‘as I wish’?”
“I won’t bring my cannons in here. I’ll sail away without ever letting the pirates know I was here.” His gaze bore into hers. “But only on one condition.”
“Condition?”
“That you leave with me.”
Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. She should have anticipated this. Jordan had always been willing to do whatever it took to protect her, even if it meant this sort of wretched blackmail.
“Keep in mind,” he added when he saw her expression, “that my men have orders to attack unless I return to the Defiant by noon. I’m not leaving until you leave with me, even if it means watching the destruction from here on the island.”
A chill shook her. “Jordan, don’t ask this of me. There are some women here who want to leave, and you should take them, to be sure, but as for me—”
“You’re the only one I care about, Sara. I’m not leaving here without you.”
“I don’t want to leave! Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said?”
“Yes. But I don’t think you mean what you say.
” His voice turned placating. “Soldiers know of this phenomenon. It happens all the time to men in captivity. While they’re cut off from society, they lose their perspective and begin to understand and trust their captors.
After they’re rescued, however, they realize they weren’t in their right minds at the time. ”
Not in their right minds, indeed! “Oh, how can I make you see? I am in my right mind. I know what I’m doing.”
“Then prove it to me. Come with me to England, Sara. Leave these scoundrels to their colony.” He planted his hands on his hips. “If after a few weeks, you feel the same way you do now, I’ll bring you back.”
“No, you won’t. I know you, Jordan. Even when you’ve been proven wrong, you don’t acknowledge it.
You’ll take me from here and then make excuses about why you can’t bring me back.
” She fixed him with a pleading gaze. “If you force me to leave here with you, it’ll destroy me, do you hear?
I’ll hate you for it. I promise you that. ”
Her words made him flinch, but only for a second.
Then his face resumed its implacable expression.
“Better you hate me now, than live to regret staying here. If you don’t come with me, I promise I’ll take every one of those pirates prisoner and bring them back to England, and the women with them. I have enough men and arms to do it.”
She shuddered at the thought of what havoc his men and arms might wreak on the island. How could she stop him, make him see that she knew what she was doing?
Suddenly, the sound of branches crunching underfoot made them both start. Petey approached them through the trees, tugging Ann along with him.
“There you are,” Jordan growled. “It’s about time. We have to leave.”
Petey glanced at Ann, then squared his shoulders. “We’re stayin’ here, Ann and me. We’re not goin’ back to England with you, guv’nor.”
Jordan clenched his fists. “Have you all gone mad? What did this pirate do, cast a spell over you?”
“I can’t go back to England, milord,” Ann whispered, looking a little in awe of Jordan.
“They’ll just send me off to New South Wales again.
Or else I’ll have to spend the rest of my days runnin’ from the magistrate.
And Petey don’t want to risk it.” She cast her love a shy smile.
“He’d rather stay here with me than go off to England without me. ”
“Look here, Miss Morris,” Jordan said, “I’m sure I can speak to a few people and ensure you don’t have to suffer transportation again.”
“It ain’t just that, my lord,” Petey broke in.
“It’s . . . well, this is a right nice place.
I was only here a day the last time, but it was long enough to see that it would make a pleasant home.
I got nothin’ waitin’ back in England for me.
Tommy don’t need me. He’s got his own family.
It would take me years of sailin’ to make enough blunt to buy even a little cottage, and I’d be separated from Ann a good bit of the time.
But here, if I don’t mind some hard work, I can have everythin’ I want.
” He gazed adoringly down at Ann. “Everythin’. ”
“And what do you think that pirate captain will do when he discovers you here after we’re gone?” Jordan bit out.
Petey’s eyes went round. “Truly, my lord, I don’t know. But he’s a man of reason. Once I explain as how I had to do my duty by Miss Willis an’ all, he’ll understand.”
Sara wasn’t so sure of that, but had no desire to dampen Petey’s enthusiasm. “You see what I mean?” she snapped at Jordan. “Even your servant doesn’t want to leave Atlantis.”
“Atlantis.” Jordan snorted. “What a name for a pirate’s den. The Greeks would turn over in their graves.” He glared at Petey. “Stay here then. I only hope you live past morning to enjoy it.”
He turned to his stepsister. “But you, my dear, are coming with me. Or I swear I’ll hunt that deuced pirate captain down and sever his charming head from his treacherous body!”
She studied her stepbrother’s face with a sinking heart. He really meant it. If she didn’t get him away from here, he’d kill Gideon or take him prisoner, which would be as good as killing him. Not to mention what Jordan’s men might do to the island and its inhabitants.
“If I go with you, will you swear to leave without harming anyone? And will you swear not to tell a soul about this place?” It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances.
Bringing Petey here had been like opening Pandora’s box, and she couldn’t reverse the damage completely.
“I can’t prevent my men from revealing the location of the island,” he growled.
She glared at him. “If the Earl of Blackmore can’t do it, then I don’t know who can.”
“Sara, you try my patience—”
“The men don’t know who lives on this island, miss,” Petey broke in, earning himself one of Jordan’s darkest scowls.
“His lordship didn’t tell them what they were about before they reached the Cape Verde islands, because he wanted to keep ‘em from spreadin’ scandal about you later.
And he kept quiet afterward to prevent any of ‘em from jumpin’ ship in Santiago out of fear of meetin’ the Pirate Lord.
Most sailors is terrified of Cap’n Horn. ”
“Good, let’s keep it that way.” A measure of relief swept through her.
If Petey were right, perhaps she could at least keep other men from returning here to capture or kill the pirates later.
She faced her brother, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not going with you unless you swear to leave the island unscathed and keep your silence about it, especially with your men. ”
Jordan cast her a searching glance. “If I do, you’ll return to England? You’ll forget this nonsense?”
“I’ll return to England, but I won’t forget a blessed thing. I fully intend to take you up on your offer to bring me back here once I’ve convinced you that my feelings won’t change.”
“Devil take it, Sara—”
“That’s my bargain, Jordan. Do you accept it?”
He glanced away, staring through the trees to the brilliant sunlit surf. Then he snapped his gaze back to her. “Yes. Anything to have you off this cursed island.”
“I must have your word as a gentleman on it, do you hear? I won’t have you dropping broad hints to your friends in the Navy about where they can find a certain pirate’s den.”
“You always were a deuced stubborn woman, you know that?”
“I learned it from you.”
He sighed, raking his hands through his auburn hair. “That’s probably true. All right, I swear by my honor that I won’t reveal this island’s whereabouts. Now can we leave?”
“What about the other women? The ones who don’t wish to stay?”
“I thought everyone was happy in your paradise,” he said sarcastically.
She dropped her gaze. “Some of the women . . . are not suited to this place. Can’t we take them with us?”
“Not unless you want to alert the pirates to our presence. We were lucky to find you alone. All it takes is one woman to give the alarm. Then I’d be taken prisoner and my men would attack.” He lowered his voice. “Of course, if you’d allow me to land my men, we could easily rescue the women—”
Her head snapped up. “Absolutely not.”
“Then let’s go. Let’s leave this cursed place.”
“In a moment.” She turned to Ann. “Tell the women I’ll be back. When I return, anyone who wishes to leave may do so.” Removing her locket, she held it a moment, then kissed it and handed it to Ann. “And give this to Gideon. Say I’ll be back for it. Make sure you tell him that, do you understand?”
“Sara,” Jordan broke in, “that belonged to your mother.”
“Exactly.” A lump formed in her throat, but she ignored it. She would get her locket back one day soon. She would! “Gideon knows what it means to me, and he knows I’d never leave it behind. I can think of no other way to reassure him that I’ll return.”
How inadequate that would be in the wake of his mother’s betrayal. Her leaving here so secretively would destroy him. He might never forgive her, and the possibility of that made her want to weep.
She faced Petey, intending to have him tell Gideon that she’d left under protest. Then she paused. No, if Gideon knew she’d been forced from here, nothing would stop him from following her to England. She couldn’t have that. He must believe she’d left of her own free will.
“Tell Gideon that I’ll return, no matter what, but don’t say a word to him of my bargain with Jordan, do you hear? He’ll follow me to England and get himself hanged, and anyone who goes with him. Swear you won’t tell him the truth of why I left. Both of you, swear it.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Petey nodded. Then Ann followed suit.
Sara’s heart ached at the sight. By making them swear this, she was ensuring that Gideon would suffer great pain.
But she’d rather he suffered some pain than be taken prisoner the minute he entered English waters.
In England, his fate would be short, cruel, and final. She couldn’t even bear to think of it.
“Come on, Sara,” Jordan said impatiently. “My men have orders to attack if I don’t return to the Defiant by noon.”
“All right.” She hugged Ann, then Petey. “I will be back,” she told both of them tearfully. “It may take months, but I’ll return to Atlantis as soon as I can.”
As she walked off with Jordan, he cast her an angry glance. “You act as if you’re going off to your execution instead of returning to the arms of your family and your rightful home.”
“The arms of my family? I used to think of you as family, Jordan.” She stared stonily ahead, scarcely noticing where they walked. “But now? Now I regard you as my jailer. And I’m afraid I will regard you that way until the day you bring me back here.”
For once, her brother had the wisdom not to retort.