Passion's Tide (36 page)

“Johnny was dismissed to do some spying, and I volunteered to escort you back to the inn
.
After all, we are married,” he said with a grin that Amber knew to be harmless.

It was nearing dusk when Logan returned to the room, balancing a large load of boxes as he shut the door with his hip and approached the bed where Amber sat
.
“What are you reading?”

She shut the leather tome and held it up for him to see
.
“Don Quixote. The maid downstairs suggested it to brush up on my Spanish
.
I’m afraid I’ve let it get quite rusty over the
past several years, and I didn’t know how long I’d be waiting for you to come back.”

“Where did you get it
from?”

“Don’t worry,” she reassured him, “I made Pax go out and get it for me
.
It gave me some time to bathe without him hovering over me
.
I don’
t know why you couldn’t have chosen Deacon for this farcical marriage
.
A
t least he wouldn’t be quite so
attentive
.”

“
T
hat’s precisely why I picked
Pax
.
I’m not comfortable with this whole escapade, and would rather
he
be appointed your guard dog, as he does seem to have developed an affection for you
.
C
ome, try this on,” he instructed, pulling the green dress from the largest of the boxes scattered on the bed
.
He held it out to her
.
“Do you like it?  You may keep it of course, once we
’ve captured Mendoza.”

She took the dress, and with his assistance stripped off the one she was w
earing and slipped the new one over her head
.
It did not get very far, however.

“After an hour of measuring,” she paused to gasp a breath, “you’d think that she’d be able to make a damn dress that fit
!
”

“Perhaps it’s the style,” he said as he circled her, examining the seams of the new garment
.
“I’m afraid
it will rip apart during dinner, and though
it
would certainly capture Mendoza’s attention, I don’t think that’s quite what we are aiming for.”

“Just get it off,” she hissed, sighing in relief as the constricting dress was removed
.
She spun around and, striding across the room attacked
the lunch tray, devouring the last bit of bread and cheese.

“What are you doing? You do remember
you will be eating dinner at Mendoza’s inn, don’t you? Once we figure out what you are going to wear, that is.”

“I know that Pax and I will be sharing a meal, but it’s unlikely that much will be eaten.”  She wiped the crumbs from her hands and walked to the wall, where she grabbed hold of the wooden pillar. “All right, I’m ready.”

“Ready for what, exactly?”

“You need to tighten my stays.”

“Will you be able to breathe?”

“Thousands of women have learned to get by without such a luxury
;
certainly I can as well
.
Now do it before I change my mi—” her words died in her throat as all air was squeezed from her lungs, the cording of her corset looped around his large
hands as he pulled tight.

“Am I hurting you?” She shook her head, holding back a cry of
discomfort
.
“Well my ribs ache just looking at you, so I’m not going any further.” He tied a neat bow and stepped back
.
“Wow.”

Straightening her back and turning, she caught sight of herself in the large looking glass by the tub
.
Her already small waist had been diminished to almost nothing, accentuating her round hips and forcing her breasts up further than she ever believed
possible
.
“Jesus Christ…” she mur
mured.

“Shall we try it again?” he offered, holding out the dress once more
.
This time it slid down her form without the slightest
trouble, and he tied the laces down the back with ease
.
“It is a beautiful color,” he remarked, moving back towards
the pile of boxes as she stared at herself in the mirror
.
“It makes your eyes look like emeralds.”

She gasped as he fastened a glittering necklace about her throat, her hand rising to finger the cold gems in astonishment
.
“Logan, where did you get this?”

“I bought it this afternoon; that’s why I was so late returning
.
I had to travel ten miles to find one I liked.”

“But why?”

“Well, Deacon brought to my attention that Mendoza’s consorts usually find trinkets missing after their night with the Spanish pirate, and so I figured if he was daft enough to not notice you wearing t
hat dress, th
e
n this beauty around your neck would surely capture his attention
.
Along with this,” he added, holding another box towards her
.
She opened it to find matching diamond a
nd emerald earrings
.
With care she removed her own simple pearl ear bobs and replaced them with Logan’s gift, placing her old ones in the box so as not to lose them
.
She turned again to the mirror, tucking a curl behind her ear.

“I hardly recognize myself.”

“Why?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, ki
ssing her bare neck
.
“You are just as beautiful as ever, only this time, you look like the royalty you deserve to be
.
And as stunning as I find you
even
stubbornly dressed in breeches and men’s shirts, I could get used to this new style,” he said wit
h a smirk as his hand dropped to brush the exposed part of her breast
.
Her pulse quickened.

“I have one more thing for thing for you.” She waited as he retrieved the last and smallest of the boxes
.

“I can’t accept anything else
.
Y
ou’ve already spent far too much.”

He chuckled
.
“You need not worry yourself about how much I spend, Amber
.
I’ve told you I have more funds than I know what to do with
.
And besides, this last p
art is perhaps the most crucial piece of all.” He opened the box and removed a gold band with a large emerald in the center with two shining diamonds on either side, and two perfectly round pearls beside them
.
“May I?”

Wordlessly she offered her left hand, and he slipped the ring onto her finger
.
She held it up, the flawless cut of the gems scattering the light in a prism of white and green
.

“It’s perfect,” she breathed, fighting down the lump rising in her throat.

“You do like it? And it fits all right?”

“I love it, and it’s
exact
ly the
right size, but why?”

“Because Mendoza targets married women, of course, and our façade would not be believable without a wedding band
.
Pax has one too, a much simpler, unadorned one.”

“Oh, of course.” She dropped her head to hide the color she felt climbing her cheeks
.
“Logan, may I have a moment alone? I have a few things to do to finish getting ready, and I would like some time to prepare myself.”

“Of course,” he said, eyeing her
as if he could read her embarrassed thoughts
.
“Take your time, I’ll just be downstairs.”

Her hands shook as he departed the room, and as the door closed she collapsed into the chair
.
She lifted her head, her gaze meeting her own reflection
.
What was she doing? She
should be in England, dancing and flirting with dukes and earls, instead of masquerading as a pirate in Spain
.
She had a duty to her family name, to the Townsend house in Boston, to
M
axwell
and everyone who worked for her
.
Not for the first time, she fel
t as if she were betraying her responsibility by getting swept up in the excitement of the lifestyle she had always craved
.
Books and bedtime stories were one thing, a way for her to escape, but actually living an adventure was thrilling and incredibly ad
dicti
ve
.

The girl in the mirror stared back at her, tears welling in the corners of her eyes
.
She wiped them away and paused, the ring catching her attention once more
.
She had been foolish to think that Logan was proposing to her, and yet, looking at
the ring she could imagi
ne spending the rest of her life with him, every day filled with adventure and passion and love.

Her heart skipped a beat
.
Love? Could that possibly be what she felt for him? Of course not
;
the man drove her insane and she loathed him
.

But deep d
own she knew that she had moved beyond hating him long ago, probably when he rescued her from the men in Tortuga, or perhaps even before that
.
She couldn’t imagine living without him, and she couldn’t picture herself returning to her
old life
.
She would do her job, they would capture Mendoza and
she would deal with leaving Logan once they reached England
.
Until then she would love him in the only way she knew how.