Passion's Tide (39 page)

She stumbled to her feet, allowing him to catch her
.
“Very well, I suppose a few minutes couldn’t hurt
.
I am quite sl
eepy.” He slid an arm about her waist to steady her as he led her towards the back staircase
.
Amber made certain to trip over more than one step, causing him to tighten his hold on her and think her much drunker than she
was
.

When they reached his room she looked around
.
A large bed, an armoire against the wall, several dressers, a separate area for bathing and for eating, and an open door that led onto a balcony
.
She shivered as a breeze blew in
.
“Cold?” he asked, moving to close the door.

She grabbed his arm to stop him
.
“I left my wrap downstairs! It must have fallen beneath my chair
.
What if somebody finds it and takes it?”

“Relax querida, I shall go get it for you
.
You just sit down and rest, and help yourself to another drink
.
I w
ill return momentarily.” She waited until he left the room and let out a sigh of relief
.
Just being around him tried her patience, and it took every ounce of willpower not to let on how much she despised him. He was the exact opposite of Logan, and it was strange to her that two men who shared the same profession could be so radically different.

Wondering where Logan was now, she poured a glass of wine and retrieved the small pouch from the front of her bodice, where she had concealed it before leaving her inn. Hearing footsteps, she quickly dum
ped the herbs into the drink and shoved the bag under a chair cushion
.

The door creaked open
.
“Querida, are you feeling any better?” She dropped into the chair just as he entered the room.

“Yes, a little bit, thank you.”

“Good
.
I found your shawl, and I brought you another bottle of sparkling wine
.
Shall I pour you a glass?” She nodded and at once wished she knew where it came from
.
If Deacon had given the bottle to Mendoza she could safely drink it without w
orrying, but chances were Mendo
za grabbed it while the Irishman was distracted
.
Which means
, she thought to herself as she accepted the glass,
there could be anything in it
.

He watched her raise the glass to her mouth
.
“Let’s have a toast,” she suggested
abruptly, as she stood and stumbled to the dresser where she had left his drink.

He lifted an eyebrow
.
“To what shall we toast?”

“To new friendships,” she offered, handing it to him.

“To new friendships,” he replied and clinked his glass against hers
.
She lifted hers again and tipped it against her closed lips, careful not to let a single drop of the liquid into her mouth
.

She watched him from the corner of her eye as she began to wander around the room
.
“This is a lovely inn
.
How long have you bee
n staying here?”

“I come and go when my work allows it, but I have been frequenting this establishment for about seven years now.”

“Do you know much about the town?  Paxton won’t let me leave our inn during the day when he’s not around, but maybe if you talk to him he’ll l
et me explore
.
If I’m with you, of course.”

“Of course.”

A bead of sweat trickled down her cheek
.
She hoped that he would finish his drink and begin feeling the effects of the herbs soon, as she was finding it harder and harder to ac
t relaxed in
his presence
.
And how long could she keep on pretending to drink before he noticed that the volume in her glass never changed?

Another glance in his direction revealed him sitting calmly at the table, legs crossed, watching her
.
She had to
keep stalling
.
“You’ve been so kind to me tonight, I really have enjoyed myself
.
It’s been a wonderful evening.”

“Yes, well, unfortunately it seems to have taken a bad turn.”

Her nails left half
-
moon shaped indents in her palms as she turned towards him
.
“W
hat do you mean?”

“Our new friendship has an element of dishonesty, for if you had been drinking as much as you appeared to be, including that drugged glass I just handed you, you would be unconscious by now
.
And if I had been drinking this one, judg
ing by the smell, I’d be in much the same state,” he declared, tipping his full flagon of wine onto the carpet
.

Warning bells went off in her head and her stomach plummeted, but she forbade herself to give up
.
Logan was relying on her
.
“Señor, I do not
know what you are talking about
.
I have always had a strong constitution about me, my mother said it came from my Irish roots.” She sauntered up to him and traced her finger down the length of his unbuttoned waistcoat
.
“But if you had wanted me to act very wicked, you only had to ask
.
There was no need to get me drunk.”

“Cut the act, you little bitch
.
Where is Jeffries?”

“I don’t know what you are ta—” He raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face, sending her reeling to the floor
.
She gain
ed her balance and quickly hiked up her skirt to grab her knife, but was stopped by the cold metal of a pistol pressed against her head, and the sound of it being cocked.

Logan had sensed that things were beginning to unravel when Mendoza ha
d reappeared after going back downstairs
.
He had been watching the two of them closely the entire night, and now was listening from his position on the balcony
.
He heard the pirate offer Amber another drink, and he prayed that she would have the sense not to take it,
but he reassured himself that she was a clever girl and would figure out a way to distract him
.

Mendoza’s confession came as a cold shock to him but he knew that revealing himself now would be a deadly mistake for both of them, and so
he waited.

Then he heard a pistol being cocked and his heart stopped dead in his chest.

Mendoza’s oily voice came calling through the open door
.
“El Tigre, you might as well crawl out from whatever rock you’re hiding under, unless you want her returned to you in pieces.”
Every thought Logan had about waiting for the opportune moment vanished, and he rushed into the room.

Amber struggled in Mendoza’s arms when she saw Logan, but the pirate’s grip around her hair only tightened, the pistol only presse
d deeper into her temple.

“Ah, there you are
.
I shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve gotten a whore to do your work for you, Jeffries
.
Y
ou
always
were a cowardly sort.”

“Let her go, Mendoza, your problem is with me,” he said, stepping forward.

“Drop your sword, and your gun on the floor.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Amber cried, trying to break away, but Mendoza caught her before she could escape and brought the butt of his pistol down against her head
.
A
stream of blood began trickling fro
m her scalp.

Logan immediately disarmed himself and stood, palms open
.
“Let her go, Mendoza.”

“Not a chance, Jeffries
.
And if you go for the knife in your boot I will blow her head off.”  He saw the fear on Logan’s face and laughed, jerking Amber back against him
.
“I must say
that I’m shocked that after all these years your
weakness
turn
ed
out to be a
woman
.
I think I’ll watching enjoy your face as I kill her, and then,” he added, pointing the gun at Logan, “I’ll kill you.”

“You bastard,” Amb
er spat, straining against him.

“Amber, be quiet.”

“She’s a mouthy bitch, isn’t she? But I have to admire her spirit
.
I bet she’s a wildcat on her back.” He appeared thoughtful
.
“Perhaps I’ll keep her for myself after I’ve killed you
.
A
fter all, she could be fun.”

“I have a better idea,” Logan said.

“You’re hardly in a position to barter with me
,
e
l Tigre, seems to me I hold all the cards.”

“Release Amber and take me instead.”

“Now why the hell would I do something like that?”

“Because,” Logan said, crossing his arms over his chest, “you know that the price on my head is nearly triple the amount on yours, but only if I’m brought in alive
.
Your government wants me for their own purposes.”

Mendoza trained the gun on Logan again
.
“And?”

“And if yo
u let her go, if you let her leave here tonight, untouched, I will go with you willingly
.
Without a fight, as your prisoner.”

“Logan no, you can’t!”

The Spaniard ignored her
.
“How do I know you aren’t pulling another trick?”

Logan reached down slowly
and pulled out the knife that was wedged in his boot, placing it on top of his belt with his sword and pistol
.
He stood
.
“I’m unarmed, search me if you don’t believe me.”

Mendoza’s gaze narrowed as he transferred his gun to his other hand and put hi
s fingers into his mouth, letting out a shrill whistle
.
At once a burly man lumbered into the room
.
“Check him for weapons,” Mendoza ordered
.

Amber watched helplessly as Logan was roughly patted down
.
“He’s clean.”

“Tie him.”

When his hands we
re bound in front of him he was pushed to his knees
.
Amb
er’s tears ran red with the blood that
seeped
from her wound, but her fear far out
weighed
her pain
.
She longed to reach out to him, to stop this nightmare from unfolding further, but she was paralyzed
.
With two guns aimed at him she dare not
move
.

“You have me,” Logan said, “now let her leave.”

Mendoza laughed
.
“With you bound and helpless, who’s to stop me from taking what I want?” Her breath hitched as his rough hands grabbed her breast and kneaded it painfully.

Logan’s eyes took on a
murderous glint
.
“I swear to
G
od
,
Mendoza, if you touch her I will throw myself onto the first sword I see, ruining your chances at getting the bounty, and the satisfaction of doing it yourself.”

Mendoza sighed
.
“You’re lucky, girl, that I so badly want t
o watch the life drain from his body,” he said as he pulled the sash from around his hips and bound her hands.

“She doesn’t need to be tied if you’re letting her go.”

“She does if I do
n’t want her trying to stab me again,” Mendoza explained as he spun her around to face him, his breath warm on her face as he spoke
.
“If I see you or any of his men in this country again I will kill him
.
That includes those kids and the bartender downstairs
.
You’ll find him unconscious in the courtyard, I’ll wager
.
Now, o
ne final thing
…
” His smile widened as he reached for the clasp at the back of her neck, flicking it open with a finger and allowing the heavy necklace to drop into his palm
.
“Hold onto this for me, will you?” He tossed the diamonds towards the other man,
who caught them with a smirk
.
His grip on her loosened and she broke free, stumbling to Logan and falling before him.

“Please don’t do this,” she sobbed as he raised his r
estrained hands and wiped the blood from her face. Mendoza rolled his eyes.

“Love, I need you to trust me,” Logan whispered
.
“You have to leave.”

“I can’t leave you here!”

“You have no choice
.
I need to know that you’re safe.”

“That’s enough,” Mendo
za interrupted as he hauled her to her feet.

“Do as I said Amber, go home.”

Mendoza dragged her towards the door, disregarding her attempts to fight him off
.
She could not tear her gaze from Logan, even when she was shoved into the hallway
.
“Leave,” Mendoza commanded
.
“Get in your little ship and go home, just like he said
.
There’s no
place for you in this world.” He stepped back into the room, his hand on the door
.
“And if you’re seen again he’ll die.”

Her heart heavy with despair, she looked to Logan one last time
.
His eyes seemed to be trying to communicate with her, but her visio
n was blurred and she could not decipher his meaning
.
Panic filled her that she would never know what he intended to say to her
,
but at that moment he lif
ted his chin, and in a calm voice stated: “
E
go mos reperio vos.”

Before she could translate it in her head, Mendoza’s man knocked Logan to the ground and the door was slammed in her face
.