Passion's Tide (7 page)

From his stance on the quarterdeck of the
Imperial Shadow
,
the tall pirate Captain surveyed the scene
.
The sound of striking steel rang clear on the deck of the
Queen Charlotte
as the battle wore on
.
Sailors and pirates alike lay bleeding,
though
the number of pirates injured was far less
.
Though the fighting continued, the Captain could tell that the sailors
were growing
weary, and
he
knew that the struggle was drawing to a close.

Checking to ensur
e that his hat was in place, he straightened his black coat and strode to the side of the ship
.
He felt a familiar rush of adrenaline, and his hand automatically moved to the leather baldric around his waist, his fingers resting on his pistol
.
As he quelled his boyish excitement, he climbed to the railing and jumped down onto the smaller boat, which lay flush against the warship’s side, pulled tight and secured with grappling lines
.

He glanced around him and with a curse noticed the body of Daniel, the ship’s carpenter, lying face down in a puddle of blood
.
He was bending over to turn the body when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

With lightning reflexes he pulled out his cutlass and spun around, burying it to the hilt in his attacker’s abdomen
.
Surprise registered on the man’s dark face as he glanced down at the blood pouring out of the fatal wound in his stomach, his sword slipping from his hands and landing on the deck with a clang
.
With a gurgle he fell to his knees, swayed, then collapsed at the Captain’s feet.

Looking up, the Captain
saw
he had gained the attention of everyone on board
.
“Tie them up,” he instructed with a nod at his men as he retrieved his cutlass and proceeded to clean it on the breeches of the dead sailor
.
He stood and replaced it at his belt, then glanced around at the pale faces star
ing
at him in fear
.
“Unless anyone else would like to take their chances with me?” The remaining sailors were quickly gathered and bound, their hands tied in front of them
.

The Captain began pac
ing before his prisoners. “As I’m sure you know by now, I am Captain Logan Jeffries, also known as
e
l Tigre.” He
smiled
.
“I’m sure my reputation precedes me
.
Despite what you may have heard, however, I can be a merciful man
.
Had you surrendered when I fired the warning shot, the lives of many of your
crewmates
, and unfortunately some of my own
, could have been spared
.
And yet, I am willing to overlook this and offer you a choice: you may join my crew or you may remain on your ship, knowing that after we take what we desire it will be burned
.
The longboat I will leave, assuming you can get it in the water before the ship goes up. We may be close enough to the mainland yet, but are you willing to risk it? The choice is yours, gentlemen.”

One man leapt to his feet
.
“I am with you, Captain!” he shouted, bringing his bound hands to his forehead in a kind of salute
.
Logan nodded and the man’s bonds were cut,
allowing
him to go stand by the other pirates
.

Of the twenty-five remaining sailors, seventeen opted to join his crew
.
The others decided they would rather take their chances with the longboat then serve under a pirate
.

The last willing sailor’s hands were being freed when two pirates burst forth from the hatch, a very surprising prisoner in tow
.
The men on deck were stunned into silence, while Logan himself reeled back at the sight of the beautiful redhead.

“We found her in their Cap’n’s quarters!” announced Buck with a triumphant grin.

“Oy, she’s a feisty chit, to be sure!
Tried
to shoot us, she did
.
Too bad for her the pistol had no bullets left!” Jean leered at the girl, tightening his hold on her wrist.

Amber
responded by stomping down on her captor’s foot as hard as she could
.
With a yelp he released his hold on her and she started running
.

To
her
dismay she did not get very far
.
During her quick attempt at escape Logan had crossed the deck in a few strides, and now she found herself faced with a hard wall of chest and broad shoulders
.
Her gaze traveled upwards and found the man to be pleasantly attractive,
despite
the fact
that
he was a pirate and blocking her only chance at freedom.

“Who the hell are you and what in the name of heaven are you doing on this ship?” Logan found himself asking, still recovering from the shock of seeing a well-dressed woman
.

“My business is none of your concern,
e
l Tigre
,” she spit back
.
If looks could kill, Logan was certain he would have dropped dead right where he was standing, so poisonous was her scowl.
I
ntrigued, Logan flashed her a smile.

The friendly gesture temporarily disarmed Amber, and she faltered
.
Logan used this to his advantage and closed the gap between them, then lifted a hand to her hair, still
smiling
.
“Are you going to tell me your name?” he asked as he twirled a lock around his finger.

She didn’t answer, but raised her hand quickly to slap him
.
Just as quickly however, he reached out and captured her wrist, before her palm could connect with his cheek
.
Logan cocked an eyebrow at her boldness.

“I think I understand now,” he chided her
.
“Who else, besides a common wench, would travel on a ship full of sailors and have the audacity to strike a pirate?  Or, perhaps you were the Captain’s mistress,” he added as his gaze raked her body, pausing at the site where her creamy skin all but spilled out of her bodice
.
Her face reddened, and she struggled to pull her arm free
.
He tightened his grip
.
“Answer my question, lass.”

“Lady Amber Townsend, m
y
Captain
.”

“Lady? I recognize a
Boston
accent when I hear one, Miss Townsend.”

She lifted her chin in defiance. “I owe you no explanation.”

“Makes no difference to me
.
I’ll find out sooner or later anyway.” He motioned for Buck to step forward and then loosened his fingers from around her wrist
.
“Take her to my cabin.”

For the second time, Amber hesitated
.
“Your cabin?”

“Aye,” Logan told her with a
smirk
, “you didn’t think we’d let you burn with the ship, did you?” The tall pirate named
Buck approached her and reached for her arm, but she planted her feet and looked Logan squarely in the eye.

“I’m not going anywhere without my t
hings.”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to argue with me,
”
Logan informed her
.

She shook her head, sending red curls bouncing. “I don’t care
.
I refuse to take one more step until you promise me that you will retrieve my trunks from the cabin downstairs.”

Anger flashed in Logan’s grey eyes
.
“Are you trying to tell me that you will fight off every single one of my men and go down with this ship, all because I won’t let you take your dresses? I think perhaps you are forgetting that you’re my prisoner now.”

Amber glared at him and folded her arms across her chest
.
“I’m not moving.”

One pirate strode over to her with a snarl and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her so that she was forced to look at him
.
“Listen here lass, don’t be sassing the Cap’n
.
If I were you I’d be plumb happy to be alive right now! I wouldn’t be trying his patience.”

“That’s enough, Jackson,” Logan told him coolly
.
“Let her go.”  He took off his hat, ran a hand through his hair and stared at her. Then he sighed
.
“Pax, Deacon, please see to it that Miss Amber-sorry,
Lady
Amber’s things are brought to my cabin.” He turned to her with a hint of a smile
.
“Happy?”

She scoffed
.
“Hardly.”

With a nod from Logan, Buck led the young woman towards the side of the ship, where she climbed onto the railing and scrambled up the rope
ladder
.
Buck watched her ascent with puzzlement, dismissing his plan to call out to someone on deck to lower the chair to raise her the
six
feet that the
Imperial Shadow
stood above the
Queen Charlotte
.
He scratched his dark beard and waited till he saw the skirt of her dress disappear over the side of the ship, then shrugged and climbed up after her
.

Logan had also watched the young woman climb
.
She was unlike any other woman he had ever met, and he was intrigued. Who was to say whether her story was true? Her dress seemed to be of fine material, and the pearls in her ears looked authentic. Then again, what purpose could she possibly have on a merchant ship?

Shaking his
head he turned and began issuing orders
.
Jackson was to board the
Imperial Shadow
and lower the plank so
the
pirates would have an easier time relocating the goods onto their own ship, and he sent a handful of men to search the hold
.
The sailors who had joined the crew jumped at the opportunity to help, eagerly showing the pirates where things were located about the
vessel
.

Logan was pleased to learn that one of the sailors, a tall, good-natured man they called Noah, was a carpenter
.
After pulling him aside and talking to him for a few minutes, he was confident that he would be a good enough replacement for Daniel
.
He sent Noah to help load the ship then called the ship’s doctor, Piers, to tend to the wounded men on both sides
.

Hearing a grunt, Logan turned towards the quarterdeck, where two pir
ates struggled to push a large black trunk through the hatch
.
Finally it landed on the deck, both men heaving.

“What’s wrong, boys? Don’t tell me two strapping young lads such as yourselves need help carrying a bunch of petticoats and bloomers?”

“These ain
’
t no petticoats, Captain,” Pax informed him, his face red and splotchy, his voice edged with anger.

“Nonsense
.
What else would a woman carry with her?”

“Come over here and have a look-see,” Deacon advised him
.

“Ah, I see you wasted no time in breaking the lock, gentlemen
.
This ought to make a great impression on the
l
ady.” The pirates had the decency to blush.

“Well, you see, we kind of busted it trying to shove it through the door,” Deacon said.

“And we thought we had a right to know what we was carrying, was all,” Pax added
.
“And look!”  With dramatic flourish, he threw open the lid and revealed the contents of the trunk
.
Logan began laughing.

“Well, somehow I’m not surprised
.
Makes sense that the stubborn girl would be educated,” he said, bending down to sift through the books
.
“Though I still don’t understand what she was doing sailing on a merchant vessel.”

“Beats me, but I don’t think we should be takin’ the lady with us
.
It’s awful bad luck to have a woman on a ship, you know.”

Logan stood and shut the trunk. “I don’t believe for one minute that you would leave the girl to burn with the ship, Pax
.
You of all people couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see a beautiful woman every day.”