Romancing the Pirate (7 page)

The wind was so light it was almost nonexistent. Nevertheless, Alicia savored the feel of the fresh air upon her face. It had been a long, dull afternoon below and she relished the whisper of breeze that brushed her face in a salty kiss. The ship itself was still, something else Alicia was grateful for. Lanterns glowed along the sides of the ship, casting more than enough light for Alicia to see the obstacles in her path. Holding her cup solidly by the handle, she stepped over coiled lengths of rope, all sorts of different lines, and made her way to the bow.

Alicia leaned against the side of the ship and watched the reflection of the half-moon ripple on the dark water. Mesmerized by the gentle movement, she studied the play of light, how the moon undulated with the waves.

“Lassy, ye’d best get off to bed, before yer mother realizes ye aren’t in yer bed the way yer supposed to be.”

“But, Joe, one more minute won’t hurt anything.”

Alicia gasped. She’d remembered. Tears stung her eyes. She’d had a real memory. Before reading Jacob’s letter, she’d believed she’d never been at sea. Now not only did she
know
differently, she
remembered
differently. Excitement coursed through her and she closed her eyes, pushed for more memories.

None came.

Pressing one hand over her eyes, she fought the disappointment. It wasn’t so bad, she told herself. It was more than she’d had a few minutes ago. And hopefully seeing Samantha would bring back more. She took a trembling breath, followed it with a sip of ginger tea. Maybe tomorrow she’d remember something else.

Feeling sad, she set her mug down and lay beside it on the deck. It was hard beneath her back but she didn’t care. She needed something else to think about besides the fact that she had so many missing pieces of her past.

Looking between the triangle of sails, she had a clear view of the stars. The heavens seemed to twinkle just for her. She’d never seen anything so beautiful. The sheer quantity of stars was stunning, and soon her sadness eased and she was able to enjoy the night.

She heard footsteps approach and prepared herself for another match of verbal sparring, something that after the long day of being contained held more appeal than it should.

“What are you doing?”

She tilted her head back. Even upside down, she could see Blake’s frown.

“You’re the second man to ask me that tonight. I’m looking at the stars. There are so many.”

“No more than you could’ve seen if you’d stayed in Port Royal.”

“But I didn’t, did I?”

He rubbed his eye. “Unfortunately, no.”

“Have you ever tried it?” she asked when she remembered Captain’s words about Blake being too serious.

“Lying flat on my back looking at something I could as easily see if I was standing?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

His annoyed sigh had her smiling.

“I don’t see the purpose.”

She flipped onto her stomach, braced herself on her elbows to look up at him. “Wouldn’t it be more comfortable lying down?”

Blake’s mouth suddenly went dry as powder. Good God, he knew she was talking about stars, but his mind had taken a dangerous route into murky waters. She was wearing another pair of trousers and a man’s shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her hair was tied back into a braid again. She shouldn’t have stirred anything within him. But ever since he’d touched her that afternoon, he couldn’t stop thinking about how soft she was, how she’d felt in his arms. And now, blast it all, with her lying on her stomach, with a few buttons opened at her collar, he could see just enough creamy skin to taunt him. Would it be as smooth as her hand had been?

“Well?”

He shook his head, cleared his throat. “Well, what?”

“Isn’t it more comfortable lying down?”

He loosened a few buttons of his own so he could breathe easier. “It, uh, depends.”

“On what?”

His gaze dipped to her breasts again. He’d never noticed them before, thanks to the large shirts she wore and his feelings toward her, but he knew he’d never be blind to them again.

“Blake?” Nate’s voice called from the stern. “Are you busy?”

Blake ran an unsteady hand down his face. “No, I’ll be right there.”

“Duty calls?” Alicia asked.

He nodded. “Go back to your stars.”

“Thanks, I will.”

And as easily as that, she flopped onto her back, dismissing him as though he hadn’t even been there.

He strode away, everything inside him hotter than it should be, considering the temperature had cooled significantly. And he knew, even before he looked back, that he wouldn’t be able to dismiss her near as easily as she had him.

“Is there a problem?” Blake asked Nate, when he’d returned to the stern.

His friend leaned against a gun, arms crossed over his chest. “The hammock’s ready.”

Blake sighed. “We talked about this. She’s safer there than in with the rest of the crew.”

“I agree. But nobody said
you
couldn’t sleep with them.”

“Are you out of your mind?” he bellowed, then immediately lowered his voice. “I won’t be thrown out of my own cabin by the likes of her.”

“Everyone will assume she’s your wench.”

Because he couldn’t remember Nate ever arguing with him over anything, let alone a girl, Blake paused.

“I can’t help what they think, Nate.”

“Sleeping in the same cabin will tarnish her reputation.”

“What reputation? Nobody here knows her or will ever see her again. Besides, I don’t think a girl who stows away on a stranger’s ship is the kind of girl that’s worried about her reputation.”

“You said she came for your help.”

“Yeah.”

“So that’s all this is about? Helping her?”

“It’s not by choice, Nate.”

“Mmm.”

Blake glared at him. “What?”

“I didn’t say anything. I simply acknowledged your comment.”

“Not likely. You meant something by that.”

Nate laughed. “Did I? I’d be curious to know what it is, then.”

A steady pounding, not unlike the Navy’s drums, began beating behind Blake’s right eye. He heaved a sigh.

“Hard to know which one of you irritates me more,” he muttered.

“It had better be me,” Nate answered. “I’ve been at it far longer.”

Despite the burden Alicia’s presence was putting on his mind, Blake smiled. “Well, now that you mention it.”

Nate examined him a moment. “I was beginning to think that frown you’ve been wearing all day was becoming permanent.”

“It was beginning to feel like it might.”

“But my engaging presence remedied the situation?”

“Not likely.”

“Shame. Seemed to work with Alicia earlier.”

Blake went very still. “When did you see her?”

“I found her in the galley. We had a nice talk.”

“About what?”

“Well, now, a gentleman never tells.”

Blake frowned. “You’re not a gentleman.”

“She seemed to think so,” Nate answered.

“A minute ago you were worried about her reputation,” Blake growled, not quite sure why he was getting so agitated.

“I am. But she’s pretty and she’s virginal. That makes her doubly tempting.”

Something slippery twisted in Blake’s stomach. “Are you speaking for the crew or for yourself?”

Nate smiled lazily. “Either. Why? Are we going to have to duel over her?”

Blake moved to the helm, not because the ship needed steering but because he needed something to do with his hands. Something besides wanting to use his fist to erase the sure smile off his best friend’s face. The fact that he even considered hitting Nate had his stomach in a knot. Nate was his friend—what the hell was the matter with him?

“I’m not dueling with you over a girl.”

“Girl? Hell, Blake, she’s a woman, and if you can’t see it, I sure can.”

“She’s too young,” he said between his teeth.

“A lot of women younger than her are married and having children of their own.” Nate angled his head to the side. “Are you telling me you haven’t noticed the temptation you’ve agreed to keep locked away in your cabin?”

Blake thumped the wheel. “She’s not a temptation. She’s green with seasickness, she smells like something you’d find lying in a street in Tortuga, and she dresses like a boy. Where’s the temptation in that?”

“The
woman
I saw in the galley was clean, she smelled of soap, and even wearing a man’s clothes, there was no doubt she wasn’t one.”

Blood pounding, Blake abandoned the wheel and stomped to the gunwale. The ship wasn’t making much of a wake and the silence was irritating. Where was a good storm when he needed one? Hell, he’d even take a pirate attack. Anything to keep his mind off Alicia and the fact that his best friend was interested in her.

“Stay away from her,” Blake warned.

“I thought you didn’t like her.”

“I don’t.”

Nate leaned forward. “Why are you willing to help her if you clearly hate her so much?”

“We were heading in that direction anyway.”

“We were going to St. Lucia, not St. Kitts.”

“It’s not that—”

They were interrupted when Vincent climbed on deck. He shuffled toward them, then grabbed his box and slid it beside Nate.

“What have I missed?” he asked, pulling himself onto the box. Even standing on it, his head didn’t reach Blake’s shoulders.

“Blake was about to tell us why we’re taking a
woman
he despises to St. Kitts.”

“Ah, the rest of the story. I knew there was more.” Vincent rubbed his little hands together eagerly.

“I told you both earlier, I knew her family when I lived in Port Royal.”

Vincent turned to Nate. “Do I look daft? Because I never thought I did.”

Nate grinned. “Nope. You don’t. And don’t be commenting on her beauty either, it makes Blake twitch.”

The dwarf turned to Blake. “Well, this just keeps getting better. Get on with it, then. Who is she really?”

Blake assessed his friends and sighed heavily. They deserved more than he’d given them earlier.

“Her father left her a letter. She found it after he died. In it he told her to look for me, said she could trust me to take her to wherever she needed to go, which happens to be St. Kitts.”

“Where this Samantha woman is?” Nate asked.

“Yes.”

“And who is Samantha to her?”

“Her sister. She didn’t know she had one until she read his letter.”

“How was that possible?” Vincent asked.

“Because she lost her memory when she was twelve. The man she called father isn’t her real father and apparently he hadn’t troubled himself to tell Alicia she had a sister either.”

Both men’s jaws slackened. Nate recovered first. He whistled.

“That’s a nasty blow. How is it she came to be with him then?”

Because Blake had already left Port Royal before Alicia arrived, he couldn’t say. The fact that Jacob Davidson had taken a stranger in so easily had been all he’d needed to know.

“I never heard the details. I was gone by then.”

“Well, obviously he thought enough of you to send her your way. Is that why you’re doing this?”

“I’m not doing that man any favors. And as I told you earlier, I’d already said no to her. But now that she’s here”—he shrugged his shoulders—“I just want to get rid of her. Taking her where she needs to go seems the fastest way to do that.”

Vincent turned to Nate, his smile so wide, his eyes nearly vanished into his cheeks.

“I’m not buying that pile of dung, are you?”

Nate, at least, tried to hide his grin behind one of his large hands. “Not for a second,” he answered. “Besides, he nearly bit my head off when I told him I’d spoken to her in the galley.”

“I did not,” Blake argued.

“Yes, you did.”

Blake shook his head, but he didn’t argue any further. He did, however, cast a glance down the deck, but Alicia remained on her back, unaware they were discussing her.

“He can’t take his eyes off her,” Vincent teased. “It’s that chivalrous nature coming out again. The maiden needs help and our Blake is riding in to save her.”

“Remind me to give you more duties, Vincent. It’ll give you less time to wag your tongue.”

“It would take more than that,” Nate chuckled.

Blake smiled at Nate, relieved the tension he’d felt earlier was gone. They’d been through too much to have a girl—or woman—come between them.

Vincent ignored the insult. “What is she like?” he asked Nate.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said, grinning. Then, standing, he set a reassuring hand on Blake’s shoulder. “If you need any help dealing with her tonight, I’d be more than willing to give you a hand.”

Blake watched Nate’s long strides carry him to the main hatch. He knew Nate had said that last remark deliberately to taunt him and he was trying very hard to pretend it hadn’t worked. He knew he wasn’t successful by the mirth shaking Vincent’s shoulders as he laughed silently.

“Go ahead, I know there’s something left you’re itching to say.”

“Not me,” Vincent answered. Still it took a few minutes before his humor died and he turned serious.

“Port Royal holds bitter memories for you.”

Blake didn’t bother answering. They’d known when he’d gone to Port Royal for Jacob’s burial that Blake wasn’t happy to be there.

“You’ve never said why, but Alicia plays a role in that, am I correct?”

Blake pressed a hand to his eye. “Not to the extent you think she does.”

“But she’s involved?”

“Yes.”

“And she doesn’t remember that either?”

Blake shook his head.

“Then perhaps you should tell her.”

“Why, for God’s sake, would I want to do that?” Blake argued.

“Because I think you have the notion that if you take Alicia to St. Kitts, you will not only be free of her but also free of the memories you’re trying to forget.”

With a last considering look, Vincent, too, slipped under the main hatch.

Left alone again, Blake returned to the helm and grasped the wheel tightly. His thoughts churned. He didn’t want to talk to Alicia about her precious father. He’d left Port Royal behind for a reason and he didn’t see the need to address that reason now. What purpose would it serve? The man was dead, after all. A little late to go back for explanations and apologies. And too damn late to change the past.