Swept to Sea (6 page)

"Yes, of course, Reed. It is by far past your bedtime, anyway. We have had a long day. Good night, Gage.” Caspian nodded to his friend. “Bid the man good night, Reed," Caspian ordered his son.

"Good night, sir."

Gage flashed a smile and ruffled Reed’s hair, eliciting a giggle from the boy.

Caspian shrugged his shoulders and led his son toward their cabin. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" He heard Lady Trenton’s voice trill sweetly.

"The captain."

After a moment, she opened the door, giving him a doubtful look. Reed rushed inside and sat in one of the leather armchairs. Caspian strode to his glass cabinet. The glistening bottles of port and rum clinked together as the
Dawn’s Mist
plunged over a particularly large swell. He jerked the door open and snatched a carafe from the shelf before he plucked a glass off of his desk and poured himself a draught of the sweet liquid. Caspian raised it to his lips.

No.

He slammed the glass down onto his desk with a thud.

Isabelle would be quite angry if she found out her husband was guzzling down spirits like a common drunkard. She loathed his drinking habits, and Caspian knew that. Then why did he continuously feel the urge to return to a despicable lifestyle?

"C-can I… help you, Captain?" A soft voice stammered.

The lady.

Caspian spun to look at her, and his breath stopped short in his throat as he looked at her for the first time since she had opened the door for him.

The woman was backed up against the bulkhead and dressed in a lacy white nightgown that was absconded from a merchant ship in the years when he had taken to pirating. If he remembered correctly, the gown was made of silk from China and intricate lace from Paris. It was positively lovely on her.

Caspian let the image soak into his mind, how her curves filled out the gown, how the lace frothed against her creamy skin. Even though she was anything but tall, the gown stopped at her ankles, scandalously revealing two tiny feet and ten perfect toes. He swallowed back a burst of longing to touch those little feet and do a whole lot more. Fire and thunder, what was wrong with him?

He had to look away; he knew it.

He could not bring himself to. She shivered, and her eyes shifted to the floor underneath his intense perusal. Yes, he knew it would be best to divert his gaze, although, at the moment, looking away from the beauty was the least of his desires.
Say something, man, or you’ll frighten the poor lady to death.

"Where did you get that nightgown, woman?" he snapped, sounding far more aggravated then he had meant to.

"I-I… found it in that big trunk over there; I hope it is all right for me to wear it. I'm sorry… I should have asked you first, before I put it on. That was horribly presumptuous of me. Oh, I will find something else immediately. Why, I had no idea that you… that you and your son would come back here," she stammered, her hand hovering at her pale throat.

Caspian could not help but notice the bruise there, marring her pretty skin. She took a step toward the trunk she had pointed to.

He gripped her elbow, preventing her from turning her back to him. The moment she flinched, Caspian released her and took a step back, bumping into his desk. "Nay. ‘Tis… fine, Lady Trenton. I just… was startled to see you in it. And nay, milady, I simply came to go to bed." He explained, grabbing a pillow and a bundle of blankets from a nearby teak trunk.

As soon as he finished his sentence, the young lady’s expression altered entirely. "And where, pray tell, shall I sleep?" She asked incredulously, resting her hands on her hips.

"Why, you will have the bed, of course. I am not so much of a cad that I would make a lady sleep on the floor," he answered, lowering himself onto the deck next to the bed. He really did need some sleep. Upon her look of utter shock he continued, "I apologize, milady, but this is the only available cabin I have on board. You will just have to tolerate my company and my son’s. Unless, of course, you wish to sleep back in the hold with Kelton. That, I definitely would not recommend." He lifted a brow at her. He knew he was feeling far too mischievous.

Lady Trenton huffed. She glanced around and then, her voice sharp, as if she were waiting for some way to condemn him said, “Where is your wife? Does she even know you are captaining a pirate ship, frightening poor, young women? What about Reed? He should be with his mother. A boy as young as him should not be away from his mother on a place as dangerous as a pirate ship.”

Caspian froze. Of course a lady like her would wonder why he had a son but no wife. He had not talked about Isabelle to anyone but Reed or Gage for years. “My wife is… gone.” He gave her a piercing look.

Lady Trenton took in a sharp breath and shifted her gaze down.

Caspian ignored her and glanced over at his son, who was staring at Lady Trenton, wide-eyed. "Come along, Reed. It is bedtime. We are sleeping on the floor tonight, remember?"

"Nay, Captain. The boy will sleep on the bed with me. I will not be the cause of depriving a child as young as Reed of comfort. You won't mind sleeping up here with me, will you, Reed?" She sank down on the bed.

Reed nodded drowsily, grinning up at her through eyelids dragged down under the weight of sleep. "I like you, Lady Trenton. We shall be the best of friends. I am certain of it."

She smiled back at Reed. The lady did have a gorgeous smile.

Caspian felt a twinge of jealousy traipse into his heart without any form of invitation. Surely he did not feel it because… because the woman got along with his son so well while he — the child’s own father — could not. Nay, who could blame Reed? A lady was a rare treasure to uncover on the seas, and this one in particular was being especially kind to the boy. Caspian knew he felt no jealousy because of how sweetly the woman smiled at Reed while she glared so hatefully at Caspian. There was no reason for him to care if she liked his company or not.

Caspian watched silently as his child curled up beside the woman on the bed. She turned to face the bulkhead, robbing from him the sight of her comely face. All he could see now was her back, shielded by the thin coverlet.

How could his son automatically adore this woman whom he had never met, this stowaway? Reed baffled him. Besides, how could Lady Trenton be so kind to a shy little boy?

Caspian tried to shake the woman from his thoughts. He failed. Her soft breathing washed over the cabin, tickling his ears.

'Twould be a long night.

****

No. No. Not again, Lord, please. Please do not force me to go through this torture again, I beg of you
.

Eden felt Lord Rutger's arms grip around her waist harshly. His lips crushed over hers, but she swatted him away.

"Come, come, my little flower. We are to be married in a month; I should think you would be more than willing to give me something as simple as a little kiss." He huffed, fingering a lock of her hair.

Eden yanked her hair out from his unwanted grasp. The man may be well manicured, but to her, his hands felt filthy. Every touch from the monster made her want to scrub her skin raw.

Why had her father left her alone in the house with this man? Why, even the servants were off work today.

"Please, sir, I have no desire to kiss you." Eden glanced at the door anxiously, longing to escape from him.

"But you have no choice, my flower. You must do as I tell you, as my fiancée.” His green eyes seemed to read every single thought that passed through her head. “I will not be denied by a simple wench. As your husband, I have a right to a kiss and far more from you, Eden!" he exploded, handsome face growing red with anger, a color almost the exact shade of the auburn hair that fell in disarray around his narrow shoulders. She wished he did not have the right to even call her by her Christian name. "For heaven’s sake, I have every right to take you up to my bedchamber! I may just have a mind to yet!"

"You are not my husband yet, now are you,
sir
? Why, you have no right to anything at all from me," Eden cried. Tears stung her eyes. No, she would not give him the satisfaction her tears would bring.

How could she escape this man?

Lord Rutger backhanded her. The sharp sting burned her face, and she almost lost her balance as her vision blurred with tears. She refused to cry in front of the monster.

He dug his hands on her waist and planted his lips on hers in an aggressive kiss. Eden threw her face to the side. She gasped for air, desperate to escape his hounding lips, and twisted in his arms to break away from his audacious grip. Raising her hand, she smacked his insolent face although he deserved much more than a simple slap. Turning, she fled to her room and latched the door shut before she could face the consequences her actions would bring.

Heavy footsteps clomped behind her. The doorframe shivered under Lord Rutger’s pounding fists. A louder banging commenced. He was kicking in the door.

She knelt behind her bed and squeezed her eyes shut.

And then she woke. Eden took a deep, calming breath.

Just a dream. She opened her eyes. And discovered a tall man looming above her.

****

Eden shot out of bed. She searched for a weapon, anything she could use to protect herself from the man. Finding nothing, she fisted her hands and swung about to face her attacker.

Captain Archer smirked down at her. From the moonlight that filtered in through the porthole, she could identify amusement sparkling in the man’s eyes. Eden spotted a pistol on his desk. She seized the weapon and pointed it at the captain. Finding the foul handgun too heavy, she held it with both her hands although she was still shaking. How in the world did one work these wretched things?

****

Caspian chuckled. He must admit, he had never had a woman point a pistol at him. Even most of the men he knew were too frightened to threaten him. They knew the consequences of confronting Captain Caspian Archer.

This girl was quite plucky indeed.

He took a slow, calculated step toward her as if she were a young doe he was terrified of frightening off.

"Milady, you have naught to fear from me." Caspian held his hands up in an innocent gesture and glanced over at his son, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed. The child could sleep through just about anything. Yet another way the lad took after his mother.

Eden fumbled with Caspian’s pistol, and he chuckled yet again.

"You don't even know how to shoot a gun, do you, Eden?" He realized he had called the lady by her Christian name, but he could not stop himself. She was so frightened of him, and he wanted to reach through the haze of terror that clouded her eyes. By thunder, he had only been waking her from her nightmare, but now he realized the exact same nightmare may have made her even more frightened of him.

He edged nearer to the woman, intent on snatching his pistol away from her before she injured either herself or him. Or both.

"Don't you touch me or take another step toward me or I promise I
will
shoot you!" Her small hands trembled.

Her fingers fumbled, and she cocked the gun. Tears streamed down her face. Something dreadful must have happened to this poor woman. Such horrible nightmares had to have been triggered by some terrible event.

"It is all right, Eden. I promise I am not going to hurt you. You are perfectly safe with me, I assure you." He gave her what he hoped looked like a comforting smile and reached a tentative hand out toward her.

The lady jerked away, back out of his reach. She let out a startled cry as the gun fired with an earsplitting crack.

A stabbing pain ripped through Caspian’s left shoulder.

The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air.

Reed jumped straight up from his position on the bed.

Caspian glanced down to find blood gliding from his shoulder down his left arm.

He shifted his gaze to the lady in shock. "You shot me, woman."

****

Eden dropped the smoking gun and flew to the captain's side. Had she truly just shot a man? Would he kill her now? Surely he would at least strike her. Not many men took kindly to a woman harming them. At least she knew Rutger would never take kindly. But the captain's blue eyes flickered in amusement and something else she couldn't quite place. Perhaps it was just anger and she misread his expression.

“Papa! Papa, what has happened? Wha-what was that noise, Papa?” Reed was sitting up, looking as if he had just jumped out from a dead sleep.

Caspian twisted to face his son, shock still painted on his face. His right hand clutched his wounded shoulder. “Nothing, Reed. Go out on the deck for a moment; I need a moment alone with Lady Trenton. I will call you back when we’re done, all right, boy?”

Reed moved toward the door, his wide, sleep-filled eyes shifting from his father to Eden. Finally, he left.

The second the door shut behind him, Eden spun to the captain, fighting to hold back the tears in her eyes. Was the man dismissing his son so the child’s young eyes did not witness what he had in store for Eden?

Her shoulders shuddered when she realized her fears were probably true.

"I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean… will… you… are you going to… s-strike me now?" Eden felt certain her voice rose in pitch with each word she spoke. The blood flowing from the captain’s shoulder distracted her. Careful to keep her body well away from the man, she pulled out her handkerchief and gently pressed it to his wound with an outstretched arm. She refused to look him in the eye and instead studied the hole she had put in his arm with the gun. She noted, with a spark of relief, that the bullet had barely grazed the flesh of his arm.

Well, she had had no idea the wretched firearm would truly fire that time. When she had pulled the trigger mere seconds before, nothing had happened. She had concluded that the gun was not loaded. How was she to know she would actually hurt him? He took the handkerchief from her and pressed it against his shoulder on his own.