The Blue Diamond (The Razor's Edge Book 1) (24 page)

                                             
Ivory

Maddox read the letter again
and again. After each reading, he raised it to the candle flame and then saved
it before the fire took hold. As the rum coursed through his veins, and her
words washed through his mind, his cavalier façade withered away. He began to
ask himself what he’d done, and why he’d done it. He slammed the letter down on
the desk and pushed hard away from it. He hadn’t the strength to burn it, but
he needed to get away from it before his hard and calloused ego wore smooth and
made him, in his eyes, weak.

Remembering he still had a
job to do, he picked up the log and slammed it down on top of the letter to
conceal it from his eyes and then put on his belt, arming himself and barging
out of the cabin as if her words were chasing him. Once on deck, the noise and
the warm wind in his face stole the angst and regret within minutes, and he was,
once again, in his captain skin. He arched his back and moved forward, taking
the wheel from his helmsman and steering for home.

Chapter
Twenty-Five

On the first night at sea,
heading steadily back to Port Royal, the ladies decided they needed some time
together to catch up and raise a few glasses to their victory. Calm waters and
fine winds sustained the morale and high spirits of the crew, and the sounds of
shanties and hard laughter could be heard on deck long past midnight. Although
Ivory discouraged heavy drinking under her command—especially during missions —
she lowered the bar and allowed them to carry on, so long as the helmsman and
several of the crew kept their wits about them enough not to run them off
course, or worse, aground.

All four of the women sat
about Ivory’s cabin in their underthings as if they were school girls gathered
for a sleepover, and their rum-induced giggles and snorts only elevated that
feeling. Their faces were rose-colored from the sun, and their eyes twinkled
with laughter as they exchanged anecdotes and shared the more intimate
experiences of their recent lives. These personal details were the river they’d
all crossed, one that had separated them from those early years together, but
had finally brought them closer than perhaps they’d been in quite some time.
They gathered together on this night for one, as yet unspoken, reason—to
tighten their bonds before their impending separation.

“So…I know nothing of this
Sandy person, Miranda,” Ivory said as she lay back on her bunk, nudging
Miranda’s hip with her big toe.

“Aye, cousin…you’re asking
for trouble,” Miranda said with a howl.

“I’ll tell!” Keara shouted,
tossing her bare feet over the arm of her chair and squirming for comfort.

“You’ll do no such thing,
Ke. Go on, Miranda, tell us…everything!” Cassandra laughed, lying back against
Ivory’s shoulder.

Miranda rose from her seat
at the end of the bunk and raised her cup for a long drink. “Well, he’s a bit
older, as you know.”

“And a bit wiser, I’d
wager,” Keara snickered, as they giggled.

“Go on, Mir,” Ivory said,
refilling her cup from the bottle she held tucked between her thighs.

Miranda sauntered across the
room as she spoke. “He’s a rather gruff exterior, and he’s strong as a
bull—which is what I call him in private— but he’s a heart of gold, that one.
The fact that he jumped ship on ol’ Blacksnake to help find you should prove
that.”

“So, are you saying he did
it for love…or tits?” Ivory asked over a hiccup, inciting a roaring laughter.

“I don’t really care to tell
you the truth, since you want to poke fun. But, I will tell you he’s got the
body of a man half his age… and the pecker of a horse,” Miranda said, as she
plopped back down on the bunk.

“Well, I’ll drink to that!”
Keara shouted.

“A toast to Sandy’s horse
pecker it is!” Ivory added.

“You are all going straight
to hell,” Cassandra laughed.

“Well, what about you,
missy? If big ol’ Master Green’s manhood matches his muscles, it’s a wonder you
ever walked again,” Miranda said, jumping up and limping around the room holding
her back.

“Oh, you’re a filthy lot of
she-devils, I swear it!” Cassandra declared, as she handed her cup to Ivory for
more. “What about Maddox, Ivory? What was it about him that dropped your
knickers?”

“Well,” Ivory said over a
breathy sigh, “since I wasn’t wearing knickers at least half of the time, I
suppose there was quite a bit more to the seduction.
 
I mean, with no knickers to drop, he could
have spread my legs quite easily in my weakened state, but...”

“But, that didn’t
happen…right?” Keara asked, as she sat up and leaned a bit forward.

“No. He was always a
complete gentleman. Although, it was bothersome how he observed me naked as I
slept, on more than one occasion.”

“How absolutely
erotic
, Ivory…” Miranda sighed and
slithered back to her seat.
 

“I suppose had I been
immediately attracted to him it may have been.
 
But, as you know me, my first instinct was to slit his throat… and I
nearly did.” She lied, at least about the lack of instant attraction. Even if
she didn’t admit it, her reaction to him given the first opportunity to share
breath, was proof enough that she was waiting or perhaps even hoping for that
moment on the floor in his dining room to come.

The women all moved in
closer so as not to miss a word. They were anxious and enthralled to hear more,
and as Ivory drank and the room grew darker, the trials of her capture spilled
from her lips. With each sentence spoken, what they believed to have been a
torturous ordeal transformed into a tale of romantic woe.

 
“I was so angry and bitter towards him, of
course, and frightfully weak, which is something to which I am unaccustomed. He
has a lovely young girl who works in his house named Zara, without whose
assistance, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
 
Her captive audience simultaneously
frowned.
 
She continued, quickly, “No
offense, of course, my darlings. She simply had the foresight to pack my old
clothes and a dagger that…” Ivory stopped for a moment and smiled sheepishly,
as she fondly remembered Maddox roughly extracting her from her gown, and she
took a long pause.

“Really, Ivory!
 
You’re not going to leave us like this, are
you?” Keara groaned and yawned.

“Well, let me just say the
first time we…well, he had a bit of trouble getting me out of the gown with
which he had so kindly provided me, and once he was through with it, it was
worthy of floor scrubbing.”

“So he bedded you well,
then?” Miranda asked, turning her face up at Ivory from Cassandra’s hip.

“He bedded me well is an
understatement. That pretty mug of his extends all the way to his feet and back
again, and it moves and feels even prettier.”

“Is it getting warm in
here?” Miranda sighed, waving her hands at her face like a Spanish fan.

“It’s a bloody shame he’s
such a bastard,” Keara remarked, shaking her head.

“That’s a sore point with
him. He made that perfectly clear.” Ivory laughed softly. “I’ll admit I don’t
know everything there is to know about him, but I learned quite a bit.
 
And did I mention he’s brilliant?
Well-educated chap, and he has excellent taste in just about everything.”

“In women as well, I’d
assume,” Miranda mumbled.

“Well, he fell for our girl,
didn’t he?” Keara snapped.

“Fell for me? Of that I
can’t say, but…” Again Ivory drifted off into a memory which dipped far deeper
than she realized memories could go. Deep inside, she could still feel his
velvet lips, regardless of how hard she tried not to.

“We’ll be up all night at
this rate,” Miranda groaned and sat up, reaching out her cup for a refill from
Keara’s bottle.

“Give her a chance to
answer, Mir. Ivory’s not like you, and we’d all easily agree that she’s sat and
listened for a long time whilst we gushed about lovers over the years.”

“No, its fine, Cass,” Ivory
said.
 
“Until tonight, the past week has
felt like a dream, as if it hadn’t really happened at all. I’m unaccustomed to
these…emotions… and, quite frankly, I’m not certain I like feeling this way.
But, here with you all again, just telling you about it, I can appreciate it
was real. I know now that something I never thought possible is…possible.”

“You poor thing, how
horrible it must be to love someone you can never be with,” Miranda said, again
resting her head on Cassandra.

“It’s not horrible to have
loved, even if only for a few days. Some people never find their true love at
all.” Cassandra’s words were quiet and silenced everyone for several moments.
Their eyes grew tired, and Keara had already tipped back against the chair and
was sleeping with her mouth wide open. “I’ll get her to bed,” said Cass “Come
along and help me, Miranda.”

“Just a moment, Cass.”
 
Miranda took a deep breath and seemed to
steel herself.
 
“Ivory, I wanted to tell
you that Sandy and I have decided, once we’re back in Port Royal, we’d like to
find a place of our own, perhaps even start a little farm. With his strong back
and my knowledge of running a home, I think we could be truly happy.”

Ivory reached out and
squeezed Miranda’s hand and said, “I think that’s lovely. I know you won’t mind
if I say I’m surprised, but I’m very happy for you. I’ll take care of you, Mir,
and I will double your shares once I sell those stupid rocks.”

“Oh, thank you, Ivory!”
Miranda squealed and clapped her hands.
 
“He’s a good man, I swear. You’ll love him, too, once you’re better
acquainted.” Miranda leaned over and kissed Ivory on her cheek. “And I’m sorry
about your Maddox, love.”

Ivory smiled up at her and
bade goodnight to her girls. Once alone, that foggy veil was lifted, releasing
every detail of her memories, down to the scent of Maddox’s skin after they’d
made love. She raised her forearm and dragged her nose across it, recalling the
musky, sweet fragrance his post-sex perspiration had left lingering on her. Her
eyes closed when she found only her own scent, mixed with soap and rum, and she
pulled the cup in her hand to her lips and poured it into her mouth.

She wanted to drown him.
Reliving her memories only served to entertain her cousins and quiet their
curiosity. For Ivory, their sadness for her loss felt more like pity. She
desperately wanted to be happy for them, but the realization that soon she’d be
completely alone kept the rum pouring until the ship tilted, stealing her
balance and leaving her on some uncharted and deserted island in her dreams.

* * * *

The
Cutlass
and the
Jade
continued unpursued and arrived, as expected, in Port Royal on the morning of
their third day of travel. Ivory had accepted the loss of the
Jade
reluctantly, but a deal was a deal,
and she’d even given the offer to her crew to stay on with Captain Jackson, to
which most declined. Jackson was unaffected by their decision and was anxious
to set off and celebrate, with a renewed outlook, as well as a purse full of
gold for his trouble.

“We lost your man in Nassau,
you know.”

“Yes, I know.”

“That young carpenter, what
was his name?”

“Tommy Boston,” Ivory answered
without emotion.

“Yes, yes, that’s it. He
disobeyed my order to remain aboard. He took a dinghy in the middle of the
night. Insubordinate, that one was.”

“I suppose.”

“If you don’t mind my saying
so, you appear rather unconcerned about a losing the man.”

“It isn’t an appearance.
He’s a free man. He can do as he wishes, and since he disobeyed an order, he
broke the code, and I’d not welcome him back anyway.”

“I suppose you’re right,
Captain Shepard. Well…I’ll be on my way. It’s been a pleasure.” Jackson tipped
his hat, again never losing eye contact with her.

“I wish I could say the
same. However, you earned it. Enjoy my ship, Captain. She’s been a pearl.”

“I certainly will.
Considering you took her from Barclay, I understand your attachment to her. Pity
we didn’t sack the
Cat
, aye? She’s
more to my fancy.” Jackson marched off in the direction of the town and
disappeared, as Ivory bore a pistol shot into the back of his plumed hat with
her eyes.

Ivory gave the crew
twenty-four hours to do as they pleased before returning to ready the
Cutlass
for her voyage to America. Her
plan was to see a man in Charles Towne whom she’d heard paid top dollar for
jewels. Her previous intention to have them set into jewelry was thrown aside
for the opportunity to fill her pockets with enough money to pay off her crew
and move on to a new life—a life she had yet to fully choose. She knew most of
the men would squander it away, but that was no longer her concern.

“Miranda, take this and go.”

“Now?” Miranda asked as she
took the small bag of gold from Ivory’s hand.

“Why wait? Trust me, the
longer you and Sandy linger here, the harder it will be to leave.
 
I want you to be happy today, not regretful
tomorrow.”