The Pirate Lord (28 page)

Guilt struck her. Safe? How was she to tell him she’d been safe all along? Here she’d been enjoying herself, making a new life and falling in love, while Jordan had been suffering on her behalf.

It wasn’t all her fault, though. Oh, if Gideon could only see her brother now, he’d understand just how unfairly he’d behaved by kidnapping them all.

Gideon! Good heavens, what was she to do about Gideon and Jordan?

She pulled away from her brother. As she groped for some way to tell him how matters had changed in the past month, she covered her confusion with questions. “How did you get here so quickly?”

“As soon as the
Chastity
returned to London, the captain came directly to me with his tale of the capture. I set off at once for the Cape Verdes, the last place where the ship had made port. As I worked my way through the islands, hoping for some information about where the pirates camped, I found Petey on Sao Nicolau, waiting for a berth on a ship back to England. He led me here.”

She hadn’t even considered that such a thing could happen—although if she’d been thinking, it would have occurred to her that Jordan would leave as soon as the
Chastity
docked in England. Now he was here. And she wasn’t the least bit prepared for him. “Where’s your ship?”

“Petey did a hasty survey of the island before he left here, so he brought us into a secluded harbor where my men could wait while he and I fetched you and his fiancee.”

“Speakin’ of which, guv’nor—” Petey began.

Jordan waved him off. “Yes, go on and find her. But make it quick, before the ship is discovered. Sara and I will wait here for you.”

Good, she thought as Petey hurried off. She needed a few moments alone with Jordan without Petey’s interference.

He turned back to her, his face grim. “I know you want the other women rescued, Sara, but I had to be sure you were safe first. Once Petey finds his fiancee, we can return to the
Defiant
.”

She looked at him in surprise. The
Defiant
was the pride of his fleet. She could hardly believe he’d risked it for her.

“I would have brought the Navy right to this place,” he went on, “but I knew if I did, your reputation would be sullied forever. I had already paid the captain of the
Chastity
to lie about what happened during the pirate attack, so I thought I’d best bring one of my own ships and not risk a scandal.”

“But Jordan—”

“Don’t worry,” Jordan went on, as if she hadn’t spoken. “I have enough armed men and cannons of my own to put an end to this nest of pirates. We can sink the
Satyr
before the bastards are even aware of what happened. Then we can—”

“No! You mustn’t do that!”

He looked at her as if she were mad, then his face altered. “Oh, yes, I’d forgotten. Petey told me that the women were sleeping aboard the ship. Well, then, there’s nothing for it but to take the
Satyr
safely out to sea before we attack. I have enough men—”

“Jordan, please! You can’t do any of that!”

“Why not?”

She wrung her hands, searching for a way to tell him. “Because I won’t let you. I can’t let you hurt Gideon.”

“Gideon?” he echoed, his eyes glinting hard as oak in the dim sunlight that filtered through the trees. “You aren’t by any chance speaking of Captain Horn, are you? The Pirate Lord? A man who has plagued English seas for the past decade? A ruthless criminal with—”

“He’s not ruthless! And he’s not a criminal. Not anymore.”

“You mean, because he claims to be settling on this island? Petey told me all about the man, whom he absurdly seems to admire. But I’m not blinded by romantic legends of piracy, Sara. I see the man for what he is.”

“But he’s not what you think! He’s not this…this terrible creature they’ve made him out to be in the papers. He’s intelligent and kind and—”

“And he kidnaps women for sport.”

She swallowed. That one was hard to justify. “Not for sport. But yes, he did kidnap us. It was a foolish thing to do, and if you give me enough time with him, I can persuade him to release those women who wish to leave the island.”

“Give you enough time?” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Sara, this isn’t one of those pulling old men on the Navy Board whom you can sweet-talk into doing what you wish! This is a war-hardened criminal!”

“You don’t know him!”

“And you do?” His eyes narrowed as he scanned her form, taking in her casual attire and bare feet. “Exactly how well do you know this pirate?”

Fighting down a blush, she averted her face. “Well enough. I love him, Jordan. He’s asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted. We’re to be married day after tomorrow.”

“Over my dead body!” he exploded. “If you think for one minute that I’ll stand by and let you make a mistake like this—”

Her gaze snapped back to his. “It’s not a mistake! I know perfectly well what I’m doing!”

“Yes, just as you knew what you were doing when you set your sights on that deuced Colonel Taylor!”

She jerked back from him. “Why you…you…” She broke off, dragging in great gulps of the air in an attempt to control her temper. “How dare you compare them! Colonel Taylor wanted my fortune! Gideon wants nothing from me but my affections!”

Jordan rubbed the back of his fisted hand, looking as if he wanted to plant it in someone’s face. Probably Gideon’s. “Listen to yourself, Sara. You’re defending a man who’s hated the English nobility from the day he first set sail. Do you have any idea how many Englishmen that pirate has stolen from? How many women he has ravished, how many—”

“He would never ravish a woman—not unless she begged it of him,” she blurted out. Then furious color stained her cheeks, making her look away. Bother it all, she shouldn’t have said that, not to Jordan, of all people. “I-I mean—”

“You mean he has seduced you,” he said, his voice thunderous. He stuck his hand in his breast pocket and pulled out a pistol. “Now I’ll have to kill him.”

She threw herself at him, holding on to his rigid arm with all her might. “If you hurt one hair on his head, I’ll never forgive you!”

“I can live with that,” he growled as he tried to thrust her away. “Now where is the bastard—”

“Don’t you dare! I’ll…I’ll betray you to the pirates before you can leave this island! I swear I will!” Gideon’s men wouldn’t harm Jordan without her say. They’d come to trust her, and perhaps even respect her.

Gideon, however, she wasn’t so sure of. If Gideon thought for one minute that Jordan had come to take her back, Gideon would throw him in irons. She must do whatever she could to keep the two men apart.

Jordan stared at her with mouth agape. “Turn me over to the pirates? You would do that?”

“I can’t let you hurt him, don’t you see? I can’t let you bring your men in here and destroy Atlantis! We’ve worked too hard to see it ruined. Can’t you understand? This is a town now, a place where people live and work and have families. You can’t just bring your…your cannons in here and level the place. I won’t let you!”

“It means that much to you, does it?”

“This place means everything to me,” she said quietly, and meant it.

His gaze dropped from hers as he replaced his pistol in his breast pocket. “Very well. I’ll do as you wish.”

She stared at him suspiciously. “What do you mean, ‘as I wish’?”

“I won’t bring my cannons in here. I’ll sail away without ever letting the pirates know I was here.” His gaze bore into hers. “But only on one condition.”

“Condition?”

“That you leave with me.”

Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. She should have anticipated this. Jordan had always been willing to do whatever it took to protect her, even if it meant this sort of wretched blackmail.

“Keep in mind,” he added when he saw her expression, “that my men have orders to attack unless I return to the
Defiant
by noon. I’m not leaving until you leave with me, even if it means watching the destruction from here on the island.”

A chill shook her. “Jordan, don’t ask this of me. There are some women here who want to leave, and you should take them, to be sure, but as for me—”

“You’re the only one I care about, Sara. I’m not leaving here without you.”

“I don’t
want
to leave! Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said?”

“Yes. But I don’t think you mean what you say.” His voice turned placating. “Soldiers know of this phenom
enon. It happens all the time to men in captivity. While they’re cut off from society, they lose their perspective and begin to understand and trust their captors. After they’re rescued, however, they realize they weren’t in their right minds at the time.”

Not in their right minds, indeed! “Oh, how can I make you see? I
am
in my right mind. I know what I’m doing!”

“Then prove it to me. Come with me to England, Sara. Leave these scoundrels to their colony.” He planted his hands on his hips. “If after a few weeks, you feel the same way you do now, I’ll bring you back.”

“No, you won’t. I know you, Jordan. Even when you’ve been proven wrong, you don’t acknowledge it. You’ll take me from here and then make excuses about why you can’t bring me back.” She fixed him with a pleading gaze. “If you force me to leave here with you, it’ll destroy me, do you hear? I’ll hate you for it. I promise you that.”

Her words made him flinch, but only for a second. Then his face resumed its implacable expression. “Better you hate me now than live to regret staying here. If you don’t come with me, I promise I’ll take every one of those pirates prisoner and bring them back to England, and the women with them. I have enough men and arms to do it.”

She shuddered at the thought of what havoc his men and arms might wreak on the island. How was she to stop him? How could she make him see that she truly knew what she was doing?

Suddenly, the sound of branches crunching underfoot made them both start. Petey approached them through the trees, tugging Ann along with him.

“There you are,” Jordan growled. “It’s about time. We have to leave.”

Petey glanced at Ann, then squared his shoulders. “We’re stayin’ here, Ann and me. We’re not goin’ back to England with you, guv’nor.”

Jordan clenched his fists. “Have you all gone mad? What did this pirate do, cast a spell over you?”

“I can’t go back to England, milord,” Ann whispered, looking a little in awe of Jordan. “They’ll just send me off to New South Wales again. Or else I’ll have to spend the rest of my days runnin’ from the magistrate. And Petey don’t want to risk it.” She cast her love a shy smile. “He’d druther stay here with me than go off to England without me.”

“Look here, Miss Morris,” Jordan said, “I’m sure I can speak to a few people and ensure that you don’t have to suffer transportation again.”

“It ain’t just that, my lord,” Petey broke in. “It’s…well, this is a right nice place. I was only here a day the last time, but it was long enough to see that it would make a pleasant home. I got nothin’ waitin’ back in England for me. Tommy don’t need me. He’s got his own family. It would take me years of sailin’ to make enough blunt to buy even a little cottage, and I’d be separated from Ann a good bit of the time. But here, if I don’t mind some hard work, I can have everythin’ I want.” He gazed adoringly down at Ann. “Everythin’.”

“And what do you think that pirate captain will do when he discovers you here after we’re gone?” Jordan bit out.

Petey’s eyes went round. “Truly, my lord, I don’t know. But he’s a man of reason. Once I explain as how I had to do my duty by Miss Willis an’ all, he’ll understand.”

Sara wasn’t so sure of that, but had no desire to dampen Petey’s enthusiasm. “You see what I mean?” she snapped at Jordan. “Even your servant doesn’t want to leave Atlantis.”

“Atlantis.” Jordan snorted. “What a name for a pirate’s den. The Greeks would turn over in their graves.” He glared at Petey. “Stay here, then. I only hope you live past morning to enjoy it.”

He turned to his stepsister. “But
you
, my dear, are
coming with me. Or I swear I’ll hunt that deuced pirate captain down and sever his charming head from his treacherous body!”

She studied her stepbrother’s face with a sinking heart. He really meant it. If she didn’t get him away from here, he’d kill Gideon or take him prisoner, which would be as good as killing him. Not to mention what Jordan’s men might do to the island and its inhabitants.

“If I go with you, will you swear to leave without harming anyone? And will you swear not to tell a soul about this place?” It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances. Bringing Petey here had been like opening Pandora’s box, and she couldn’t reverse the damage completely.

“I can’t prevent my men from revealing the location of the island,” he growled.

She glared at him. “If the Earl of Blackmore can’t do it, then I don’t know who can.”

“Sara, you try my patience—”

“The men don’t know who lives on this island, miss,” Petey broke in, earning himself one of Jordan’s darkest scowls. “His lordship didn’t tell them what they were about before they reached the Cape Verde islands, because he wanted to keep ‘em from spreadin’ scandal about you later. And he kept quiet afterward to prevent any of ‘em from jumpin’ ship in Santiago out of fear of meetin’ the Pirate Lord. Most sailors is terrified of Cap’n Horn.”

“Good, let’s keep it that way.” A measure of relief swept through her. If Petey was right, perhaps she could at least keep other men from returning here to capture or kill the pirates later. She faced her brother, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not going with you unless you swear to leave the island unscathed and keep your silence about it, especially with your men.”

Jordan cast her a searching glance. “If I do, you’ll return to England? You’ll forget this nonsense?”

“I’ll return to England, but I won’t forget a blessed
thing. I fully intend to take you up on your offer to bring me back here once I’ve convinced you that my feelings won’t change.”

“Devil take it, Sara—”

“That’s my bargain, Jordan. Do you accept it?”

He glanced away, staring through the trees to the brilliant sunlit surf. Then he snapped his gaze back to her. “Yes. Anything to have you off this cursed island.”