The Ransom (42 page)

“And you declared your captain naught but a feather-brain, Miggs,” Larkin addressed one of his mutineers. Laughter ensued. “’Twould seem he begins to understand that he shall soon pay for his crimes.”

Alex clenched his jaw. “There is no crime here save the doubt of your own omnipotence.”

A chuckle erupted from one of Alex’s men.

Snapping hair from his face, Larkin bared his teeth before a slow predatory grin formed on his lips. “Ah, but you forget the tapestry, my former captain. The one I swore I tossed overboard. The one that links you to the plundering of the
Aciano
, the Spanish merchantman from Cadiz—the country with whom we are not at war with at the moment.”

Alex grimaced.

“My men are placing it in your cabin as we speak. Tsk, tsk, so careless of the great Pirate Earl to leave such an incriminating item in plain sight.”

“If I am accused of piracy, then you will be as well, Larkin.”

“Alas, I fear under normal circumstances, you would be correct.” He glanced toward the oncoming frigate. “But there is nothing normal about my bargain with Captain Nichols.”

Nichols!
Bile rose in Alex’s throat.

Juliana whimpered.

“Ah yes, I see you both know the man. Apparently he knows you as well. Informed me he’d do just about anything to see you hang. Something about a fiancée you stole from him. The man certainly holds a grudge, doesn’t he?”

Alex’s insides broiled.

“I hand you over to him”—Larkin gestured toward Alex—“and he hands your brig over to me.” Fisting hands at his waist, he glanced over the ship with a satisfied sigh. “A fair exchange, I’d say. Finally I shall be the captain of my own ship. As I deserve.”

“You deserve naught but Davie Jones’s Locker, Larkin.”

“That may be true.” Sunlight glinted in his taunting eyes. “Someday. But not just yet. For the time being, I shall enjoy proving myself a far better captain than you ever were. To begin, I shall show the captain’s woman how a real man feels in her bed.” He turned toward Juliana, snagged a strand of her hair from the wind, and lifted it to his nose. “Ah, the sweet smell of a real lady.”

Eyes blazing, she tried to kick him, but missed. More sinister chuckles abounded.

“If you do her any harm,” Alex began, barely able to contain his rage. “If you so much as touch her, you’re going to have to kill me, Larkin. Because I shall make it my life’s goal to hunt you down and cut you to pieces, slice by slice.”

A speck of fear crossed the man’s gray eyes before his glint returned. “You mean like this?” He dove in to kiss her neck and Juliana shrieked and writhed in the pirate’s grasp as the mutinous crew cheered him on.

Alex charged Larkin. Plucking his sword from his scabbard, he held the tip to the villain’s back before any of his men could stop him.

Larkin froze. Within seconds, the laughter ceased, replaced by the cock of a dozen pistols and ring of a dozen blades. All pointed at Alex.

“I’ll run him through before you fire a single shot.” Alex pressed the point, piecing Larkin’s jerkin.

The man slowly turned around, hands raised at his side. “Then we’ll both be dead. And where does that put your lovely lady?”

Sweat dampened Alex’s neck. The man had a point. “Then fight me. Man to man. For the brig
and
the lady. As it should be.”

“But I already have both.” Larkin gave an insolent shrug.

“I says he’s right,” one of Larkin’s mutineers shouted. “It be the way of the code.”

Larkin’s face paled.

“Aye, a fight to the death, says I, to see who’s fit to be captain!”

Further shouts of agreement filled the air, from both sides.

His lip curling, Larkin cast a quick glance over Alex’s shoulder at the approaching ship, then narrowed his eyes. Fear thundered across his face. But then it was gone. “Very well.” He shrugged out of his jerkin and shirt, and Alex did the same. One of Larkin’s men handed him a sword, and he took a stance and leveled it toward Alex.

“To the death!”

♥♥♥

Juliana was having a nightmare. A horrifying nightmare. No doubt she was still sound asleep in Alex’s cabin, dreaming of pirates and mutinies and sword fights. What else would inhabit her dreams on board a pirate ship? But then, why was perspiration sliding down her back? Why did her heart feel as though it might break every one of her ribs? And why did pain scream up her arms beneath the men’s tight grips? What a vivid dream!

Trying to settle the blood pounding in her head, she watched as both Larkin and Alex stripped down to naught but breeches and boots. Sunlight glinted off their raised swords as they sized each other up with glares as sharp as their blades. The pirates began cheering and cursing and placing bets, including the two who restrained her as they loosened their grips slightly.

Alex made the first move, thrusting his blade forward. Larkin stepped aside and gave a taunting chuckle as he swooped in on Alex’s left. But the Pirate Earl was too quick. Leaping out of the way, he swung about and raised his sword high. Larkin met the attack, and their blades rang together in an eerie chime. Both men groaned. Both expressions grew tight.

The ship canted and the men parted. Larkin swept his cutlass through the air, slicing a line of red on Alex’s chest. Juliana squelched her scream. She didn’t wish to distract Alex as he slunk around Larkin like a panther on the prowl. Sunlight gleamed over his muscles surging from exertion, his biceps bulging, his stomach a rippling shield. Juliana had no idea the power this man had kept hidden beneath his clothing. Surely he could beat the thinner Larkin. Then why did Larkin already wear a confident grin of victory?

A blast of wind struck them as Alex dove toward Larkin’s right. Larkin met his parry, and their swords clashed hilt to hilt. Jaws clenched, they both groaned, testing the other’s strength before Alex freed his blade and snapped it down to strike Larkin’s leg.

The man gaped in horror at the red stain blotching his ripped breeches before raising his blade and blindly rushing toward Alex. The Pirate Earl met his advance calmly and the two began to parry back and forth. The
chink
and
clank
of blade-on-blade filled the air, joining the pirates’ cheers as they backed out of the way, giving the fighters room. Rays of burning sun reflected off the deck. Juliana squinted. Loose sails flapping above, the
Vanity
bobbed idly in the turquoise waters as if nothing of import was happening on deck.

The skill and speed with which both men fought astounded her. She’d never seen the likes of it, even amongst the young upstarts of the nobility. No wonder these pirates ruled the seas. She glanced at the oncoming ship, unsure whether she should pray for it to hurry on its course or not. Regardless of whether ’twas Nichols in command, if it
was
the Royal Navy, their arrival would mean Alex’s certain death. But it would also mean she’d be spared from being ravished by these pirates. Instead, she breathed a prayer for God to intervene. To save Alex’s life and her purity. Though she truly didn’t expect him to do either. The Almighty had been so silent lately, it seemed he’d abandoned her like everyone else.

Dodging Larkin’s strike, Alex dove and twisted around, swinging his cutlass down upon the unsuspecting man. Larkin met the blow with a shaky blade that Alex quickly shoved aside, sending Larkin scrambling backward. Catching his balance, he cursed and wiped sweat from his brow. “Death by my blade or by Captain Nichols’s. ’Tis your choice,
Alex
.” A slight ring of fear betrayed his otherwise pompous tone. “Either way, you are already defeated.”

“I’ll take neither,” Alex returned, barely breathing hard. “But your end by my blade is certain.” He swooped in and caught Larkin off guard, pricking his thigh. The sailing master groaned and batted Alex’s blade away, springing back. Pain lanced his eyes as sweat streamed down his bare chest.

The pirates holding Juliana loosened their grip. She glanced at Jonas. He gestured toward something below her, and she followed his gaze to the hilt of a knife sticking out from one of the pirates’s belts. Fie! Even if she was able to reach it, what did the doctor expect her to do with it, surrounded as she was by pirates?

The clang of blades continued. Alex leveled slash after slash upon Larkin, who met each parry with his own. Off the stern, the Royal Navy frigate loomed larger, along with a desperate choice within her: save her purity or try to save Alex’s life? Her heart knew but one course of action. And the revelation astounded her.

She loved him. Alexander Hyde, Lord Munthrope, the Pirate Earl. All of him. And she would rather die attempting to save his life than try to save her own.

Larkin leapt onto the foredeck ladder and Alex chased him, dipping and striking as the hiss of steel filled the air. The pirates cheered, releasing Juliana. Fear buzzed through every nerve. Her next move could quite possibly cause her death.

Drawing a deep breath, she lifted her leg and kneed the pirate beside her in the groin. He yelped and doubled over. She grabbed his knife and dashed toward Jonas, circling around him. Some of the pirates chased after her, but Alex’s men clustered together in front of Jonas, shoving them back with their bodies. Her hands shook. A pistol fired. A man shouted. A thud sounded.

She sawed through the ropes binding Jonas’s hands. He spun around, gave her a wink, and took the knife. “Stay out of the way.” Then turning, he cut loose his friends.

The clash of swords, along with thunderous cheers, still rang through the air as Alex and Larkin continued their dance of death up on the foredeck. Blood pounded like a drum in Juliana’s ears. On wobbly legs, she backed against the bulkhead and strained to peer through the mob.

Fortunately, only a few of the mutineers even noticed that Alex’s men were being untied. Spinning about, they drew their weapons, their shouts for help lost in the tumult. Within seconds, Jonas had freed the crew, and they stormed the mutineers in a tidal wave of savagery, relieving some of their foe’s weapons before they could react. One unfortunate soul cried out and dropped to the deck beneath a bloody sword. Juliana gasped.

Alex and Larkin parted for a moment, both eyeing the mayhem below—one with terror, the other with a mischievous grin Juliana knew too well. Oddly, it brought her comfort. Alex said something to Larkin. Whatever it was, it caused the man to dash blindly at Alex, curses firing from his lips. The Pirate Earl turned him aside with a quick shove.

A pirate flew toward Juliana. She leapt out of the way. He slammed against the bulkhead beside her and crumpled to the deck. Blood gurgled around the blade of a knife stuck in his throat. She screamed and inched away, only to be shoved aside by two battling men. The bitter stench of blood filled the air, joining the sweat of men and fear of death. Terror stole her breath and sent her heart into a panic. She should go below. But she’d have to run the gauntlet of twisting bodies, hefting swords and blades and pistols. Instead, she crept to the larboard railing, knelt and hugged the bulwarks, wanting so badly to close her eyes on the bloody scene but too afraid to do so.

The crack of a pistol echoed across the sky. Juliana jumped. A scream and a splash sounded. More men dropped to the deck, their bodies twitching in the throes of death. The brig tilted, and a stream of blood sped toward her. Nausea curdled her stomach. She scooted out of the way. More swords slashed, more knives hit their mark, and more men wrestled for victory. Juliana closed her eyes and prayed.

Alex’s booming voice broke into her pleadings. The clamor of battle softened. She pried open her eyes to see him holding the tip of his cutlass to Larkin’s throat. Blood spilled from a wound on the villain’s shoulder as he tossed his blade to the deck and raised his hands.

“Drop your weapons, or I’ll slice him through. And the rest of you with him!” Alex shouted, his chest pitching, his black hair dangling over his shoulders. The few remaining mutineers still fighting did as he ordered, and the air filled with the clanks and thuds of pistols and swords hitting the deck, and then with shouts of victory from Alex’s loyal crew.

Juliana rose on trembling legs. Tension fled her body as her gaze sought Alex like a beacon on a dark night. His men made quick work of gathering the weapons and corralling the mutineers together on one side of the deck, while Alex shoved Larkin to join them. Then, wiping his bloody sword on his breeches, he turned to face her, such a look of love and relief on his face, it nearly made her topple to the deck again. He caught her before she did and swept her into his arms. Arms still rock hard and twitching from battle. She buried her face in his chest and drank in the smell of him, all blood and sweat and musk and man.

Taking a step back, he gripped her shoulders and scanned her from head to toe. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. “Just frightened.”

“’Tis over now. You’re safe.” He drew her close again, barricading her with his arms, and for the first time in a long time, she truly believed that.

Until a thunderous
boom!
quaked the sky.

Chapter 33