“I warn you; I plan on stopping the blockade,” I told him as he was about to return to his ship.
“Ye’ll be turnin‘ the island over to that devil?” he asked, astounded.
“No. But I will invite Corbin to attend a meeting here tomorrow to discuss a peace treaty between the two crews. You needn’t look at me as if I’ve gone mad—I know what I’m doing.”
“Black Corbin would never agree to a treaty,” he said, shaking his head.
“Nothin‘ will do for him but that he rules us.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, giving him a confident smile. “He’ll agree to it. I have a secret weapon, you see.”
“Oh, aye?” he asked, his head tipped to the side. “What would that be, then?”
“Me,” I answered, and gently closed the door on his disbelieving face.
An hour later I lit the lanterns on my borrowed sloop and gave the order for her to sail. The twins and Tar weren’t terribly happy at having their shore leave revoked but cheered up to no end when I told them all they had to do was sail me out to Corbin’s ship; then they could return to shore and have the rest of the night off.
I was a bit worried that some of the blockade ships might interpret my ship approaching them as an aggressive act, but evidently Corbin had given the word not to open fire willy-nilly, for we sailed past three big warships to the red and black frigateJava Guruwithout being stopped or fired upon.
“Wow, this is a really, really big ship,” I said as we sailed alongside her, heading to a spot midway down her length where a group of sailors were waiting with grappling poles and a rope ladder. Due to my concern with Corbin earlier, I hadn’t had a really good look at the flagship. I took the opportunity to give her a close examination. She had three masts, a raised quarterdeck (at the rear of the ship), and a forecastle (at the bow). She reeked naval authority and more or less looked exactly how I expected a bad-assed warship to look. “How many guns does she have, Tar?”
“Thirty-eight,” he answered. “This be a captured ship from the English navy.”
“Really?” I looked up to the railing. A dark-haired figure appeared suddenly, frowning over the edge at me. “Wow. Impressive. Hoy, Corbin! Hoy, Holder!”
“Ahoy, lass. Ye look fetchin‘ in those knickers. I did well with ’em, didn’t I?”
Holder called down happily.
“Amy, what the devil are you doing out here at this time of night?” Corbin asked.
“Yes, you did, and thank you,” I told Holder before smiling up at Corbin. “I have some things to talk about. Mind helping me on board?”
Bas scrambled up the rope ladder after me. He had made a bit of a fuss when I informed him he had spent long enough in the inn with the other crew, but I turned a deaf ear to his complaints.
Corbin grabbed my hands as I approached the railing, hauling me up and over it and straight into his arms. I’m not a fool; I didn’t so much as protest such a domineering action, but I did try to avoid plastering myself on his wound when he locked his arms around me and kissed the very air from my lungs. He might be healing superfast in this reality, but there was no sense in pushing virtual fate.
At the touch of his mouth on mine, my entire body woke up and started making demands.
“Dear God,” I murmured when he finally had to stop the kiss so we could breathe.
“No, not quite, although you’re free to think I am a god,” he said, giving me a roguish smile.
“That was a hell of a kiss,” I said softly, licking my lower lip. I swore I could still feel his tongue burning a path over it. “People are watching, though.”
“Just Holder, and he doesn’t care. The kiss, by the way, was for being the most delectable, desirable woman in the world,” he said, rubbing his thumb over where I had licked.
“I just melt when you say things like that,” I said, leaning in for another kiss despite the audience.
“And this is for taking so long to come to me,” he said louder, giving me a swat on the behind.
“Hey!” I protested, jumping back and rubbing the abused spot. “You can’t smack a captain on the butt. That’s illegal or something.”
“I’m the captain here,” he said, starting to pull me into another embrace.
“You’re one of the captains, yes.” I backed away, ignoring Holder’s smirk as he watched our byplay.
“No, sweetheart, not on my ship. You’re the captain when you command your own vessel, but only the captain of a crew can be called captain in other circumstances.”
