He did not answer her rebuke. His face paledfrom grey to that of a tallow-hued cadaver. He rushed to a palmtree, bent over and relieved himself of his dinner.
Alexandra looked to the heavens. “I couldsay, I told you sonot to stuff the food down your throat becauseyour stomach has shrunk, but you wouldn’t want to hear that wouldyou, Lord Rutland?”
He collapsed by the fire, holding his headin his hands. “How I value your recommendations, shot from thequiver of infallible wisdom. What other sufferings do you live totaunt me with, Miss Elwins?”
Her lips twitched with his disgruntlement.She picked up a leaf she had collected from her scavenging. “Youbring misfortunes on yourself. I found some medicine, Lord Rutlandthat will help your head wound heal.”
He slid down, propping his head against alog. “Call me Nicholas. I think we can exclude with formality.There is no society here to condemn us.”
She nodded her head. “And call meAlexandra.” She knelt beside him, split open an aloe leaf, dug herfinger into the sticky gel, and applied it to his wound. When heflinched, she lifted an eyebrow.
How easy to imitate Molly’s treatment ofpatients in Deconshire, smearing the balm over his gash. Molly, whohad cared for her all her life and taught her herbal skills.
Her stepmother, Lady Ursula’s last wordsreverberated in her head.Met Molly in London. She refused totell me your whereabouts. I hired a thug from St. Giles, tookpleasure in watching Molly turn purple…how she struggled to pullhis hands from her throat, gasping for her last breath.
Aware he was staring at her, she picked up acoconut vessel, and lifted his head to drink. She laid him backdown, turned and broke up small pieces of banana, placing them inthe coconut shell. “Eat one at a time andslowly.”
“Alexandra?”
She didn’t want to get into a discussion.No. Not about Molly. Not about her own past. She crossed to theopposite side of the fire, breaking up small twigs. Sparks crackledand hissed, rising once, and then sinking back to earth.
The silence of the night murmured with arustle from under the palms, small nocturnal creatures seeking ameal. If not for the horrific events of the past few days, theywouldn’t be there either. She scrubbed a hand over her face. Aprofound weariness seeped through her bones as her mind replayedeach nerve-shattering hour of their time on theSantanas.Lord Rutland’s fight with Damiano, the storm and her currentfate.
With her back to him, she laid down, crossedher arms and curled into herself. Tears welled. She drew ashattered breath and then another, desperate to hold back the floodthat would surely erupt if she let go. She deserved everything thathad happened to her.
A shadow loomed and she looked up. Nicholasreached down and tucked his coat around her. “You need this morethan I, Alexandra.”
“But I couldn’t possibly” His coat slippedoff her shoulder and he pushed it back up.
“Yes you can. I insist. You’ve been strongerthan any woman I’ve known, facing unbelievable terrors.
You have cheered and consoled me. You havefed and cared for me. You have put up with my brutish moods.” Hisvoice deepened. “You have saved my life.”
His mouth quirked as he slanted his handsomehead to the palm tree where he had tossed the contents of hisstomach. “You even possess the indelicate art of telling me,Itold you so.”
Her bottom lip quivered. She didn’t deservehis praise. Whatever she’d done was purely for self-preservation.Survival. Two people had a much better chance fighting off theircaptors and, in fact, it was Lord Rutland who’d fought off Damiano.She would never have had a chance against the beast.
Maybe Lord Rutland wasn’t the rude man she’dthought him to be. Perhaps his condescending, boorish behavior washis shield to keep from getting hurt. That he thought to praiseher, to give her credit for saving his life… She had to be wrongabout him. A warm feeling flowed through her. Her stomachfluttered.
Nodding, he pulled a long breath. “You arelike a sister to me, Alexandra.”
“Sister?” The apology she was about to givedied on her tongue.
His chin rose ever so slightly, as ifsatisfied with himself.
So, they were sister and brother. Apparentlyhe thought it wise to be straight forward with their relationship.Being stranded on a deserted patch of earth and all.
Alexandra offered a weak smile.
She rolled over, hiding beneath his coat,grateful for the warmth. Did he think she had insinuated a romanticinclination? Unable to think of anything she had said to make himthink of that possibility, she burrowed further beneath his coat,her humiliation complete. She was powerless to escape herreality…and…his scent.
An affiliation with a duke would beimpossible. With her vague history, she was far beneath thatconnection.
If only she could cork her melancholy in abottle and cast it into the sea.
He moved to his log and soon his gentlerhythmic snoring could be heard in tandem with the waves thatwashed upon the beach. He lay huddled in a ball to keep warm. Inhis weakened state, what if he caught a chill and died? Alexandrasighed. She rose, clutching his coat to her. For the first time inher life, she laid next to a man, covering them both with his coatand sharing their body warmth. Just like on the ship…this was aboutsurvival. They needed one another.
ChapterFive
