A knock on the door sounded, and Durwin entered with Soot and Smity.“Heard ye were awake, Cap’n.”
“We damaged ’is ship pretty good, struck ’im below the waterline.”Excitement flashed through Durwin’s eyes as he fumbled with his hat.“A few o’ ’is shots hit theResolute.”
The ship rolled over a wave, only adding to Cadan’s nausea.He gripped the edge of his desk.“Damage?”
“Repaired, Cap’n.”Smity’s eye drifted off to the right.“At least till we can get t’ port fer a few supplies.”
“And Allard?If his ship was damaged, why didn’t you capture him?”
Soot’s eyelid began to twitch.“As soon as Allard an’ ’is men got on board, they raised all canvas t’ the wind an’ sped off.”
“We could have given them chase, Captain.”Pell thumbed the arm of the chair he sat in.“And probably caught him, but with only a quarter of our men, including our captain”—he raised a brow toward Cadan—“we would not have been able to board and finish him off.”
“So we sailed back t’ the cove,” Durwin slid a finger down his hawk nose.“Which is when we found out ye’d been shot.”
Pell laughed.“You wouldn’t have believed it if you’d seen it.Gabrielle ran out of the jungle hysterically shouting for help, and once we came ashore, she brought us to you.”
Why the woman would do that and not try to escape made no sense.Pain throbbed across Cadan’s temples, and he sighed, glancing out the windows onto the dark raging sea.
“This was after Allard’s ship set sail?”
“Aye.”
Cadan shook his head, suspicion rising along with his anger.If all of Allard’s men were on his ship, who had shot him?
Chapter 10
Gabrielle once again entered the captain’s cabin, but this time, the beast was not unconscious on his bed, weak and feeble.Nay, the man who stood in the sunlight pouring in the stern windows was no sickly creature, but strong, virile, fully conscious…and in control.
He turned to face her, dismissed Moses, and after the door slammed shut, he stared at her for what seemed an eternity.The iguana—what was its name again?—scrambled across the deck, halting before Gabrielle, and reaching down with difficulty, she swept him into her arms.
She thought she heard the captain growl.Hard to tell over the mad dash of water against the hull.
Glancing about the cabin, she was quick to note that all her work had been in vain.Once again, piles of discarded attire—shirts, boots, doublets, and belts—lay across the deck like ant hills.A clutter of parchment, pens, weapons, and trinkets covered every inch of his desk, while bottles of rum, glasses, and plates of half-eaten food lay strewn over sideboard and shelves.
“Why did you not go with your lover?”he asked, bringing her gaze to him.Circling the desk, he grabbed an open bottle.
Petulant cad!“As I have told you, Damien is not my lover.”
He stared down at her belly, a sarcastic grin on his face.
Anger boiled within her.“He ravished me, if you must know.”She swallowed a burst of terror as memories assaulted her.She hated even the mention of the vile act.
A ray of sunlight piercing the stern windows oscillated over him.He didn’t flinch, didn’t move a muscle.Yet something softened in his eyes—a flash of sympathy, perhaps?A look that indicated he might believe her?But then his gaze hardened again with disdain.
For both herandher child.
TheResolutelurched over a wave, and Gabrielle steadied herself lest she fall.
“Yet you willingly went aboard his ship.”He poured rum into a glass and downed it in one gulp, staring at her.
How did he know that?Her brow wrinkled.She stroked Zada’s head, then set the iguana down.An ache swelled through her feet, and she moved to sit in a chair.“I was deceived.”
He cocked his head.“The only women who willingly board a pirate ship are whores.”
She’d stand and strike the man if she had the energy.But the babe had been moving about in her womb, causing pain in her back and legs.And he was heavy.’Twas like carrying a cannon ball around.“Have you summoned me to assail me with insults?Or pray, is there another purpose?”
At this, a small grin appeared on his lips.
