“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking,” she snarled.
He chuckled, still immensely enjoying their changed circumstances. “Your men were safely tucked away in those pleasant accomodations you supplied for my crew. And then I came straight here to take care of you.”
And he’d certainly done that. They both grew quiet and thought about what they’d done in this room last night. What a fool she’d been to believe his sweet, seductive words! But she wanted so badly to know what his lovemaking would be like.
His amusement immediately departed, he asked hesitantly, “I don’t suppose it’s your time of the month?”
She glared at him. She’d seen the smeared blood on her thighs, too, before she’d closed the robe. “No, it isn’t.”
“If I had thought, for even a minute,” he said, his tone quite sober now, “that you were a virgin, that wouldn’t have happened.”
She found that doubtful, considering what a scoundrel he was, but she merely said, “And why did you take it for granted that I wasn’t a virgin?”
“Because you’re a damned pirate.”
She couldn’t find fault with his logic, when that’s what she had wanted him to think, but her tone was still bitter when she replied, “Ruined one way or the other, there’s not much difference as I see it.”
She was talking about the scandal he’d left behind for her in England, as well as what had occurred between them last night. But she had a feeling he didn’t realize that, that he had only the one thing on his mind when he rejoined, “I’ll make that up to you.”
“How can you? It’s not something you can just give back, you bastard.”
“No, it isn’t,” he agreed. “But my amends would be to not have you tossed in jail with the rest of your crew when we make port.”
Was that actual guilt she was hearing in his voice? If it was, then she had an edge and needed to try to use it.
“That isn’t going to do me much good when I still have to rescue my father.”
He slanted a single brow upward. “You’d rather go to jail as well?”
“Of course not, but I can’t get my father out of that dungeon by myself. I’ll need help.”
“So that tale you spun about him was true?”
She sighed. Had he really thought she’d lied just for an excuse to take his ship? Dense man, pirates didn’t need excuses.
“Of course it’s true, and it’s a bloody fortress he’s being kept in. And the ransom Pierre is demanding is more than I’m willing to pay.”
“You don’t have the money? I thought you came into an inheritance.”
“If that was the demand there would be no problem, but that isn’t what Pierre wants. He’s asked for my father’s maps, and I have to be the one who delivers them.”
“So what you’re saying is you’re too selfish to give up some old maps for your father’s life?”
She gasped. To go by his expression, he seemed to regret having said it. But he’d said it, revealing his real opinion of her, and despite the fact that she despised him as well, it still cut her deeply.
“I didn’t really mean that,” he amended.
“No, you’re right. Pierre will kill my father, but he won’t kill me, so in a way I am being selfish by not giving him what he wants.”
“Do you even have the maps?”
She waved her hand impatiently. “They aren’t important, they’re merely his excuse. This isn’t the first time he’s tried to get his hands on me.”
Drew sat forward. “Wait a minute, you’re sayingyouare the ransom?”
“Did I forget to mention that?”
He reacted to her sarcastic tone by sitting back again and crossing his arms over his chest. Then he shrugged to show he couldn’t care less. “If it’s not a position you want to be in, I’m sure you’ll figure a way out of it. You pirates are nothing if not resourceful.”
