She was paralyzed for a moment. She’d worn one of her thinner island skirts and a thin blouse for the trip, a matching pair that could have been mistaken for a dress. But with only bloomers and a chemise under them, it wasn’t going to take her long to remove them. The door being open had misled her into thinking he wasn’t going to touch her yet, that she still might have time to escape. She glanced at it. He did as well. His laughter returned.
“No, no,” he said. “Chasing after wenches is one thing I will not do. If you run, I will have every last man in my dungeon killed.”
She stiffened. He said that with a bloody smile on his lips, as if he were savoring the thought.
“I will be back shortly,” Pierre growled as he moved to the door. “Be in that bed waiting for me, or I will have your papa brought here and flogged before your eyes.”
Chapter 49
“HOW TIGHT ARE YOUR BONDS?”Drew asked James, who was sitting next to him, tied to the same tree.
“I’ve been bound with better knots,” James replied.
“Then you can break them?”
“Yes,” James said, raising Drew’s hopes, only to dash those hopes when he added, “Eventually.”
“We don’t have all night! You heard that bastard. They’ll be back here soon. God, if it’s the last thing I ever do, I’m going to kill Lacross,” Drew said as he strained at the ropes around his own wrists.
“You’ll have to get in line,” James replied.
Drew snarled, “For once, Malory,you’llhave to get in line.”
They’d left the ships armed to the teeth. It hadn’t done them any good when they’d been ambushed. There must have been twenty pistols pointed at them when they were surrounded on the beach, halfway to the fortress. Someone had warned the pirates that they were coming. The pirates had even bragged about it.
Their wrists had been tied behind them, but they’d merely been held there on the beach until Pierre Lacross showed up. Bixley knew some of Pierre’s men and had hurled a long string of curses at them until one of the pirates got annoyed enough to gag them all.
“So these are the men who tried to cheat me of my prize?” Lacross had said when he arrived with another large group of men.
“You want we should kill them?” someone had asked.
“There is little entertainment in that,” Pierre replied in an amused tone of voice, and then he pointed at Ohr. “That one, he goes with us. We have two ships to capture, every man will be needed. These other three will not be going anywhere. Collect them when we are done.”
Ohr had been taken with them to make it possible for the pirates to easily board the ships by trickery. The pirates even sat around and waited nearly an hour just so the crews on the two ships would think enough time had passed for the rescue to have been a success. Ohr’s presence with them was to give that impression.
Not a single man had been left to guard them. None were needed, since the pirates had spent the time they had to kill making sure their prisoners were better secured. More ropes had been produced. One was even used to wrap them to a palm tree. There was no doubt that they’d be there when someone came back to collect them.
It had been easy enough to spit out the gags, but the ropes were a different matter. Those around Drew’s wrists had gone beyond painful, they were so tight he had no feeling in his hands now. And too much time had passed, plenty of time for Pierre’s trap to have been sprung. Had Gabrielle already been captured? It was killing him, thinking about what was happening to her.
“They’ll be celebrating tonight,” Bixley said, finally getting his own gag loose. “It’s what they did after they captured Nathan. They jump on any excuse to break open another cask, and you heard them crowing ’bout getting the jump on us.”
And they’d have a lot more to crow about now if their other trap was a success. Two more fine ships to sell or put to use, and the most beautiful woman…
“That might give us a little more time,” James said.
“Time for what?” Drew snarled.
“To turn the tables, of course. You don’t think I’m going to let George fret if we’re not back by dawn, do you?”
“I’d like to know how the hell you think—”
“Quiet, someone’s coming back this way,” Bixley hissed.
Drew had never felt so much frustration. If he didn’t break these bonds soon…He couldn’t even feel if he was making progress, but he was straining for all he was worth.
He could make out six men coming down the beach toward them, laughing, taking their time. So the trap had been sprung successfully?
“Told you they’d still be here, that it didn’t matter how big they were,” one of the pirates said to his buddy as he bent over to cut the rope from the tree. “No one ties knots better’n I do.”
