His Wicked Kiss (37 page)

“Don’t worry, Victor,” Connor murmured, looking around at the obedience of his new servants in dark satisfaction. “We are going to rescue
Eden
now. We’ll find her soon and bring her home safely.”

You’re not going anywhere near my daughter ever again
, Victor thought, trembling a little as Connor pivoted and strolled away, his rifle resting over one broad shoulder.

They decided to be married at sea as soon as
The Winds of Fortune
met up with the
Valiant
, captained by Jack’s uncle, Lord Arthur Knight. Since they were now only about a hundred miles off the coast of
Ireland
, it wouldn’t be long.

In the meantime,
Eden
threw herself into preparing for her new role in life as the wife and consort of a powerful shipping magnate. There was much to learn and, in truth, more responsibility involved than she had expected. Jack wanted her to understand how his empire was set up, how each branch ran, who his most loyal men were in each division, where the profits came from and how they were invested, and above all, where she could find the secret accounts “in case anything ever happened” to him.

She did not like the sound of that.

Yesterday, he had outlined for her the main pretense he’d be using to explain his return to
England
after twenty years in exile. As far as the world was concerned, Jack would only be visiting
London
for the purpose of buying out a competitor who had been causing trouble for his agents in various far-flung territories.

Today, it was on to reviewing the preparations needed for housing the hundreds of mercenaries that he’d soon be transporting back to
South America
. The vast storage spaces on the orlop and lower gun decks, now filled with timber, sugar, and all the other
West Indies
goods, would become, on the return trip, the living quarters of his rough-and-tumble recruits. The troops would need food, water, supplies, uniforms, boots, weapons, and other equipment ranging from canteens to bedrolls.

Trailing him at a quick pace as he marched through one of the sprawling spaces to be converted into a mess hall for the soldiers, Eden made notes of things she was supposed to remember and hurried to keep up with the rest of the boss’s present entourage: Lieutenant Trahern, the now recovered Peter Stockwell, and the purser, who was in charge of all shipboard supplies.

While the men discussed possible problems ranging from ventilation to discipline, Eden found herself musing on how easily she had slipped into the role of helper on account of all her years assisting Papa in his work. But no sooner had she thought of her sire than she suffered an acute pang of guilt.

Papa had counted on her in his quest for knowledge, and now she had gone over to helping Jack instead. One could not live for one’s parents, of course—especially a parent who insisted on secluding himself in the jungle—but still, she couldn’t help feeling a bit like a traitor, abandoning him. What he would say to her the next time they met, she could hardly imagine—if he would speak to her at all!

She prayed she had not lost his love, but she knew at the very least he would be furious. Not only had she run away without a by-your-leave, but the next time they met, Papa would find her married—to a decidedly controversial husband—having sought neither his blessing nor his permission. Most fathers would probably take it as a heartless slap in the face.

And the wedding…

She closed her eyes and cringed, sickened to think that she would be married without her papa being there at her wedding. How she wished they could have postponed the ceremony until he found them!—but she knew this was not realistic.

When she had mentioned it halfheartedly to Jack, he had been adamant that they marry without delay. He understood, he said, that Papa’s absence would break her heart; but he had far more practical concerns directly impacting her best interest.

He explained that, having given him her innocence,
Eden
was now vulnerable to ruin until she had secured the legal protection of his name. As much as filial respect prompted her to seek her father’s blessing before the marriage was a
fait accompli
, she knew Jack was right.

It might be months before Papa caught up to them. Meanwhile, the two of them had already become lovers, and a child could be conceived at any time. A baby born too soon after the wedding rather than the full nine months would be deemed by the world a product of impropriety, born in sin.

After suffering Society’s harsh treatment all his life on account of his own scandalous birth, Jack refused to allow any child of his to come into the world under the slightest taint of dishonor. In his view, it was not just her that he had to protect, but their firstborn, too.

Eden
couldn’t argue with that, nor did she really wish to. She wanted to be married to Jack—she did not want to wait. She just wished Papa could have been there, too; but it seemed that this was the price she was going to have to pay for having given in to passion. Still, even at so high a cost, she did not regret her choice.

At least not yet.

Indeed, there was
much
to be nervous about if she were to let herself. Though she managed to thrust aside her fear of her father’s reaction, there remained a deep insecurity about what the future might hold. She had given herself to the terror of the
West Indies
in passionate abandon and had agreed to marry him without any guarantees that she would get the kind of normal, settled life that she had stowed away on his ship to pursue in the first place.

Would they be nomads, living aboard this vessel, rootless, moving from port to port? Or would she be like a navy wife, left at home on the shore, raising her children alone while their father was on the other side of the world?

Thinking about it too much started panic boiling in her veins, so she shoved all her fears aside with a will. For now, she was going on faith. What else could she do? He had no answers for her yet. With the destiny of a nation counting on him, Jack’s dangerous mission had to take precedence.

Once he had fulfilled his promise to the leaders of the revolution and got back safely, then the two of them could decide how and where they were going to live and raise their family.

Provided, of course, that he survived the mission.

Jarring herself out of the desperation that threatened, she realized Jack and Mr. Trahern were now arguing about the best solution to get more air down into the orlop deck.

“Damn it, stop questioning me and just do as I told you!” Jack barked at him.

His loyal lieutenant muttered an angry affirmative and stormed off as the captain dismissed the rest.

Eden
remained, gazing at him. She leaned against the bulkhead in the dim, narrow passageway and shook her head at him after a moment. “Why are you so hard on Trahern?” she asked after the others had gone.

“Why shouldn’t I be? I pay him enough.”

“Jack,” she chided in response to his blunt answer.

“Come, I want to check on a few more items.”

“I don’t see why you can’t treat him a little more kindly,” she remarked as she followed him down the passage. “Mr. Brody would be well advised to do the same. The old man is as hard on the poor lieutenant as you are.”

“The only reason we’re hard on him is because we want him to succeed in life,” Jack said in a reasonable tone, opening a door for her into one of the storage areas. “Trahern’s good—very good—but he came from nothing, and that means he’s got to be twice as good as someone of higher birth if he’s going to make men heed him.”

“Well, that’s not fair, if you ask me.”

“No, it’s not,” he agreed. “But it’s the way things are. For the lad to be his best, I have to hold him to high standards.”

“What standards?”

“Why, the same ones I set for myself. In all honesty, I’m doing him a favor. If he didn’t have the potential, I wouldn’t bother. Mark this down, would you? These planks need replacing. Remind me to tell the carpenters.”

She made a note of it, and then followed him back out into the tight, lamplit corridor. “Jack?”

“Hm?” He still sounded distracted, pausing to inspect some oakum caulking between the planks.

“There’s something I’ve been wondering about.”

“What’s that?”

“Lady Maura.”

He paused, went very still, and then sent an uneasy glance at her over his shoulder. “You know about her?”

“Papa told me she was Aunt Cecily’s friend… and that you wanted to marry her, but her parents wouldn’t allow it.”

He turned to her slowly, the rugged planes and angles of his face gone tense.

“Is this true?” she asked.

“It was a long time ago.”

“Yes, but if you nearly married her and now you’re going to marry me, at least I’d like to know a little bit about the woman. She must have meant a lot to you.”

For a moment, he seemed torn about whether or not to answer. Behind him, some distance down the cramped corridor, a shaft of sunlight pierced the gloom, arrowing in through one of the square hatches.

“What did she look like?”
Eden
prompted, smiling at him.

“Brunette. Dark eyes.” He shrugged. “I had formed a certain attachment to her, but her parents had their sights set on my elder brother.”

“Ah, Robert. The duke? Papa said that Lady Maura was the daughter of a marquess.”

He nodded warily. “Marquess of
Griffith
. His estate borders the Hawkscliffe lands in the
North Country
, so they wanted to forge an alliance between our two clans. If I had been genuine issue of the ancient Hawkscliffe blood, perhaps they might have considered the suit of a mere second son. Unfortunately, the fact of my bastardy was an open secret, so any attachment between Maura and me was, shall we say, discouraged.”

She furrowed her brow, studying him. “How could it have been an open secret? I mean, how did anybody find out?”

“Oh, dear,” he said in a low voice, dropping his gaze as he rested his hands on his waist. “I suppose I’m going to have to tell you all the family secrets.”

She arched her eyebrow in question.