In the Arms of a Pirate (A Sam Steele Romance Book 2) (28 page)

“We have to check the beach. If the
Revenge
isn’t back then I need to acquire another ship.”

While she nodded her understanding, hurt lingered in her eyes. Telling himself this was for her benefit only, he took her chin and brought her mouth to his. His intentions dissipated like morning fog when she leaned into him, sighed into his mouth. An alarm bell tolled in his head.
Trouble. There be trouble ahead
. But her taste was on his tongue again and somehow her breast found its way into his palm. He thumbed her nipple and his blood went to instant boil when he found it already beaded. Moaning, Sarah pressed herself against him.

Oh, God, what was he doing? Hadn’t he just warned himself he needed to keep distance between them?

Never before had Aidan had to talk himself into
not
touching a woman’s breast. He shook his head. How in blazes had he gotten himself into this situation?

Easing from the kiss, Aidan lowered his hand, passed her the shirt. “Believe me, it’s not easy to step away from you but we can’t linger any longer.”

At least the hurt was gone from her eyes. He’d be walking uncomfortably for a few minutes, however. He took her trousers from the floor and gave them to her then grabbed his boots and pulled them on as he heard her dressing. He moved to the table for his sash and weapons. The click of her shoes on the floor was a reassuring sound. It meant she was dressed and would no longer be a temptation.

But just as he was tucking his pistol in his sash she came around him, crawling on her hands and knees. His mind played a vicious trick on him and for a moment he envisioned her coming up to unfasten his trousers, to release his cock and—

“Where did all my hairpins get to?” she asked, effectively dousing his fantasy.

Hairpins. Aidan ran an unsteady hand around his neck. Hell, it was past time to get to his ship. Then, surely then, he could concentrate on something other than sex.

“I-well I mostly just tossed them.”

He helped her find a handful then jerked when a hard knock sounded at the door. Motioning for Sarah to be quiet, Aidan drew his pistol from his sash, crept to the door. Unfortunately, the window faced the trees and therefore he couldn’t use it to see who was there. He could however, hear heavy breathing. And was damn thankful whoever it was hadn’t chosen to simply shoot them through the window.

Bam
.
Bam
.
Bam.
“Blimey, Cap’n, open the door!”

Chunk. Thank God. Aidan secured his weapon, unlocked the door and raised his brows as a sodden Chunk stomped in, boots squishing with each step.

“What—” His eyes bulged when he saw Chunk’s bruised face. One eye was already purple with bruises. His lip was split and bloody and his nose listed starboard. Aidan’s lips flattened. “There was a mutiny, wasn’t there?”

“That damn Peter,” Chunk cursed. “He and Clarence managed to convince enough of the others you were too young, too inexperienced to be Steele. We were barely around the other side of the island when they mutinied.”

“How many dead?”

“On our side? Two with more wounded. More on theirs.”

Aidan braced himself for what he feared most. “And the
Revenge
?”

Chunk attempted to smile while not moving his lips. “We’ve got her. We saw your signal but when you didn’t come I came looking.” His gaze flitted around the room. There was no mistaking the rumbled bed, her coat, which was still on the floor, nor the handful of pins she clutched. He shot Aidan a knowing grin. “Captain told me where to find you.”

There was little doubt Chunk knew what had taken place but there wasn’t time to be embarrassed about it. He could, however, be blessedly grateful the man hadn’t arrived sooner. Or worse, looked in the window if he had.

Aidan picked up Sarah’s jacket and handed it to her before donning his own.

“There’s more,” Chunk said, shaking his head like a wet dog and sending water flying every which way. “Clarence didn’t survive the mutiny.”

“As he was part of it, I won’t be feeling too badly about it.”

“He was a friend of Peter’s and you already know how Peter felt about losing Pockets.”

Aidan frowned. “He couldn’t get revenge fast enough.”

“And now he’s gone.”

“Gone? Peter was killed in the battle?”

“Unfortunately, no. He jumped overboard when he realized he couldn’t win.”

“How far from shore?”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t until it was all over that I realized he was gone.”

Aidan rubbed the heel of his hand across his chest. He didn’t have a good feeling about this.

Chunk shrugged. “Maybe he’ll go after Roche, save us the trouble.”

“He could, but I suspect he won’t now. He’ll be outnumbered. Going after Roche alone is a sure way to get himself killed.”

“If he won’t go after my father alone, and you have your ship back, what difference does it make if Peter is unaccounted for?”

Aidan looked from Sarah to Chunk. “If he somehow gets word to Roche that we have Sarah, we’ve lost our head start.”

Chunk swore. “Right now, I’d say he hates you nearly as much as he hates Roche.”

“Which means he’ll tell Santiago.” Cold dread slithered down Aidan’s back.

He was already figuring how fast they could reach Nevis. It wouldn’t have been a problem before, as it would be days yet until the cur they’d left behind at Roche’s house managed to find a ship and deliver the message about Sarah. But now…with Peter poised to tell him?

It would take a miracle to get there before Roche caught up.

*

Oh, dear God
they were in trouble. Sarah didn’t have to see the worry on Aidan’s face to know it. He’d planned to be days ahead of her father and now, frighteningly outnumbered, she didn’t see how they could reach safety before being blasted out of the water. Before Aidan was killed.

She’d known it would come to a battle between them but it was supposed to be an even fight, not seven ships to one. Not, Sarah choked back her fear, a fight where Aidan wouldn’t stand a chance. She tossed her hairpins aside.

“You go. I’ll delay my father as long as I can.”

Aidan went still. “You’re not staying behind.”

“You brought me along as bait, but we both know my father will go after you whether I’m with you or not.” She jammed her hat over her head, crossed her arms and stood her ground. “You need the head start and you know it.”

“She’s right,” Chunk admitted.

Aidan didn’t acknowledge his crewman. His eyes were locked onto Sarah.

“You don’t know what he’ll do when he sees you here.” He raked his gaze over her. “Dressed like that.”

“He’s never hurt me before.”

“Because you’ve been his perfect princess waiting at home. He may well consider you soiled and then there’s no telling what he’d do.”

Soiled? Was that how Aidan saw her now? Was that why he’d been so quick to leap from the bed once they’d coupled? Granted, he’d come back to her side, kissed her tenderly. He’d explained why they couldn’t linger but now she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d lied about the reason for his haste.

Sarah looked past Aidan to Chunk. “You know it’s the wisest thing to do.”

“Cap’n, she’s right. And the longer we stand here the less time we have to get the hell off this island. We need to move. Now.”

Aidan nodded. “Yes we do.” He signaled for Chunk to open the door. “Let’s go.”

Sarah’s heart tumbled to her feet. The big man glanced Sarah’s way then slipped outside into the night. Aidan looked anything but grateful. “I’m not leaving you in Roche’s hands,” he ground.

Then, grabbing her arm, he pulled her outside and started running.

He was faster and more than once she’d have fallen if he hadn’t had such a firm grip on her arm. Over fallen trees, around thickets and under vines they raced through the jungle, avoiding the beach and streets. Sarah’s hat caught in a branch and whipped off her head. Leaves slapped her legs, face. Thorns bit at her ankles. Soon, the earthy smell of the trees gave way to the salt of the sea. Chest heaving, she stumbled onto the beach behind Aidan. Chunk saw Sarah, shook his head but otherwise said nothing.

Then, as though they weren’t winded in the least, Chunk and Aidan shoved the longboat into the water. Sarah climbed in, and when the water was to their waists, the men grabbed the sides of the boat and hefted themselves in.

Aidan took the oars, despite Chunk’s protests. “You’re hurt and I’ll need you later more than I need you now.”

Nothing else was said as Aidan aimed the longboat toward the
Revenge
, which was nothing but a shadow on the sea. Clouds had rolled in and obscured the moon while she and Aidan had been ashore and the night was much darker than it had been earlier. If she hadn’t known the
Revenge
was there, she may have missed it altogether. She prayed her father and his armada wouldn’t see it either.

They wasted no time once the boat tapped the ship. The rope ladder was dropped and Sarah was first to scramble up. Chunk was next and Aidan took up the rear.

Lucky was at the gunwale, a bloodied scarf tied around his forehead.

“How bad?” Aidan asked.

“I’ll live. There are others I’m not as sure about.”

“Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait. Let’s get this boat up. Once we’re underway, Jacques can have a look at them.”

“Jacques is among the wounded,” Lucky said and grimaced. “Badly, I’m afraid. Slim’s been doing what he can, but he’s not as skilled or experienced with injuries as Jacques.”

“Dammit.” Aidan shook his head. “Well, we’ll worry about it later. Every hand on deck!” Aidan yelled. “Get this boat up, roll the ladder. Weigh anchor!”

Sarah had no idea what to do or where to go. She took a step forward only to knock into someone, then shuffled back and nearly tripped over another sailor. Aidan was already loping toward the quarterdeck. She knew he was worried and busy but it didn’t stop the disappointment from weighing on her.

Since stepping on deck he hadn’t even looked her way. It was as though he’d already put her out of his mind. She knew it wouldn’t be near as easy for her to do the same, but if she’d learned nothing else from her father she’d learned she couldn’t make somebody love her. But knowing didn’t make it any less painful.

Or lonely.

Well, it wasn’t as though she were a stranger to loneliness. And tonight wouldn’t be the first she’d spend wishing things could be different. First, however, she needed to get through these next few hours. A crewman slammed into her, sent them both stumbling.

“Make yourself useful or get the hell out of the way,” he grumbled as he caught his balance, reached for the rope he’d dropped.

Knowing the best place for her was below deck, Sarah hurried to the main hatch. Since there hadn’t been any visible light from the longboat, Sarah had expected below to be as dark as the main deck. But a faint glow could be seen ahead and Sarah gladly headed toward it. Gladness soon turned to horror, however, when she saw the reason for the light. Planks had been laid between casks to form raised beds for the injured. There were three such beds lined head to toe in the narrow corridor that led to the galley. The metallic smell of blood competed with the cloying stench of sweat. One man moaned, another cursed, but worse was the man who made no sound at all. Slim was busy tending the man doing the cursing.

“Drink it,” he ordered, only to have his hand slapped away.

The cup hit the wall spraying its contents. It bounced and rattled across the planks before coming to a stop at Sarah’s feet. She picked it up, prayed she’d be strong enough for what she was about to do, and carried it to Slim.

“Let me do this, Slim. I’m sure the captain can use your help on deck.”

Slim blew out a troubled breath. “With Jacques here hurt,” he said pointing to the one man who wasn’t moving, “I’m the best we have. We’re down a lot of men. Not only the ones that mutinied, but these and those two as well.” He gestured over her shoulder.

Sarah looked over; saw the white draped over the bodies. Her stomach rose to her throat. Slim patted her hand.

“I appreciate the offer, miss, but I’m not sure you’re up to this.”

Sarah swallowed, took a long breath in and slowly let it out. “I’m not sure I am either, but I’ll do it. Ai—” She caught herself, started again. “Steele doesn’t think Peter will waste any time getting word to my father. When he finds out I’m here and the
Revenge
is not only near but outgunned…”

“Blimey, we’re all dead.” Slim wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “All right. I’ve done what I can for now, anyway. It’s just changing bandages and trying to keep them still. I’ll show you what to do.”

Because she was most worried about Jacques, Sarah went to him first.

“Jacques, it’s Sarah.” She cooed as, clamping down hard on her nausea, she unwound the bloody bandage wrapped around his lower thigh. She’d watched Slim cleanse and rewrap the wound before he’d shown her what to do with the others but Jacques’ bandage was already crimson with fresh blood.

While Sarah believed Slim had done his best to tend the wound the damage was extensive. She could see bone, ripped tissue and muscle. There hadn’t been enough skin left to suture the wound closed. To slow the bleeding he’d tied a sash firm around Jacques’ thigh. Slim had whispered it would likely need to be amputated. Horrified, Sarah had grabbed his arm but he’d been quick to reassure her. She wouldn’t be called upon to do it but he’d need to speak with Aidan first.