The Game (19 page)

“I know,” Katherine said unevenly. “Liam. Thank you.”

He froze, her use of his given name seeming to resound between them. How intimate it seemed. He finally moved, bellowing to wake the dead. Shortly after, Hugh was carried from the chamber by two of his men, and Katherine lay unsleeping, knowing that Liam also lay outside her door, as sleepless as she.

They left soon after sunrise. The mild weather of the past few days had disappeared and the morning was damp and wet, a fine drizzle misting them. Hugh Barry did not see them off. He remained abed, apparently nursing his wounds, as well as his pride.

Katherine cantered alongside Liam, Macgregor on her right, trying to forget about all that Hugh had said and done—trying not to think of how Liam had rescued her. At times she wondered if she had dreamed most of the events of the past night. Not the near rape, which was so horrid and real that she knew she would never forget it, but Liam’s kind, gentle touch. He had been concerned for her. She had been certain of it then, and was almost certain of it now.

Except that this morn, he said not a word to her. Once, briefly, he had looked at her bruised face, but then he had turned away. Katherine knew she was a horrendous sight. A looking glass had told her that. The right side of her face was swollen and turning purple. Katherine found that she yearned for some sign from him that last night’s concern had been genuine, but she did not receive any.

They slowed their mounts to cross a stream. Katherine thought that this was as good a time as any to bring up the issue which haunted her—where she would now go. As their horses picked their way across the rocky bed, Katherine hesitated, unsure of how to address him after he had rescued her so gallantly last night. His given name was on the tip of her tongue, but it seemed far too intimate to use today. “O’Neill?”

Their horses lunged onto the opposite bank. Liam glanced at her. “Are we returning to the
Sea Dagger?
” she asked nervously.

“Yes.”

Her pulse rioted. Did he think that she was his prisoner, now that Hugh had refused her? She was afraid to ask the next question, but had no choice. She must learn his intentions. “Where are you taking me?”

His gray gaze was piercing. For a moment, Katherine thought he would not respond. “We must speak, Kather
ine. But not now.” He no longer looked at her. “We will speak when we get back to my ship.”

But Katherine could not wait. “’Tis my future you wish to discuss?” she cried.

“Aye.”

“Then we must discuss it now!”

“There are starving outlaws everywhere, looking for prey such as ourselves. This is not the time.” Abruptly he spurred his mount into a canter. Katherine’s mare immediately followed. Filled with anxiety, she allowed the animal to have its head.

By noon they had reached the walled town and were admitted through the northern gate. They continued through the narrow streets at a brisk pace. Soon the harbor was in view, Cork Castle and the British garrison to the left. Many masted schooners and smaller barges and fishing vessels bobbed at anchor. The
Sea Dagger
rode the swells of the bay in its very midst, also at anchor, black and sleek, her many white sails puffing in the breeze, appearing every inch a pirate ship, appearing, too, as if she yearned to be set free to race the wind and ride the sea.

Katherine glanced at Liam, watching his face soften as he regarded his ship. She could not blame him for being proud of it. The ship might be a pirate’s weapon, but she was a beautiful and stirring sight. It occurred to Katherine that the ship and its owner somehow suited one another perfectly. “Will we be allowed to leave?”

They had stopped at the edge of a dock. Katherine saw that a rowboat was being lowered to fetch them. “No one would be able to stop me if they tried,” Liam said as one might state a fact.

“But—Sir John Perrot?”

He glanced at her. “I believe he will wish to converse with me before we go. However, as I have nothing to say to him, I do not think I will do him the courtesy of remaining here awaiting his permission to depart.” He smiled. “Such a rude man deserves rude behavior—does he not?”

Katherine could not smile back. She had little doubt that Perrot would be furious when he discovered the
Sea
Dagger
gone. “You like this,” she said suddenly. It was an accusation as well as a stunning comprehension.

He quirked a brow.

“You like danger. You like the challenge to leave before Perrot should know and order you to stay. You enjoy danger!”

He laughed. “I had never quite thought about it, but perhaps you are right.” He slid to his feet. “Boy!”

A dock rat came running.

Liam handed the small, ragged boy some pennies. “Take these horses back to the livery.”

The coins had disappeared. “Aye, aye, sir.” Then, “Be you the pirate captain?” The urchin was wide-eyed. In his dirty face those eyes were huge and blue.

“That I am,” Liam said, and then he scowled quite ferociously. “Now off with you before I decide to take your pretty little arse with me!”

The boy grabbed all three pairs of reins and began to run, the huge horses trotting after him.

Katherine looked at Liam archly. “Did you enjoy scaring him?”

Liam grinned. The effect was dazzling. “He was expecting a big, bad pirate. The least I could do was oblige him.”

Katherine smiled back.

His own smile faded and he stared at her before abruptly turning away to face the bay. Katherine gazed at his broad, cloaked shoulders. Last night he had been concerned about her—she was almost certain of it. But today, he was as careless of her as a stranger. Why? She could not comprehend it. She could not comprehend him.

But why should she even want to? He was a pirate, and she must remember that. A pirate and Shane O’Neill’s son.

Once the
Sea Dagger
was racing through the bay and heading toward the open sea, Liam relinquished the helm to his first mate and stepped off the forecastle. He stood at the prow, watching the iron gray water speeding toward him. It was icy cold, but he enjoyed the sea spray upon his face. How the
Sea Dagger
loved to run. But she had
been designed for racing, for she was quick and light and lean. When they hit the open sea, he would let her sails out and let her race the wind. But race to where?

Liam knew he was running out of time. He had to approach Katherine with his offer soon. As it was, she was awaiting him in order to discuss her future.

He was afraid. It was astounding. He knew no fear when a battle approached, merely an icy and frozen calm, an acute sharpening of mind and wit. But now, he was afraid of a woman—afraid of a woman’s rejection.

Katherine had refused Hugh, her childhood sweetheart. Liam was rigid with tension. He would be a fool to think that she would accept him, an infamous pirate, the son of a murderer, as her protector instead. His offer would have to be far better, far more than all that he had thus far offered her.

And still, he sensed that it would not be enough. Too well, he recalled Katherine FitzGerald’s pride—and her scorn. But…had not something changed between them last night?

Liam was afraid to think so, afraid to hope so, but his blood beat hard with the very notion, with his hope.

Yet still he was afraid to approach her. He hung back at the ship’s railing, reluctant to turn and go. His pulse raced, his heart quickened. His mind told him that he was a damned fool. To dare to reach above himself, for a prize worthy of a far different man, a far better man. But his heart dared to be contradictory.

Finally Liam turned and crossed the ship, to go below, to confront Katherine, to ask her to be his wife.

Katherine stood at the open porthole, unable really to enjoy the cool touch of the sea breeze upon her face, waiting for Liam. She watched the wooded northern shore of the bay recede as they raced toward the sea. She wondered anxiously about what he wished to speak to her—and, as anxiously, she wondered what the future would hold for her now.

“Katherine? I would speak with you.”

At the sound of Liam’s voice, her pulse rioted and her shoulders stiffened. Slowly, she turned.

He closed the cabin door behind him, his expression impossible to read. He stared at her, making her uneasy. She thought about what Hugh had tried to do last night, and how Liam had stopped him. She thought about Liam’s purple-canopied bed, on the other side of the cabin; she thought about the red-and-gold cords. “Where are you taking me?”

Liam approached her then paused when a few feet yet separated them. “Katherine, I am unwilling to let you go.”

She froze.

His gaze roamed over her face before meeting her eyes. “There is much I can give you, you know.”

She did not say a word, her pulse running wild, knowing what would come next. She had no wish to be confronted with another illicit proposition. She had no wish to be tempted, even a little bit, by this man. She began to shake her head no.

He spoke quickly, then. “I saw you that day when we rode through Smithfield Market.” He smiled slightly, his gaze deadly earnest. “I saw how you looked so eagerly at the clothing and the goods. I saw the delight crossing your face time and again; I saw how, when we left, you turned to look back, how you appeared as wistful as a child who has left her very first fair.”

Katherine’s eyes were riveted upon his handsome face. In spite of her anger and her dismay, she recalled, far too well, the incredible wealth of merchandise she had seen at the market—too well she recalled the splendor and extravagance of the queen’s courtiers and ladies. All of the baubles she would never have, never know.

“I can give you every trinket you have ever dreamed of—and all you have never dreamed of, as well. I am not a man to brag, but this time, I will condescend to boast. I am richer than some kings, Katherine. You wish for sable and mink? Or ermine and lynx?” he shrugged. “You can have them all. You are a woman meant to enjoy beautiful things. You are a woman meant to be cherished, treasured, and pampered like any queen.” He eyed her old,
mended, ugly gown. “You should be clothed in silks and velvets, in ribbons and lace. You should be gowned in the splendor and wealth of royalty, Katherine. You should wear diamonds on your ears and rubies at your waist, and if you so desire it, sapphires and emeralds in your hair. Or is your preference more demure? Then it shall be pearls and gold. There are no limits, Katherine. You need but ask, and it shall be yours.”

He offered her incredible riches so that she might become his whore. Katherine shook with anger. She shook with hurt. Even while, deep inside herself, a secret part of her filled with yearning. Just last night he had rescued her from Hugh. Last night he had not been a pirate, last night he had been a hero, a kind and caring one.

“Hugh was a fool and a clod,” Liam said. “And impoverished, as well. I know I am not noble, but I would never hurt you. Surely I have proved that.”

He had proved that, but his offer made it clear that he was little different from Hugh after all. “I refused Hugh his abominable offer. And I refuse you,” she said harshly. “I will be no man’s mistress.”

Liam stared at her, his gaze as gray as the ocean, and as fathomless. “Katherine, I am not asking you to be my mistress, I am asking you to be my wife.”

Katherine did not comprehend him at first. Surely she had dreamed his words!

“I am asking you to be my wife,” he repeated, and now she saw that a vein throbbed visibly in his temple.

Shock washed over her in huge waves. She could not move, could not speak.

Grimly, he said, “My home is far to the north; ’tis an impenetrable island. We would be safe there from all those who might think to thwart us, though, in truth, I think the scandal of our marriage would soon die down. Have you not said, repeatedly, how much you wish to wed? Have you not said how much you wish a husband, a home of your own? Although I do not use it, on the island there is a brand-new brick manor house, as fine as any in England. If you do not like it, I will tear it down and build you something else.” He hesitated. He stared at her, his
eyes dark, charcoal gray. “Your father wishes this union. It would be helpful to him. I would be helpful to him.”

She began to breathe again—but laboriously. Her breasts heaved. Her fists were clenched at her sides. Suddenly she fought temptation—and there was so much of it. “Oh, God,” she whispered, agonized. He was offering her his name.
His name
. He was offering her marriage.

His tone was harsh. “You should think very carefully, Katherine, on my proposal. You are an intelligent woman. You will not have another marriage offer like this. You will have offers from farmers or men of similar station, perhaps, but you could never be a farmer’s wife. Do you need some time to think about it?” He did not smile. He had not smiled even once at her. “I understand that you must be greatly surprised.”

To say that Katherine was greatly surprised was a vast understatement. “Why?”

He blinked.

“Why, Liam? Why do you wish to marry me now?”

His jaw tensed. “I have thought about it carefully, ever since your father’s offer. I want you, but I will not force you. I want you to come to me willingly.”

“I see.” Tears finally spilled down her cheeks, and she brushed them impatiently aside.

“Take all the time that you need,” he said, turning to leave.

“No,” Katherine said, sadly. “I do not need time to consider marriage to you.”

He froze.

“I cannot marry you, Liam. I am sorry. I cannot marry a pirate.” She hugged herself, trembling. “My father may be destitute, but Katherine FitzGerald has not changed. I am nobly born. I could never wed a pirate. And it matters not that my father wants this union for his politics.”

He was rigid, as unmoving as if carved from stone. His face, however, was carved in lines that suggested pain.

“I am sorry,” Katherine whispered.

“You are not thinking clearly,” Liam finally said. “You are still overwrought from last night. I will go.”

“No,” Katherine said, wiping more tears away with her knuckles.