Actually, it had saved her life.
“And what of the stones?” He fingered a lock of her hair, his eyes lingering on it as though he feared he might be dreaming. “What of the MacLauchlin’s great treasure?”
“Ye tell me,” she murmured, watching him closely. “Because the stones werenae where I left them.”
His eyes shot to hers. “Ye went back to our cave?”
“I had no choice,” she whispered, doing her best to keep the pain from her eyes and voice. “The lives of everyone I cared about were threatened…your life was threatened.”
It didn’t matter how ferocious the tales were of him battling at her village that fateful day. How powerful he was. He was still a man and men could bleed. Men could die.
“Yet ye were not killed when ye came up empty handed,” he said. “And I havenae been killed since nor have your kin or people.”
This is where she needed to be careful.
Where she needed to begin putting her plan in motion. A plan she wasn’t sure she could see through.
“My kin havenae been hurt yet.” She frowned and shook her head. “But now, because of your actions, they are in dire trouble. My servitude is all that stood betwixt their safety and certain death.”
“Are ye sure they know where your people are?” Fraser met her frown. “Could they not have been tricking ye?” He shook his head. “Because we hid them well just south of the Isle of Scarba as your parents and Douglas insisted. They remain under the watchful eyes of Shaw’s crew and mine as well when we happen through.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s close to our kin’s original land.”
“’Tis.” He nodded. “And ’tis far closer to the Devils of the Deep’s home base. Far safer than anywhere on the east coast of Scotland right now.”
“’Tis also far too close to where the treasure supposedly is.” She scowled, wishing she had managed to wrangle this information out of Estienne sooner.
“Aye, ’tis verra close to where the treasure was,” he said. “Where they thought Estienne might eventually bring ye in hopes ye had memorized those stones.”
When his fingers trailed down the side of her neck, a shiver rippled through her, and her breath caught. She couldn’t help but close her eyes. It had been so long since she felt this. So long since she felt how he could affect her with the slightest touch.
“Ye lied,” he whispered, even closer now.
“About what,” she whispered, her eyes still closed as she sunk into the moment. As she feared she might open them again and he would be gone. It would be yet another dream.
“Ye lied about not loving me anymore.”
Of course, she had. Every word of it.
“Nay,” she whispered because she knew, in the end, it wouldn’t matter.
“Aye.” She felt a little tug at the back of her neck. “And I’m more than ready to hear the answer to the question I asked ye so long ago.”
Her eyes opened to the damning evidence she had forgotten to hide. What she had kept with her every day since she last laid eyes on him. Something that she had stared at every evening before she drifted off to sleep. That kept her strong when she was barely hanging on.
Something she now wore around her neck.
The ring he had given her the night she was taken.
Chapter Nine
It had taken a great deal of strength not to pull Elspeth into his arms as soon as he returned to his cabin. He did not believe she no longer loved him. Not for a moment. And now he had his proof.
The ring.
Rather than give her a moment to deny or even answer his question, Fraser yanked her against him and kissed her hard. He had been desperate to do this since the second he laid eyes on her. Hell, long before that in his haunted dreams.
She was alive.
Here.
In his arms.
Though she stiffened at first, it wasn’t long before she melted against him and returned his kiss with as much fervor. Their tongues wrapped and tangled as he brushed aside scrolls and propped her on the edge of his desk.
He wanted to pick up where they left off two years ago.
To feel her sweet heat and finally make her his.
Eager, desperate, he braced himself against the roll of the ship, deepened the kiss and slid his hand up beneath her tunic. With a few swift tugs, he yanked away the material that had bound her breasts and tossed aside the bloody thing. Gone were the days she was anything but his lass. Gone were the days she was some ‘lad’ facing endless danger.
She groaned in pleasure and spread her thighs as he palmed the soft flesh of one rounded breast before he rolled the pert nipple between his thumb and forefinger. When her head fell back in submission, he yanked his tunic off then nibbled his way down the side of her neck as he ground against her.
She tasted of sea and salt and all the wildness he knew she possessed.
He could feel the burning heat of anticipation between her legs. She was as ready for him as he was for her. In fact, he was long past ready to slip into the sweet bliss that awaited him between her trembling thighs. Painfully desperate and beyond impatient, he yanked at her trouser’s strings moments before a loud knock came at the door.
“Cap’n, yer needed on deck,” Magnus called out.
“Handle it,” he roared, intending to enjoy Elspeth’s wee body first.
Or so he had hoped until he realized it was too late. It seemed the blasted interruption had stolen the moment because much to his dismay, she wiggled free.
“Och, lass,” he muttered, his cock hard as steel. He needed release. Now. Inside her.
“’Tis not a matter that can wait,” Magnus continued. “’Tis something that needs yer way with words, Cap’n.”
“Bloody hell,” he muttered as he stepped away and yanked on his tunic. “The one time my quartermaster isnae bloody with me!”
Had he been, Elspeth would not be putting that God-awful hat back on but spread across his desk with her legs wrapped around him.
“Stay here, lass,” he muttered before he strode out. Though it was more of a request, it became a flat out order when he decided to lock her in again. He didn’t need her causing a stir with his men.
As it turned out and not surprisingly, his crew was in an uproar over the lack of loot. Not only had they been ordered to abandon Estienne’s ship and possible coin, but the two ships they confiscated had next to nothing on them.
Shaw and his crew were gone. While glad to hear of Elspeth’s safe return, he had other things to attend to and was already well compensated for his time.
“We’ve two ships to sell now,” Fraser declared as he took to the helm and gave them his undivided attention. “I’ll see the proceeds divided evenly amongst ye.”
“Och, Cap’n, have ye looked at the ships?” one man called out. “Cap’n Douglas took out his foul mood on one of ’em.”
Fraser eyed the dilapidated vessel and sighed. That he had.
“Aye and Cap’n Innis got out his aggravation too,” another called, gesturing at the other ship.
He crossed his arms over his chest and eyed the other one. It was almost worse than the first.
“We’ll take what we can scrap,” Fraser finally said after some consideration. “Then I’ll see ye compensated some other way.”
“What other way, Cap’n?” a third man called out, his eyes narrowed on Fraser as he picked food out of his teeth with the end of a small dagger.
“I’ll figure it out,” he assured. And he would.
“How ’bout the way the lad’s sayin’?” the man replied.
“What lad?” asked another. “And what’s he sayin’?”
“The lad yellin’ out the window from the captain’s quarters.” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, referring to the windows beneath him. “My guess is the one the cap’n brought on board.” He resumed peering at Fraser with a narrowed eye. “He’s sayin’ he knows where there’s treasure the likes of which we’ve never se
en.”
Elspeth.
Bloody hell. The lass would be the death of him. He tossed his cabin key to Magnus and gave him a look that said deal with it. Specifically, keep her away from the windows and her mouth shut.
“That true, Cap’n?” the man continued. “Ye know where there’s treasure?” He spit out dislodged food. “’Cause I’d hate to think yer holdin’ out on us.”
“Och,” another lad muttered. “Cap’n MacLomain doesnae hold out on his men, ye bastard.”
The man who had accused him of such was newer to the crew but not altogether wrong.
Had he half the wit he usually did, Fraser would have stuck to getting answers out of Elspeth rather than ending up between her thighs. He had yet to fully explain her presence to his men but he would. All they knew right now was that she had been important to Estienne and her being taken by Fraser was part of their enemy’s torture.
That was part of the reason he gave for leaving Estienne stranded after all his men were killed. The main reason being that Fraser felt a slower death more satisfying after all. A pitiful demise by dehydration and starvation.
He knew many found his change of heart curious considering his long-standing vendetta, but they knew better than to question him. Or at least they did until now.
Until her.
His crew eyed him suspiciously as Elspeth apparently kept feeding information to the scoundrel closest to her. If nothing else had become clear, she had Fraser cornered. And all because he had not taken the time to get the answers he needed but put lusting before captaining.
Either way, he had no intention of backing her claim of treasure. It was too risky until he had all the facts. For all he knew, it might very well be a trap. He was about to say as much when he was interrupted by an all-too-familiar voice.
“Och, nay, yer cap’n isnae holding out on ye,” Elspeth declared as she swaggered out. “He just didnae have his facts straight yet is all.” Her eyes swept over his men as she headed Fraser’s way. “But I do have all the facts, and I know precisely where the treasure is!” Her eyes rounded on them, her voice infused with awe. “Treasure the likes ye couldnae imagine!”
Fraser crossed his arms over his chest and eyed her with a heavy frown as she joined him.
“Where is Magnus?” he growled out of the corner of his mouth.
Her telling eyes dropped boldly to his groin before she winked and shrugged. “In a wee bit o’ pain at the moment but in a few minutes he should be just fine.”
“Och,” he muttered and shook his head. “Ye play a dangerous game, lassie.”
“Aye.” She grinned. “’Tis the way of a pirate.”
About to drag her back to his cabin before she caused more damage, she took the possibility out of his hands when she made an even bolder move.
“I know of treasure because ’tis my kin’s,” she declared to his crew as she ripped off her hat and shook out her hair. “And ’tis the verra reason the enemy stole me away two years ago and your good cap’n has been out for revenge ever since!”
A stunned silence fell as men undoubtedly recognized her from The Sea Rogue’s figurehead and likely from the portrait in his cabin.
“Bloody hell!” someone finally spoke up. “’Tis Elspeth MacLauchlin arisen from the dead!”
The ship rumbled with a mix of mutterings and roars of approval before they quieted under a glare of warning from their captain. The last thing he needed, no matter how well she could handle herself, was a lass on board. Especially one as beautiful as her. She might be dressed like a lad with her hair sticking up at odd angles, but there was no denying her sun-kissed beauty.
He didn’t need to raise his voice when he spoke to his crew. His warning came through loud and clear.
“Aye, she’s Elspeth MacLauchlin, my long lost lass.” His narrowed eyes went from man to man. “As such, she’s not to be touched or even looked at the wrong way, ye ken?”
There were plenty of ‘aye Cap’n’s’ before the man with the food in his teeth leered, chuckled and said, “Och, he’ll tire of her eventually then…”
That’s all he got out before Fraser whipped a dagger at him followed by someone else’s knife. The man froze as both blades thumped into the mizzen mast beside him, one above the other. They were so close to his face that they left two scratches on his cheek.
Fraser arched a brow at Elspeth, impressed with her aim despite his current aggravation. “Good throw.”
She grinned. “Ye too.”
The crew’s incredulous eyes went back and forth between the man and Fraser and Elspeth before their victim managed to speak. “She’s yer lass, all right, Cap’n!” His eyes rounded as he eyed the blades then looked Elspeth’s way again. “And ye’d be a bloody fool to ever tire of the likes of her!”
“Aye,” the crew roared, nodding their approval.
“Aye, féroce…ferocious,” Audric kicked in, stars in his eyes as he gazed at her. “A true tiger female!”
Elspeth smiled warmly at him and nodded hello. Of course, doing such magnified her beauty which had most of his crew looking at her with the same stars in their eyes. Respectful somewhat non-lustful stars that is.
She had swiftly established a standing with his men and saved him from future issues with them. As such, she seemed quite pleased with herself. And she should be. He would give her that…and so much more. Because while she had certainly made it obvious to his crew where she stood, so had he.
She was his.
Therefore, much to her vexation, he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her against his side. He could tell by her tight expression, that she was not pleased by his public display. One that tested her well-earned independence. But she deserved a little payback for claiming there was a treasure when he knew full well there might not be.
Furthermore, she had bypassed him on his own ship to get what she wanted.
Not to say he didn’t want to keep her kin safe. He most certainly did. But there had been no time to assess the situation. She had given him no chance to agree or disagree with her but took matters into her own hands. He conveniently set aside that he had given her little opportunity once he kissed her.
“So where’s this treasure, then?” one of his men called out. “And if the enemy took ye to find it why hasnae he found it?”
“Because he doesnae have the treasure map,” she explained, nudging her shoulder against Fraser a bit to try to get him to loosen his hold. She proceeded to tell them the same story she had told him in his cabin about Estienne and André. “So ye see there is danger to be had if we seek it out, but if ye help me and my kin, I will give ye your fair share.”
“I’ve never heard of Estienne’s da, André Du Blanc,” a crewmember replied before he chuckled and mocked Estienne’s abandoned-at-sea-status. “Is he as much of a threat as his son, then?”
Fraser figured she would downplay how threatening she found André to get them to do what she wanted, but she didn’t. Rather, she was honest, and it appeared they appreciated it based on the look in their eyes.
“I havenae seen André fight, but I’ve heard rumor he’s verra good,” she said bluntly. “And he leads a wicked crew.” Her eyes went from man to man as she gave it to them straight. “Yet he has a weakness and ’twas clear when I was forced to nurse him back from the brink of death.”
“And what is that?” the man with the dagger asked.
“His son, Estienne,” she replied. “’Tis why we left him alive. Had we not, André’s wrath would have been formidable not only on my people but on all of ye.” Her eyes swept over them in warning. “Because if André possesses nothing else, ’tis a long memory.”
Fraser didn’t need to ask to know André was at the root of all this. He was the one who kept the tale of the MacLauchlin treasure alive. He was the one who ordered the attack on her village years ago…the one who saw her husband killed and her child taken.
Which made him wonder if Audric’s placement with El
speth wasn’t planned all along. Not by the lad. He didn’t have it in him. But by an enemy that had begun figuring things out long ago.
“So now the cap’n has stolen ye back,” another crewmember continued, his eyes on Elspeth as he apparently felt the need to recap. “Which I cannae say I blame him despite the risk to yer family.” He tilted his head at the ship’s figurehead, reminding her of what a valued prize she really was. “But taking ye means hell to pay ’cause André will see through his threat and attack yer kin, aye?”
“That’s right,” she confirmed. “So I need ye to harness the substantial courage I know ye have and defend them alongside me.” Her rallying speech took a serious turn. “If ye do I’ll make ye verra wealthy indeed.” She nodded, her performance very convincing. “Ye have my word. ’Twill be a prize well worth fighting for.”
“So ye say,” Magnus groused as he limped out, his groin clearly tender. “But where is this treasure map?”
“In Argyll.” Her gaze was as level as her words. “Hidden close to the village.” She gave them a telling look. “And only I know how to find it.”
“’Tis a wonder André didnae force such information out of ye sooner,” Magnus remarked dryly.
Fraser’s thoughts exactly.
“But he did,” she said softly. Her eyes avoided Fraser’s as she turned and lifted the back of her tunic, exposing the angry welts where lashes had struck the tender flesh across her shoulder blades and lower back.
Bloody hell.
Red hot fury blazed through him at the sight. At what she had suffered. Forget revenge on just Estienne Du Blanc. His father would also burn in an eternal Hell of Fraser’s making.
“This is what happened to me when I didnae lead André to the treasure,” she informed them, her eyes still bypassing Fraser’s as she lowered her shirt and faced off with his men. “Ye see André did threaten my village if I didnae give up the map.” She shrugged. “And that might have happened had his son Estienne not wanted me as his healer.” She shook her head. “And everyone knows André denies his son nothing.” The corner of her mouth curled up. “So I had my leverage.”
The Seafaring Rogue Page 8
