“She came out of no where,” Cooper yelled, as another blast narrowly missed the hull.
“Get Miss St. John and the boy below deck,” Nicolai commanded to a passing crewmember as he inclined his head toward Adrienne.
The man nodded and made to escort her below when she planted her feet firmly on the deck.
“Nay. I will not cower like some frightened woman. Take the boy and keep him safe. I can look after myself.”
“Adrienne,” Nicolai bellowed. “Now is not the time for your flights of fancy. Do as your told.”
She raised her chin in telltale defiance. “Nay, Captain. I won’t. You can have Stiles whip me later for insubordination, but I’ll fight this battle at your side.
“l’ll not see you harmed, Adrienne,” Nicolai ground out.
“And I’ll no longer depend on others for my safety.” She countered through clenched teeth.
The ship rocked as the cannons fired from the gun deck, wood shuddering under the force of recoil. Return fire was almost immediate, though careful maneuvering of the rudder by Nicolai allowed for another miss. The margin this time was much more narrow.
Unable to continue arguing with the woman, Nicolai had to focus his full attention on diverting the enemy fire, while bringing the boat around. They would confront this attack and he’d see to it that ocean churned red with the blood of whoever dared to fire on The Black Wolf.
The enemy vessel was a trading ship, which meant while it did possess some defense in the way of a gun deck, those guns were only located on its portside.
The Chameleon, however, had been modified from the same standard merchant’s ship layout, to incorporate a gun deck on both sides as well as one on each side of the stern. The fact that the opposing vessel was firing so early told Nicolai that the crew was inexperienced and not battle-seasoned. With that in mind, he swung the rudder hard again, bringing him about the stern of the ship until he was on the defenseless starboard side.
“Prepare the gang planks,” he shouted and didn’t miss Adrienne as she rushed to help the men lift the heavy oak boards with the brass hooks on either side. Other crew loaded flintlock pistols and musketoons, crouching low behind the ship’s rail as they prepared to fire.
The grappling hooks were deployed as gunshots rang out mixed with the shouts of men. There were cries of triumph when a well-aimed bullet hit a target of the opposing vessel while others called out in agony.
Adrienne dropped to the deck when the bullets began to fly, covering her hands with her head until she caught sight of men attempting to board their vessel. Pulling both her cutlass and dagger free, she rose and charged at the invaders, unheeding of Nicolai’s enraged bellow.
Feinting first to the right, she ducked the swing of a broad sword by a fraction, feeling the wind from the blade swoop just over the top of her tri-corn hat.
Coming up with a parried lunge, she stabbed with the dagger, opening a wound in the man’s gut as she rolled out of the way of his falling body. Coming to her feet, she went after the next in line, cutting him down just as ruthlessly as red mist filled her vision.
She didn’t know if it was the rage that had been burning inside her since leaving Charleston or if it was truly the blood of those she cut down spraying her face but her vision was tinged with red. All she did know was that her drive for survival and to protect those she loved aboard the Chameleon spurred her onward, her conscience be damned.
Nicolai took out first one man and then several more in succession, all the while keeping his eye on Adrienne. She fought viciously as men from the attacking ship attempted to overtake them. She was as fearless as she was graceful when she swirled sideways to avoid the thrust of a sword aimed at her chest. Her balance and form were precise and deadly as she left a trail of bodies in her wake to rival his. He had been correct in assuming this crew was inexperienced. The bodies littering the deck were that of half-grown boys and men who had never seen a battle in their now shortened lives.
Adrienne’s face and hands were soaked in blood by the time the first call of surrender sounded. Over half of the opposing crew lay dead between the two ships. In the water below, sharks were already beginning to circle with the scent of fresh meat.
Cooper and Damon approached Nicolai, both holding the arms of two men, one of which whose wigged head sagged in defeat. When the man raised his head, Adrienne gasped and dropped her sword.
Sir William St. John stared at his daughter in mirrored disbelief. Adrienne’s eyes shifted to the second man. Miles Fletcher glared back, hatred glimmering in his eyes. She turned her attention back to the first man, disbelieving her eyes.
“Father?” Adrienne said, coming forward, attempting to wipe her bloodied hands on the shirt she wore. It was no use. It clung to her frame, stained permanently crimson from the lives she’d taken.
She watched while her father took in the carnage she caused, horror moving over his features at the realization it was his daughter who was responsible for some of the bodies scattered around the deck. Instinctively, Adrienne cringed inward; shame filling her at the disparaging look her father cast her way.
Damon reached out between them, a stack of letters clutched in his free hand. Adrienne scanned them before passing the thick vellum sheets to Nicolai. The shame she’d felt moments ago was gone and in its place was a cold expression as she regarded her father.
“You were personally going to deliver me and my dowry into his hands?” She asked, her voice trembling with rage. She was furious and it shown in her flashing eyes and flushed face.
“Adrienne,” the man cried out. “ Look at you! What have they done to you?” His agony was evident, but it was misplaced.
“What have they done to me, father?” She asked, her voice stony as the men around her hushed one another to hear the exchange.
She flicked her eyes between her father and Miles.
“They have done nothing to me. You have done this. You and your belief that I needed to be tamed by a Puritanical man who beat me daily just because he couldn’t keep his cock in his trousers. You knew the kind of man he was and you left me to him. How could you?”
“Release him,” Adrienne commanded
Cooper dropped his hold on Sir William and he staggered toward his daughter, his powdered wig falling to the deck, exposing his balding head. The crew moved in to keep distance between father and daughter. One wrong move and Adrienne knew they would cast the old man overboard in her defense.
“I feared you were dead, lost at sea,” he said plaintively, stumbling over the excuses. “By the time I learned otherwise, you had already been delivered to the Carolina’s. Your mother assured me Fletcher would make a suitable husband for you.
Upon learning you were abducted from your husband’s house, I decided to search for you myself. To return you back to your rightful place at his side. I was informed of your presence aboard the Chameleon from a ship I encountered when we stopped to take on freshwater. Not long after, I encountered your husband while in port and we joined forces to find you. When we caught sight of you, I knew I had to rescue you from these pirates. Adrienne, even a day in the company of these rogues has brought shame on our family. Don’t you see that? I had to rescue you.”
“Rescue me and do what, once you had me? Hand me over to be beaten more? To have him kill another child I carried?”
Her father winced visibly at her accusation. “I wasn’t abducted from Miles. I ran for my life, father.”
“I didn’t know he was cruel to you, daughter. I swear it. Perhaps you’re confusing the proper disciplining of a wife with abuse? Your mother said he was firm and showing you proper guidance; bringing you to heel in order to curb your mischievous nature. I trusted her word.” Sir William said in an attempt to explain.
Not caring to hear anymore, Adrienne gathered the saliva in her mouth and spit it with force at the man’s feet. “That is how much trust you should put in your wife, William St. John.”
She turned away from her fath
er towards Miles.
“Have you nothing to say, husband?” Adrienne spat the word out as if it were a foul thing.
“I have nothing to say to impudent, despicable women who cannot learn their place in a man’s household, whore.”
Nicolai gave the man no chance to say another word. He plunged his sword deeply into Fletcher’s stomach, putting his face within inches of the other man’s.
“Hear this now before you take your last breath, this is for my son whom you treated like cattle,” Nicolai twisted the sword harshly. “And this is for the unborn child you stole from me.” He twisted again. Miles Fletcher grunted in pain, blood spewing forth from his mouth. “And this,” he said as he thrust his cutlass upward, cleaving the abdominal and chest cavity of the man open, “Is for my woman whom I live for, I would die for, and I will certainly kill for.”
Nicolai pulled his sword free and Miles Fletcher swayed forward. Using the flat of his boot, Nicolai planted his foot in what was left of the man’s chest and pushed his body into the sea to the sharks waiting below.
“What will you do with him?” Adrienne asked, angling her head towards where her father now knelt on the blood smeared deck, as if all the strength to keep him upright had fled.
Nicolai looked upon her, his chest swelling with pride at her strength. “What would you like me to do with him? Whatever it is, I’ll see it carried out.”
“Let him live. Empty the ship of everything but just enough food and water to see him and a small crew to the Carolina colony. My dowry is on board; I want him relieved of it. Deliver him to the woman he has worked so hard to be free of and see how he likes it.”
“With pleasure, madam,” Nicolai said with a bow. “Anything else?”
“Yes.” She turned back to her father, taking the necessary steps to put her in front of her, though the men shuffled forward as well, prepared to protect her at any cost.
Their caution was unnecessary as Adrienne studied the weathered lines of her father’s face, the balding head and the whiskers she’d once loved to play with when she was a child. He was nothing more than an over-rich, pathetic old man.
She was surprised to feel no love for the man before her, not after reading the missives sent between Sir William and her mother as well as Miles Fletcher. Not after assuming she would willingly go back to the Carolinas as Fletcher’s wife.
“Stand up.” She raised her chin in defiance as she spoke. When her father made it to his feet, she looked him in the eyes.
“When and if you make it to the colonies, and that will only happen if you carefully ration out the minimum food and water I’m going to leave you; upon finding my mother, deliver her this message… Your daughter is dead to you, just as you are dead to her. As for you, you will report that you and your crew met with an unfortunate disaster at sea and Miles Fletcher was a casualty. You will do everything within your power to see that none of what happened today comes back to haunt me or mine. You owe me that. And father, if I ever see you again, I will kill you. I’ve just granted you all the mercy you’ll get at my hand.”
Pivoting on her heel, she pushed through the crowd and into the stairwell. Sir William St. John crumpled on to the deck and sobbed.
Chapter 19
Nicolai found Adrienne in his quarters. She was in the midst of changing her shirt when he opened the door. One glance at her bare skin had him turning to leave.
“Nicolai, you’ve seen my naked breasts before,” she muttered quietly as she pulled the fresh blouse over her head, grateful that she had a spare.
“I have,” he acknowledged, coming fully into the room and shutting the door. “I know their softness and the weight of them in my palms as well.”
“So why turn away at the sight of them?” Adrienne challenged, her hands on her hips, the shirt hanging long to her thighs.
“A man can only take so much before he loses himself, Adrienne,” he said, stalking toward her. “You asked for me to give you time and I’m attempting to do just that, however, I won’t tell you it’s been easy. It’s harder still when I glimpse the body I so desperately want to bury myself in.”
His hands flexed at his side, giving testament to the fact that his calm voice disguised a man barely in control. “I came in here to check on you, nothing more.”
Adrienne spread her arms wide before lowering them, the loose material of the shirt’s sleeves billowing as she did so.
“As you can see, I’m fine. Nary a scratch. Is he gone?”
Nicolai didn’t have to ask whom Adrienne was referring to. “Yes. He was escorted back to his ship and the men are taking everything you requested.”
“Good. Thank you for allowing me to decide his fate.” She picked up the tails of her shirt and began to tuck them in to her trousers.
“It was yours to decide. I hear the dowry was sizable as well as the amount of pressure Fletcher was exerting on your father in order to see it was delivered. He was threatening to petition Parliament to hand over control of his shipping business in the event Sir William attempted to renege on their agreement.” His eyes followed her movements as she continued dressing, though it was easier to breathe now that she was fully covered.
“My father has you to thank for retaining ownership of his business. I’ve no doubt Miles would have done as he threatened. He was very good at strong-arming those weaker than he,” she said, attaching her cutlass back to her side along with the dagger.
Nicolai moved to sit on a corner of the table as he prepared to present Adrienne with proposition for the future. The last time he’d pondered the idea, he’d taken off on a voyage that played catalyst to the day’s culmination of events. This time, there was no hesitation or need to run away in an attempt to deny what he’d known from the very first. He wanted Adrienne as his own. If she’d have him, that is, and Nicolai wasn’t so sure that she would.
With the unexpected boon of her dowry, things may not work out as he’d hoped. Adrienne had just become a very wealthy woman. She needed to know what her options were.
“You understand, your dowry is quite large,” Nicolai stated. “Large enough that you could well go wherever you choose, should you decide you want your independence.”
Adrienne turned to face him. “Is this your attempt to tell me to shove off, Nicolai?”
He gave a sad chuckle and shook his head. “I just want you to understand, Myshka, that you are no longer dependant on anyone for your needs. You may stay or you may go, it is your choice and one that you can now make without fear of poverty.”
She said nothing, so he forged onward.
“If you choose to stay, I would like to make our arrangement a permanent one.”
She lifted a shoulder. “I suppose I wouldn’t mind being a permanent tutor. There are less desirable positions a woman can have. And you shall always have need of one as new children are born on the manor.”
Nicolai blinked rapidly in surprise. She thought he only meant having her stay on permanently under his employ?
“Adrienne,” he said, quietly. “I’m not asking you to become a permanent employee. That’s not what I had in mind at all. But, if you wish to continue teaching the children, I would consider myself very lucky to have such a knowledgeable instructor to help shape their young minds. However, that would only be part of your role in my life.”
Adrienne turned to glance at Nicolai. “What other part would I play?”
“You would be my wife. Mother to Raul and it is my hope, many other children that may come along in the future between us.”
She toyed with the fringe of the sash she wore as if considering his words.
“You do understand, Nicolai, by marrying immediately after my first husband’s death, I’ll forever be a pariah among polite society. My family will be shamed also, not that I’m the least concerned regarding their reputation, but it could cause harm to yours. Not as Nicolai the pirate, but rather Nicolas VonPatten.”
Nicolai chuckled as he rubbed a finger thoughtfully along t
he side of his nose while looking at her with an expression of wry humor.
“You do understand that by your very presence among pirates these last months, you’ve well and truly already arrived at pariah status,” he pointed out. “Not to mention the VonPatten name was sullied long before even I took it and is only accepted in high circles because of the wealth behind it.”
“Be that as it may, there is still my ever-abiding dream of becoming a fierce, sea roving pirate. With my dowry, I could buy a ship, join forces with Merri and together she and I could wreak havoc and unchecked chaos upon the high seas.” she replied, a smirk showing on her beautiful lips.
“You think men such as I fear what havoc one so small as yourself could wreak?” He scoffed. “Nay, madam.”
Laughing, her eyes glittered mischievously while her hand swept out in the direction of the ship’s deck. Even as they talked, Nicolai’s crew was busy swabbing up the rivulets of blood from the battle.
“I’m not entirely sure those men who met the biting end of my cutlass would agree with you, Nicolai.”
Adrienne closed the distance between them, situating herself between his outstretched legs. With his position on the table, he was almost eye level with her. She brought her fingers up and caressed his sensuous lips, her gaze tracing the path her fingers took. Her tongue darted out and moistened her own mouth as she leaned in.
Nicolai brought a hand up between them, stopping the descent of her lips to his.
“Don’t, Myshka. Not if you’re planning to ask me to keep my hands off you,” he warned in a gravelly voice full of lust. “It’s taken all the strength I possess to lay beside you each night. I have nothing in reserve.”
Heedless of his warning, Adrienne touched her lips to his in the barest whisper of a kiss. She’d fought today, killing men who would have taken her captive. She’d stood on her own, rather than cowering in fear of a fate she’d once believed was out of her hands.
Black Wolf Page 19
