Tristan (Pirate Lords Series Book 1)

by Elizabeth Rose

  “Get back! Make room,” commanded Nairnie, herding the men back, giving Gavina room to walk. Tristan chuckled inwardly. Mayhap he didn’t need to protect the girl after all. None of his men wanted to raise Nairnie’s hackles. Even if they did, she wouldn’t think twice about putting them in their place.

  The girl looked pitiful in those baggy, dirty clothes and with that cropped hair that stuck out in all directions. Still only having one shoe, she waddled much the same way as Nairnie. If he hadn’t seen into her soul through her translucent eyes, he wasn’t sure he’d be attracted to her at all. After all, she wasn’t his normal type.

  Tristan liked his women voluptuous, with breasts spilling out and long, bare legs showing when they walked. He liked them dressed to the hilt in velvet and lace and sometimes even feathers. Lots of sparkly jewelry that twinkled in the sun is something that he liked to see on his girls. Aye, he wanted his women to parade around like peacocks. This girl was no peacock. She was more of a hen crossed with a duck. Nay, he never thought he’d be marrying a girl who looked like this! Then again, he never thought he’d ever marry at all, so what did it matter?”

  “All right, I’m here,” said Gavina with a raised chin, facing this challenge bravely as if Tristan had dropped a gauntlet at her feet. “What do I have to do?”

  “So, you’ve decided to marry me instead of being dropped off on shore?” He’d hoped this would work, and it had. He’d seen the lust in her eyes for that treasure and it looked just as potent as that of his crew.

  “I’m here, am I no’?” she asked. “So let’s get married. What are we waitin’ for?”

  “Well, we’re going to need to get higher so everyone can see us,” he told her, reaching over to take her arm to join his brothers standing high on the platform beneath the main mast.

  “Higher?” Her face turned pale as her eyes slowly traveled up the tall mast.

  “It’s not the lookout basket,” he said with a chuckle. “What’s the matter? Are you afraid of heights?” He knew the look of fear and she had it. However, this fear wasn’t because of him or his crew. This girl was truly afraid of heights.

  “I’d just rather have both my feet on the ground, and my hands on a railin’, that’s all.” The ship swayed and she stumbled, waving her arms wildly to try to right herself. Tristan caught her and helped her gain her balance.

  “Mardon, Aaron,” he called out to his brothers. “Up on the sterncastle instead.” He and his brothers walked up the steps with Gavina and Nairnie with them. “Pate, that stair is still squeaking,” he called out to the man.

  “I’m workin’ on it, Cap’n,” Peg Leg Pate called back to him.

  Once atop the sterncastle, Tristan turned and addressed his crew down below on the deck. “Today, I’ve seen disrespect from most of you, especially regarding the girl,” he spoke loudly.

  “The girl?” Gavina looked up at him and scowled.

  “Regarding Gavina,” he corrected himself.

  “Two wenches on board are only goin’ to bring us bad luck,” one of his men shouted.

  “Dump her into the sea,” yelled another.

  “Stop it,” yelled Tristan with an upraised hand. “No bad luck has come to us, but rather good luck since Gavina came aboard the Falcon.”

  “Good luck? Cap’n mayhap ye bedded her but the rest of us haven’t been so lucky,” called Coop, causing the rest to join in with loud complaints.

  “We now have the map to the English king’s lost treasure, thanks to her.” Tristan looked over and smiled at Gavina. She didn’t smile back.

  “Cap’n, are we goin’ to drop her off at the Crooked Crow?” asked Goldtooth. “We have the map now, so we don’t need her.”

  “She’ll only slow us down,” called out another man.

  “Nay,” Tristan answered. “Gavina is not going anywhere.”

  “Then make her walk the plank instead,” shouted Wybert.

  Once again, the men made a ruckus.

  “I know you’re not happy about having women aboard, but neither am I happy that some of you have been questioning my word, and also getting too close to my wife.”

  “Wife?” asked Stitch. “Cap’n, I didn’t know ye were married.”

  “I’m not,” Tristan told him. “Not yet, but I will be as soon as Mardon has us repeat our vows.” He reached out and took Gavina’s hand in his.

  This time, the men were left speechless.

  “Once we’re married, any man who so much as comes close to my wife will be killed with no questions asked. Savvy?”

  No one said a word.

  “I said . . . savvy?” Tristan ground out.

  “Aye, Cap’n.”

  “Savvy.”

  “We hear ye,” came some of the responses from the crew.

  “All right, then. I’m glad that’s settled.” Tristan looked up and nodded at Mardon. “Go ahead.”

  Mardon thumbed through the captain’s book, not able to find what he was looking for.

  “What’s the problem?” mumbled Tristan, becoming impatient. He wanted to get this over with before the crew protested or possibly Gavina changed her mind.

  “Well, we’ve never used the wedding ceremony before and I’m not even sure where to find it in here,” explained Mardon. “Oh, I found it. Here it is.” He cleared his throat and started saying a few words about a man and woman becoming husband and wife. Hearing the words husband and wife got Tristan wondering if he’d reacted too quickly now. Looking over at Gavina, he almost cringed when she sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, leaving a big dirt streak across her face.

  “Tristan? Did you hear me?” asked Mardon. “Do you take Gavina . . . what’s her surname?” he whispered.

  “Hell if I know.” Tristan looked over to the girl. “What’s your surname?”

  “Drummond,” she told him.

  “Oh, that’s right,” he answered, suddenly remembering that the proprietor at the tavern had told him that. “Drummond,” Tristan repeated to Mardon.

  “I’m not deaf,” Mardon grumbled, throwing his brother a daggered look. “Do you take Gavina Drummond as your wife?”

  “I . . . do,” he said, almost unable to spit out the words. His stomach felt all queasy. “All right, your turn,” he told Gavina before she had a chance to bolt.

  “Are ye sure this is real?” she asked, sounding suspicious. “Can Mardon really marry us?”

  “The captain of a ship can perform the ceremony if the ship is at sea,” he told her. “Aye, I assure you this is legitimate.”

  “Well, I thought ye’re the captain, no’ him.” Her eyes flashed over to Mardon.

  “Now, Gavina, darling,” said Tristan, trying to keep from exploding. “I can’t very well officiate the ceremony and be the groom at the same time now, can I? Mardon acts as captain when I’m not on the ship, so I assure you it is fine.”

  “All right, then. I do,” she said, before Mardon had even asked her to say her vow.

  “Well, wait a second –” started Mardon.

  “Never mind,” Tristan told him. “Give me the ring, Aaron.” Tristan held out his hand.

  Mardon scoffed at him. “If you aren’t going to do it correctly, then why did you ask me at all?” He always had to be so precise. Tristan hated that about his brother. Tristan more or less winged things, and didn’t care how they were supposed to be done. He was into shortcuts.

  The men below were starting to get restless. Tristan wanted this over with as quickly as possible. “I said, give me the ring.” He held out his open palm in front of Aaron’s face.

  “I’ve got it right here, but I can’t seem to get it off.” Aaron had jammed it onto his little finger and now it wouldn’t budge. “Ugh, it’s really stuck.” He tried again.

  “Is that my mathair’s ring?” asked Gavina, sounding concerned.

  “Aye, it is.” Tristan looked over at his brother. “Why the hell did you have to put it on your finger?”

  “I didn’t want to lose
it. Sorry, but it’s really stuck.” Aaron yanked at it, but it wouldn’t slide.

  “Then I’ll cut off your damned finger if I have to, but I’m getting that ring one way or another.” Tristan reached for his dagger, just as the ring gave way. Aaron’s elbow jabbed into Tristan’s ribs with a jerk. “Argh,” he ground out, doubling over. “Watch it.”

  “Here’s the ring.” Aaron held it up proudly.

  “Ye’re givin’ the wench a gemstone?” asked Noll, moving closer to get a better look at it.

  “It’s my share of the booty and I can do what I want with it,” Tristan ground out. “Gavina, give me your hand.”

  Gavina’s hand shook as she lifted it up, and held it out to her new husband. Tristan slipped her late mother’s ring onto her finger, sealing their wedding vows. This was all wrong, she decided. A man and woman were supposed to marry for the sake of alliances, and sometimes even for love. Neither of these reasons held true for her. She’d just married a pirate over nothing but a stupid treasure! This was supposed to be sacred, but it wasn’t anything more than a stepping stone to getting what she wanted. Mayhap Nairnie was right. She wasn’t any better than the black-hearted pirates after all.

  “Well, that’s it,” said Mardon snapping the book closed. “Go ahead and kiss the bride.”

  Gavina nervously glanced over to the crew down below. Some of them watched eagerly, as if they were hoping to experience this themselves. Others had looks of disgust or anger on their faces. All of them were staring right at her! She felt so vulnerable . . . and ugly.

  “You heard my brother,” came Tristan’s low voice dragging her attention away from the crew. She turned to find her new husband staring at her mouth. She felt her stomach flutter. Tristan was a devilish, dangerous pirate, yet he was dashing and downright handsome. This excited her. She’d never bedded a man before. Now she was married and could only guess what it was like to couple. Then again, Tristan wasn’t just a man . . . he was a pirate!

  Tristan slipped his arms around her waist and bent her backwards, leaning over and kissing her passionately in front of all the men. One of her feet left the ground, but his strong arms held her and kept her from falling. Her arms went around his neck. There were whoops and yells and some of the men shouted out some crude remarks not fit for the ears of a lady. She liked the feel of Tristan’s lips against hers. Her eyes drifted closed as she started to relax and allow herself to enjoy this. Then, before she knew it, he put her back on her feet and he was done.

  “Mardon, set sail for the channel,” he commanded, taking her by the hand. “Crew, man your positions. Trim those sails. Full speed ahead to the king’s treasure!”

  The crew cheered and hurried to do Tristan’s bidding. The mood had changed drastically aboard the Falcon, because now the men were in pursuit of something they wanted badly. The promise of the king’s treasure.

  “What’s our final destination?” asked Mardon, taking the helm.

  “Head south for now. I’ll let you know more in a few minutes,” said Tristan. He pulled Gavina along with him, heading to his cabin at a fast pace.

  “A few minutes, Cap’n?” asked Ramble as he passed by. “Is that all the time it takes to consummate a marriage?”

  “I guess you’ll never find out, Ramble. Now stop talking and get back to work.”

  “Wait. What?” Gavina looked back at Ramble as Tristan hurried over the deck, pulling her into his cabin behind him and closing the door.

  “All right, let’s get this over with, I don’t have all day,” he told her, nodding toward his hanging bed.

  “I ken ye’re a pirate, but ye’re also my husband now,” she told him, feeling anxious and at the same time let down. “Ye can at least try to have some manners around me.”

  Tristan sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “All right, then. Will you please remove your clothing and lay down in my bed?”

  “I most certainly will no’!” she spat. “If ye are goin’ to bed me, the least ye can do is try to make it pleasurable for me as well. I am no’ one of yer crewmen and ye canna order me to do yer biddin’.”

  “Bed you?” He looked at her and laughed. “Is that what you thought we were doing in here?”

  “Well . . . aye,” she said, looking down at the ring on her hand, feeling as if she might have been too presumptuous. Still, it felt good to have her mother’s ring on her finger. It was almost as if her mother were there in spirit with her. “Tristan, we were just married and I thought that . . . I mean we’re supposed to . . .”

  “I brought you in here only to keep the crew from seeing your bare breasts when you disrobe so I can make a copy of the map.” He hurried over to a chest on a small table in the corner and pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill and some ink, bringing them over to the hanging table.

  “Ye mean to tell me that ye only brought me in here because ye wanted to see the map again?” Her heart sank in her chest. This made her feel even more undesirable. If her own husband didn’t want to consummate their marriage after he’d made a point of telling her that he hadn’t bedded a woman in a while, then what did that mean? He must not really want to be married to her after all. Nay. He didn’t want her in the least.

  “Aye, that’s right,” he said, reaching out and starting to pull up the bottom of her tunic. “Take this off. I need to tell Mardon the fastest route to get to the treasure, but I need another look at the map first.”

  “Dinna touch me!” she slapped his hand away.

  “Gavina,” he said in a low, warning voice, his disapproval raining down like hellfire from the sky. “Stop it.”

  “I’ll do it myself.” Slowly, she turned around and brought the tunic up and over her head. Then she used the trunk and jumped up into the hanging canvas bed. Laying on her stomach, she hid her face. “Let me know when it’s over,” she said into the pillow.

  When Tristan saw Gavina lying there as if she were waiting for him to ravish her, it didn’t make him feel good. He had never forced himself on a woman in his life and he wasn’t about to start now. No matter what she thought about pirates, she didn’t know him at all. He decided he needed her to know this, now that she was his wife.

  “Gavina, mayhap we should talk.” He picked up the ink and uncorked it, dipping the quill inside the bottle.

  “I have nothin’ to say,” her muffled voice came from the pillow. “Ye got what ye want, now take it and just leave me alone.”

  This wasn’t the way a husband and wife should be acting right after they married. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do . . . except for consummating the marriage, which is obviously what she thought they were about to do. Picking up the parchment, he took that and the quill over to the side of the bed. “I don’t know why you’re so angry at me.”

  “Ye wanted yer damned map, now take it,” she spat, lifting her face off the pillow to talk to him. “And when ye’re done copyin’ it down, just roll my body out of this bed and throw me into the sea.” She slammed her face back down into the pillow.

  Tristan rolled his eyes, thinking she was being overly dramatic. “Now, wait a minute, Gavina. You know I’d never do a thing like that.”

  “Do I?” Her head came back up and her eyes fell on the parchment in his hand. “Yer precious treasure map is all ye care about. Now make yer copy so ye can go find yerself somethin’ to plunder.” A tear dripped down her cheek and it was all he could do to stop himself from brushing it away. She turned her face away from him. By the way her body jerked slightly, he knew that she was crying.

  “God’s eyes, why me?” he mumbled, wondering now why he hadn’t listened to his brothers. They should have just brought her back to the Crooked Crow and forgotten all about her. Nay, he couldn’t do that, he realized. She meant more to him than that. He had feelings for her, and he would miss her if she left.

  “Are ye done yet?” came her muffled voice from the pillow.

  Tristan’s eyes fell to the map on her back. Putting the inked quill and parchment in one hand
, he reached up and gently touched her. She flinched, making him feel even worse. He didn’t want his wife flinching at his touch. Nay, he wanted her to crave it.

  Slowly, he took one finger and traced the squiggly line on her back, leading down the coast from Aberdeen, past Stonehaven, and around the tip of St. Andrews. The map curved around toward Kirkcaldy in the cove near Edinburgh. Then it continued past Alnwick and toward Hartlepool, out into the water, but that was all he could see. The X that marked the actual resting place of the treasure disappeared under her waistband. Since it was hidden, he couldn’t tell which of the islands was marked as the destination of the treasure. In order to see which island it was, and where on the island to dig, he needed to remove the rest of her clothing.

  His hand wavered above her bottom end and, all of a sudden, the damned treasure wasn’t the only thing on his mind. This was his wife! The reality of it hit him hard. It had all happened so fast that his head was spinning. He was a married man now, he reminded himself. Instead of copying treasure maps, he should be making love to his new wife. What the hell was the matter with him?

  “Well? Have ye finished yet?” She looked back over her shoulder, looking like she wanted to kill him. He quickly pulled his hand away. Those innocent blue eyes were filled with tears as she lay there, waiting for him to take what he wanted without her consent, as if she were some kind of virginal sacrificial offering to a pagan god. His stomach clenched and his head throbbed. He couldn’t continue looking at the map now. If he did, it would only make him seem uncaring, ruthless, and disinterested in her, which was the furthest thing from the truth.

  “Aye,” he said, turning away from her, his heart feeling heavy in his chest. He cleared his throat, hoping he’d say the right words at a time like this. “I believe I’m finished here.” God’s teeth, that wasn’t what he meant to say. That only made him sound more like a . . . like a black-hearted pirate.

  He hurried over and shoved the quill and parchment back into the chest, not able to copy down the map after all. Neither could he bring himself to consummate the marriage, because this all seemed like nothing but a farce. He saw the key to the door in the chest and picked it up in his hand, staring at it in thought. He’d never had to use it before, but had a feeling he should now. “Gavina, I’m locking the cabin door, but I want you to know I’m only doing it for your own safety.”