Her words brought a smile to his face. She may have insisted that they were strangers, but she wanted him and she came when she had him. As far as he was concerned, that was the perfect start to what he could feel in his soul would be a much deeper relationship.
But since they were still only skin deep….
“Well then, my little pirate lass. Give me a few minutes and you can take me balls deep again.”
Mad as it was with everything in danger of exploding around them, he could have sworn he heard her laugh.
Chapter 6
Letty hoped something could be done immediately about Dick and his murderous friends, but by nightfall, little had changed. The Vixen still sailed within calling distance of The Growler. From time to time, after she and Martin emerged, red-faced and breathless, from his cabin, Letty spotted Dick pacing The Vixen’s deck, watching the activity on The Growler with an expression she would have wagered was calculating, if she’d been able to see it more clearly.
“Stop worrying,” Martin told her as the evening meal was passed around while the sun set over the water in bright shades of orange and gold. “I’ve had loads of time to consider this possibility before now, and I swear to you, I have a plan.”
She wanted to believe him, but uncertainty and dread had been her closest companions for the past several weeks, and she wasn’t able to shake them so easily.
What she was able to do as easily as unbuttoning the waistcoat and shirt she wore was to go to Martin’s bed. She never would have dreamed that it was possible for her to enjoy having a man between her legs after everything she’d undergone with Pigge, but making love with Martin was entirely different. It was wild and sweaty. They were desperate for each other and eager to do whatever possible to please the other. Letty found herself making sounds that would have scandalized her just weeks before as he brought her to climax, then spent himself within her. Part of her mind rebelled at the vigor with which she threw herself into satisfying lusts she hadn’t known she had, but a deeper part of her understood it was a much needed, blissful release after too long a bout of hopeless misery.
But nothing had changed before the sun rose the next day.
“Damn,” Martin muttered as he paced the quarterdeck as the sun rose higher in the breezy morning. “He still hasn’t taken The Vixen and run.”
Letty glanced up at him from where she’d been sitting on a crate in the shade of the sails, oiling a razor-sharp sword. The clang and clash of men practicing swordplay on the main deck formed an odd chorus as it mingled with the cries of sea birds and the lap of the waves. The whole thing was split by occasional gunfire from those shooting at birds as target practice. The activities weren’t limited to the pirates either. Nearly all of the female prisoners were practicing as well, or at least being taught the bare rudiments of swordplay and guns.
“He wants both ships,” Letty said, standing, the sword still in her hands. “At least, that’s what Dick and his friend said.”
Martin hummed grimly, as if in reluctant agreement. He then let out a breath and stepped away from the railing, striding to stand in front of Letty. “If what I think might happen is about to happen, I should teach you how to use that thing properly.”
Letty blinked and swallowed hard. “I don’t think I could ever fight off a man face to face with a sword,” she said in a strangled voice.
Martin studied her with a frown. “Fair point. Ladies of your worth should be able to defend themselves from a distance.”
Of all things, his words sent warmth and joy blossoming through her. Did he truly believe she had worth? No man had ever felt that way about her. She suddenly felt as though she could fend off Dick and all his minions single-handedly with a hat pin.
“Come,” Martin said, gesturing for her to follow him to the main deck.
One of the pirates stepped forward to take the sword from her as she followed Martin, climbed down the ladder, then crossed the main deck with him. The practicing pirates paused their battles to let them pass, each man nodding respectfully to Martin. The light-hearted attitude they’d had the day before was gone, lustiness replaced by seriousness after Martin had informed his most loyal men of the situation. The mock battles resumed as soon as they’d passed. Farther along the deck, those of the female passengers who had taken to the pirate life were busy handling pistols and muskets while select pirates instructed them. Lord Ainsley—who was back to wearing men’s clothes, though he’d given up his aristocratic threads for the rough outfit of a pirate—was among them.
“I used to shoot all the time at our country estate,” he bragged to a particularly burly pirate, who seemed to be laughing at him, whether Lord Ainsley knew it or not. “I was always good with the grouse. And not bad at fox hunting either. I never did go in for the army, though. Too fussy, if you ask me. But I’m confident that I’ll be able to take out more than a few of those blighters, if they choose to board us. Though I didn’t mind much the last time I was boarded, if you know what I mean.” He winked at the burly man, elbowing his massive arm.
A shot went off, whizzing right past Lord Ainsley’s ear and hitting an empty jar sitting on the far railing. Lord Ainsley flinched and ducked, whipping around to find Lady Malvis standing on the fo’c’sle not far behind him, a smoking pistol in her hand.
“Sorry, my love,” she said with a wicked grin.
“Not at all, poppet,” Lord Ainsley replied shakily.
Letty exchanged a glance with Martin, who arched a suspicious brow back at her.
“We can’t make port soon enough,” he muttered as they reached the ladder to the fo’c’sle.
Letty didn’t know whether to laugh or shiver in fear. She followed him to a chest that lay open at the far end of the deck. It contained a variety of guns and pistols, some of which looked as though they would have been obsolete during her grandfather’s time and some that appeared shiny and new. Martin selected one of the newer pistols.
“The most important thing to learn, other than how to aim straight, is how to load your weapon swiftly and efficiently,” he said, holding up the weapon for her. “Pull the cock to half-cock, then load the powder, like so.”
Letty watched, her anxiety growing, as Martin demonstrated how to load the powder, the ball and patch, how to tamp it down with a ramrod, and how to prime the flash pan. The whole process seemed complicated and finicky. When he saw how confused she was, he fired the weapon, then had her repeat the entire process while he issued instructions.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever master it,” she said as she jammed the ramrod into the barrel.
Before Martin could respond, Lady Malvis stepped up to the chest full of supplies, took a horn of powder and a ball, and proceeded to load, cock, and fire her pistol, bringing down a swooping seagull, all within what felt to Letty like the blink of an eye.
“It’s easy,” Lady Malvis told Letty with a smug look. “I was loading pistols before I was out of the nursery.”
Letty gaped at her. “You were?”
Malvis answered by half-cocking her pistol and repeating the process of loading it.
Letty refused to be outdone. Not by Malvis, at least. She rushed to load her own pistol, alternately watching Malvis’s actions and focusing on what she was doing. Malvis finished first, of course, and raised her pistol to fire up at the rigging. A rope high above split evenly in two, and part of one of the small sails on the fore mast flagged.
“Oy,” Martin shouted. “We need those sails.”
“Don’t you shout at me,” Malvis snapped, pivoting to point her pistol at him.
“Don’t you threaten him,” Letty yelled. “He’s been nothing but kind since the moment we were brought to this ship.”
Malvis snorted. “Yes, kind,” she said, rolling her eyes. “We’ve all heard just how kind he’s been to you.”
Heat flooded Letty’s face, but she wasn’t willing to back down. Not to Malvis. “You’re one to talk,” she said. “You and Mr. Rayburn. And who else?”
/>
“How dare you?” Malvis rounded on her. “You’ve no idea what I’ve been through.”
“Nor do you know what I’ve been through.” Letty thrust her pistol aside to Martin and planted her fists on her hips. “You’re such a hypocrite.”
“And you’re not?” Malvis glared right back at her.
“Ladies, please,” Martin said in what he must have intended to be a soothing voice.
Malvis glanced sideways at him, then tilted up her chin. “Fine. If you are concerned about your precious sail, I’ll fix it.”
She marched toward the foremast, or rather, the rigging and nets connected to it. She reached high above her, grasping the rope, and to Letty’s surprise, pulled herself up.
Letty’s moment of utter shock at the sight of the peevish yet ladylike Malvis, with all her airs and graces, hoisting herself into a pirate ship’s rigging while wearing breeches and boots was quickly overcome by the desperation not to be bested by the witch. She lunged toward the mast herself, found a foothold in the rigging, and pulled herself up as well.
Climbing a ship’s rigging was far more challenging than Letty thought it would be. There was plenty of rope to offer hand and footholds, but it required more strength than she thought she had. Malvis kept going, though, so Letty was determined to go after her.
By a stroke of luck alone, she managed to catch up to Malvis as they reached the first spar. Malvis had paused to study the mast and rigging above her, but when she saw Letty had caught up, she launched upward once more.
Letty followed, struggling to catch her breath. “Where did you learn to climb like this?” she huffed and puffed, falling behind again. “They don’t teach climbing the rigging on a ship in finishing school.”
“I climbed trees as a girl,” Malvis answered without pausing or looking down, though Letty could have sworn she slowed her pace a bit.
“You climbed trees, you loaded pistols. What sort of childhood did you have?” Letty asked, putting everything she had into climbing.
“Be careful up there,” Martin’s shout sounded below them.
Both Letty and Malvis paused to glance down. A small audience of pirates and prisoners had formed as everyone stopped what they were doing to watch.
“I had a happy childhood, if you must know,” Malvis went on, anger in her voice as she continued to climb. “A free childhood. A childhood of blissful neglect.”
Letty was close enough to the woman to see the snarl on her face and the pain in her eyes. A strange feeling, as if she didn’t know Lady Malvis Cunningham at all, formed in her gut.
“A childhood that was cut short when my parents woke up one day and realized they had a daughter nearing marriageable age who could be an asset to their ambitions,” Malvis went on.
Letty said nothing. She put more effort into climbing, wanting to be closer to Malvis.
“My happiest years were put to a swift and bitter end when I was dragged away from my childhood companions, forced to play piano and paint and sit quietly while being ogled like a fish in a market,” Malvis hissed on, pulling herself over another spar and continuing upward. “And when I failed to live up to the delicate feminine standards I barely understood, I was beaten until I could barely sit.” She paused. “My father beat me so severely once he broke my wrist.”
Letty’s mouth dropped open and she nearly lost her footing. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t know,” Malvis spat. “How could you? A lady of refinement never complains and never speaks ill of her parents.” She grunted, teeth bared in a snarl, as she pulled herself higher, nearing the sail that was flapping because of her marksmanship. “God, I hate him,” she went on.
“Your father?” Letty asked in a small voice.
“Yes, my father. He is disgusting and boorish and cruel. He beat me for sport and berated me for failing to snag a husband.”
Letty’s heart sank to her feet. It was a shock to discover that she and Malvis had more in common than she’d suspected. “You couldn’t fight back?” she asked, though it was more of a statement. She knew full well that young ladies couldn’t fight back against their fathers’ whims.
Malvis laughed bitterly. “Why do you think I’ve been trying to marry away from him for so long?” For the first time, she glanced down at Letty, pain and misery pinching her face. “Do you know how embarrassing it is to have engagement after engagement called off?”
“But, weren’t you the one who called it off with Lord Lichfield?” Letty asked.
“Because I heard rumors that his appetites were cruel, that he disciplined women for sport.” She paused. “I wasn’t about to leap from one cruel man to another.”
“And Lord Herrington?”
Malvis snorted. “There was no formal agreement there. My parents couldn’t convince any man to take me at that point.” Her voice caught with emotion as she reached the very top of the mast. Letty continued to climb until they stood together on the top spar, clinging to the mast and each other. “I was damned lucky to find Ainsley when I did,” she said, blinking back tears. “He was like an angel that rescued me from hell. I know that he’s foolish and simple, but I don’t care. I don’t care that he likes men as much as women. He loves me. He’s the only man who has ever loved me. And I would rather die than give him up.”
Letty blinked back tears at the passion with which Malvis spoke of Ainsley. It mirrored her own feelings for Martin, as new as they were. “I know,” she said, closing one of her hands over Malvis’s on the mast.
“Just because I’ve found satisfaction in another man’s arms does not mean I love him any less,” Malvis insisted. “My body and my heart are two separate things, and so are his. He does not hold me at fault for Rayburn, and I do not hold him to blame for Henshaw. I will never forsake him, even if it appears to others as though that is what I am doing. I am not. I am the one who begged him to dress in my clothes and to pretend to be a woman in order to save him. And bless him, he obeyed without question. He is peculiar, but I love him. He’s the best friend I’ve ever had.”
Letty smiled, blinking back her tears and nodding. She shivered in the stiff breeze that blew all around them, and with the sudden realization that they were very high up indeed. But it was worth it. It was worth every blister she knew her hands would bear and every sore muscle from charging up into the rigging so foolishly to understand Malvis at last. She even understood why the woman had behaved like such a witch for so long. Cruelty and abuse would turn any woman into a demon. She wondered how sharp and peevish she would have eventually become if Martin had never captured her and killed Pigge.
“I’m sorry that I assumed the worst about you,” she told Malvis. “I’m sorry that I didn’t see how badly you were hurting earlier. We could have been friends sooner. We could have—”
Her words were cut off by the crack of a gun being fired. Letty couldn’t get her bearings enough to see where the shot came from, but the sudden roar from below told her where it had ended up. She and Malvis twisted and shifted their grips so that they could look straight down to the deck, a sickening distance below.
But even more sickening was the sight that met them—Martin clutching his chest and keeling over.
Chapter 7
“Martin!” Letty screamed, her heart instantly pounding in her chest.
Below, several of Martin’s men rushed toward him, crouching over him in a way that blocked him from view.
“No, oh, no,” Letty wailed, suddenly shaking so hard her knees threatened to give out. She squatted on the spar, hugging the mast, unable to draw breath properly. If Martin had been killed, she didn’t know what she would do with herself.
“Steady,” Malvis said in a remarkably calm voice, lowering herself to Letty’s level. “We have to climb back down. You can do this.”
Letty raised her tear-blurred, stinging eyes to Malvis’s. Malvis stared right at her with a look of iron. That was enough to thrust some sense back into Letty. Sh
e nodded, swallowed, then looked down. A moan rose from her lungs as she realized how high they had climbed and how far they had to go to get to the ground. She still couldn’t see what had become of Martin.
“Move your legs down first,” Malvis said. “Like this.”
Malvis demonstrated how to cling to the proper handholds while reaching for a lower foothold, thus reversing the path they’d taken up the rigging. Letty gritted her teeth and drew her focus in, pushing everything else out of her mind but getting down from the rigging for the moment. It was hard work—strangely harder than climbing up had been. Her hands and muscles ached, but not half so much as her heart. It was impossible not to think about what was going on with Martin on the deck, but every time thoughts of him dead or dying came to her, she started to lose her nerve. She had to stop thinking about him in order to get to him.
Instead, she recited quotes that she’d memorized from The Secrets of Love to herself. “In order for Love to conquer all, a woman must have a strong heart and a strong mind, particularly if her lover is one whom society disapproves of. But Love makes warriors of us all and gives us the courage to fight even the most impossible battles.”
The words steadied her, as did Malvis’s surprisingly encouraging help.
“You can do this,” Malvis kept saying to her. “It’s not far now. We’re almost there.”
The moment Letty’s feet touched the deck, she let out a cry of relief and despair. The cluster of men still shielded Martin from her view. She could see his boots sticking out from between two of them, but it was impossible to tell if he was moving. She rushed to him, shoving one of the pirates aside and dropping to her knees to grasp his hand.
“Martin,” she said, half wailing, half demanding. “Oh, Martin.”
When he moved, lifting his head slightly to look at her, Letty could have died with joy. “Yes,” he said in a quiet voice. “Weep and fuss over me. It will make the spy think things are worse than they are.”
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