A Captain and a Rogue (Mills & Boon Historical)

by Liz Tyner

  He’d made sacrifices early on, adding more swivel guns on the railing. Five men had been given the sole task in a skirmish of going for the other ship’s leader. He and Gid had selected them on the ship’s first voyage and moved through all the possibilities they could think of—including how to act when the unexpected happened—as it would.

  Powder could be unreliable with so much moisture and shooting from one moving object to another did not have much success with small arms. Flintlocks worked best in close quarters. And swivel guns sprayed canister rounds across the decks.

  His men knew their duties so well he needed give only two commands. Commence and then cease. He wanted the battle to carry on even if he died. None but he or his men should ever sail the Ascalon.

  ‘Stand your posts,’ Benjamin commanded. The white flag on the other ship moved closer.

  Ben waved his hand, summoning Gidley. The first mate appeared at Ben’s side in response.

  ‘See that she gets to the cabin,’ Ben said, ‘and explain to them both what can happen if they do not keep from the deck.’

  Gid nodded, and took Thessa’s arm, half pulling her away. Her eyes lingered on Ben while she stumbled backwards with Gidley.

  *

  Thessa stopped just inside the cabin. Bellona slept in the bunk. Thessa wouldn’t wake her—Bellona didn’t need to know about the other ship. And if Thessa had to return with Stephanos perhaps it would be best if her sister didn’t know until it was too late. Perhaps it was best if Bellona didn’t know any of it until it was over.

  Thessa crossed her arms over herself and tried to sort her thoughts.

  The captain had kissed her and when he pulled away he’d had an innocence in his eyes she’d never seen on any man’s face.

  She was surprised she could recollect so much of the moment, but it hadn’t seemed like only an instant. She had no idea how long the touch had lasted because it had grown in her mind, rising up to take over her whole being.

  Nor had she known a kiss could be anything but another duty.

  Now she felt pulled to him as if some invisible rope bound him to her thoughts and her body.

  And he’d only touched his lips to hers.

  She’d heard the myths and lore of the past, but she’d never heard of the magic a man could hold in his body. And the captain was filled with it. Of that she was certain.

  She pressed her bare feet against the wood beneath her, willing herself to not move from the room. She was lured to him by some unseen force.

  If mermaids could lure ships to their doom, then sea captains could pull women into another kind of ruin. She could resist an arm pulling her close, but this thing she couldn’t see—she didn’t know how to fight. And the treacherous part of it was how the magic made her not want to resist.

  She’d been caught in waves before and had to fight the water to stay alive. And she’d learned from the moments and taken care. Her body had chilled at the memory, but this was the power without the fear.

  Now she knew why her mother had accepted her father’s lies.

  Her mother could till the ground to make their garden and could nail the wood back on to the steps to the house when their father was gone. But when her father returned, she became lost in his presence. She could still care for her daughters, but she could no longer care for herself. If her father grumbled—Mana grovelled. She became helpless.

  Thessa and Melina had whispered about the oddness of it.

  And now Thessa believed in magic and it wasn’t a myth or something of spirits and nymphs.

  Perhaps it would be better to return with Stephanos. She would save the lives of the people on the ship and keep herself from becoming helpless, and make sure the captain was not hurt.

  She could always hate Stephanos, but she couldn’t always hate herself. And if—in the captain’s presence—she became the helpless creature she feared, she would despise every bone in her traitorous body.

  *

  Ben tore away the thoughts of Thessa from his mind. His job was to keep her and the men alive. Nothing else concerned him. He clasped the rigging. One hand on the ropes, the other touched the flintlock in his waistband.

  He heard Gid’s footsteps beside him, but they didn’t speak. Both watched the other ship.

  Benjamin noted when the sloop put its sails to catching up with them. The wind cooperated, bringing the vessel right to their side.

  Stephanos stood at the rails and the medallion he wore around his neck glinted in the sunlight. Benjamin surmised the jewellery a good-luck charm of some kind.

  ‘I wish to talk with the women,’ Stephanos called.

  ‘Only you board, Stephanos,’ Benjamin shouted out. The men on the sloop were armed, but they didn’t have the weapons pointed to his ship. Still, he could take no chances. ‘But you waste your time. The women are staying with us. They are mine.’

  He heard a gasp behind him, of the feminine variety. He’d really not expected Thessa to follow his orders.

  Benjamin let the ship toss a hook over their side, and pull the two close enough for Stephanos to climb aboard. All crewmen were armed and trained. The men at Ascalon’s swivel guns stood ready to ignite the powder.

  Stephanos pulled his head wrap from his head. His hair fell about his shoulders in a tangled mass. Shoving one of his men aside, he climbed on board.

  He wore a rough-woven tawny shirt and a coat with huge cuffs. Gold braid embellished the shoulders. His doeskin trousers did nothing to hide his muscled legs. Two pistols were tucked into his belt and a sword hung at his side. He hurled himself forward, his boots landing with a thump on the deck.

  Stubby’s high-pitched voice broke through the air. ‘Bleedin’ pirate’s big.’

  So much for a well-trained crew. He’d forgotten one person who held a sword bigger than he was.

  Stephanos stayed at the railing, staring across. Benjamin looked him in the eyes. Their weapons matched.

  Stephanos spoke first. ‘I know two words—Latin—I often say when I board a vessel, Carpe navis. On long voyages, I try to have someone of a different language. Learning words makes the travel well.’ He pointed the sword tip towards Benjamin. ‘I recommend.’

  Benjamin slapped the other blade away with his own tip. The ring of metal against metal caused everything but Stephanos to fade from his sight. ‘Seize the ship, or seize the navy, I’m not sure which you say. But you’re not taking my ship, or anyone on her.’

  The pirate’s black eyes showed feigned nonchalance. He gave a sniff. ‘You also spend little time on your attire. It is no sin to look the part of a ship captain. But perhaps it is best you do not wear good clothing. It will be ruined.’ He smiled. ‘By me.’

  Ben’s grip tightened on the sword hilt and he flicked his brows up in acknowledgement of the first thrust. The coat had been made to match the Wedgwood buttons and was a fine garment. He’d spent too damn much on it.

  ‘I was not expecting an uninvited guest.’

  ‘I hope you were not expecting me to bring the stone woman.’ He shrugged. ‘While my men readied for us to find you, I visit the French vessels in the harbour. I told them of the rocks.’ He sighed and shrugged. ‘I lied to them all. I told them the armless woman was a goddess who would bring them fortune should they take her to their homeland. I told them she is a treasure worth much gold to their museum.’ Stephanos put his sword blade slanted across his own chest. ‘They believed.’ His smiled deepened, but his gaze narrowed and became dark. Stephanos stood straight. His eyes followed movement behind Benjamin. Benjamin could watch the other man’s face and see where Thessa stood. ‘Now I am here for my treasure that you wished to steal.’

  Again movement from behind Benjamin’s shoulder.

  ‘Go to the cabin.’ Benjamin turned his head only slightly, directing Thessa.

  Thessa had one of the deck scrubbing stones in her hands. She did the exact opposite of the command. She stepped in front of Stubby, but the lad quietly took a step to the side.

&
nbsp; Ben’s throat tensed. He couldn’t take his eyes from the Greek. But Thessa stood too near and she also had a green lad with a blade almost at her back. The boy could easily swing wide, not understanding the length of the weapon. She could be slashed from either side.

  If Ben lunged in front of Thessa, three blades would be much too close to her. Yet if he moved away, attempting to draw Stephanos’s attention, Ben would leave an opening Stephanos could use to capture Thessa.

  He had one option. Forward. He made two small, quick thrusts, meaningless—except Stephanos had no choice but to raise his weapon to defend himself.

  Stephanos rebuffed the movement easily. His eyes gleamed. ‘Ah, English, you can surely do better.’

  Just as the man moved his arm the slightest bit, Ben pushed forward again and the Greek had to take two steps back.

  Thessa still stood too near. She didn’t move. Her eyes were locked. Her face pale.

  ‘She stays,’ Stephanos said. ‘I want her to see you die.’

  One side of his lips turned up and his teeth reminded Ben of a stallion before he took a nip from a mare.

  ‘Thessa,’ Stephanos asked, voice calm, ‘would you like the fingers from his right hand, or from his left?’

  She flung the rock with all her might towards the Greek. He hopped aside. The rock clattered from the railing to land on the deck. His eyes changed. The pupils could not be discerned from the iris and even the white seemed to diminish. ‘Thessa, my sweet, remember you will birth my sons just as well if you have only nine fingers.’ His voice lowered as if he were speaking to himself. ‘If I am generous.’

  He looked at Benjamin. ‘Before you die, you will have to beg me for her life. We will see how much you truly care.’

  *

  Thessa’s heartbeats jarred her. She could not speak. The world around her turned the colour of the blood she’d seen before, but she could not fall. She forced herself to stand and kept her eyes on Stephanos, even through the haze in her vision.

  ‘Stephanos—’ Ben’s voice, sounding no different from when he’d asked her to step from the cabin. ‘Do you wish to fight with the woman or with me?’

  Ben’s words flooded into Thessa’s body, bringing her sight back to her and her mind into alertness.

  The cabin boy, Stubby, stood at her side, holding the hilt of the sword with both hands.

  ‘I will...’ She’d thought to say she would leave with Stephanos, to stop what she was about to see, but she could not. The words wouldn’t form. ‘I will stay with the captain,’ she said. ‘And I will let no man beg for my life.’

  ‘Thessa—’ Benjamin’s words bit into the air ‘—go into the cabin.’

  The hardness of his words jolted her again. He’d spoken easily to Stephanos, but to her—he sounded as if he spit poison from his mouth.

  She didn’t move, afraid to set off a bloodletting. She could not see compassion in either man. Benjamin’s face had no humanness in it. Stone. More cold than the statue.

  The two men took the measure of each other and the perusal left no room for weakness.

  Stephanos’s eyes didn’t leave the captain. ‘She needs to stay. To see what she has caused.’ His hand reached towards Thessa. ‘Look at the Englishman quickly, Thessa. You will need to remember his face to tell my sons how he looked before he died and I will insist you tell them the story every night, especially the end. His end.’

  The captain’s blade appeared just at the tip of Stephanos’s fingers.

  ‘Meno.’ Benjamin spoke the Greek word, a harsh command. Benjamin took a step forward and his sword, lying as a wall between Thessa and Stephanos, moved closer to Stephanos’s chest.

  ‘I believe she wishes for you to go,’ Benjamin rasped. Then he softly added, the sound no less the command for its muted strength, ‘As do I.’

  ‘I care not for your words.’ Stephanos’s eyelids dropped a hair. ‘Thessa leaves with me. Now. If you care for her, you will tell her to go to my sloop. For her life.’ He snapped his head back and the men from the other ship moved closer, ready to board.

  ‘She does not wish to go.’

  Thessa opened her mouth to disagree, but at the intake of her breath the captain’s stance tightened, a predator waiting to pound on his prey. She didn’t know how she knew, but she could sense his blood rushing in his veins, feel the heat in his eyes and the hunger to overcome Stephanos. His blade edge remained still, but he was poised for an opening to lunge at the Greek.

  ‘She stays.’ Benjamin’s voice matched his eyes.

  And she saw the change in the men around them, heard it and felt it, although she truly saw nothing—heard nothing different. But each man standing was within an eyelash of fighting to the death.

  Thessa did not close her mouth, or speak. If she voiced a wish, one of the men would take it as a signal to fight. The cabin boy would rush forward, most likely into the tip of a sword.

  She didn’t move. Even the raising of her hand, one way or the other, would commit one of the men to battle and the other would have no choice. And Stephanos had no heart. She’d seen that. He’d kicked the face of a dying man and laughed.

  ‘Exodos,’ Benjamin whispered. Only his eyes spoke loudly.

  Weapons were shifting on the sloop, almost as if by the slow movements no crew member would notice the barrel of a pistol being pointed at his midsection.

  She imagined the outbreak of blood fury and could not bear it on her conscience. She did not want bodies wrapped in shrouds and tossed overboard because of her. And the crewmen had no reason to die. To a man, the crews would fight at the smallest commands from their leaders. And the little cabin boy—the memories, if he lived, would be with him the rest of his life. A boy should not see life dripping red from a dying man’s body.

  Stephanos stepped back, just a finger width, she supposed, but enough to lessen the greater danger.

  ‘My love.’ His words were quiet, backing from the fury, but not releasing her completely.

  She couldn’t speak. He moved back, almost to the rail. The tip of the Benjamin’s blade followed him. No one relaxed enough to take in a full breath.

  And she knew the promise of death still floated against them all.

  Stubby stood near—an almost child, ready to protect her with his life.

  This time it would not be one man who did not breathe again, or two. But more. And the boy was so young. The same age as she’d been when she’d seen her uncle killed.

  ‘Thessa, you know my men are strong.’ Stephanos’s voice curled like smoke. ‘I will not die. We will take you from the ship. Tell your captain you are leaving and I will go easier on you.’

  Her head jerked the smallest bit sideways, saying no. Stephanos took in the movement. He looked up at the sun and shook his head in a gesture that made his hair flare.

  Then his chin lowered and his lips parted, and he stepped back. His eyes flashed weariness from deep within while he looked at Thessa. ‘When the ship took your sister Melina, I didn’t chase. I had you to take her place. I will not lose again.’

  Stephanos turned to Benjamin. ‘Captain. Fortunate for you—the weather is too warm to fight long.’ He swirled the blade tip. ‘I will kill you quickly.’

  ‘It won’t be your choice how I die or when I die.’

  Stephanos took a step sideways and the metal glinted closer to Benjamin’s face. ‘I wish to be on my way with my bride.’

  ‘But she wishes to stay.’ Benjamin could see nothing but Stephanos. He looked at the pirate’s eyes. They were no different than the ones of the last man he’d killed. The one he’d seen in his dreams and wished to erase the memory of. And now he saw the man’s face again—on Stephanos’s body. He would have to kill him again. A second time—and the first had haunted him.

  He stepped back.

  Stephanos’s laugh crackled in the air and he reached his arm towards Thessa.

  Ben’s blade slashed forward, stopping the movement. ‘You should not have given the French the marbl
e. Now you will not even have the stone woman to hold.’

  Stephanos pulled the sword nearer his own body, in the same manner of a viper about to strike. He lunged and Benjamin raised his arm, blocking the thrust.

  ‘So you have held a sword before,’ Stephanos said. ‘I feared I might have to tell you which is the sharp end.’

  Stephanos dived forward again, but not with enough force that he lost his balance or his chance to protect himself when Benjamin countered with a quick move that had Stephanos stepping backwards.

  The pirate’s mouth formed a straight line and his eyes darkened.

  Then he jumped forward, his blade slashing to dislodge the other weapon. Ben stepped aside, lowering his sword enough to miss the main force of the thrust and deflect the metal, but keeping his tip pointed towards Stephanos.

  He brought his blade up, swinging to the underside of Stephanos’s weapon, pushing up while he dived forward. He shook with the strength he expelled to keep Stephanos off balance. Then he twisted, bent his knee and dropped his shoulder.

  Stephanos stumbled back two steps, against the railing and near the ratlines, which worked in his favour to balance him. Ben lunged forward too quickly. Stephanos used the ropes to hold himself steady against the side of the ship and he kicked Benjamin backwards.

  Benjamin kept his balance and the pirate rushed at him again, hair flying like dark flames around his face.

  Benjamin braced, but he didn’t have enough time to raise his arm into a swing. He backed and opened his arms, dodging the blade that whipped across his chest. Stephanos twisted, gripping the sword with both hands and swinging up, hard enough for his blade to connect with Ben’s and flip it upwards and from Ben’s fingertips.

  Stephanos stood, ready to pounce. His eyebrows twitched up. ‘You take no care for your clothing.’

  Air rushed across Benjamin’s chest. He put his hand up and felt the slice. His coat sagged open horizontally across his chest and his fingers felt wetness.

  Stephanos took the moment to hurl himself towards Benjamin, ready to deliver the final blow. But Ben kicked the stone that Thessa had tossed and, in his rush forward, Stephanos’s foot landed on the rock. The stone rolled and Stephanos moved with it, thumping down on to the deck.