Romancing the Pirate 01 - Blood and Treasure

by Jennifer Bray-Weber

  Zane rubbed two fingers at the bridge of his nose. He fought hard against his vast need to have both women strung up the mizzen mast. “Back to work, men.” Zane ordered the small crowd that had pushed in closer.

  “Sadie.” He sheathed his dagger. “You would do well not to threaten a guest on my ship. You know the punishments you could face. Put away your sword.”

  “See now, Zane.” Sadie slung her cutlass back onto her waist. “You always were a milksop when doling out penalties.”

  He fast tired of her caustic remarks. “What concern do you have with me, chit?”

  Sadie offered up that molten sweet smile he had always found endearing. So endearing, he would be made a fool with her whims. None more embarrassing than her indiscretion at Lady Gabriella’s Sea Captain’s Dinner. Sadie convinced him she was ready to attend a social banquet. He’d been proud to have her accompany him and show her off. Until she tried to seduce Captain Blankenship into murdering Captain John. She wrongly accused John as the man who helped the British capture and hang her father. She would have been removed discreetly from the party, but Sadie wouldn’t go quietly, cursing wildly and insulting the hostess. Zane had been furious at her behavior. And it took considerable hours in Gabby’s bedchamber to make it up to her.

  Her dark eyes shifted, softened. “I have come to beseech you with my whole heart for your forgiveness. I had been young and childish. I know what I did in Havana was wrong and because of my impetuousness, good men fell.”

  “Aye, that they did. And at the hands of a Judas.” He grew impatient. Again. Damned if he didn’t get testy as he aged.

  “Please, Zane. I want to earn your trust once again. I want your permission to indenture myself to you, to the Rissa, until you judge me worthy.”

  His ship had already cleared the bay for the sea. Zane had two choices. He could let her stay on until the next port of call or he could put her back in her rowboat and let her get herself back to Tortuga. Of course there was a third alternative. He fingered the pistol at his hip for a moment too long.

  Zane looked deep into Sadie’s eyes, searching for a bit of truth, remorse, or even a hint of affection. He found none. He wasn’t surprised. ’Twould take a long time to heal both of their wounds. He was, however, a bit disappointed. He wanted to believe her, needed to believe her. His heart said to bring her back, his Little Wren. His instinct warned against it.

  “My crew is a worthy lot. I need no more.”

  “There’s always room for another hand,” she said.

  “Aye. ’Tis a truth. But with you around, I tend to lose them.”

  Blade had set Lianna to her feet. Smartly, he kept her within arm’s reach. They were only a few feet away listening to the exchange. She could see how easily a man could lose himself to Sadie. She was undeniably persuasive, her beauty captivating. Lianna felt a little green. And as of late, green had not been a good color for her.

  Sadie reached out to touch the captain’s arm, her lips puckered and sullen. “Please, Zane.”

  He put his hand over hers, still looking at her lovely face. “Dear Sadie. You will always have a place within me.”

  Sadie appeared to relax a degree, as if a mountain had been cleared.

  “Indeed, a black cancerous spot which I can never fully eradicate.” He jerked her hand off his arm.

  Ouch! Lianna’s envy faded.

  Sadie stood stunned for only a moment before one corner of her mouth turned up. “My venom courses deep,” she hailed. “I am only asking for a chance to remedy our relations.”

  “And I would be a fool to be lured by the songs of a siren to her rock. I am not deluded to your wiles, Little Wren. You still harbor a good deal of hate. Until you can learn to let go of the past, I think it best we leave our relations behind us.”

  Sadie shot Lianna a cold glance. Oh, if looks could kill, I would take cover.

  “I should have you shackled up and marooned on the next spit of land,” Zane continued. “Fortunately for you, we are under a time constraint that denies me the pleasure. And we cannot return to port. As you may have become painfully aware, you are not welcomed on my ship. However, unless you take my advice and disembark now while we are still within Tortuga waters, you may remain on board and will be treated fairly. But once we get to Port Royal, Little Wren, you are on your own. And permit me to say, you will need to watch that back of yours.”

  The woman nodded. “What more could anyone ask for.”

  “A bit of garlic.” Blade’s whisper amused Lianna.

  “See that you stay out of the way.”

  She snapped to. “Aye, aye, Captain Fox.”

  Zane gave her a disgusted eye roll, and then turned to Blade, Henri and Lianna. The three of them looked as if they had been watching a bull get milked, uncomfortably straining to see what would happen next. He couldn’t blame them. Even he felt a surreal detachment.

  Sadie couldn’t have picked a worse time to worm her way back into his life. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t completely despise her. But he really couldn’t spare the effort in dealing with her and her designs. A bad feeling about it all coursed in his blood.

  “Blade. The men need to make all the repairs necessary while we sail. We will have to double up on watches and be ready for battle. Henri, see Willie keeps the course for Port Royal. Bennington has his neck on the chopping block but he will not attack us in Jamaican waters. He will not risk forcing Governors Wilcox and Abbott to face off over the medallion. That would send repercussions all the way to King George’s throne. Neither wants to relinquish a prize such as The Serpent to His Royal Highness.”

  “The Serpent?” Sadie perked up with curiosity.

  “This is no concern of yours,” he said. He kept his back to her and went on. “Once we get close enough, we’ll make way to Garra Island to finish repairs.”

  “We be hard pressed to make it, Capt’n. She’s takin’ on water,” Henri said.

  “Make it happen.”

  Henri grumbled and set off to the helmsman, taking one last longing look down the empty bottle of rum he still carried.

  “Jason!” Zane called.

  The scrubby boy popped his head up from behind the capstan and came running up with such enthusiasm that he reminded Zane of a pup ready to chase anything thrown. He was a damn good kid.

  “Take Miss Whitney to her cabin.” Zane turned to walk away. “Oh,” he paused, “and take Sadie, too.”

  “What?” Both women choked on the word in unison.

  “Space is limited and I need you both out of the way.”

  “Whoa there, Zane,” Sadie said.

  Zane speared her with his glare. “Would you rather I strap you to the bowsprit?”

  Sadie didn’t answer. Lianna opened her mouth and then thought better of voicing her own objections to his decision.

  As an afterthought, Zane took Sadie’s pistol and cutlass. A smidgen of regret buried somewhere within him as she gave him a slow, seductive smile. “And, Jason, lock the door.” He returned the smile with one more wicked.

  Blade and Zane watched Jason lead the two women away. The pitiful lad skittered between them, spooked as a wee mouse between two feral cats.

  “Do you think that was wise?” Blade asked. “Putting the two of them together like that?”

  “No, not at all. A wise man would have jumped ship.”

  *****

  Lianna sat on the bed and watched Sadie rummage through the chest of drawers. She did not want to be on the same ship with this forked-tongued woman, let alone in the same room. ’Twould be just like the captain to throw her in a snake pit. Sadie seemed delighted, smug even, that her belongings were still in place.

  “Everything is just how I left it.” She mused aloud for Lianna’s benefit. Pulling out clothes, she held them up to look them over. Haphazardly she folded them and stuffed them back into the dresser. Sadie cut her eyes over at Lianna.

  “Blue is my favorite color, you know.” She opened the next drawer. �
�That’s why he filled this room with blue. Blue bedding, blue pillows, blue sheer scarves.”

  “Captain Fox, you mean?”

  “Almost like a blue harem.” The idea of Sadie as Zane’s harem girl did not sit well with Lianna.

  “Genuine Egyptian silks. Got them from a Turkish trader bound for, oh, I don’t know, Santo Domingo or someplace. He went to a lot of trouble to make me happy. Got me all the pretty things girls like. Lots of beautiful dresses, and jewelry, too. ‘A special girl like you, Sadie, should be dripping in treasures’ he said.

  And look.” She cupped a white rose. “I see he still likes to fill my vase with fresh flowers.” She bent for a whiff, puckered her face, and rubbed her crinkled nose. “How gloriously quaint.” Her mockery twanged with giddy exhilaration.

  “Where are your dresses?” If Zane lavished her with pretty dresses, where had they all gone?

  “I wouldn’t wear them.” Sadie pretended to arrange the flowers. “Zane kept them in his cabin so I wouldn’t try to sell them for weaponry. I don’t like to wear all that fluff. They’re constricting and cumbersome.” She huffed. “I can’t fight in a dress. Anyway, whoever heard of a pirate wearing a fancy frock?”

  For some reason, a visual of Henri decked in a pink kirtle with matching beard ribbons popped into her mind. She grimaced.

  “He would try to force me to wear them at dinnertime, when he could get me to dine at his table, that is. I refused.” Sadie laughed. “’Twould infuriate him.”

  Clearly the woman reveled in defiance. Sadie seemed relaxed on the outside, but Lianna could sense a good degree of liveliness going on behind her casual demeanor.

  “Every once in awhile, when I needed to get Zane to let me have my way, I would give him encouragement by wearing his favorite dress. This green one.” Sadie pulled out the gown from the bottom drawer. “Hey. What happened to my dress?” She inspected the ripped bodice.

  “Hmm. Maybe you got moths.” Lianna didn’t bother feigning innocence over the dress. She busied herself with disgruntling ideas of how effective Sadie had been when getting her way with Zane. To what length did she go, and how often? She was beginning to really not like this girl.

  “Humph.” It didn’t get past Sadie that moths hadn’t been responsible. But instead of plying further, she reached down and pulled out the newspaper.

  Lianna studied her as she stared, unmoving at the article for several long moments. She didn’t think the lass even breathed. Then without saying a word, she returned the clipping and the gown to their place.

  Sadie took the chair, swung it around and straddled the seat, her arms resting on the back. “So, tell me about your business association with Captain Fox.”

  “There’s nothing to tell.” There wasn’t a chance in hell Lianna was going to tell Sadie about The Serpent.

  “Really, now. Why are you on the Rissa then?” Sadie rocked forward in the chair.

  “I merely helped Captain Fox in a transaction, is all. In fact, our business is done. I was disembarking when the Royal Navy showed up.”

  “Hmm. I bet he paid you handsomely.”

  “Excuse me?” Lianna tensed, her skin tightened from the strain of her building hostility. “Are you again implying that I am a whore?” It seemed she would suffer a constant misconception.

  “You’re very pretty. But, damn, lass, you need a better dress. Hard to believe you could catch his eye in that.”

  Lianna looked down at her brown dress. Dreary. Very dowdy, indeed. But that’s to be expected from a serving girl. Men came to the tavern to drink. They didn’t care what she looked like as long as she brought their ale. Besides, after a few pints, to most nasty drunkards she could pass as Helen of Troy. It really matter not. ’Twasn’t as if her imaginary aristocratic hero would come to that port sty and rescue her from her wretched squalor.

  “Be advised, Sadie, I am not a trollop and if you call me as such again, I will rip your tongue out.” She had no inkling if she could wrestle her to the ground or rip out her tongue. But it sounded good. Lianna hoped Sadie wouldn’t take her up on the challenge.

  Sadie sized her up again. She curled her lip up in that sly smile. “Sure, darling. Whatever you say.”

  Lianna had been fairly sure the woman chose to save her affray with her for another time. That suited Lianna just fine. No need to make this voyage any worse than it already had been. At least Sadie no longer had her weapons. Lianna would be at a critical disadvantage should the ill-natured girl become bloodthirsty.

  “This transaction. Did it include treasure? Jewelry perhaps?”

  Warning bells clanged in her ears but Lianna tried her best to be flippant to Sadie’s question. “Do I look like someone who has a hand in riches?” Did she really take her for that much of a fool?

  Lianna stood, walked around Sadie to the dresser and rearranged the flowers in the vase. “And even if I did, do you think I’d tell you? All you need to know about my dealings with Captain Fox is, well, nothing.

  “Don’t take offense.” Lianna continued offhandedly. “I just don’t see it relevant to tell you anything at all.”

  Sadie made a low sound that reminded Lianna of a rabid growling dog. “No offense taken,” she said. Lianna didn’t want to turn around in case the backbiter foamed at the mouth.

  “And what about you? If there is animosity between you and Captain Fox, what makes you think you could board his ship and be received? Especially after you insulted him.” Lianna returned to her spot on the bed.

  “It takes more than my sarcasm to offend Zane. Anyway, he may be mad at me, heck, the whole bloody ship’s mad at me, but not for long.” Sadie glanced down at her chest and unlaced her tunic from the last eyelet. A shift here or a wiggle there and her smallish breasts would make a peeking appearance. “They’ll come around. Men always do.”

  They made eye contact and held it.

  Without a blink Lianna continued. “Why? What is here for you?”

  Sadie smiled. “Zane, of course.” She rose from the chair, stepping back to the vase on the dresser. “He rules these waters. All of the Caribbean, the scourge as well as the political de facto, respects him highly. He is a man with a potential to be extremely powerful.” She complacently smirked at Lianna as she readjusted the flowers. “But he is content with sailing around in this bucket like he’s on a pleasure voyage.” She rolled her eyes, annoyed with the notion.

  “Zane is a master at warfare, a cunning and persuasive negotiator, an annihilator, a natural born leader, but all too trustworthy. He needs guidance. Someone to help him see what he holds. Help him overcome his principles and squeeze blood from the stone. That someone is me. I can gently steer him in the right direction as only a woman can do. I intend to rule with him.”

  From all of what Lianna learned of Sadie thus far, she didn’t think Sadie played nicely with others, much less shared. She swaggered around more like a “Mine! Mine! Mine!” kind of girl. Lianna didn’t know Zane well enough to conclude what he was capable of. But she found it difficult to believe Sadie could bend him to her will.

  “I was under the impression that you hate Captain Fox. How will you manage yourself around him if you can’t even exchange pleasant words with him? Why do you detest him so?”

  Sadie plucked a long stemmed yellow iris from the blue porcelain urn. She rubbed the petals along her cheek, a dreamy look swept over her. So peaceful her expression, it bordered on scary.

  “Hate is a strong word.” She smiled.

  “Is it because he wouldn’t go on a capricious hunt for the man responsible for your father’s death?”

  Sadie shot her a heated glare.

  “He was a pirate.” Lianna continued to push the boundaries of the conversation. “You must’ve known he would end up, how do they say it, dancing the hempen jig?”

  Sadie snapped the stem of the iris between her thumb and forefinger. “Shut your mouth.”

  “What for?” Lianna couldn’t help but rake the coals. She didn’t like this
girl one bit. The she-devil brandished a mean-spirit, vicious of designs, with a penchant for demeaning Lianna. And Lianna just touched on a way to rankle her. “He got his due, what with his rape and plunder. He probably killed little children and helpless animals, too.”

  Sadie threw the broken flower to the floor and kicked the chair across the room. It smashed into the paneled wall and toppled hard to the floor with a crack. “Bitch!”

  Lianna hopped to her feet, pillow in hand. Maybe she should have thought this through, and maybe should have armed herself before angering Sadie. Not much a pillow can do in a fight but soften a punch perhaps.

  Lianna sidestepped as Sadie lunged for her. Sadie landed on the bed, grabbing a pillow of her own. She jumped to her feet and took a swing at Lianna, whopping her with enough force she stumbled backward. Lianna swung back, whacking Sadie in the face. They continued to exchange blows, bumping into furniture and knocking over the vase. It hit the floorboards, exploding as it shattered, the flowers getting crushed underfoot.

  Zane crashed through the cabin door with Blade close behind.

  “What the blazes?” Zane stood dumbfounded.

  The two women smacked each other around the room, screeching and hissing like two fierce weasels. The pillows had since busted and goose feathers floated through the air.

  “Looks like a wolf got in the chicken coop.” Blade laughed behind him. “Now all we need is a barrel of tar. Heigh ho, Henri!” He shouted over his shoulder. “Do we have any pitch to spare?”

  Lianna and Sadie screamed at each other in colorful revilements that would make even a hardened tar blush. Zane and Blade flinched at each insult slung.

  “Ladies, please.” Zane stepped forward, his arms up trying to convey calm. A white feather got stuck to his lips. “I demand you stop at once.” He spat at the unruly feather and tried to swipe it away only to have two more replace it. Distracted with his feathered lips, Zane wandered too close to the swinging pillows and took one square to the face. Addled, he shook his head to clear the bespangled stars.