But he wasn’t angry as much as he was worried. The terror on her face at the mention of the hold was too acute to miss. And her soft hands and well-made clothing told him eloquently that Lillianne wasn’t accustomed to rodents and dark corners. Her desperate pleas reverberated in his head, warring with the knowledge that if he didn’t punish her, trouble with Talbot or any of the others could be just around the corner.
Adding to his foul mood was the fact he’d had to threaten twenty lashes to the first man who laid a finger on her dewy alabaster skin, worsening morale.
Hell, he’d known from the first moment he’d seen Lilli, all anxious green eyes and sunshiny, wind-tousled hair, that she could only be trouble. More trouble he didn’t need. And when she emerged from that hold, he had to make damn sure she didn’t interfere—or distract him with her saucy allure again.
Ryan’s rescue was too important to succumb to this perturbing case of lust now.
Drex heard shuffled footsteps behind him, heralding Hancock’s arrival. “It’s almost sundown, Cap’n.”
He replied with a solemn nod.
“What are ye gonna do with her, friend? Put her off?”
A long pause ensued before Drex said, “I can’t risk stopping anytime soon with the British at my back. Besides, to save Ryan, I have to sail to Grand Bahama, re-rig the ship, contact Greg for new false docking papers, then sail back to London. I won’t waste precious time docking at another port.”
Once back in London, he had to execute his plan, whatever that might be, to find and abduct Christina Delafield without a flaw, then negotiate her
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Shelley Bradley
ransom. Drex didn’t delude himself, the process would take months, a period during which anything could go wrong—and Ryan could die.
“The men are restless with her on board. Don’t think they can rightly decide whether to give in to lust or superstition.”
“I suspected as much.” He sighed, wondering just what he would do with his beautiful nuisance of a stowaway. “Put her in your cabin for the rest of the voyage, Hancock, and move to the infirmary. I’ll watch her closely to keep her out of trouble.”
“I’ve no doubt ye’ll do just that.” Hancock laughed. “Ye’ve been staring at the door to that hold all day.”
He turned to his friend with a frown. “Have I?”
Hancock nodded. “And fidgeting too. I’ve known ye for ten years, and I’ve never seen a woman distract ye so much.”
Drex cast a warning glance at the other man. “Go to hell.”
“Aye, Cap’n.” But the laughter didn’t leave his voice.
Turning away, Drex focused on the setting sun again. Another twenty minutes, then he could confront the girl, establish his absolute authority. He sighed. Be sure she was all right.
Then what would he do with her?
That question had plagued Drex for two days, during which he’d tried to put her—and their kiss—out of his mind. But his mind had been rebellious, filling instead with images of damp, naked skin and hungry sighs as her flesh filled his hands…while his filled her body. Worse, for her safety and the even keel of his crew, he’d have to declare Lilli his. His to kiss, to undress, to touch at will. His to take whenever and however he wanted. A disturbingly heady thought.
She was a pretty piece, damn it, with a graceful slope to her neck and a ripe curve to her breast. When sailors had invented the lore of mermaids and muses, they’d had a woman like Lillianne in mind. Drex wasn’t immune.
“I’ve moved my belongings below,” Hancock’s voice sounded from behind him minutes later. “Want me to bring her to ye now?”
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The Lady and the Dragon
Staring at the sun, Drex shook his head. “It’s not time yet. I suspect Talbot is looking for any partiality to use against me. Until we can put him ashore in Grand Bahama, I don’t want to give the man any reason to grumble to those who are still angry we cut their leave in London short.” He paused, irritated and edgy. “I have to be exact with her punishment.”
“Aye. Maybe it would be best if ye waited. I can fetch her in ten minutes, when the sun’s fully down.”
Drex glanced again at the deepening pink and orange shadows of the sky transforming the puffy clouds to molten. Impatience cut into him like an arctic wind. He restrained it. “I’ll be below. Bring her to me then.”
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Shelley Bradley
Chapter Three
Taking a deep breath, Christina struggled to put one foot in front of the other as she descended the stairs into the companionway. She barely noticed Hancock behind her. Giving the Black Dragon a tongue-lashing was uppermost in her mind. She didn’t care if the captain threw her overboard for it. After four sleepless nights, she already felt half-dead.
When they reached the final door, Hancock stepped around her. Through heavy, scratchy eyes, Christina watched him knock.
“Come in.”
The Black Dragon’s curt reply navigated a chill down her spine. He was a criminal who behaved like a dictator, the latter of which he had in common with her grandfather. It both annoyed and unnerved her that she’d escaped one autocrat, only to fall into the hands of another.
Just a few more weeks, she vowed as Hancock opened the captain’s door and prodded her forward. Then she would be with Aunt Mary, enjoying the independence of a modern woman.
Christina swayed tiredly before shuffling toward the captain, who sat on the edge of his bunk. The weary fog of her mind deciphered his fathomless expression, a furrow between his dark brows, made more forbidding by that dratted black mask.
“That will be all, Hancock. Show yourself out.”
As if from a distance, Christina heard the click of the door that signaled the first mate’s departure. The Black Dragon’s gaze zeroed in on her, and she almost wished she could have followed the older man. Almost. She still had a few words for the captain.
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The Lady and the Dragon
“I hope over the last two days you’ve had time to decide to be reasonable,”
he said without preamble.
Reasonable? She stood here, exhausted and paradoxically thrumming with an anger consuming enough to keep her upright, and he assumed she was willing to be reasonable? It was just like a tyrant to assume everyone else would agree to his demands.
Fury gave her a needed burst of strength. “Captain, I realize I stowed away on your ship. However, I am not a child and do not require your direction.”
“Only children are oblivious enough to barge in where they are not welcome. What does that make you, then?”
“A desperate woman on a mission. Can you not understand that?” She flung her arms wide. “Your mission is to destroy the Royal Navy. My mission is simply more…noble.” Even with her lie, that was true. Escaping a tyrant to seek freedom was far more righteous than destroying a fighting force, regardless of the losses of life and limb inflicted.
He bolted from his bunk and grabbed her arms. “You have no idea what I’m about. You were foolish enough to sneak onto a ship with men who make war.
This is dangerous business, not an afternoon of tea in the parlor. Most of these men haven’t seen a woman in months, much less a specimen like you, princess. Before you flounced on board, did you consider that there could be consequences to stowing away with a hundred randy men?”
She hadn’t, not in those terms, but why confess that? “I put my purpose above my safety.”
He turned away with a disgusted grunt. “Clearly. You’re an even bigger fool than I thought.”
“I do not appreciate your implication.”
“I don’t appreciate your reckless intrusion. I have a ship with a restless crew and business to attend to. Your uninvited presence here puts both in jeopardy.”
Swaying slightly with fatigue, she steadied herself and shot him a narrow-eyed glare. “And locking me in the dark with rats helps you to keep control?”