Page 44 of Scourge of the Shores
Robert’s voice echoed from the pier. “We’d been here sooner if yer guards hadn’t held us.”
“First light, Captain,” Danna shouted, keeping eyes locked on Lucas. “We’re raisin’ anchor.”
Lucas must have seen the waver in her gaze. He dipped down to be eye-level with her. He pressed his lips thin and gave her a nod of reassurance while squeezing her shoulder. “Safe journey, Captain. We’ll be seein’ ye in four, five days.”
She gave him a nod with pressed lips. “Keep steady, Captain Ervin.”
He turned and exited the ship before Robert and his two pirate crew came aboard. Jim and Lucas yanked the gangplank off as Otto helped Scotty with the anchor.
Robert sauntered up to Ethan, who had returned to the tiller. “Ye a Captain?”
“Helmsman,” Ethan gritted, not wasting a glance on him.
Robert hummed as he adjusted Ethan’s grip on the tiller. “There ye go,” he whispered before gazing at Danna. “Ah, Captain Chadwick.”
He started toward her, easy, slow, but she pulled her flintlock. “Ye’re here to observe, Jaymes. Don’t touch, talk, or otherwise engage with me, me crew, or the traders on Laurence Isle. Savvy?”
Robert took a lazy, unbothered step forward with hands loose at this sides.
The flintlock clicked into place before he could take another step. He sank a row of perfect teeth into his bottom grinning lip. “Or what? Ye be shooting me, Danna?” he finally said.
“It’s Captain Chadwick to ye,” she corrected, her legs holding steady against the ship’s sway. “And aye, I’ll do it.”
He took two more steps.
She raised her pistol.
“I’m unarmed,” he said and lifted his hands in a lazy surrender.
“Get to the main deck and make yerself useful. Touch me helmsman again, I ain’t givin’ no warnings,” she said, waving him off with her weapon’s muzzle.
“Aye, Captain,” he said and took two more steps forward with eyes gleaming in the dawn’s light.
The nerve to test her while she held a gun! She curled her finger on the trigger, aimed for his shoulder—but before she could decide if she meant to fire, he spun on his heel and strolled to the main deck.
She let a shaky breath hiss through her teeth before glancing at Lucas on the pier, his face set like stone. The sea stretched ahead—vast, endless, uncertain. Two days to Laurence Isle. Two days trapped aboard with Robert Jaymes. She only hoped she could keep her head—and not let him crawl any deeper into her heart than he already had, whether she liked it or not.
CHAPTER 10
The Two Days
Robert leaned against the ship’s roll as he pulled the rope taut, unfurling the sails. It hadn’t been long since he was part of the crew while his Father barked orders from the helm. Danna’s orders, though, came as she stood on the gunwale with an arm wrapped around the rigging with Ethan at the helm. He’d never seen a Captain give orders the way she did, staring off at sea, nothing between her and the waves. Her legs adapted quickly as if she’d been born for the sea. He found his gaze lingering on her curved leather-clad backside before he looked away. She deserved his respect, as a fearless woman and Captain, and she’d have it.
He had one primary goal for the voyage: to know Danna Chadwick, be close to her, and figure out where she stood with him. Claiming she might cheat them on the trade was a charade—he knew she wouldn’t. But the lie gave him reason to join the voyage, and it earned him favor with his crew and the other pirate kings. A performance, yes—but a useful one. It was a win-win situation.
He wrapped the rope around a cleat and pulled it tight. He felt her stare, her eyes on his back, and he peered over his shoulder to catch her looking away suddenly. A grin crept over his mouth as he moved to the next loose rope on the single-masted sloop ship.
The desire to talk to her won out, and he crossed the short deck and hopped up onto the gunwale beside her opposite the rigging.
She turned her face away from him. Maybe he wouldn’t like her as much if she gave in too easily. The game was fun.
“What’s your ship’s name?” he asked.
She looked off toward the sun, and he admired her profile with skin shimmering in the morning sun. “I said don’t talk, Jaymes.”
No title. Point made. He let it slide; it was her ship.
“That’s a little harsh, you think? Not to talk for two days? Well, four, if you count the return voyage. And really, five if you count the day to?—”
