The Captain's Lady Page 23

  She heard those hands clapping now as his boots made contact with the planks in the companionway. She stared sullenly out the window.

  “I’m bored,” she told him when he entered the cabin.

  “Do you always greet visitors so amiably?” asked Cloud.

  “I knew it was you. I made an exception.”

  “How did you know it was me?”

  “Your audience announced you.” She turned and saw he was staring at her blankly. “Having nothing else—Never mind. I just knew. I said I was bored,” she repeated impatiently.

  “Where is the toy I saw a few days ago?” He greeted her blank stare with a cool smile. “The one that was in the wall.”

  “It’s in my boot. It’s yours, if you want it.”

  “No, you keep it. If it hasn’t found its way to my heart yet I guess I’m safe.” They both moved at the same time, like gladiators sizing up an opponent in the arena. He sat down on the bunk while she took the opposite side and sat on the deck. “Where did you get it in the first place?” he asked, making himself comfortable on higher ground.

  “Peach, my cabin boy, must have put it in my bag.” She rested her chin on her knee and continued to stare at him as if she were calculating the strength of the enemy.

  “Oh, the little thing with the love-sick eyes and his heart on his sleeve.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked. “All right, I guess I knew he was a little in love with me. He was only with us a few months before you came.” Alexis closed her eyes and pressed a smile into her knee, remembering the way Peach always hurried by her and his inability to prepare a hot bath.

  “Did they all fall in love with you?” Cloud asked slowly.

  “No!” She jerked her head up. “What gave you that idea?”

  “Well, if Peach is any indication then—”

  “Stop it. Just leave, Captain.”

  “I thought you were bored? You don’t like my company?” He knew the sarcasm was unbecoming but couldn’t help himself.

  “I’d like to be alone. I don’t want to talk right now.”

  Cloud ignored the gentle plea almost hidden in her acid tone. “I did come here with something in mind. I have decided you can have the freedom of the ship, if you will give me your word you will not try to escape.”

  “You’d take my word?” She felt herself softening.

  “Of course. You’ve never lied to me before.”

  Alexis was torn for a moment. Being able to go on deck was almost like being free when compared to four walls. She looked around the cabin, then at Cloud who was studying her intently, burning her with emerald sparks. “I can’t give my word, Captain. I’ll still try. You had better keep me locked in.”

  “You hesitated. Why?”

  “Then you expected my answer?”

  “Yes, but more quickly.”

  “Why do you want to test me?” she asked. “Just leave me alone. Your company leaves me cold.”

  “It didn’t used to.”

  Alexis got to her feet. “Comments like those are what send a chill down my spine. You make inane remarks about Peach and suggestions about my men and me. You could also stop smirking. You remind me of Lafitte. On him lifted eyebrows and slanted grins were natural and charming. On you they are fraudulent and anything but enchanting.”

  Cloud’s dark brows automatically drew together at the mention of the pirate. “You shouldn’t talk about Lafitte. It would be better if you never admitted knowing him,” he said seriously.

  Alexis did not catch the warning tone. “That’s as ridiculous as anything you’ve said. He is my friend.”

  “You would be better off not having friends like that.”

  “I never would have met him if you hadn’t taken me from Tortola.”

  “Then you would never have known me.” He paused, then added, “In all the ways that matter.”

  Alexis had had all she could stand of his mocking amusement. She ran to her nightstand and began throwing clothes on the deck until she found what she wanted. She grasped the shirt, her reminder of Cloud, and strode over to the porthole. Jerking it open she tried to throw it out but she was stopped by Cloud’s hand on her wrist. “It’s mine to do with as I please.”

  He pried her fingers open and took it from her before he raised her chin and stared down at her face. She was fighting back tears of frustration. “It’s mine now,” he said firmly. “I didn’t give it to you to be tossed.”

  “Then keep it. Go and take it with you. Make for the door quickly or my dagger may find your heart yet.”

  Cloud turned sharply and left, taking the shirt with him. Mike was standing guard outside the door. His nervous stance and embarrassed smile were enough to let Cloud know he had heard everything.

  “You’re relieved, Mike,” he said shortly. “Go on. I’ll be here for a while.” When Mike left Cloud stared at the closed door for several minutes, holding the shirt in a viselike grip, before he made his decision. He folded the shirt with the same care he had seen Alex use, and he walked back into her cabin.

  She was standing exactly where he had left her, but the fury and tension had disappeared. Her mouth offered a greeting instead of scorn, and her eyes were liquid gold rather than amber ice. A small tremor shook her body in anticipation of his words.

  “It won’t work, will it?” he said quietly.

  “No. You can’t make me hate you.”

  “I can’t stop loving you.” He saw her wince almost imperceptibly. “We have to talk, Alex.” He placed the folded shirt on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bunk. She hesitated, then sat beside him. They half-turned toward each other, preparing for a tentative peace. She started to speak but he stopped her with a look, just as firm and tender as if he had actually brought his fingers to her lips. “There are some things I have to explain to you,” he said gently, “that I should have explained during the first few hours you were here. I have been unfair to you and I should not have avoided you. Did you know I was the one who told the men giving me my orders all about you?”

  “I supposed it had to be you.”

  “I thought you would, and I wanted you to believe that’s all there was to it. I wanted you to believe I betrayed you. What I want to tell you now is I explained your story in order to keep them from enlisting your aid. I failed. I asked not to be given this assignment. Here I am. The more I explained about you the more determined they were to have you. In that they are not unlike me.” He returned her trembling smile. “We managed to trace your whereabouts by intercepting a message to you from Scott Hansom. When we sighted your ship and saw you trying to trap Travers, I made the decision to take you before anything could happen. I don’t regret it, Alex.”

  “It was right for you to do. From your side it was right,” she interrupted softly.

  “Alex,” he went on as if he had not heard her. “There is only one man on the Concord I did not trust not to help you escape. Me. I can’t stop wanting what you want for yourself even while I know I have to keep you prisoner. I thought if I could make you dislike me enough you would try harder to get away.”

  “Why are you telling me this now?”

  “Because I realize you will try to get away no matter what you think of me.” He paused and forced himself to say the next words slowly although he wanted to release them as a single gasp. “And because I know what you think will determine whether you’ll ever return to me.”

  “You’re right.” She placed her hand over his. “I don’t understand your orders, Cloud. But I do understand you have to follow them. I would expect it of my men. It is expected of you. I can understand that. I can even respect your decision not to allow me to get Travers.” This last admission was torn from her, but she offered it to ease the burden he was shouldering.

  Cloud’s intention, when he moved to kiss her, was only to halt her words. When his mouth met hers he knew that it had been a mistake. It had been too long since she had responded as sweetly as she was doing now. He w
anted more than a memory beside him at night.

  He might not have been able to pull back if he hadn’t felt the tremors shaking Alexis’s body. His lips left hers reluctantly then brushed their dewy softness once more, twice more, and still he saw she did not have the strength to turn her head to avoid him. The reproach was in her eyes and in the trembling of her slender frame. She was frightened by what he could still do to her and frightened by that part of her that wanted him to go on doing it.

  “Please…don’t ask me to love you now,” she told him. “I can’t. Don’t even ask me to go to bed with you. I can’t. I will try to escape and you will try to stop me. It is the only part of our past that will be repeated while your orders are between us.”

  “I understand.” And he did. He watched her head bow slightly as if feeling the weight of her decision.

  “Can you just hold me, Cloud? I think I just need to be held.”

  He didn’t hesitate to pull her onto his lap. For a long time they sat in silence, her head on his shoulder, his arms around her waist. Once she moved to get more comfortable and he warned her, “Stop wiggling. You can only trust me so far.”

  She quieted immediately but he could feel her smile against his neck. “Don’t worry. I’ve learned a few things since I put my hair all over the Atlantic.”

  Cloud groaned softly. “Then that explains it. Your geography is as bad as your memory. It was North America.”

  A week passed, then another. Although Alexis remained adamant in her desire to escape she was permitted on deck for brief periods each day, always under close supervision. If another vessel approached, she was taken below. The crew still guarded her door at night, but during the afternoon they sat with the door open and talked to her, sharing stories to ease the boredom.

  As Washington drew closer Alexis’s hostility increased toward the men who had ordered her capture. Cloud could do nothing to soothe her apprehensions, especially since he was guarding apprehensions of his own, and after one discussion the subject was closed.

  Alexis saw Cloud frequently now. They sat in her cabin in the early evening when there was no pressing business on deck for him to attend.

  “I thought I would take over Garnet Shipping after my parents died,” he told her as she sat at his knees, her arms folded on his thigh, “but there was too much chance of war. I could not abandon the navy when they needed me most. Especially when I have a sister like Emma and a brother-in-law like Blake Crafton to keep things going. They understood. Emma said she didn’t want me brooding around the offices anyway.”

  “Emma understands her brother very well,” Alexis said, lifting her head to meet his eyes.

  Cloud sighed. “Emma is an angel. You’d like her, Alex.”

  “No doubt.” There was a short silence; then she asked, “Cloud, are you glad you didn’t stay in Boston?”

  “I’m glad. I wouldn’t be here with you now, would I?”

  Alexis smiled. “No, you wouldn’t.”

  “We’re going to be in Washington by morning, Alex,” he said, removing her arms from his lap. “I’m putting an extra man by your door tonight until I have you safely in dock. After that you’ll be watched closely by several of the men.”

  In spite of herself Alexis laughed. “Thank you for taking me so seriously.”

  “And when have you been anything but serious when it comes to your word? You said you would try to get away and we all expect an attempt. You are not going to disappoint us, are you?”

  Alexis shook her head. “I’ll not disappoint you.” She gave him a sly grin. “And I’ll not give you any information either, Captain.”

  Cloud chuckled and casually ran his fingers through her hair. “Then it’s a challenge, Captain Danty. We’ll see which commander meets it.” He kissed her lightly on the top of her head, and before either one of them had time to wish there could be more he left her.

  Alexis drifted off to sleep still feeling the pressure of his lips on her head and the sensation of his fingers in her hair. She tried to imagine, in the last moments before she succumbed, how Cloud would look when he returned to her cabin in the morning and found she was gone.

  The sun was barely up and already the wharf was teeming with activity. Cloud stood on the quarterdeck as the Concord sailed up the last part of the Potomac to the harbor. His smile was grim, reflecting the attitude of everyone aboard his ship. He thought of Alexis in her cabin. She would be awake now and dreading their approach into Washington. He had spent a sleepless night trying to determine her next move and had come up with nothing.

  Landis stood beside the captain, a thin smile hidden beneath his beard. “All over,” he pointed out to Cloud when the order was given to drop anchor. “She’s here.”

  “Mr. Landis,” Cloud responded sourly, “you are a master at stating the obvious. If you really wanted to help you would tell me what she’s going to do next. She won’t come without a struggle.”

  Silver eyebrows drew together. “I wish I knew,” he said reluctantly, loath to admit his ignorance. He too had spent a night of tossing after his watch was completed. Now, with morning almost full on him, he had no answers.

  Cloud realized the men had become quiet in expectation of his next order. The ship had been secured in record time so all hands were anxiously awaiting Alexis’s appearance on deck.

  “I’ll go to her,” Cloud said slowly. “Tell the men to stand by and be ready to stop her if she should try to make a run for it.” As he walked away he felt the eyes of every man at his back, and he knew they were glad he had chosen to bring Alexis forward himself.

  The men ignored the cries of greeting from the crews of the vessels on either side of them. They ignored the tightening of their own stomachs as they silently watched the hatch. Occasionally a pair of eyes would stray from the entrance and scan the horizon, hoping beyond hope Alexis’s men would still come for her and then, perversely, hoping they would not. They tried to put themselves in the place of her crew, wondering if they could have followed her orders not to aid her and each found the same answer: he would have moved heaven and earth to get her back.

  Tom and Frank jumped to attention as Cloud approached them. He saw dark lines beneath their eyes and knew they also had spent a sleepless night.

  “Wait here,” he ordered. “When I have her out, follow us on deck. Tom, after I have her off the ship, I want you to gather her things and take them to my home. Do you know where it is?” Tom said that he did. “Well, if you have any trouble, it’s the one that will look like a fortress. I plan to have everyone take shifts guarding the place until Senator Howe tells me what he wants done with Captain Danty.”

  “Do you expect her men?” Tom asked.

  “I expect anything. Stand aside.”

  Frank moved off to one side and Cloud unbolted the door. He stepped inside and his breath caught in his throat as he surveyed the empty cabin. He saw the makeshift rope tied to the leg of the bunk and drawn through the open porthole. For a moment he did not speak. The joy, as well as regret, he felt at her absence did not allow for words. When he found his voice he yelled for his men. “Tom! Frank! She’s gone!” They were in the room before he finished and were equally astonished.

  Frank spoke first. “Captain! We didn’t hear a sound. How did she squeeze out that porthole?”

  Cloud did not bother to answer. He strode over to the porthole and pulled in the knotted strips of sheet, throwing them on the bunk. “It doesn’t matter how she did it, only that she did.” He stared at his men, daring them to show that they were not unhappy about this development; then deciding it was unfair to ask them to feel any differently he swept past them and went topside. When he was on deck he walked into the wide-eyed stares of his men. “She’s gone! She got out through her porthole sometime during the night. I want to see every man who was on watch immediately! I want a full report of every ship we passed within her swimming range!”

  Within minutes Cloud had the information he asked for. There had been only tw
o ships during the night, both Garnet merchants. He winced at the news. How ironic if Alexis had chosen to flee to one of his ships. “Make ready to sail!” he commanded. “We’re going after her!”

  The Concord was a blur of activity as the crew quickly responded. They saw the looks of wonderment from the seamen on the wharf. They had only just secured the ship and without so much as a second to try out their land legs they were leaving again.

  “It will make it easy for us to get her if she is on board a Garnet ship,” Cloud told Landis as they went below.

  “That’s if she made it to one of them,” Landis said. “She took a hell of a risk. At night they might not have been able to see her. She could just be out there somewhere.”

  Cloud opened the door to her cabin. “I’ve already thought of that,” he said, holding up the rope Alexis had fashioned. “Look at this. Can you believe she did this?”

  “I believe anything of her,” Landis said, grinning. He walked to the porthole. “Why the rope? Why didn’t she just jump?”

  Cloud sat on the bed, absentmindedly undoing the knots. “Too dangerous,” he answered. “She didn’t have room to make a safe leap outward. She could have been pulled under the ship. With this rope she could have climbed most of the way down and used the side of the ship to push herself off. She knew what she was doing.”

  “When doesn’t she?”

  Cloud ignored him as he stared at the rope in his hand. The knot wasn’t tight. How could that be? Her weight on it would have either pulled it tight or it would have given way. She couldn’t have used it. She couldn’t have—

  He jumped to his feet, swearing as the ship gave a lurch. Ignoring Landis’s stare, he ran out of the cabin and raced for the deck. “Take the Concord one mile down river and drop her anchor. Right in the middle of the Potomac.” The men looked at him as if he had gone mad. “Tom! Harry! Come with me! Captain Danty is still somewhere on this ship. We’ll start searching now! ”

  “How can that be, Captain?” Tom asked incredulously. “She never came out the door!”