The Captain's Lady Page 27

  “Thank you, Frank. I thank all of you for understanding that,” she said quietly. She brightened gradually as she dismissed the last of the pain she associated with being named a whore. “I still think I’d have the lot of you tied to yardarms!”

  The tension broken, they finished their meal and Alexis listened with interest to the news they had obtained concerning the war.

  After dinner she retired to the drawing room as the men flipped coins for the chore of doing the dishes. They were still haggling when she heard Cloud enter the house. He did not see her in the room as he passed, heading straight for the sound of confusion in the kitchen.

  “What’s all this?” he demanded, looking at the men jammed into his kitchen. “And where is Alex?” He took a second glance at their faces and continued, his displeasure obvious. “And what the hell happened to the lot of you?”

  Landis explained. “We are in the process of finding someone to do mess duty since Alex prepared our dinner. She is in the drawing room, taking a moment of well-deserved rest, and what happened to the men is a fight after we left them this morning.”

  “Thank you for that very concise report,” Cloud said without humor. “Frank and Tom can do the dishes. Forrest, you can get me something to eat. We’ll leave Alex to her rest, and, Mike, perhaps you can explain the reason for the brawl since you seem to have the largest bruises.”

  Mike was ready to begin when Alexis’s voice stopped him. She passed Cloud at the entrance to the kitchen and said, looking at everyone but him, “There was a disagreement between your crew and the men on the dock as to the nature of my presence on board the Concord. Your men settled it admirably. There is nothing more to it than that.”

  Cloud looked from one man to the other, waiting to see if they would add anything to Alexis’s explanation. They were silent. Finally he said, “Forrest, bring my dinner to the study. And some wine for Alex. She will be with me.” He took Alexis’s arm, gripping it more tightly than he had intended and led her to the study. He shut the door behind him and when he faced her his eyes were hard, implacable in their gaze, and his mouth was pulled in a grim line.

  “And the nature of your presence as those men saw it?” he asked as though no time had elapsed between her last words and the ones he was saying now.

  She pulled free of his grip, stepping backward. “Cloud,” she said softly. “Don’t be angry with any of them. What else could those men think, other than I was someone’s whore?” She saw the anger in his green eyes replaced with terrible hurt, and she knew he suffered as much at those words as she. She held her hand to his cheek, meeting his steady gaze. “I am at least glad they saw fit to name me your whore.”

  He clasped her wrist, placing the palm of her hand against his lips, then drew her close, wrapping his arms around her, as if to protect her. “I never wanted those words applied to you,” he whispered into her ear. “Never.” His lips brushed her forehead and her cheek before they covered her mouth.

  It was a tender, gentle contact, and it made both of them ache with desires too long denied. Alexis felt her legs weaken as Cloud’s teeth tugged lightly on her lower lip, tasting her sweetness, savoring it, drawing her strength. She held on to his upper arms for support, but when the taut muscles offered no purchase she slid her hands over his shoulders, leaning her body into his, and clung to him as if he were her bastion. Cloud groaned softly into Alexis’s mouth when he felt her breasts swell and brush his chest. It was sweet torture to have them pressed against him, offering more proof of her need. In return his hands slipped to her buttocks, cupped them, and pulled her tight against his thighs. This time he swallowed her desperate moan.

  There was a moment of surrender for each of them in the kiss, a moment when neither was strong enough to pull away, even though both knew where the kiss would lead. At that time Alexis did not care if she ever saw Travers again and Cloud did not care about the method he was using to make Alexis join him. But it was only an instant, and for each of them their goal prevailed. Slowly they parted. Cloud leaned heavily against the door while Alexis placed a physical distance between them, one she emphasized with words she had spoken before.

  “I cannot be yours again, Cloud. Not until this thing is done.”

  “I know,” he answered quietly. He reached for her face and brushed aside an errant lock of hair. His caress was given sound by the gentle sigh that escaped her parted lips. “I want you so much,” he added in response to her quickened breathing. “So much.”

  “Stop, Cloud. Don’t say anything else. If you really love me, please stop.” Her eyes pleaded silently, admitting how vulnerable she was to giving up everything but him.

  He nodded and walked past her, careful not to brush against her, knowing it would only take one small contact to make him cast aside her pleas.

  “How did your meeting go”—she hesitated—“Captain?”

  She took a seat in a chair opposite the couch where he was now reclining.

  “Not as well as I hoped,” he admitted, staring at the ceiling. He crossed his hands behind his head and lazily lifted one leg over the back of the sofa.

  “Not as well in what way?” Alexis leaned forward in her chair.

  “The senator and I did not agree on a few points.”

  “Concerning me?” Her voice was almost inaudible.

  “Of course concerning you,” he replied curtly, then regretted it when he looked over and saw Alexis’s disturbed frown. “I have no other reason to see Howe except where you are concerned.”

  “I do not need a champion.”

  “What makes you think I took your side?”

  “I only thought…” She stopped. She did not know what she thought.

  He sat up suddenly, his face hard and unyielding as he spoke swiftly to cut through any illusions she had. “Perhaps I had better clear up any doubts you may be harboring, Alex. I want you. I love you. Don’t you dare frown. You know it as well as I, perhaps better. But right now, with my country at war, I also want you just as all the others do. I have told you before your assistance could make a difference for us and I meant it. The knowledge you have gleaned after almost two years of fighting alone is knowledge many of our commanders have learned only after years of service. You would be an asset to our cause, which I must add, is not simply our indignation at the British removing men from our ships and impressing them. It is also our indignation over the Orders in Council which substitute favoritism for skill by letting some shipping firms through blockades and denying that right to others. Neither France nor England recognize our position of neutrality in their war and Yankee traders fall prey to privateers on both sides. England presumes it has the sole rights to free trade on the Atlantic. If the outcome of this war is in our favor, I will be a richer man than before, because it will free Garnet Shipping to pursue ports all over the world without the threat of British interference. I am in this war to protect what I own and see that it prospers. Do you understand what the United States has to gain or lose depending on the outcome? Do you see what you have to gain?”

  Alexis said nothing. She was not thinking only of Quinton Shipping, which would become more prosperous because of the increased competition she intended to beat. She was not thinking only of the people who would have a better life on Tortola as a result of her success. She was staring at Cloud, thinking that her cooperation could gain her what she wanted most: the man who was searching her face, waiting for an answer.

  “I see,” she said, not taking her eyes from him.

  Cloud nodded. There was a long silence, a pause of painful understanding. Cloud lay back on the couch and asked, almost rhetorically, “Alex, if the President were to present the facts to you as I just did, and ask for your assistance, what would your answer be?”

  “Mr. Madison cannot do that.”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “Why not?”

  “I was brought here by force, Captain. You well remember the threat you used against me. I expect it will be used again in an attempt to m
ake me comply with your President’s wishes. Of my own free will I would have joined your struggle and made it my own. The battle would have been worth the risk. But I would have joined you only after finishing what I set out to do. I would have completed my goal first, then I would have fought for your country. Don’t you remember? It was the United States I tried to reach when I was thirteen. I would not turn my back on the kind of life I expected to find here.”

  “And you don’t think it is here now?”

  Alexis looked around the room, seeing four walls closing in on her. “Where is my liberty, Captain? Where is my right to make a decision freely, without the threat of imprisonment? Your President has not offered me that.”

  “And if he could?”

  “He would have to allow me to seek Travers first; then I would assist you of my own volition, just as I would have if you had never brought me here.”

  Cloud was ready to tell her this was precisely what he had told Howe, but a knock at the door interrupted him. Forrest entered with a tray of food and wine. After the cook left Cloud sensed the opportunity to explain his position had left with him. Between bites he answered Alexis’s questions about the house, thanking her for working so hard to make it presentable again.

  “Do you own a home in Boston as well?” she asked, placing her glass carefully on the polished table at her side.

  “No, I stay with Emma and Blake when I visit. They live where my parents lived, in the house I grew up in.”

  “But when you eventually settle in Boston, would you give up this house?”

  “How did you know I plan to live in Boston?”

  Alexis smiled. “Because of the way you spoke of Garnet Shipping a while ago. You have no intentions of giving it up forever, if indeed, you ever gave it up at all. You could not run the line from Washington.”

  Cloud laughed. “When I talked to Emma last she told me Quinton Shipping was cutting into our business. I did not tell her, but I knew for a fact, the owner was rarely around to see to the business personally.”

  Alexis’s smile grew wider at the compliment. “I have some very good help and some from quarters I did not desire.”

  Cloud frowned at the offhand reference to Lafitte. “Let’s not talk of Lafitte,” he said, pushing his tray aside.

  “Why do you react that way when I mention him? He gave me assistance when I needed it. Surely you must realize I did not ask him to let my ships pass unharmed. He chose to do that on his own and I am not sure I understand his reasoning.”

  “Whatever his reasons, he will reap the rewards.”

  “What does that mean? I don’t understand.”

  “You will soon,” he answered quietly. “You will soon enough.” He had less doubt than ever that she would not betray the man who allowed her business to prosper and who gave her liberty when it was denied by himself and the country whose basis for existence was that very word.

  “You never answered my question,” Alexis said suddenly.

  “Which one?”

  “The only one I can hope to get an answer to it seems. About living in Boston.”

  He grinned. “I would live there. I would give up this house without a moment’s hesitation.”

  “Then why do you have it? You don’t spend much time here.”

  “I keep it because I want a place I can come to and know it is my own. It is infinitely more satisfying than staying in hotels or boardinghouses, waiting for a new assignment. Even the most seasoned veteran of the sea longs for a place where the floor doesn’t constantly move under his feet. What about you? Don’t you feel that way?”

  Alexis lowered her eyes, remembering the home she had on the island, the rainbow colors, the freshness. Without Francine and George it meant nothing to her.

  Cloud was on his feet immediately. He drew her from the chair and gently forced her chin upward. “Alex, I’m sorry,” he started, feeling words were inadequate to erase the torment in her eyes. “I hoped you’d never see your home again. At least never alone.”

  “I wanted to see it,” she replied, removing his hand from her face.

  “You shouldn’t have.”

  “But I had to. I could never live in that house again. But I did have to see it and seal my pact with the man who was responsible for the loss of my family.”

  He wanted to hold her close and allow her to cry in his arms as he imagined she must have cried when she saw the empty house. She seemed fragile suddenly, not at all like the infamous pirate the rumors made her out to be. Her lips were trembling and her body responded with a small shudder. Her eyes alone told him this was not the time to pull her slender figure against him. They were shining with the same light he had witnessed as she stood on the hill and made her oaths. These amber eyes spoke of her strength and not of her weakness. She needed nothing from him she could not find within herself, and that knowledge made him desire her all the more.

  “It’s late,” he said, when there was nothing in the way of a reply he could offer. “Have you chosen a room?”

  “Yes. If you’ll excuse me, I will go up now.” She permitted Cloud to hold her arm and lead her to the stairs. She called good night to the other men and they answered her in turn. She was almost to the top of the stairs when she heard Cloud’s rich voice bid her good night. She smiled, not looking back, and continued to her room.

  Chapter 12

  Breakfast the following morning was a raucous affair. Cloud, Alexis, Landis, and Harry enjoyed themselves at the expense of the men who had imbibed too heavily the day before. Alexis could not help laughing at their stifled groans as pots and pans clattered about the kitchen.

  Because she had given her word she would meet with the President before attempting another escape, most of the men were relieved of their duty at the house. They were told what to do Thursday evening, but Alexis knew none of it. Cloud avoided answering her questions about when she would meet the President, purposely withholding the information in order to make escape more difficult for her.

  The evening meal passed quietly, with most of the men gone. Only Landis, Harry, and Mike remained. Alexis took over Forrest’s position in his absence, eager for the opportunity to do something. During dinner as well as afterward she paid little attention to the discussions at hand. She continued to search for ways to leave Washington, a task made extremely difficult by Cloud’s refusal to let her out, even under escort. She thought often of her crew and of whether they would really obey her orders to stay away. She relied on their good sense to prevail and decided her only chance lay in getting on board some other ship near Washington. It all came down to finding a way to get to the harbor again.

  When she glanced up she caught Cloud looking at her, smiling as if he knew what she had been thinking. “There must be a way,” she answered his smile.

  Cloud laughed, ignoring the puzzled stares of the others who had not realized Alexis’s silence meant she was plotting some new plan.

  His laugh was comment enough for her. It was a sign of his encouragement to keep trying. When she lay in bed that night, hugging his shirt close to her body, she was still tossing alternatives in her head.

  On Wednesday evening Cloud and Alexis sat alone in the study. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor at his feet, a book resting in the crook of her legs. She held her head in her hands, elbows propped on her knees, oblivious to his presence in the room as she read. He thought perhaps she was oblivious to the room. It was only a temporary escape, he realized, for when she shut the book she would find herself in the same predicament as before.

  “Amusing?” Cloud asked in response to her laughter.

  “Infinitely. Romeo and Juliet, “she said, shutting the book of plays and confronting the reality before her.

  “Strange. I read that. I don’t remember it being at all amusing.”

  “That’s because you weren’t thinking how nice it would be to have a potion that would permit you to appear dead. It occurred to me how it would help me get away and solve all my probl
ems.”

  “I will have to keep you away from books if those are the ideas you’re getting.” Cloud gently ran his fingers through the curls that lay across her back. He pulled his hand away when he felt her shiver. “There’s something you have to know, Alex,” he stated emotionlessly, as if he were about to tell her tomorrow’s tide table. When she turned to face him he went on. “You are going to meet Mr. Madison tomorrow evening.”

  Alexis nodded, unsure of her own feelings at hearing his words. Part of her was glad the wait would be over and rose to meet the challenge, while another part recognized this challenge could be the one to defeat her.

  “You and I have been invited to dinner at Robert Davidson’s home.” He saw her bristle as he knew she would and he continued quickly. “Senator Howe, Bennet Farthington, and Richard Granger will also be there. They will want to discuss your help after dinner.”

  “I hope they don’t expect me to feel gratitude after offering me a meal,” she said angrily. “I suppose I am to think of myself as a guest. I would rather—”

  “You don’t have to tell me, Alex,” he interrupted. “I recall telling you the senator and I disagreed over a few points and tomorrow’s dinner was one of them.”

  “Why do you understand so well, and they not at all?”

  “They are merely conducting politics as they think it should be conducted. A meal and a few glasses of wine have obviously induced cooperation before.”

  “Force, to a hungry man.”

  “I suppose, though I doubt they see it that way.”

  Alexis got to her feet, book in hand and crossed the room. She placed the volume back in its position and turned to Cloud slowly, thoughtfully. “You said something to me the other day,” she said. “It has not been out of my mind long. It was in reference to Lafitte. You said—”

  “I said: ‘whatever the reasons, he will reap the rewards.’ Is that what you were referring to?”

  “Yes, that’s right. I want to know now if he has something to do with tomorrow’s meeting.” She dreaded the answer she was prepared to hear. She braced herself against the bookshelves, feeling the hard slats at intervals across her flesh.