Page 14 of The Pirate Lord
And he had now turned his complete attention on her.
She held her breath as he cast an insulting glance over her, seeming to take in every inch of her somber attire, from her lacy mob cap to the tips of her scuffed kid slippers. Then, to her great shock, he let out a mirthless laugh. “Pillage, thievery, and rape? And who might you be, my brave little woman, to speak to me so?”
Her stomach lurched. Fear made her want to beg his pardon, to protest she was naught but a fool. But pride overrode that. He hadn’t killed her yet, and perhaps that meant he was amenable to reason. “I am Miss Sara Willis, sir, instructor and protector for these women.”
The wind lifted his raven hair, exposing the small gold hoop he wore in one ear. With a nonchalant air, he leaned back against the bow. “I see. You intend to protect them from our ‘pillage, thievery, and rape,’ do you?”
When a rumble of laughter erupted from the pirates, she colored. “You know quite well I can do no such thing. I have neither a sword nor the strength to wield it.” She couldn’t help adding with a trace of irony in her tone, “Perhaps that’s why I don’t find the situation as amusing as you and your bloodthirsty companions.”
The humor in his face faded abruptly. “Then it should please you to hear, Miss Willis, that my men and I aren’t here for that. Thievery would be useless, since I doubt there’s so much as an ounce of gold or jewels on this ship. As for pillage, that’s an occupation I find pointless and wasteful, don’t you?”
When he paused, a knot of fear formed in her belly. “That only leaves rape, doesn’t it? A ship full of women … a ship full of pirates?—”
“We’re not here for that either.” He pushed away from the bow looking unaccountably angry. “What we have to offer your ‘pupils’ is anything but that.”
“Offer?”
Striding up to her, he planted his hands on his hips. “Yes. We’re here to offer these women rescue. Freedom.”
He was close enough she could see the color of his eyes, a vivid blue-green that mirrored the tropical sea. It was far too attractive a color for a murderous pirate.
“And you offer this without expecting anything in return,” she remarked coldly.
A hint of a smile tipped up his mouth. “I didn’t say that.”
Her heart plummeted. “Of course not. Pirates aren’t known for their altruism, are they?” She didn’t know what possessed her to speak to him so boldly. Perhaps fear had driven her insane. But if he was going to kill her anyway, she might as well make her death count for something.
“Then what do you want?” she went on. “A few nights of pleasure before you dump them on the coast of Africa to fend for themselves? You want to use them as whores, but pay them in dubious freedom instead of in coin?”
“Nay.” He leveled on her a thunderous scowl. “’Tisn’t whores we want, Miss Willis. We want wives.”
Sara gaped at him. A confused murmur rose up from the women behind her, but all she could do was stare at him, trying to fathom what he was saying. She glanced around at the pirates’ faces, surprised to see the truth of Captain Horn’s words mirrored in their expressions.
“But you’re … you’re pirates! What would you want with wives?”
His expression grew shuttered. “That’s no longer your concern, Miss Willis. We’re taking these women whether you approve or not.” He scoured her with an insultingly impudent gaze. “Don’t worry. We’re not taking you along. The last thing we need is a tight-lipped spinster giving us trouble.”
With that final insult hanging in the air, he ordered a few of his men to escort the women and children aboard theSatyr. He commanded the others to confiscate theChastity’s stores.
She watched in disbelief as the men scurried to do his bidding, and theChastity’s crew glumly stood by. How could they? This wretched scoundrel was kidnapping a shipload of women for his own nefarious purposes, and the crew intended to let him!
“You can’t do this!” she told the pirate captain. “This is unconscionable!”
Ignoring her, he turned to Captain Rogers. “I’m leaving you no water or food. Your only choice is to return to the port at Santiago. From there, I don’t give a damn what you do, as long as you don’t try coming after us. When we sail away, if you so much as attempt to follow, I swear I’ll blow you out of the water.”
When he pivoted and started to brush past her, she caught his arm. “I won’t let you do this!”
He cast her a mocking grin. “As you said before, you can’t stop me.”
The futility of it all enraged her. She’d worked so hard to help these women to a better life, to see that they found the good within themselves. And now he planned to wreck it all in one fell swoop.
Well, if he wouldn’t listen to Miss Sara Willis, then perhaps he’d listen to someone of higher station. “No, but my brother can,” she said with as haughty a tone as she could muster. “I’ll make sure he searches you and your men out, if it takes every breath in my body!”
He shrugged off her hand with a laugh. “And who might your brother be that he’d take on a pirate? Some merchant’s son? A clergyman perhaps?”
“The Earl of Blackmore.” She wielded the title like a weapon. “He’ll come after you if I ask him to.”
There was a chorus of groans from the crew and captain of theChastity, though why they were so dismayed by her revelation now, when it no longer mattered, she couldn’t imagine.
