Page 48 of The Pirate Lord
Jerking her gaze from the tempting picture he made, she focused on the break in the trees through which Ann and Petey had disappeared. How heartily she wished she’d gone with them. Then she wouldn’t be trying to lie about them to a half-naked man who stirred the most unladylike thoughts in her. “Yes, well … Ann and Petey are good friends, you know. He thinks of her as a little sister. He looks after her.”
Gideon pushed away from the oak. “The same way he looks after you?”
“Yes, of course,” she babbled, then corrected herself. “No, I mean, not the same exactly. His affection for her is more … more brotherly.”
“Brotherly?” He stepped closer, his booted feet barely making a sound on the patchwork quilt of dead leaves andlive brush. Skepticism laced his tone. “It’s a pity she feels less sisterly.”
Sara’s gaze shot to his. How did he know that?
At her look of surprise, he shrugged. “Ann practically worships Hargraves. Told me so herself a couple of nights ago. I even got the impression that she hoped to have him for herself.” His eyes narrowed, scanning her face. “It must be breaking her heart to see him with you.”
Sometimes Gideon was far too perceptive for his own good. Her blood pounded in her ears. She mustn’t let him guess the truth! “You obviously misunderstood Ann. Really, Gideon, she thinks of Petey as a brother. I’m sure of it.”
“Then why was itherhe escorted down to the beach, and not you?”
She swallowed. This was becoming thorny. “I told them I wanted to be alone.” That, at least, was true. “After days cooped up on a ship with hundreds of other people, I needed space to breathe. Surely you can understand that. With all the women demanding so much and the children always asking questions, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I mean, days and days of…” She trailed off. Good heavens, she was babbling, and whenever she started babbling, he suspected her of lying.
She shot him a quick glance, but he no longer seemed to be paying any attention to her. His gaze had shifted to a spot above her right shoulder.
“What is it?” she asked, starting to turn.
“Don’t move!” Though he gave the command in a low voice, he spoke so forcefully she obeyed at once. When his expression grew grim and he still kept his gaze fixed beyond her shoulder, a shiver of fear skittered down her spine.
She kept her voice as low as his. “Tell me what’s going on, Gideon.”
“Listen carefully, and don’t panic.” With his eyes still on that wretched spot behind her, he slid his right hand slowly to the hilt of his saber.
“What am I not supposed to be panicking about?” He was scaring her to death, the wretch, and probably for nothing!
“There’s a black mamba in the tree behind you.” She opened her mouth, but before she could ask the question, he added, “It’s a snake. A poisonous one.”
She paled. A poisonous snake? Behind her? “H-How close?”
“Close enough.” His face was expressionless, as if he didn’t wish to scare her. That in itself terrified her. Moving in infinitesimal increments, he lifted his left hand toward her. “Take my hand.” When she started to move her hand toward his, he ground out, “Slowly, Sara, slowly.”
She inched her hand up. The wind rustled the leaves of the trees overhead, and she froze, her heart leaping into her throat.
“You’re doing fine,” Gideon said reassuringly. “Right now, he doesn’t seem too interested in us. Let’s keep it that way.”
He drew out his saber with his right hand, using the same measured movements she was .
Her body trembled. “Wh-what are you going to do?”
“Chop his head off.”
Sweat dripped down her face. “What if you miss?”
“You damned well better pray I don’t.”
Praying was easy; a thousand prayers already sprang to her lips.Please, God, don’t let Gideon miss. Please, God, don’t let the snake get me. Oh, please, dear God, don’t let me die on this wretched island without ever seeing home.
Suddenly Gideon’s hand met hers, and he clasped it in a tight grip.
After that, everything happened at once. With his left hand, Gideon jerked her to him, while with the right, he swung his saber in a wide arc toward the tree. As she landed against him,she caught a glimpse of an inky raised head seeming to come right out of the tree. There was a swish of blade against air, a flash of steel, and a horrible hiss.
Next thing she knew, the blade of the saber had severed the snake’s head cleanly from its body, and both had dropped to the ground.
With a cry, she buried her face in Gideon’s hairy chest, but not before she saw the snake’s body writhing wildly on the ground only a foot away. “Oh, my God,” she cried as she clutched Gideon. She felt rather than saw him stab his saber into the ground. Then both of his arms enveloped her in a hug so tight she could barely breathe.
