Page 84 of The Pirate Lord
Lifting her skirts with a sigh, she wandered along the beach. She was so absorbed in her dreamy thoughts of Gideon that she didn’t notice how far she’d wandered from the others.
Until someone grabbed her from behind. Clapping a hand over her mouth, he dragged her back toward the trees. Terror struck her at once, and she began to struggle furiously in the man’s arms.
“Let go of her, Petey!” hissed a voice as she and her captor entered the woods. “You’re scaring her!”
“Don’t scream, little miss, all right?” a familiar voice murmured in her ear. “I’m letting go of you now.”
She answered by jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow.
“Ow!” he cried as he released her. “What the bloomin’ hell wasthatfor?”
She whirled on him, eyes blazing. “For scaring the hell out of me, you dunce!”
“Hell?” said another familiar voice. Then Jordan moved from behind a tree, looking gaunt and pale and very out-of-place in his tailored frock coat and trousers. “Your vocabulary has changed somewhat since last I saw you, Sara.”
“Jordan!” Her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of her dear stepbrother. She threw herself into his open arms and buried her face in his shoulder. “Oh, Jordan, you’re here!”
“Yes, moppet, I’m here.” His arms tightened painfully around her. “Are you all right? Have those devils hurt you?” He held her at arm’s length as he scanned every inch of her. “You look all right, but I know that doesn’t mean anything.”
“I’m fine. Truly I am.”
He brushed her hair from her cheek as he searched her face. “You have no idea the tortures I’ve suffered, imagining what horrors—” He broke off. “But it doesn’t matter now. I’ve got you back at last. You’re safe now.”
Guilt struck her. Safe? How was she to tell him she’d been safe all along? Here she’d been enjoying herself, making a new life and falling in love, while Jordan had been suffering on her behalf.
It wasn’t all her fault though. Oh, if Gideon could only see her brother now, he’d understand just how unfairly he’d behaved by kidnapping them all.
Gideon. Good heavens, what was she to do about Gideon and Jordan?
She pulled away from her brother. As she groped for some way to tell him how matters had changed in the past month, she covered her confusion with questions. “How did you get here so quickly?”
“As soon as theChastityreturned to London, the captain came directly to me with his tale of the capture. I set off at oncefor the Cape Verdes, the last place where the ship had made port. As I worked my way through the islands, hoping for some information about where the pirates camped, I found Petey on Sao Nicolau, waiting for a berth on a ship back to England. He led me here.”
She hadn’t considered that such a thing could happen, although if she’d been thinking, it would have occurred to her that Jordan would leave as soon as theChastitydocked in England. Now he was here. And she wasn’t the least bit prepared for him. “Where’s your ship?”
“Petey did a hasty survey of the island before he left here, so he brought us into a secluded harbor where my men could wait while he and I fetched you and his fiancée.”
“Speakin’ of which, guv’nor—” Petey began.
Jordan waved him off. “Yes, go on and find her. But make it quick, before the ship is discovered. Sara and I will wait here for you.”
Good, she thought as Petey hurried off. She needed a few moments alone with Jordan without Petey’s interference.
He turned back to her, his face grim. “I know you want the other women rescued, Sara, but I had to be sure you were safe first. Once Petey finds his fiancée, we can return to theDefiant.”
She looked at him in surprise. TheDefiantwas the pride of his fleet. She could hardly believe he’d risked it for her.
“I would have brought the Navy right to this place,” he went on, “but I knew if I did, your reputation would be sullied forever. I had already paid the captain of theChastityto lie about what happened during the pirate attack, so I thought I’d best bring one of my own ships and not risk a scandal.”
“But Jordan?—”
“Don’t worry,” Jordan went on, as if she hadn’t spoken. “I have enough armed men and cannon of my own to put an endto this nest of pirates. We can sink theSatyrbefore the bastards are even aware of what happened. Then we can?—”
“No! You mustn’t do that!”
He looked at her as if she were mad, then his face altered. “Oh, yes, I’d forgotten. Petey told me that the women were sleeping aboard the ship. Well then, there’s nothing for it but to take theSatyrsafely out to sea before we attack. I have enough men?—”
“Jordan, please! You can’t do any of that!”
