Harlequin Historical September 2014 - Bundle 2 of 2: Lord Havelock's List\Saved by the Viking Warrior\The Pirate Hunter (60 page)

Chapter Seventeen

W
ill froze. His heart nearly jumped from his chest and it felt as though his whole world had imploded.

The scream had only lasted a second or two, but it was enough. It was a woman's scream, and on a ship full of men it could only mean one thing: Mia was in trouble.

He jumped into action, hurtling across the deck and down the narrow stairs to the passageway below. The silence that followed the scream and the crash was more worrying to his ears than further sound of a struggle would be. He dreaded what he was going to find when he reached Mia's cabin and the thought she might be hurt made his blood freeze in his veins.

Will thrust open the door to her tiny cabin and saw red. Lieutenant Glass was sat astride a prostrate Mia. He had one hand raised and the other was clutching her two wrists like a manacle.

Without thinking Will launched himself into the room and let out a primal roar of anger. Glass looked around with wide eyes as if stunned to see Will hurtling towards him.

‘Get off of her,' Will shouted, ramming his shoulder into Glass. He grabbed the Lieutenant by the material of his jacket just below his shoulders and lifted him in the air. Unceremoniously he flung Glass across the room and bent over Mia.

He felt his heart shattered into pieces. She was lying motionless, her skirts gathered just above her knees, bruises already starting to develop around her wrists.

‘Mia,' he pleaded, gently stroking her hair. ‘Open your eyes, Mia, please.'

Will heard a commotion in the corridor behind him but didn't turn around. His whole attention was focused on the woman lying on the bed in front of him.

‘Please wake up.'

He studied her, not knowing what to do for the best, his eyes roaming over her face and dishevelled body. Will leaned in closer, holding his cheek just inches from her mouth and waited, praying he would feel the warmth of her breath against his skin.

He almost shouted with happiness when her exhalation came and with it he noticed the steady rise and fall of her chest.

‘What happened?' the Captain asked, pushing his way into the room.

‘That animal attacked Mia,' Will said, still not taking his eyes off her face.

‘Is she breathing?'

Will nodded. He took her hand and ran a finger over the smooth skin, willing her to wake up. Her fingers were warm, another positive sign her heart was still pumping the vital blood around her body, but none of this was enough to reassure Will she was truly okay.

He turned to the Captain, aware of the crowd gathered outside the cabin.

‘Take him to the brig,' he commanded, pointing at Glass. ‘I'll deal with him later.'

The Captain hesitated, clearly not wanting to throw a Naval Officer in the inhospitable cells of the brig.

‘He attacked Miss Del Torres, attempted to rape her and has knocked her unconscious.'

The Captain gave a quick nod and motioned for two of the crewmen to step forward.

‘Touch me and your career's over,' Glass warned. He had regained some of his composure and looked ready to fight for his freedom.

Captain Little shook his head in disgust. ‘Even the Navy won't protect a man who attacks women.'

‘This will be the end of all of you,' Glass shouted, slurring his words slightly. ‘Who will believe you over a respected Officer of the Navy?'

Will had heard enough. He stood, crossed the tiny cabin in two steps, hauled Glass on to his feet, and swung his fist back. As his clenched hand struck Glass's jaw Will felt the force reverberate through his body.

The Lieutenant sagged in front of him. Will's instinct was to reach out and lower the man to the floor, but he forced his arms to remain by his side and let the man hit the wooden deck with full force.

‘Take him to the brig,' Will said again as he turned back to Mia.

Somewhere behind him he heard Captain Little shoo away the rest of the curious crew. He sat on the edge of the bed and took Mia's wrist in his hand. He felt for the pulse just below the bones of her hand and felt the reassuring steady thump.

‘I'll take her to my cabin,' Will said, ‘she'll be more comfortable there.'

‘I'll send someone to fetch some water for her.' The Captain paused and looked her up and down, ‘And maybe something to dress her wounds with.'

Will nodded in agreement, then scooped Mia up in his arms. Even as a dead weight she wasn't that heavy, but he found it difficult to manoeuvre in the confines of the cabin. Being careful not to knock her head or legs on the door, he sidled out into the corridor. Slowly he walked towards his own cabin, kicked open the door with his foot and laid her gently down on his bed.

All through the trip she didn't stir at all and Will felt his heart pounding in his chest as he once again checked she was still breathing. When he had reassured himself she was still alive he started to check her over. He found the cause of her current state of unconsciousness almost immediately. A large lump was forming on the back of her head. He supposed she'd either jerked her head back into the wooden headboard behind the bed trying to get away from Glass or he'd propelled her into it.

Will felt the rage building again and he knew if Mia didn't wake up he would be hanged for murder. He would not allow her death to go unavenged.

The thought of Mia dying hurt him more than he ever could have imagined. He didn't want to envisage a world without her in it; she made everything so much better.

His macabre thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

‘Come in.'

The door opened and Ed Redding entered the room. He carried a jug of water in one hand and a wooden box in the other. He set the water down on the desk and the wooden box beside it.

‘How is she?' he asked, studying Mia's peaceful face.

‘No change, still unconscious. She must have hit her head.'

‘I never liked the Lieutenant, but I wouldn't have ever imagined...' Redding let the sentence trail off.

Will realised he was equally as shocked. He knew Lieutenant Glass had felt contempt towards Mia and pure dislike towards himself, but he wouldn't have pinned him as a man who forced himself on unwilling women.

‘Just shows you never know who to trust,' the First Mate said. ‘I've brought you our medical box. There's not much in it, I'm afraid, but you might find something useful.'

Will doubted there would be anything in it that would help Mia in her current state. On a ship full of hardened sailors they were unlikely to find smelling salts. He suspected time would be the only thing to heal Mia. He just hoped her recovery would happen sooner rather than later.

‘Thanks,' he said.

‘Just shout if you need anything,' Redding said, ‘or if you want someone to come and sit with her.'

Will nodded in gratitude, but knew he wouldn't be leaving Mia's side until she woke up, however long that might be.

Redding left the room and Will diverted his attention back to Mia. He wondered if she was comfortable enough. He had placed her down in the middle of the bed with a single pillow under her head. Maybe two would be better. Or maybe none at all.

He decided to leave her where she was. Then his eyes fell on the jug of water Redding had left. Were you meant to give water to someone who was unconscious? He wasn't sure, but looking at Mia's lips he thought they could be a little dry.

Will stood up, glad of having something to do. He grabbed a glass off the little table beside his bed and into it poured a small amount of water. Next he perched on the bed beside her head and contemplated how best to go about giving her the drink. Gently he slipped one arm behind her neck and lifted it off the pillow ever so slightly. With her head in a more upright position he held the glass of water to her lips and trickled a little into her mouth. Or at least he was aiming for her mouth. He doubted a single drop of the water made it past her lips. Instead it dribbled down her chin straight into her cleavage.

Cursing, he put down the glass and looked around for something to dry her with. The last thing she needed was to wake up with wet clothes. Finally he settled on a corner of the sheet and delicately dabbed at the skin of her chest, soaking up the droplets of water that had fallen between her breasts.

When she was dry he contemplated giving the water a second try and decided against it. She'd probably choke and end up with pneumonia.

He looked around the room, trying to think of something else to do to speed her recovery. He hated this waiting, especially hated feeling so impotent, knowing that he could do nothing to make her better.

Will was normally a man of action. He saw someone in distress and he helped them out. Now, when it was the woman he loved lying unconscious beside him, he wanted to be a man of action again and knew he would do anything to help her.

His brain froze as he realised what he'd just thought. The woman he loved. That's how he'd thought of Mia. Did he love her? His subconscious obviously believed so.

He told himself he couldn't possibly love Mia Del Torres; they could never have any kind of a future together. To love her would be to invite a whole world of pain into his life. Surely leaving the woman you loved on the other side of the world was worse than never loving at all.

Why leave her? his rebellious brain asked. Will reprimanded himself immediately. He couldn't take her with him—the idea was preposterous. He was an English Lord. He was expected to marry an heiress and sire a brood of pure-bred children.

But he didn't want to marry an English heiress, he realised. In fact, he didn't want to contemplate a life without Mia.

Even with this revelation he knew it would still be impossible. They weren't just from opposite ends of the earth geographically, their whole lives were different. He could never expect Mia to leave everything she'd ever known behind for a cold and distant shore. And he'd been so sure he would remain a bachelor for ever, the lone man prowling his estate or searching for lost people.

‘Will?'

All thoughts of the future were banished from his mind the moment he heard his name.

‘Mia.' He felt the relief flooding over his body and knew he was grinning like a madman. ‘My darling Mia.'

‘What happened?' she asked, looking around in confusion. ‘Why am I here? Why does my head hurt?'

She winced as her fingers found the tender lump on the back of her head.

‘You don't remember?' he asked.

She shook her head.

‘What happened?' She sounded a little panicked now.

Will took her hand in his own and gently stroked her skin. ‘You were attacked,' he said gently. ‘By Glass.'

Mia screwed her eyes tight as if trying to remember.

‘I was?' she asked, as if barely able to believe it.

Will nodded.

‘Why?'

It was a good question. One he hadn't quite figured out the answer to yet. He suspected the stink of rum that emanated from Glass when he'd punched him might explain some of his behaviour. Explain, but certainly not excuse.

‘Did he...?' Mia trailed off and Will saw the look of revulsion cross her face.

‘No. You fought him so bravely, my darling.'

Tears started to flood down her cheeks and her body shook. Will realised she must be in shock and scooped her up into his arms again, holding her body close to his.

‘Shh,' he soothed, ‘I've got you now. I won't let anything bad happen to you again.'

Chapter Eighteen

M
ia felt her whole body shudder as the tears streamed down her face and she gasped for breath. She couldn't breathe properly. Every time she tried to inhale it was like there was an apple stuck in her throat.

‘Shh,' Will said soothingly, stroking her hair with one hand whilst cradling her like a small child with the other. ‘You're safe now. Just breathe.'

She gasped, sucking air into her lungs, but it didn't feel like anywhere near enough to sustain her. She gasped again, lungs ready to explode, but still her head was spinning.

‘Breathe in and out,' Will instructed calmly, rubbing her back as he encouraged her.

Mia tried to make her body relax and some of the air she'd been storing up gushed out through her lips.

‘Good girl. Just breathe slowly.'

Mia felt his strength infusing her and slowly she took a deep breath in and let it out again.

‘I don't remember anything,' she said after a few minutes.

‘That's perfectly normal,' Will said. ‘You've had a concussion.'

It sounded so dramatic.

She didn't know how she should be feeling right now. Glass had attacked her, that much was evident from the bruises across her body, but she didn't remember a second of it. She found it hard to be angry or scared when it felt as if it had happened to someone else.

Mia let her head drop forward on to Will's shoulder. She felt safe in his arms and knew she didn't want to leave. He smelled wonderful—she could detect a mixture of the salty sea air mixed with his own masculine scent—and she nuzzled into the folds of his shirt ever so gently.

‘I've got you,' Will said reassuringly.

She wondered if she could freeze time and stay in this moment for ever. Despite the fact her body ached from top to toe, sitting on Will's lap, cradled in his arms, seemed just about as perfect as life could get.

‘Would you like me to let you sleep?' Will asked.

‘No,' she answered quickly. ‘Don't leave me.'

He responded by tightening his grip and pulling her closer to him.

‘I'm so sorry I let this happen, Mia,' he said after a few seconds' pause.

Of course the silly man was blaming himself. It was exactly the chivalrous, ridiculous sort of thing he would do.

She tipped her head up and looked into his eyes. She could see the guilt emanating from them and shook her head in amazement.

‘You blame yourself?' she asked.

‘Of course. I should have seen what he had planned.'

‘How could you?'

‘I knew he disliked you. I should have seen that it was so much more.'

‘There's no way you could have predicted what the Lieutenant was going to do. He probably didn't even know himself until he was making his way to my room.'

‘You're far too generous, Mia.'

‘You think he sat in his cabin and planned it?'

Will shrugged. ‘I don't know. I can't pretend to understand a man who tried to force himself on an innocent woman, on any woman.'

‘That's because you're one of the good ones,' Mia said.

He looked down at her fondly. Their faces were only inches apart with her head resting upon his shoulder. She wanted to stretch her neck up and brush her lips against his, but she knew any movement and every muscle in her body would scream. Plus they hadn't really talked since she'd told him she loved him. He probably wouldn't want to encourage her by kissing her.

Nevertheless it was ever so tempting.

‘What are you thinking?' he asked softly.

Mia felt the blush creeping over her cheeks.

‘You're looking at me very strangely,' Will murmured.

‘I was thinking I wanted to kiss you,' Mia said, ‘but my neck hurt too much to move.'

‘Now that is a dilemma.'

‘Isn't it?' She let his shoulder take the full weight of her head and tilted her face up towards him.

‘I suppose I could blow you a kiss,' he offered. ‘Would that satisfy?' The gleam in his eye told her he knew full well it wouldn't satisfy.

‘It's a start.'

He brought his lips together and kissed the air.

‘Strangely unsatisfying,' Mia reported.

‘Well, I can't leave a lady unsatisfied.'

‘That sounds like a promise, Mr Greenacre.'

‘I can just about reach the top of your head from here,' Will offered. ‘Maybe that will please you more.'

‘There's only one way to find out.'

He bent his head forward and planted kiss on the top of her head.

‘Marginally better.'

‘Only marginally? My pride is sufficiently dented.'

‘Let's just say there is room for improvement.'

‘Ah, constructive criticism,' Will murmured. ‘I do like to learn from my mistakes.'

‘Maybe a kiss where there is a little less hair and a little more skin,' Mia suggested.

He pulled an expression of mock shock. ‘You mean you don't enjoy being kissed here?' he asked, kissing her on each eyebrow, one after the other.

Mia pretended to contemplate his question for a second or two. ‘It's not that I don't enjoy it. I just think your lips could be better employed elsewhere.'

She saw his eyes slip to her breasts and he grinned wolfishly.

‘I agree,' he said.

‘
I
was thinking about my lips,' Mia said, ‘although I can see your male mind was focused elsewhere.'

Will shrugged and shook his head. ‘Alas, I am cursed with a male mind.'

Before she could think of any reply Will dipped his head and kissed her. He was gentle, as if he didn't want to hurt her. Ironically Mia's lips were one of the only places she didn't hurt. She deepened the kiss, passionately running her tongue along his lips as he had before.

She felt one of his hands slip down her back and cup her bottom, squeezing gently. She let him fondle her, enjoying the attention. Then felt herself stiffen and grimace as he brushed against a bruise.

‘How are you feeling?' he asked, breaking off the kiss.

Mia considered her answer carefully. She was feeling sore and confused and her head was pounding, but at the same time she felt a contentment she'd never have imagined was possible.

‘I don't know if I want to remember what happened,' she said, ‘or if I'm grateful I can't.'

Will nodded solemnly.

‘Will you hold me?' Mia asked.

Will tightened his grip around her waist and slid her bottom off his lap so she was on the bed. Gently he rolled her on to one side and shuffled in beside her. He looped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer towards him.

‘How's that?' he asked.

‘Perfect,' Mia murmured.

And it was. She could feel his reassuring presence behind her and felt safe and secure. His body was gently moulded to hers and she could feel the rise and fall of his chest. The warm breath from each and every exhalation tickled the back of her neck and sent little shivers down her spine.

She tilted her head back as he reached up and stroked her hair.

‘I wanted to say thank you, Will,' Mia said quietly.

‘You shouldn't be thanking me.'

Mia could tell he still blamed himself for not foreseeing the attack by Lieutenant Glass and she wished he would believe her when she told him it wasn't his fault.

‘I wanted to say thank you for the past few days. They've been the happiest of my life.'

She felt his body stiffen behind her and his hand stopped stroking her hair. At first he didn't say anything, but Mia didn't mind; she'd accepted now he didn't love her. She knew he cared for her and that would have to be enough. And she'd made plenty of memories with him these past few days—she just hoped they were enough to last a lifetime.

‘I never expected this,' Will said after a few minutes of silence.

Mia waited for him to elaborate.

‘I came to the Caribbean to avenge my brother and catch the people who had abducted him. I never expected to meet someone like you.'

Mia didn't know what to say.

‘You are a truly remarkable woman, Mia, and I'm blessed to have met you.'

He didn't explain any further, but Mia couldn't stop smiling. He cared for her, she knew he did. Maybe not quite like she cared for him, but there were definitely some strong feelings there. She didn't push him any further; she sensed it had taken a lot for him to admit so much to her. He was a private person who didn't often talk about his feelings.

Mia felt her eyes drooping and allowed herself to enjoy the warmth and safety of Will's embrace. She knew that as long as he held her nothing bad would happen, she just wished he never had to let go.

‘Tomorrow might be our last day together,' Mia said sleepily. ‘But I want you to know I will never forget the time I have spent with you.'