Linna : Historical Romance (The Brocade Collection, Book 5) (20 page)

“Why do you keep him around
? He’s disgusting.”

“True
. He’s useful, though. Bright.” 

He opened the lid on the pot and ignored the steam that rose to enshroud him
. Linna didn’t. If anything, the damp mistiness made him more eye-catching as it glistened on skin-covered sinew…and nothing else.

She diverted her gaze
. She wasn’t going to get any answers if she didn’t ask the questions. She could sigh over the man parading as her loving husband later.

“Creamed wheat
. Useful man. My favorite. See what I mean?”

Linna watched as he made a stack of toast halves and ladled on porridge until his plate was covered
. “Do you always eat this much?” she asked.
No wonder he’d been starved
, she thought.

“When I can get it
. You haven’t noticed by now that I’m not a small man? Simons is a good cook. You’ll see.”

“He doesn’t like me,” Linna replied.

“He’s jealous. Wouldn’t you be?”

She tried to ignore the arrogance behind that question
. He probably had every right to feel that way. More.

“It’s worse than that, Cord
. Simons isn’t just jealous, he’s obsessed. He thinks of you as his. His. He salivates whenever you’re near. I know. I’ve seen him.”

“It’ll be your job to convince him otherwise then, won’t it?”

“My job?”

“I have a wife now
. You. I don’t have any room in my life for a travesty of a man like him. Convince him of it.”

“Can’t you just tell him to leave?”

“Why would I do that?”

“He’s evil
. I know it. He was probably on a pirate ship because of it, too.”

“Oh Linna, please
. You’re seeing things that aren’t there. He was impressed into it for being caught with a prominent man. In
dishabille.
He told us of it.”

“You believed him?”  She didn’t know why she still argued with him, only that she was
. He wasn’t listening to her, and she had to make him see. Simons was dangerous to her. His every look promised it.

Cord shrugged
. “No reason not to. I don’t care what he did, or what he is. You shouldn’t either.”

What are your weapons again, Linna
? Then she remembered and put both of them to use. She reached for Cord’s hands and held them in both of hers. At least, she’d stopped his feasting, she told herself. “He worries me,
mon cher
, and that isn’t good on the babe.”

He winked at her
. “Nice attempt. I’m impressed.”

Linna flung his hands down and pushed away
. “You’re impossible!” 

“So is this discussion
. Leave it. Eat.”

“I don’t want Simons near me.”

“Fair enough. He usually shadows me. I’ll tell him to stay away.”

“When he can’t get you, Cord, what’s he going to do then?”

“Are you worried?”

“I already said I was
. Maybe you should listen next time.”

“Over me
? How sweet.”

“If anything happens to you, what will I do
? Where will I go? Who will help me?”

“Did I just say sweet
? Change that to stupid. I meant selfish and self-preserving.”

“I’m serious, Cord.”

He sighed. “Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’m very good at defending myself. I’m even better at attacking. I don’t turn my back anymore, Linna love. I only have one scar, remember?”

“It won’t be that kind of fight
. He thinks like a woman, doesn’t he?”

“Probably.”

“Well, then he’ll fight like one, too. Women don’t fight fairly.”

His eyebrows rose, as if he was considering her words before answering
. “Now, you tell me.”  He said with mock surprise and slapped a hand to his forehead.

“I’m serious
. Simons wants you. When he finally realizes that he can’t have you, that’s when the trouble will start. Take my word for it. A scorned woman has been written about for centuries.”

“When he realizes it
? Jesus woman! Don’t you think for a moment along that line! He already knows I’ll never accept what he offers. He knows it and accepts it. Christ! Could you find another subject?”

“He...loves you, Cord.”

He swore even more viciously. “He fancies me. He’ll never have me. Another man will come along that will take his interest,  then I’ll be last week’s rotten lettuce. Until then, I use him. I use it. You know how this works. You do the same thing.”

“I do not.”

“Tell me you didn’t do the same thing with that whelp you were wedding. He chased after you, didn’t he? And you let him. You used him, didn’t you? Same thing.”

“Maybe I did want him, and you interrupted a very loving couple right at the start of their marital bliss
. Ever think of that?”

For the second time that morning, he laughed, although this time he didn’t have a mouthful of food to choke on
. “Right. You’re very amusing. Go on. Tell me more.”

“There’s no more
. That’s all there was to it. I loved Luthor very much and you prevented me from marrying him.”

“Right
. That explains your constant emotional weeping, your depression, and let’s not forget...your performance last night.”

“Last night?” she echoed, feeling the blush clear to her hairline.

“You have to bring his face to mind last night, did you?” he asked tightly.

Linna put the toast down
. She wasn’t hungry. She was disgusted. At Cord. At herself. At Simons. “Oh very well, Cordean Raoul Larket. I knew Luthor was obsessed with me. I used him. It’s still not the same.”

“Yes it is
. Same emotion. Same thing. Only difference is, Simons is the wrong gender, although he usually keeps it hidden better. I’m surprised you found out so easily.”

“That’s just my point
. The man’s dangerous. He didn’t know you were married and once he found out? Well, he didn’t keep anything hidden. He doesn’t have to. I’m his enemy. I’m his competition. He made sure I’d know it by staking out his territory. Women do things like that. Warning each other off.”

“His territory?”

“You. More specifically. You and him. Whatever that means to him.”

He pierced her with a look
. “You really want me to rid myself of him? Do you think that will make him less dangerous?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I won’t know where he is then. That would be worse, wouldn’t it?”

Linna bit at her lip in thought
. Cord was more intelligent than she’d suspected. A lot more. That discovery would take a bit of time to assimilate. Spectacular looks, amazing prowess, and smarts, too? God had been too heavy-handed with
Monsieur
Larket’s blessings.

“I’ll miss him, too
. I hope you’ll be as good.”

“At what?”  She put as much innocence on the question as she could
. It wasn’t successful. She didn’t need his sobered expression to vouch for it, although she got it anyway.

“Not that
. I’m not the least bit like him, sweetness. Not the least bit. I love the ladies. Quite well, I might add. Or have you complaints you need to voice?”

“I
—” 

“I keep telling you, the man’s useful
. Extremely so. Gets anything I require, almost the moment I require it. I owe him, too. He’s the reason I have the signed papers about my service with the British Navy, the resultant mutiny, and my being on wanted posters now...which consequently, is also the means to get to the person behind all of it.”

“Wanted poster?” she stumbled over the word, and felt the small amount of sustenance she’d taken revolting in her belly
.

“Pirates have prices on their head, baby.”

“Prices?”

“And a noose with their name on it.”

“A...noose?” 

“Of course a noose
. For the gallows. When they hang me. But not just yet. I’ve got one more thing to do before then. Just one. Then, it doesn’t really matter what happens.”

“It doesn’t?” she whispered it
. Something was squeezing at her heart. It was thudding painfully, too. She could hear each and every beat.

“You’re not going to faint again, are you?”

She was on her back before that happened.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Linna watched the room spiral about her, sometimes getting dimmer, sometimes brighter, always sickening.
He’s a pirate! A murderer! A wanted man!
Her mind kept screaming it between bouts of hysteria she knew better than to voice.
A pirate! A wanted man! Dear God, I’ve wed a criminal who plans on ending his days on a gallows! Expects it!

“You all right?”
Cord leaned into her view, and she slapped at him with both hands.

“Get away from me
! Don’t you ever come near me again!”

He easily captured both hands and put them at her sides
. “Stop swinging. You’re might be harming my baby.”

“Don’t ever touch me.”  She said it in a quiet, dead tone, and waited until he lifted both hands from her.

“This the anger I was expecting before breakfast?” he asked, when he’d moved to a sitting position next to her and pursed his lips.

“I am never going to forgive you,
Monsieur
. Never.”

“For what
? My past? I can’t undo it.”

“For...shaming me
. For forcing me to—to...bed with you! For ruining my life!” 
And most of all, for making me love you!

“Forcing you
? Forcing? I could hardly prevent you. Don’t twirl about the truth there,
bebe
. I know. I was there, remember?”

“Don’t call me another endearment
. Just...don’t. Don’t you dare.”

“Make me understand this anger then
. I already told you I was on the ship. You already had a chance to rage at me over it.”

“You never told me you were a criminal!”

“I’m not.”

“Right.”  She used his own phrasing against him
. “Try again. Try real hard this time.”

He sighed hugely
. Linna watched it as dispassionately as possible.
Why does that still affect me
?

“It’s the truth, Linna
. I spent ten years in hell and I didn’t even do anything to get there.”

“Right
. Like that happens. Care to try again?”

“I suppose you expect me to say I murdered my family or something
? Or maybe I raped my way into being a criminal. Maybe I planned an insurrection against the monarchy. Would that suit your fancy?”

“You were there
. You tell me.”

“I never had a chance
! I was sixteen, fresh-faced, and innocent. Oh. Hell. I don’t know why I bother!”

“If it matters, neither do I,” she answered smoothly and in a low tone
. She had his attention with it, too.

“You trying to shut off emotions, are you
? Takes years. Trust me.”

“I’m never trusting you again.”

He sighed again. Since the room had ceased rotating, she had a very good view this time. He was still striking, still handsome enough to make her swoon, still set her heart to racing…
but it’s all a lie
! She had to close her eyes.

“
Have you no idea what you’ve done to me?”  Her voice cracked. She couldn’t help it.

“Yeah
. I married you and saved my child from being an unwanted bastard. That’s what I did.”

His voice was as dead-sounding as she was trying to make hers
. Linna kept her eyes closed. “I would never have let Luthor know. I would have been raised my baby in safety, security, and love.”

“
So he could have turned into a snob-nosed, mealy-mouthed, self-righteous fool like yourself? No thank you.”

“What do you mean ‘no thank you’
? I would have taken care of him! I would have sheltered him. He’d never need to know what his father was.”

He blew the sigh so violently, it lifted strands of hair on her
. “And just what am I?”

~ ~ ~

If she’d known him better, she have recognized and been warned by his tone. He’d seen many a brave-acting fellow frightened by it and what it meant.

“You’re a common criminal
. Lower than the beggars off the streets! Lower even than the homeless offal calling themselves humanity!”

Cord stopped the fists from forming but it took all his concentration
. She was determined to find a weakness. Well. He didn’t have one. She had a bite to every word though.

“You seem to know an awful lot about one such as me, without even knowing me
. I’m not a criminal, lady. Never have been.”

Sobs shook her, making her body shudder
. The emotion from the delicate frame in front of him had him reaching to gather her into his arms and shelter her.

She slapped his hands away
. “Don’t you touch me! Don’t you ever touch me again! You’re far too filthy! I won’t stand for it, do you understand?”

“You’re suffering with shock
, Linna. It’s a good thing I know how it works and that you’ll regret your words. Otherwise, I might have to take offense and wring an apology from your little white neck.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“You never know, do you? Maybe that’s what I impressed for.”

She gasped and lost what little color she’d gained
. Cord swore beneath his breath.

“Oh, dearest God,” she moaned, “what have I done?”

“You haven’t done anything. Neither did I, although you don’t believe me. And it’s a waste of breath to call on Him for anything. God doesn’t listen. I don’t think he ever did.” 

She had her eyes tightly shut, and he watched the tears squeeze from beneath her lids to slide into the hair beside her ears.

“You can quit berating yourself, too. I can’t change the facts of my past. Nobody can. We can’t undo what brought us the child, either. We can only live for the future. It could be a wonderful one for you, Linna, if you’ll just let it. I promise.” 

She opened her eyes and met his
. “Lying tongues can’t make promises, Cordean. They can barely keep up appearances to avoid all the promises they’ve already broken. I think I know what you were imprisoned for.”

“Oh, really
? I certainly hope it’s advanced from thief and murderer. So, tell me, what do you think it was now?”

“Cheating.”

He gave her the most empty-lidded gaze he could manage. It wasn’t enough though. Her brown eyes were brimming with liquid and looking so big and hurt, he longed to gather her to him and tell her everything. He didn’t.

“Cheating on who?” he asked in a conversational tone.

“Oh, I don’t know! At cards, at business, with the ladies on their husbands. I don’t know.”

“That was Fletcher
. Try again.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she asked.

“Sooner? How much sooner? You were desperate for my hand when first we met, and last night you were desperate for my body. When should I have told you?”

“At the church.”

“Are you crazed? I barely managed to get my marriage certificate into the vicar’s hands before you arrived. Then again, after I dispatched your bridegroom, who would you have had available to marry?”

“Anyone would have been better than you
. Anyone.”

“Anyone?”  Cord let the arc of reaction land somewhere in his abdomen,  then forced it aside
. She was wasting her breath if she was trying to hurt him with words. He was impervious to emotional wrenching. He didn’t have any emotions to play with. It was stupid of him to forget it.

“Yes...anyone.”

Her whisper was so low he had to bend forward to hear it. Her eyes were still big and huge and awash with tears, but he didn’t feel any need to hold her anymore. Cord stretched his arms over his head,  then brought his attention back to her.

“Very well, Mistress Larket, you win
. You’re right. You should have wed better. So what? Join the legions of ladies who have sung that lament. I don’t care. I got what I wanted from you.”

She sucked in air at the shock of his words and he’d meant her to
. He watched her without a trace of satisfaction.

“I hate you,” she said.

He grinned, but there was no humor behind it. There was nothing behind it. He could warn her not to delve into an emotional pit of despair. It wouldn’t net her anything of value, except maybe a headache and a belly full of pain with the force of her sobs. That much he knew from experience.

“So what
? Lots of folks hate me. Join them. I don’t care.”

“You don’t?”

“Nope.” 

“How...did you
—?”

She was biting at her lip when he looked over
. For some reason, that little weakness made his own arms twitch. He concentrated on putting a stop to it until it worked.

“How did I...what?” he asked quietly.

“Get so you don’t care?”

Cord lowered his eyelids and panned the room before bringing his gaze back to her
. When he met her eyes, she gasped.

“Like that?” he answered.

“Yes.”

“Years of practice,
bebe
. Years.”

She flinched at his endearment
. He’d meant her to. The smile on his lips showed it.

“What...were you imprisoned...for?”

“You ready for the truth now?”

She nodded.

“Being born.”

Her eyebrows drew together and she looked at him
. “No one gets impressed for that.”

“Bet me.”

“But—?”

“You wanted the truth
. I gave it to you. Now answer a question for me. Why did you pick me?”

“Pick...you?” she stumbled on the words
, and his smile broadened.

“You have plenty of admirers
. Why did you pick me to put your proposal to that night? Why?”

“Because...I mean I...
uh. You...I mean—”

“Do you know?” he interrupted.

“Of course I know!”

“Then be fair
. Quit stammering and stuttering on ladylike nonsense and tell me. I’m a wanted man, lady, I can take the straight story.”

“You...
are hard to overlook. Rather...uh...dominating, I think is the word. That’s why. You canceled out every other male in the room. You still do, damn you anyway.” 

Her voice dropped to a lower whisper than
before, but he heard it. Her words translated onto his face as his smile widened enough to be called a grin now. He only wished it was translating to the twist of cold in his belly where his breakfast sat. “Your turn,” he advised, when she just sat there watching him with those honeyed brown eyes of hers.

“My turn?” she asked.

“Yeah. Ask. One question, a straight answer. Then never ask it again. Understand?”

“That...wasn’t part of our bargain.”

“It’s part of what I’m offering you, right here and right now. You wed a dangerous man,
cherie
. You might as well get used to it.”

“I don’t have to get used to anything
. I’ll get an annulment the moment we reach shore, any shore.”

His grin slid
. Cord caught it before it disappeared completely. “You’re mistaken. You can’t get an annulment. Our union was consummated. You’re mine. No law will set it aside.”

“I’ll get a divorce then.”

He guffawed more for the effect than because he felt like it. “Not a chance there, love. You’re carrying my child. And it’s mine. Just as you’re mine. Besides, you have no funds and no skills. You’d be penniless.”

“Is that supposed to be worse?”

“Ouch,” he declared icily. “Direct hit. If I still had a heart, you’d be slicing it. Quite a tongue you have there. Curb it.”

“I won’t be penniless long
. I’ll turn you over to a magistrate first. There’s a bounty on your head. It’s rather large.”

“You have to be out of my sight long enough
. Congratulations. You’ve earned my eternal presence at your side.”

She had her teeth clenched together too tightly for her scream to make much noise
. It was entertaining all the same. Cord sat back on his bare haunches on the wood planking of his cabin floor and watched her. He decided the feeling must be satisfaction, and not much else in a decade had brought him as much as that floor, his naked ass on it, and the woman impotently screaming at him from the vantage point just past his knees.

“That isn’t a question, although if it had words to it, I’d probably not like it anyway, now would I?”

“You’re insufferable!” she answered.

He shrugged
. “So?”

He watched her get hold of her temper
. It was actually more genuine entertainment than he could remember having in years. He might have been the reigning knife-fight champion, but that was a meaningless pursuit and amusing only to those who watched. He’d rarely felt the enjoyment he was feeling right now.