Passion's Tide (29 page)

Below deck, Amber stood ankle d
eep in water, straining to work the pump
.
Murmuring angrily under her breath, she let loose a string of colorful words she had picked up from the men when they thought she was out of earshot
.
The work was hard and seemingly endless, but it gave her the chance to work out her frustrations with Logan.

“His mistress, indeed,” she scoffed
.
But the scene that played in her imagination was alluring, and she couldn’t deny the strong urge to submit to the fantasy
.
Because that’s all it could ever be: a fantasy.

The vivid images of Logan and herself, sailing to far away places, exploring the deserts and lush jungles of uncharted lands, making love on the white sand of a Caribbean isle as the surf crashe
d
upon the shore, all passed through her mind
.
Visions of Logan looking devastatingly handsome on the deck of the
Imperial Shadow
, the crew
silent as Elijah read from a worn leather bible. As the sun sank below the horizon they would kiss, and the men would stand and cheer for their Captain, exchang
ing ribald comments with one another about the wedding night to follow.

And then, as the evening’s festivities drew to an end, he would lift her into his arms and carry her, glowing in her white dress, across the threshold of his cabin
.
After laying her on the plush bed, his nimble fingers
would
stray
to the buttons of his dress jacket, one by one…

She yanked herself from the daydream before it could continue
.
The trouble was, Logan’s comments earlier hadn’t upset her because
they were sca
ndalous
, but because it was all too easy to envision herself happy in that role
.
For her, the previous night’s activities
had been
life
altering
, and not only because she had so willingly surrendered her innocence
.
It was because besides her parents, Logan was the first person to embrace her passionate nature
.
He encouraged her to explore her hedonistic inner self, to forget about responsibilities and live in the moment
.
Whether his liberation had been intentional or an accidental result of his seduction, she knew she would always hold a place in her heart for the rugged pirate.

A soft splashing drew her attention towards the narrow stairwell, where a black kitten sat on the bottom step, his white paws swiping at the curi
ous liquid that filled the bottom of the ship. Uncertain of how it would act next, Amber watched it out of the corner of her eye as she worked hard to make up for the moments lost in dreaming.

The kitten paced the bottom step, stalking what she could only
assume was his own reflection
.
Then he paused with his rear in the air, and with a little wiggle pounced from the safety of the stairs and into the murky water.

Leaving the pump unattended she dove forward to snatch the flailing, caterwauling animal,
drenching her own clothes in the process
.
The kitten, associating Amber with security and dryness, clawed his way up her arm to settle upon her shoulder, shaking with fright
.
There it rode as she pushed open the door to the cargo hold
.

Johnny rus
hed towards her with an apologetic frown, begging her not to report his negligence to Logan
.
The kitten now refused to climb down from his perch into Johnny’s outstretched hands, and instead dug his sharp claws deeper into her flesh. “Get me a cloth,” she direct
ed, while extracting the imbedded nails with care, and tugging the cat down against her chest
.
Henry handed her a clean rag and she swaddled it up like a babe, cradling it until it ceased shaking.

“Are you going to tell the Captain?”

Her gaze t
ransferred from the kitten to Henry
.
“Why would I do that?”

It was Johnny who answered
.
“We just figured that since you’re sharing his bed and all, you wouldn’t keep nothing secret from him.” Amber was certain that her earlier blush at Logan’s teasing did not come
close to the crimson color that crept up her face
now
.

“Maybe you shouldn’t talk about that stuff, Johnny,” Henry said, noticing her blazing cheeks
.

“Where did you hear this?”

“When I was in the galley getting food for the kittens, I
overheard Abe tellin’ Eli that the Cap’n went into his cabin last night and never came back out like he was supposed to.”

“And is that all they said?”

“No, they was also guessing as to if he got around to bedding you
,
" he told her, meeting her her gaze directly
.
“Abe said he didn’t think he would, but Eli claimed he knew the Cap’n better than Abe did, and he told him that Logan’s been itching to bed you since we took down the
Queen Charlotte
and you tried to slap him. What?”
H
e threw up his hands at
Henry’s reproachful stare. “She said she wanted to know.”

“It’s…fine
.
Now here,” she said quickly, shoving the kitten at the boy, “take Puck and make sure he stays out of trouble this time,”

“Puck?”

“Yes, it’s from
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
.
He was the mischievous fairy who got int
o all sorts of trouble, so it seemed appropriate, and I’ve always named animals after Shakespeare’s characters.”

“Is he the fellow who wrote Romeo and Judy?”

“Juliet, and yes,” she answered, giving him an inquisitive look
.
“Johnny, do you know how to read?”

He shook his head. “Never had the chance to learn
.
I took to the seas as soon as I was tall enough, and my mum didn’t know so she couldn’t teach me.”

“What about you Henry?”

“I learned a little bit from my brothers,”
he told her
.
“I’m not the most skilled, but I can read and write enough to manage.”

She smiled as an idea occurred to her
.
“Boys, I’ve decided not to tell Logan about Puck’s little adventure on one condition: Henry, you will teach Johnny the alphabet and how to write his name
.
I think you’ll find reading to be an enjoyable escape from your dull duties, and maybe I’ll even lend you a few of my books
.
Do we have a deal?”

Johnny thought hard for a moment, then with a look at Henry, who nodded, he
spit into his hand and extended it
.
“Deal.”

Amber laughed
.
“How about we skip the handshake?” 

He shrugged and wiped the saliva onto his pants. “You aren’t going to tell the Cap’n about me not being able to read, are you?”

“You know, Johnny, for a
kid who respects the Captain as much as I know you look up to Logan, you certainly are keeping enough secrets from him.”

“That’s why I don’t want him to know, because I just know he’ll be ashamed of me. If he knew how dumb I really am he’d dismiss me from the crew, and sailin’ is all I know.”

“You aren’t dumb,” Henry assured him. Johnny looked doubtful.

“He’s right, you’re clever and loyal, traits that Logan admires in his men
.
And I’m sure you’re not the only one who never learned to read.
But if it mak
es you feel better, I won
’
t tell him about the cat or the lessons, if you think you can hide it from him.” Henry grinned and began eagerly planning his first lesson aloud, but he had no audience
.
Johnny was eyeing Amber strangely.

“Maybe I was wrong
about you.”

“What do you mean?”

“At first I thought you was just a meddling woman, gettin’ in the way and putting the Cap’n into foul moods
.
But you learned how to fight and you’re doing work just like the rest of us, and you’re being kind to me, even though most folks don’t pay me a bit of attent
ion.”

“You’re a good
boy
, Johnny, you just need to think about what you’re about to say, and whether or not it should be said at all
.
Honesty is admirable, but so is keeping your mouth shut sometimes. Do you understand?”

He grinned
.
“Yes, ma’am.”

That evening, while finishing off the turtle soup, Amber listened in amusement as Eli and Logan entertained the table with tales of their meeting
.
She was coming to learn that in addition to being a commanding force when leading his men, he was also skilled
in captivating his audience
.
Noah, Piers, Jackson, Ben, and Amber all hung on his every word
.
They laughed at the funny parts, gasped when the story took an unexpected turn, and were utterly charmed by his
presence.

“So there Eli was, standing there with a broken nose and blood pouring down his face, ready to kill me, when the innkeeper tells me it was all a huge misunderstanding
.
Elijah here hadn’t robbed my room, but this other, burly looking brute had broken into
his
room.”

“It had nothing to do with Logan,” Eli added, “but because the message got mixed up, he had already swung at me and broken my damn nose!”

Logan laughed
.
“Needless to say, I felt pretty terrible, but I was also impressed
.
Larger men had crumpled beneath my fist before, a
nd yet this skinny young kid had stood his ground, staggering slightly but jumping back up, ready to brawl
.
So, to make it up to him, I helped him fight this ogre of a man and together we were able to wear him down until he confessed where he had stashed Eli’s stuff
.
Then I offered Eli a position on my ship, and we’ve been together ever since.”

“And my nose hasn’t been straight since that first day,” Eli mumbled as he ran a finger over the c
rooked bridge, pretending to be bothered that it wasn’t perfect, and drawing another laugh from his audience.

The door opened and Abe stuck his head in. “You wanted me to inform you when the men were almost done eating, Cap’n?”

“Yes, thank you Abe.”  Logan stood, extending his hand towards the door
.
“Gentlemen, if you
would like to join me in the orlop, I have some things I want to say, and I’d prefer for everyone to hear. Amber, you too.”

Eli waited for Amber to stand, and then took her arm and led her
from the room. “Has Logan mentioned anything to you about this meeting?”

“No, I’m just as
in the dark
as you are.” They entered the berth deck, and as Logan took his place in the center of the room, Eli led Amber towards the first table
.
Anton shifted over for them, and they both sat down and watched Logan.

“Men,
and Amber,” he added,
winking
in her direction, “I ask for a few moments of your time
.
Please, continue to eat, what I have to say is not so important that you should go hungry
.
In less than two weeks time we will be docking in Costa de Morte,
on the Northwestern coast of Spain
.
We seek Antonio Castaños Mendoza, known to his enemies as The Butcher
.
He frequents the small village of
Caión, which is where we seek information regarding the location of his ship,
la Rosa de la Muerte.

“The Death Rose?” Amber translated.

He nodded
.
“He will most likely hide the ship along the treacherous coast, which is surrounded by cliffs and caves, so unless we have the exact location it will be impossible to find
.
Nevertheless, we are going to put an end to the long reign of tyranny of this pirate, and
all of Spain
will soon fear the name
e
l Tigre!”  The men rose to their feet, whooping and clapping.

Logan waited until they had quieted to continue
.
“Now, when we arrive, we are going to be as inconspicuous as possible
.
We will scatter around the town, blending in and listening for information, which will be obtained not by force, but by trickery and,”
—
his eyes met Amber’s
—
“seduction
.
No blades will be drawn until we board his ship, but when that moment arrives it will demand all of your skill, all of your patience, and all of your luck
.
His men are ruthless fighters, but I know we have the intelligence and the skills to win
.
But, too long have we been at sea, comfortable in our relative safety and forgetting
what it is to be a pirate, which is why I have planned a competition
.
The winner will receive two times
his
normal pay for one year, and will be relieved from swabbing and pump duty for six months.”

Excitement filled the room, as the men talked loudly to one another. Pax stood
.
“What is the competition, Captain?”

“One week from today, you will be fighting amongst yourselves to determine the most skilled among my crew
.
You have these seven days to practice and prepare yourself, and when the time comes you will be matched up, and the winners of the first fights will then fight each other, and those winners will be paired, and so on,
until we have an ultimate champion. The conditions are as follows: you may not, under any circumstances, shirk your normal duties to prepare for this competition
.
If I see you doing so, you
will
not be allowed to compete
.
Second, and most important
, you must help each other to train
.
For one man alone is a soldier, but a well trained army stands a much better chance at bringing down the enemy
.
Have I made myself clear?” A chorus of nods and affirmations met him, and he smiled at them
.
“I’ll leave you to it then, as I’m certain at least a few of you will want to get some work done before the sun sets
.
Have a good evening, men.”

Amber trailed after Logan in silence as he returned to the cabin
.
Shutting the door behind her, she watched
him
push the dirty dishes aside and unroll the maps on the table
.
His shoulders were hunched forward as he examined their course, straightening as he retrieved a round magnifying glass from the dresser and curving again as he bent over to view it
more closely
. “What’s bothering you, Amber?” he asked in a quiet voice,
raising
his head.

“The competition,” she started, and then hesitated. “Am I allowed to compete alongside the men?”  Her tone suggested that she already knew the answer, and she was disappointed
.
So it surprised her when he told her that she could.

“After all, you are a member of the crew,” he explained with a crooked smile
.
With a shriek she ran forward and
threw herself at him, sending him tumbling backwards with a laugh, his arms wrapping around her in a hug
.
“I take that as a thank you?”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” The words were muffled against his chest
.
Then she stood on her toes and kissed him, briefly touching her lips to his
.
“Thank you,” her voice dropped to a husky whisper, and the look in her eyes was unmistakable
.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Captain?”

“What’s that?” His hand snaked around her waist and tugged her closer.

With a laugh she twisted free of him, ducking under his arm
.
“That I have a lot of practicing to do
.
Come on!” He rolled his eyes but allowed himself to be led back out onto the main deck where,
as
he had predicted, most of the crew had gathered
.
The sound
s
of men grunting and wood hitting wood w
ere
deafening, but
the noise
quieted as
Logan approached
.

“Elijah,” he turned towards the quartermaster, who had been standing by the mast giving advice to Deacon
.
“Fetch both of our cutlasses.” Weapons were put aside as the men watched Logan strip off his shirt and fling it towards Amber with a grin
.
He began pacing
.
“In this competition, you will be using your own weapons
.
No tipped foils, no wooden blades
.
You must be comfortable with the feel of your own sword in your hand—it must be effortless, it must become an extension of your arm.” With ease he caught the sword that Eli cast towards him and motioned for his friend to draw his own cutlass
.
They stood opposite each other, and following Logan’s lead, commenced a series of fluid movements
.
Blades were spun in the air, tossed back and forth between the men, and came to meet in the center with loud clangs that echoed across the empty ocean.

The dangerous glint of steel flashing in the rays of the setting sun was hypnotic, as these instruments of death were handled with t
he ease that a child might afford a bunch of apples
he was juggling
.
Every person watching in awe was aware of the fatal damage the sharpened edges could inflict, and
they followed each action with anxious anticipation, fearful that either man w
ould slip up or interrupt the perfect timing
.
But Logan and Eli were confident and skilled, and only increased the speed of their deadly dance.

“Each
match will end when first blood is drawn,” Logan explained,
not missing a beat
.
“This will test your true skill with a blade, because anyone can cut down another man, but it takes a master…” he suddenly stepped out of the rhythm and lunged towards
his friend, stopping when the tip of his sword was a hair
’
s breath away from impaling his heart
,
“to
know when to hold back.”

Amber let her shoulders relax, realizing only now that her whole body had tensed up during the mock melee
.
She saw that Eli had complete faith in Logan’s ability, the fraction of air separating the blade from his flesh not disturbing him in the slightest
.
One would think that the sword had been harmless, the way Eli laughed as the tip was lowered to the ground
.
With a flourish, they bowed to each other and sheathed their weapons.

“I want you all to understand that I am n
ot condoning violence amongst my men, and that if you maim or kill each other, you will be held responsible
.
It is essential to learn the control it takes to fight, a control that can only be learned by endless practicing
.
But with that control comes
the confidence
that you can handle any situation that
you may face
.
You must always think one step ahead of your opponent, anticipate
his next move, but be prepared to alter your course of action if he alters his
. There is no shame in taking him by surprise
.
In fact, more fights than I can count have been won by doing something unexpected.”  With cat-like grace he pulled a knife fro
m his boot and hurled it through the air towards the mast, slicing through the line tha
t held up the rope ladder
.
It dropped, ensnaring several men before they could
move out of its way. “If you can end a fight quickly, it is best to do so
.
Long, drawn out altercations only leave room for mistakes, and mistakes can be fatal when you’re dealing with ruthless men wielding treacherous weapons
.
Get the job done fast
.
And then get the hell out of there
.
There is no place for heroism in the reality of battle, so discard that notion before it gets you killed
.
The only valor that comes with this life is surviving each fight one at a time. Now,” he said as his mouth curved into a
smirk
, “who wants to take me on?”

By the time the sun had
sunk beneath the horizon, and the lamps had all but burnt out, Amber was drenched in sweat and shaking from exhaustion
.
She had sparred with several of the men without rest, and she was left alone on the deck with Jackson
.
He, too, was out of breath and tired, and he begged her several times to call the match a tie.

“A few more minutes, that’s all,” she huffed as she leapt back to avoid a downward cut, swinging her own blade up in a wide arc that sent Jackson spinning on his heels.