Passion's Tide (31 page)

Amber
was running through her exercises alone in the orlop
when Logan’s voice interrupted her concentration
.
“Any particular reason you’re hiding down here?”

She stopped attacking her imaginary foe and rested the tip of her blade on the ground, leaning against it as she caught her breath
.
“I’m not hiding, merely staying out of trouble
.
I figure
I’ve caused enough mayhem fo
r one day.”

“I want you to know that no one holds you accountable for what happened today
.
The only way to prepare yourself for a battle is by practicing, and you handled yourself admirably
.
If that had been a real fight, you would have succeeded
.
An unconscious enemy is better than a conscious one.”

She knew that his joking tone
and easy smile
were
meant to cheer her up, but she stubbornly ignored the attempt
.
“The simple truth of the matter is that Pax isn’t my enemy, he’s my friend.”

“Amber, you’re sailing with a group of pirates
.
I’m not surprised that one was injured
.
In fact, I’m surprised we’ve made it this far without any major accidents
.
Cuts, scrapes, bruises, broken bones, and concussions are typical occurrences on these ships
.
Which is why,” he said with a grimace as he pulled something from behind his back, “I want you to wear this when
e
ver you’re fighting with real blades.”

“It’s massive,” she complained once the large shirt was draped over her small frame
.
“I feel like I’m swimming in it!”

“I’m serious Amber, I want you to wear it. The thickness of the linen will hopefully prevent anything from cutting through to your skin.”

“Who says they will get close enough to even try?” she challenged, grabbing her sword and lunging towards Logan
.
He sidestepped her thrust and moved behind her extended arm, wrapped on
e hand around her elbow and another around her wrist, and in one fluid twist broke Amber’s hold on her sword, switched it to his own hand, and had it trained
on the pulsing vein in her neck
.
A smile played at the corner of his mouth as he withdrew and handed her back the weapon
.

“That was unfair, you caught me off guard! If I had known you were going to do that I could have prevented it.”

His head fell back and he let loose a deep laugh that echoed in the cavernous room
.
“I’m sorry to have to be the o
ne to break the bad news, love, but most fighters will try to take you off guard
.
That’s typically how you
win
a fight
.
Lucky for you, however, you have a secret weapon in your arsenal that will confound any foe long enough for you to move in with the wi
nning strike.”

“And what pray tell, is this secret weapon?”

“Your gender.”

“I don’t see how you expect me to use that to my advantage, unless you want me to expose myself to my opponent and startle him?”

He shrugged
.
“I’m not saying it’s foolproof, but it’s worth a shot. You may try it out on me if you so wish to
.
I’m always happy to help with training exercises
.”

She tho
ught about taking him up on his offer, but as she looked past his shoulder she noticed a ball of black fur with white paws, curled up asleep on a crate, and all thoughts instantly turned to how to get the kitten back to Johnny without Logan noticing
.
Glancing back at him, she saw him eying her with curiosity, and reacted quickly in a way she knew would distract him.

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hard, throwing him off balance in the process. He stumbled backward a few steps, bring
ing
Amber closer to her goal
.
As he regained his footing he deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue past her teeth and
exploring her mouth with an urgent heat that traveled down her body in shockwaves
.
She fought against the daze that threatened to overtake her, and open
ed
an eye to gauge the situation
.
They were standing a few feet from the crate where Puck slept soundly, oblivious to the
intensity between Logan and herself, and if she
were
lucky she could smuggle him from the room without awakening him.

Logan blinked in confusion as she slid under his arms and turned away from him
.
He did not see
her snatch the rogue kitten and deposit him down the front of her shirt, where he nestled happily in her cleavage, protected from vi
ew by the folds of fabric
.

Logan closed the distance between them and started kissing her neck, misinterpreting her wriggling as pleasure, rather than as an escape attempt
.
“Now is not the best time, Logan
.
I think…I’m going to go see how Pax is doing.”

“He’s fine,” he whispered against her skin
.
“I talked to him before I came to find you
.
No one will bother us in here.”

“Are you suggesting we make love on a crate?” she couldn’t hide the excitement from her voice.

“Well it wouldn’t exactly be making love, I’d say more like fu—”

“Logan!”

“Sorry
.
You must admit though, it’s a tempting situation.”  His hand snaked around her front and before she could stop him, down the neck of her shirt
.
“Damn it!” he yanked back his hand, staring incredulously at the tiny drops of blood pooling at the tip of his finger
.
“Did your breast just…bite me?”

She was already halfway to the door
, her arms crossed over her chest as she ran
.
“I did try and warn you that it wasn’t a good time!”

“You had bette
r be the next Chaucer for all the trouble I’m going through for this damn cat,” Amber grumbled as she stalked into the hold.

“Who’s Saucer?  And have you seen Puck?”

“Chaucer was a famous writer,” Henry stated.

“And here’s your missing cat.”  Both boys watched in astonishment as she tugged the cat from the front of her shirt.

“Lucky cat,” Johnny whispered to Henry.

“Lucky cat needs his claws filed down
.
I’m running out of places to get scratched.”  A sudden shot rang out on deck
.
“What was that?”

The boys
shrugged as
she turned and sprinted up the stairs
.
Johnny dropped Puck onto the floor and gave him a stern look.

“St
ay,” he commanded
.
The cat tilted his head and peered back at him.

“I don’t think he understands you,” Hen
ry observed.

“I hope he understands that if Logan catches him, he’ll get tossed overboard
.
And from what I hear, cats don’t like water.”  Ignoring t
he boy, Puck began meticulously cleaning himself, as if to prove to him that he wasn’t afraid of a little
water
.
Henry and Johnny left the troublesome cat to his grooming and went up the stairs to investigate
.

When they reached the upper deck they joine
d the crowd that had
gathered
. Two longboats were trailing behind the ship, tied to the stern with a length of rope
.
Propped in the center of each wooden craft was a straw dummy, with a large red target painted on the center of its chest
.
Several of the men had formed a queue, waiting with their pistols loaded and cocked.

“What’s all this?
” Henry turned to Johnny,
and
was surprised to find himself alone
.
A moment later Johnny came barreling up the stairs with their guns and, passing Henry’
s off to him, nudged the boy until they had joined the line
.
Another round was fired, accompanied by insults and teasing
among
the shooters
.
Eli squinted at the two dummies and declared one man the winner, then motioned for the next duo to step forward
.
Both boys grew excited as their turn approached, but
they
continued to watch the older men appreciatively, hoping to pick up some hints.

“Sixpence says the lass misses,” Creed wagered.

Johnny rushed to her defense
.
“Double says she out-shoots whoever she’s against.”

“You don’t have any money,” Henry whispered.

Johnny shushed him
.
“He doesn’t know that
.
And besides, it’s her turn, look!” Standing on the balls of their feet, they fought to see over the heads of the men in front of them
.
Amber stood with her arm outstretched, concentration etched on her face as she focused on the target
.
Ben, on the other hand, looked confident
, displaying an arrogant
s
mile
and a relaxed grip on his pistol
.
Eli gave the command and they pulled their triggers, Amber’s gun firing at once and striking the target on the left shoulder, outside of the target lines
.
Laughter rang out as the smoke settled around Ben, who was gazing into the barrel of his gun with a confused expression.

“Oops.”

Eli shook with laughter
.
“Because Ben didn’t think to clean his gun before firing it, Amber wins by default.”  Johnny smirked as Creed unhappily thrust coins at him.

Logan appeared from the crowd of men. “Ben, you’re on pump duty today, and I expect you to maintain your weapons in working order from this point onward.” Ben looke
d like he was going to respond, but decided that missing the chance to practice was worth avoiding the wrath of his Captain, and headed down the stairs with shoulders slumped.

Logan took over the practice the
n
, running them through drills until they were drenched in perspiration and their stomachs grumbled from lack of food
.
“Can we break for dinner Cap’n?” pleaded Pax
.
Logan ignored
him
.

“Back on your bellies, and pick up the pace
.
I need speed and I need accuracy
.
In a real
-
life s
ituation you have a few seconds to line up your shot, and your enemies will not wait for you to fire first
.
Deacon, left, Noah, right!”

One by one he shouted their names and they had to jump to their feet from their position lying prostrate on their st
omachs, aim at either the right or the left dummy, and fire a round
.
Then they had to reload as quickly as possible and drop to the ground again to wait for their next turn
.
The sky was growing dark by the time Logan dismissed them for dinner
.
“Double rations of ale for the rest of the week; good work today men!” Morale improved significantly after that
.

He called Amber’s name and she stopped with one foot on the ladder and turned
.
“Run around the ship a few times with me.” Her jaw dropped in astonishment.

“Right now?  But I just—”

“Don’t argue. It will keep your muscles from tensing up and believe me, you’ll regret it tomorrow if you don’t.” She let out a groan and urged her heavy legs into action
.
Logan picked up her easy pace and trotted alongside her.

“Why am I the only one who has to run?”

“Because they should know better by now
.
When they wake up tomorrow and their bodies are as stiff as planks, they’ll remember their training
.
Besides, I need you healthy and limber for later.” He sent her a wicked grin as they rounded the bow
.
“Good work today, by the way.”

She shrugged without breaking her stride
.
“I shouldn’t have beaten Ben
.
I missed the target.”

“Not by much, and it wasn’t just luck
.
Ben knew what his duties were when he signed on to join the crew. If he had maintained his weapons like he was supposed to he wouldn’t have lost, and he wouldn’t feel so embarrassed now.”

“But still—”

“No buts, sweetheart, you won because you deserved it
.
Accept it, and let’s be done with it.”

“Fine, but you don’t always have to be so pushy, you know.”

“I know,” he
smiled
again, “but where is the fun in that?” He slowed into a walk, and she followed suit until they stopped outside the door to his cabin
.
“Go inside and change out of those dirty clothes, and I’ll go get us some dinner.”

“And what if I don’t feel like it, Mr. Pushy?”

“You had better listen to me, or else.”

She crossed her arms. “Or else what? I think you’re making empty threats.” As a reply he backed her against the door and ravaged her mouth with a scorching kiss that sent her head spinning
.
When he let her go she stumbled
forward
, dizzy
and
reeling
.

“Or else,” he whispered, giving her a quick kiss on the top of her nose. Then he turned on his heel and left her, still breathless, leaning against the door
.

The commotion downstairs was a predictable mix of men slouched over their dinner plates, too tired to even lift a fork to their mouths, and men whose energy had been restored
by the panacea of alcohol
.
He was toasted multiple times by men who were already deep into their cups, and he declined the offer put forth by a slurring Pax to join them for a round
.
He reminded them that the following day’s routine would be the same as any other day, so it was in their best interests not to get too inebriated
.
Knowing that many of them would disregard his advice, he headed into the galley where Abe met him with a tray piled with dishes
.
He took
the tra
y
from him and headed back to his cabin.

“I hope you’re in the mood for turtle soup again, because it’s all…” he trailed off as his eyes settled upon Amber’s sleeping form, curled up on his bed with her hair unbound and fanned out behind her
.
Smiling,
he set the
tray down
,
pulled a blanket over her, and brushed a curl from her forehead
.

He was aware of the domesticity of the situation, and even more painfully cognizant of his own
reaction.
H
e thought
again
of his home in England, and tried to picture Amber in that setting
.
Immediately the image formed of her bossing the maids around, spending hours in the library devouring book after book, racing over the hills on one of the stallions, and getting into vast amounts of trouble on the large estate
.
She belonged there
.
The trouble was, it was hard to see himself rejoining a world that he had shunned so many years ago
.
Would they even accept him?