Swept to Sea (11 page)

"Oh, Captain," she whispered simply, holding out her other hand. He gladly took it.

"Yes, Eden — Lady Trenton, ‘tis me. You are perfectly safe,” he assured her again, just to be certain she would not forget it.

He gazed at her as realization flickered in her coffee-colored eyes and the cloud of confusion lifted from them.

"How long have I been sleeping, Captain?" she asked, chewing on her plump bottom lip.

"At first, you were sleeping only as long as it took the surgeon to bandage your wound. But you have had a fever the past three days, and you have been sleeping on and off. You may thank that God of yours that it has subsided now." He ran a hand across her forehead softly. He had found himself praying more than once during the last three days.

"And have you been sitting here with me the whole time?"

"Yes, except for when I was needed above decks, my dear. Then I saw to it that either Reed or Master Thompson stood guard over the sleeping beauty."

Her face pinked and she suddenly stared down at the coverlet.

"May I have the audacity, milady, to ask precisely what you were doing hiding underneath my desk?" Enjoying how she squirmed under his stare, he arched a teasing eyebrow. He hoped she did not take offense, however, at his question.

Luckily, she giggled rather than becoming angry with him like she seemed fond of doing. "I suppose I did look quite strange, didn't I? Well, I was playing hide-and-seek with Reed. He insisted it was my turn to hide. So I was hiding under your desk."

Ah, so it was his son's fault that the poor woman had become injured. He would have to chastise the boy.

“I-I also remember feeling sick that day. You said it was seasickness, but I also felt horribly dizzy and cold. I think maybe I had a fever even then,” Eden stated.

Caspian found himself loving to watch her pretty brown eyes.

He had thought it was strange the woman had developed seasickness so far into the voyage, but he had experienced some odd cases in his years of sailing. Her being sick with some type of fever that day explained a lot.

“Where is Reed?” She moved to sit up, but Caspian eased her back down.

“Reed is up on the main deck. He was very concerned about you, but I did not want him underfoot while the surgeon was examining you.”

"Thank you, Captain," she murmured.

Did she still have some sort of a fever? Why on earth was she
thanking
him? Surely not for keeping Reed at bay; she was far too attached to the child.

"What are you thanking me for, milady?" He put a hand on her forehead. No. It was smooth and cool.

"For taking care of me. Heaven knows, you did not have to." She glanced shyly up at him.

"You are on my ship now, so we are stuck in here together, milady. Besides, I cannot ignore the angel who is lying in my bed, unwell."

The woman blushed. Caspian did have to admit she was quite pretty, especially when her cheeks were painted pink with a blush.

She huffed. "I assure you, I am not an angel, Captain." A frown creased her forehead as she swung her legs over the side of the bed to sit up and swayed. Caspian wrapped an arm about her shoulders until she was steadied.

"You look like one to me. And from what I have seen, you act like one."

Eden laughed.

****

"You seem to forget that this is the angel who shot you two weeks ago." Why did he insist on making her sound like such a good person when she was horrible inside? Could he not see that? Was the man blind?

He chuckled, sitting back down and running a hand through his dark, curly hair. His masculine scent of salt and leather filled her nose, teasing her senses. She smiled at how she had grown to love that smell in such a short time.

"What makes you smile like that?" the captain inquired lightly, brushing a lock of hair from her eyes. Eden almost let herself lean against his hand, almost responded to his gentle touch, but no; she could not. He was far closer than propriety allowed, and he was a man. She decided to frown instead.

Certainly it was most improper for him touch her in such a manner, also. No, there was no question about it. It was more than improper. Eden pushed his hand away.

He grimaced. "What can I do to get you to smile like that again? You never smile when you are near me. Why, you always frown around me, and you get a little line right here when you do it," he mused, leaning over to touch the spot between her eyebrows, just above her nose, gently with his thumb.

She made a face.

He
certainly
should not be touching her face like that. And she should not be liking it so much. Yet he had the audacity to lean down and plant a soft kiss on her forehead.

Eden drew back across the pillow, stuttering, "A gentleman would never… t-touch… or… or kiss a lady like…”

The captain chuckled. "Well, if I recall correctly, you have said you are 'sick and tired of gentlemen.' I thought you might enjoy being treated in such a manner." He winked.

"Why… you… how could you?" Eden reached up to slap the infuriating man, but he caught her wrist mid-air. She tried to jerk her hand away but he held fast.

Why must he continue smirking at me in that annoyingly cocky manner?

He kept her hand in his and kissed it. She shrank away from him, terrified of what he might do next. Memories flooded back. Memories from nights she longed to erase.

The captain groaned and shook his head. "What must I do to prove to you that I will… that I… could
never
ever hurt you?" he inquired, standing and pacing the tiny cabin.

"It's just… I-I was… No, there is nothing you have done to me. It is just that a man… abused me once, and I am afraid I have not warmed up to that gender quite yet. I am sorry. Really, I am, captain. You have not harmed me in all the time I have known you."

He stroked her cheek tenderly with the backs of his fingers. "That's all right, milady. I am the one who should be apologizing. For what happened to you. That I wasn't there to protect you from that horrible, cruel excuse of a man, whoever he was…" His warm blue eyes gazed straight into Eden's. He took her hand in his again, gently. "You have my absolute word that I will never, ever harm you. I could never lay a hateful finger on you."

She looked into his clear, sparkling blue eyes. They were filled with nothing but kindness, sincerity, and something else. Something that baffled her and looked… indescribably warm. How she yearned to believe his kind words.

"Believe me, Eden. I promise you can trust me," he murmured, staring at her carefully as if she were a terrified deer that would run off in an instant if he moved in the wrong direction.

She shifted her legs in an attempt to rise. "Don't you dare run off like the little hart that you are. You could hurt your head again."

"I wasn’t
planning
on going anywhere.” She glared up at him. “Did you just compare me to an animal? To a
male
deer?!" She cried indignantly. Really, the audacity of the man!

"Aye, I apologize, milady. I guess I meant a doe." He grinned sheepishly.

Eden sulked. She did not at all appreciate being weighed up against a wild animal, male or female.

Captain Archer rose from his position on the armchair that had been situated next to the bed and moved to sit beside her on the bed. He put his arms around her and held her against him tightly. Gently, he cradled her head so the part that was hurt was not jostled.

At first she tensed, but she had never felt so comfortable, so safe, with a man before. She slowly laid her head against his strong chest. Really, she should not have. What would Ivy and Aimee think of her?

"No. Let me go." She spun suddenly in his arms and banged her fists against his chest in an effort to free herself, panicking suddenly.

"Lady Trenton, I promise…" His face fell as he released her from his arms. She had hurt the poor man's feelings.

Eden stood abruptly. "No, it’s not that I don’t trust you, Captain. I'm sorry; I-I do trust you, it's just that… well, it simply is most improper. Isn't it? I should not let you hold me like that… people would think me… I don't know. A… an immoral woman." Just thinking about it made her head injury throb.

"Nay, milady. You are nothing of the kind, believe me," he chuckled, shaking his head, "in fact, you seem to be quite the opposite. You are a perfect lady. Besides, no one can see you at the moment to gossip. No one besides me, that is." He winked and planted another gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"Please, let us stop talking about this. It makes my head hurt all the more.” She glanced away, startled at what she saw in those blue eyes. For a moment, they sat that way, him peering into her eyes. Finally, she spoke, “Thank you so much for being so kind to me. You are the… I think you are the kindest man I have ever met."

Captain Archer chortled. "I think you certainly need to rest now. I am not the nicest man you have ever met." He tucked the coverlet around her shoulders as if she were nothing but a child and he, a loving parent. Why did he not tuck Reed in at night like this? She would have to speak with him some other time about neglecting the dear six year old. The child needed a loving father who spent more time with him. But she could discuss his parenting choices another day. Right now he was being kind to her, and she did not want that moment to go away.

"But you really are kind," she murmured, feeling her eyelids grow heavy. Before she knew it, she tumbled back into a restless sea of dreams.

****

Ivy marched across the deck of Captain Emery’s ship, the
Cross's Victory.
She leaned over the rail of the boat and pressed a hand over her restless stomach in a weak attempt to calm it.

Ugh!
She hated the sea. Hated it! Before she could control it, she felt the contents of her belly spill out into the roiling ocean.

A gentle, brotherly hand settled on her back. She looked up to see Matthew leaning over her, a grim look on his handsomely structured face.

"Mayhap we should not have brought you along, milady. It seems as if your body does not agree with sailing." He handed her a handkerchief to wipe her mouth with.

"No, sailing does not agree with my stomach. Right now, however, I feel quite better. I pray it will last." Six days of vomiting what little Aimee had convinced her to eat had begun to take its toll on her.

"Well, I promise I shall keep you in my pray—"

Their conversation was interrupted by a shrill scream.

"What on earth was that?" Matthew glanced around the deck of the ship, appearing rather frightened.

"I believe that was Aimee," sighed Ivy, hurrying down the companionway.

What on earth had Aimee gotten herself into?

****

"Are you quite all right, Lady Dawson? May I enter?" Matthew shouted, pounding his fist on the door of Aimee’s and Ivy's cabin. Whimpering sounded from the cabin. Terrified whimpering.

"Yes — come in. Please." His heart sank at her trembling voice. What could have frightened her so?

He burst open the door and sped in, Ivy on his heels. The scent of lavender erased the saltiness of the sea outside. Aimee was standing on the top of her cot, her pretty face pale-white in terror.

"Whatever happened?" Instinctively, Matthew grabbed her waist in his hands and lowered her to the floor. After he realized what he had just done, his hands dropped to his sides as he felt a heated blush creep up his neck and across his face.

"There-there was a… a rat," she sobbed, reaching to go into his arms.

Matthew side-stepped her grasp. He had to hold back a grin at her childishness.

Lady Shaw moved forward and took the frightened young woman’s hand. “Shush, Aimee.”

"Shall I get rid of the ferocious beastie for you, my princess?" Matthew chuckled and rolled his eyes.

The girl glared up at him. "You couldn't anyway. It escaped down… down that little hole right there." She pointed to a crack in the deck and a shiver rattled her shoulders.

Matthew glanced at Lady Shaw, who was staring at her friend, a deep frown in her forehead.

"Do you wish me to cover up the hole so no more devious monsters creep their way in to harm you, princess?"

"Well, what if it had come in during the night and crawled over me while I was sleeping? Just to think… ugh!" She shivered, looking away.

He could not help but laugh at Lady Dawson’s foolishness. "Well, it shall happen no more, I promise you. I will send a man in to fix it when the time comes. Now, I am needed above, milady. Good day to you, then." He left with a nod for Lady Dawson and Lady Shaw.

Chapter Nine

Aimee Dawson sat on the edge of her cot, wary of every miniscule sound that reached her ears. Where had the rat gone? Oh, goodness, this rodent would be the loss of her sanity.

The ship creaked, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. This had to stop. Truly, she despised life at sea. Back home in her comfy little bedchamber or parlor there would be no rats, and she would have nothing to worry about. A maid was at her beck and call, and she had nice food and the best fineries. Now, she was crammed with Ivy in a room she could barely stand upright in. She was missing her home and her family more than she had ever thought she would, and the added worry of rodents was no comfort at all.

A visit to Captain Emery would solve the problem entirely. It had been a few days since her encounter with the rat, and he had not done anything about the hole in the floor of the cabin. Far too long. She trudged her way up the companionway to the captain’s cabin and knocked on the door tentatively, nervous of his reaction. The man had never seemed to like her.

"Yes?" He opened the wooden slab.

"Ah, princess, do come in." He stepped aside for her to enter.

Aimee glowered at him for calling her by that wretched nickname. She was no princess. Just because he was poor and jealous gave him no excuse to belittle her.

"What is it that you want, Lady Dawson?"

She took a deep breath. Why should she care if he thought her to be a frightened little brat? Matthew — Captain Emery already believed she performed that role.
Insolent cur.