Swept to Sea (4 page)

Caspian couldn’t hold back a grin. Yes, indeed, he could have quite a bit of fun with this situation.

"Ah, very nice to meet you, milady." He gave her a mocking bow as her disoriented eyes flickered between Caspian, Kelton’s annoying shouts, and Gage. "I am Captain Caspian Archer. I cordially welcome you aboard my ship, the
Dawn's Mist
. Do you happen to know what we do with stowaways here, milady?"

She gulped, shivered, and shook her head, but then jutted her chin out stubbornly. She was trembling. Caspian took her by the arm, drawing her up to a standing position. The sweet scent of vanilla and coconut wafted over him, erasing the revolting stench of the bilge.

"Well, if he be a man, we throw him to the sharks… and, well, a woman… why, I'd suppose her fate would depend on how pretty she is…" he scratched the day's stubble that was growing on his chin, grinning and enjoying the appalled expression on her comely face. He liked the way this stranger’s cheeks became pink. It reminded him of a sunset over the sea in the Caribbean.

The woman swayed, her eyes slowly drooping shut, and he steadied her by grabbing onto her tiny waist. Her body went as limp as a windless sail. He scooped her up in his arms before her body could plummet back into the foul-smelling bilge. Glancing down at her, he noticed her shoulder was exposed at the neck of the oversized cotton shirt she wore. The delicate, pale shoulder was marred by a large, garish bruise that appeared to be a few days old. Now how could she have gotten that?

"Master Gage, find that wooden tub we used to have for Isabelle, bring it to my cabin, and fill it with water. Then find a dress if there is one to be found anywhere on this ship, if you please," he ordered.

Caspian didn’t look back because he knew Gage would obey his orders. With the lady in his arms, Caspian rounded a corner and headed for his cabin. He needed to lay the woman down before she came to, lest she writhe in his grasp and somehow injure herself. Perhaps he should not have teased her so. She had obviously been injured somehow already.

Caspian adjusted the woman in his arms and opened the door to his cabin. He laid the young lady down onto his bed. The second he set her down, Reed found his way to his father’s side and began bombarding him with endless questions.

“What are you carrying, Father? What is that? Did you get me a present? Oh, is it a
lady?
Why were you carrying her like that? Is there something wrong with her? Oh, she is
so
pretty, Papa.”

Caspian brushed aside some hair from his son’s face and glanced back at the young woman who had not yet stirred from her fainting spell. Isabelle had never fainted. How long should this lady be asleep like this? Should he attempt to wake her? He forced his concerns to the back of his mind in order to stop his son’s chattering.

“Yes, Reed, she is a lady. She fainted, is all. Will you stay with her a moment and watch her?” Caspian spun to his desk to find a basin of water. It was good to give a woman who had fainted a glass of water to drink, was it not? He supposed it could not hurt her.

“What does fainted mean, Papa? Does that mean she’s dead?” Reed asked. Caspian twisted back in time to see his son slide his little hand into the young stranger’s.

Caspian sighed, turning back to his desk and choosing to answer the boy’s question some other time. He was not in any mood to deal with the child’s bottomless curiosity.

****

Eden’s mind stubbornly dragged itself back into the unwanted reality of consciousness. She would much prefer to remain asleep, where she would not have to worry about Lord Clive Rutger or about having been discovered by a nefarious crew of pirates. A nefarious crew of pirates…

A young voice shouted, "Father, Father! The lady — she is waking up!"

A cool cloth glided over her forehead, and a small, warm hand grasped hers tightly.

"Milady." Strong, large hands gripped her shoulders and shook them gently. Eden rolled onto her side and groaned, swatting at the hands. She had no intention of opening her eyes and facing that she had been discovered after such a short portion of the voyage. Bitter disappointment made her cringe. She had failed to survive even one short day at sea on her own.

"Milady." The deep voice grew agitated. The calloused hands shook her again, a little more roughly this time.

"What is it?" Eden moaned and managed to open her eyes a crack, however slight it was.

Lamplight pierced her eyes, and she snapped fully awake and flew up into a sitting position upon a rather narrow four-poster bed. She glanced at her surroundings. A large mahogany desk propped against one wall of the cabin. Perpendicular to it, a huge window allowed a view of the endless sea. Two overstuffed leather chairs huddled in a corner.

What mainly commanded her attention was the man who loomed before her, the most handsome one she had ever seen. His fists were balled at his waist, and he wore a waistcoat of dark sapphire over a puffy, white shirt from which a blizzard of lace burst out at the cuffs and collar. She noticed a silver chain around his neck that held some sort of a gold ring or band. A leather tie restrained his dark-chocolate curls, cavalier-style, revealing a strong, lightly-stubbled jaw. Crystal-blue eyes roved over her from head to toe. Altogether, he appeared quite intimidating. A young child with a mop of golden curls upon his head stood beside the man, wearing a miniature version of his grin. The boy stared at her in awe as if she was some foreign object.

The man’s face looked… familiar to Eden. Had she met him before? Oh, yes. She had.

In the hold.

Terror washed over her when she remembered the words they had shared.

"Please, sir, I am so sorry. I know I am a stowaway on your ship. I know I’m a thief. Just please, please don't send me back to London. Please do not take me back there. Drop me off on an island or… or… somewhere, anyplace at all but London. I will find a way to pay for my voyage somehow, sir. Whatever you want, I will pay for it. Whatever price you say. And punish me anyway you want. You can keep me locked up for the whole trip. Please, sir."

Immediately after the words came out of her mouth she shrank back. She should never have said something like that to a man she had never met. Who knew how he would want her to pay? Oh, but she should have specified payment only in monetary form.

"Hmm… I’ve never heard of a stowaway who begged for his punishment. Calm down, milady. You are all right here," his deep, sultry voice slid over her like soothing honey tea on a parched throat. He ran a calloused but gentle — oh, so gentle — hand across her forehead. Her heart fluttered at the intimate yet calming action. No one had touched her that sweetly in quite some time. Yet no strange men whose acquaintance she did not have
should
touch her like that.

"Please, sir, promise me we will not turn back toward London," she pleaded, brushing his hand away. His touching her ‘twas most improper, in all reality.

Perhaps she had been discovered by the crew late enough so they had sailed too far away from London for the captain to retrace his steps on her account. She prayed that was so, for if she returned, her father and Lord Rutger would track her down like bloodhounds. By now, the authorities must have announced her missing.

"No, woman. Calm down. We sail toward Port Royal in Jamaica," he answered.

Port Royal! God had answered her prayers.

The captain grabbed her hand, but she shrank back. She had experienced far too much of men's false affections — and their painfully real wrath. The fresh injury on her shoulder began to throb, and she bit back tears. She quickly moved the fabric of her oversized shirt over the wound, lest the captain see it and wonder how it had gotten there. Of course, she bore other wounds from Lord Rutger, but this was the most noticeable.

"You have naught to fear from me, milady. I assure you I would never hurt a woman." He studied her face, seemingly shocked at her reaction to him. She glanced down, uncomfortable at how he seemed to see right through her. Could those crystal-blue eyes see straight past the cotton of her shirt to the bruise left
so kindly
by her fiancé?

"Of course not. That's why you acted as you did in the hold… and you said those horrible things… about… about what you were going to do with me because I am a stowaway…" She pouted, shivering. Eden squeezed her eyes shut, realizing she should not have said such a bold thing to him. She expected to feel his fist pound into her flesh. Any moment now, that chivalrous demeanor would no doubt flee, and pain would singe through her face, shoulder, or ribs. Eden refused to let down her guard and fall into his trap like some innocent doe. Experience had taught her to trust no man, and she would not be fooled by one now, especially not one who appeared to be a pirate captain.

Eden rose from the bed lest the man get any false ideas about her intentions. She
was
in his bedchamber. All alone in a man's bedchamber with nothing she could do to save herself. To top that, she had even promised to pay whatever he asked.

What on earth was the matter with her? She had obviously not planned very well to have put herself into a situation like this.

"Hang it, woman! Nay, I was only bantering with you, milady. I had no way of knowing you would swoon as you did," he retorted, huffing and running a hand through his thick hair.

"I was already dizzy because I awakened so suddenly, and you had frightened me… and…" she began to counter, and then looked away from him. She did not want to be thought of as some weak, browbeaten woman, even if she had become exactly that.

"I apologize, milady. Let me introduce myself so we may start anew. As I'm sure you remember I am Captain Caspian Archer. And this is my son." Bowing, he nodded toward the little blond boy hidden directly behind him. The child could be no older than five or six. He had remained so silent, she had all but forgotten he was even in the room. How foolish of her. Surely the man would not assault her with his son in the room, pirate or not. And where was this child’s mother?

"Introduce yourself to the lady," the captain ordered harshly. "Where on earth have your manners run off to, boy?"

The child's cheerful grin fell under his father's chastisement, and Eden’s heart sank. How could someone be so cruel to this innocent little child? The boy bowed before her formally, kissing her hand like a tiny gentleman in a royal palace would back home in London.

"I am Reed Archer, at your service, milady," his young voice wavered in shyness, and his gaze lowered. Eden gave him an encouraging smile and nodded at him in greeting. What she truly wanted to do, however, was take the boy in her arms and tell him he was perfect, had done nothing wrong, and did not deserve to be chastised by his father. There was nothing wrong with being a trifle shy.

"And please, milady, grace us with the knowledge of your name," the captain demanded, leaning against his desk and crossing his arms over his thick, wide chest.

"Why do you need to know my name, sir?" She speculated and threw her nose up in the air. This man had no right to know anything about her… except he was the captain of the ship she had stolen passage on. Maybe this man did deserve to know something as trivial as her name.

"Well… since we are to share such close quarters for a voyage all the way across the Atlantic, I should think we would get along much easier if we knew each other's names. Unless you wish for me to make up a name for you, perhaps. I think you would make a nice…"

"If you must know, I am Lady Eden Trenton."

"I’m impressed, milady. Just to think, a
lady
saw fit to stow away on my humble ship. Nice to meet you, Lady Trenton.” He bowed as he winked at her.

"And you, Captain." She averted her gaze from the man.

Was this the same pirate ship she had boarded the previous day?

The captain certainly did not show any intention of hurting her. He acted nothing like a pirate, either. She was certain with any other, she would have been hurt or even killed by now. A gentleman pirate? Could that even be possible?
Thank you so much, God, for taking care of me. I certainly would not be safe here without you, Dearest Father.

A knock sounded on the door. "Enter," the captain called, moving from his desk.

In strode a tall, muscular young man who carried a tub of steaming water. A frilly rose-colored gown was thrown over his shoulder, and his short, light-brown hair was slicked back away from his face.

"Thank you, Master Thompson," the captain nodded and dismissed the man as he set the items down.

With a quick wink at Eden, Mr. Thompson left the room.

"You may take a bath, milady," Caspian offered, "After sleeping in the bilge; I should suppose you would want to wash the filth away."

"But…" she objected, blushing and glancing from the captain and his son to the water. Surely he did not expect her to… bathe… with him right there in the cabin, watching…

He apparently understood her objection. "I shall post a trustworthy guard for you outside the door. Just knock when you are finished bathing and dressing." His icy-blue eyes sparkled in amusement. He faced the boy. "Come along, Reed. We must give the lady her privacy."

She exhaled as both father and son left, leaving her with a tub of water that was cooling by the minute.

****

Caspian frowned as he leaned his back against the sturdy oak door. The salty scent of the sea beckoned him to climb up the companionway, but he stayed put. Although he had told the baffling girl he would post a guard, he could not bring himself to leave her, even in the company of a man he trusted like Gage. No, she was his lady to guard and no one else's. Besides, it was his fault she had fainted, and the poor woman had seemed so scared.

Caspian grimaced when he remembered the dark bruise on her shoulder that crept over to her collarbone. He prayed no one had hurt her. Maybe it had just been an accident, and it had not been inflicted by someone else. His thoughts shifted as he felt his son tug on the hem of his shirt, begging for his father’s attention.