The Blue Diamond (The Razor's Edge Book 1) (31 page)

“Sold them to whom?
 
Dead men? That is certainly not your blood,”
he commented as he looked her over carefully.

“No, this isn’t my blood.
Dead men tell no tales, correct?”

“Tsk, tsk, Madame.
Cold-blooded murder is not your credo. You’re a pirate of the highest
principles, as if that makes a hint of sense. You, my dear, are anything but a
murderer.”

“It’s all taken care of.
That’s all you need to know.”

“For the record, I couldn’t
care less about those blasted diamonds.”

“Then why are you here?
Certainly not to carry me off again, because that won’t happen.”

“What if that was the reason
I’m here?” Maddox rose slowly and took one step, when Ivory sat back and
glanced at the floor where she dropped her belt. “Don’t. Please,” he begged,
waving his palm at her. “Let’s not fight anymore. I’m so weary of it. I just
want to take you in my arms…and love you. Is that too much to ask?”

Ivory rose to her feet again
and watched as Maddox stood with his arms outstretched to welcome her, yet she
didn’t move. Her feet felt glued to the floor, and with what small bit of
resolve she had left, she maintained her distance…until, without so much as a
blink, that thread of strength snapped, and she collapsed back into the chair.
“You can’t be serious.”

“I assure you, my love, I’m
as serious as I have ever been,” he said as he dashed around the desk and snatched
her by her arms. He lifted her straight up and pulled her tightly against him,
pressing kiss upon kiss against her throbbing head. She was limp in his
embrace, and he wrapped his arm around her waist to support her. His other hand
flew to her face as her head fell back, and he pulled it forward, staring
straight into her lidded eyes. “Run away with me, Ivory. I have associates all
over the world who will aid our cause—just you and I.”

“Maddox, you’re insane.”

“Soon, everyone will know it
wasn’t me who washed up on the beach in Nassau, and they’ll be after me with
swift justice. Alone, both of us will surely meet our ends, now even more so
than before, but together…together, we’ll go on and grow old together somewhere
far from here.”

“But my life is too
complicated, and I’ve so many open ends to tie.”

“Leave the frayed ends, and
we’ll weave a new life and begin again. Don’t you realize this is our chance to
be free? I have more than enough money to carry us away from here. I have a
lifetime of wrongs to right, starting and ending with you.”

“You’ve already made your
decision. Have I no say in this escape plan?” she whispered, as again her head
tipped back and she gazed up at him—weathered and worry-worn. He was stripped
down to nothing more than a man and it was as if the flesh was flayed from his
bones, leaving him bloody and raw. Tears had begun to roll from the corners of
her eyes and upon seeing them, Maddox kissed them away.

“The morning I let you go, I
already knew. I used every excuse and weapon in my possession to combat my
feelings for you, but it was already too late. Please speak to me. Tell me what
I want to hear,” he begged, shaking her gently and then pulling her close. Her
cheek pressed flat against his chest, and she languished with her arms hanging
at her sides.

“When they told me you were
dead, I went cold,” Ivory said softly.
 
“I hadn’t shed a tear since I was a girl, but they came on me in waves
of anguish. Until I heard those words, I wasn’t sure. I knew then that I loved
you, for how else could I have handed myself over to a man with such passion
and without caution? How else could the news of your death…have caused me to
wish for my own?” Ivory spoke in whispers, as if she were speaking only to
herself. Exhausted, and in desperate need of rest, the raw power of at last
giving herself over to Maddox was more than even she could withstand. The
physical love she shared with him had each time drained her flesh and left her
perilously weak, but handing over her heart and soul left her feeling closer to
death than staring down a loaded gun.

Maddox loosened his hold on
her, and her body drifted and flowed in his arms. He leaned down and slid his
arm behind her knees, and he lifted her. At last, her hands were on him,
sliding up over his arms until they connected beneath the dark hair gathered at
the back of his neck. As he carried her to her bunk, she pulled at the leather
tie in his hair, releasing it so that she could wind her fingers once again
into his black mane. She was almost asleep.

“Don’t leave me,” she
breathed into his ear as he leaned in over her. A second later, she closed her
eyes.

A few hours later, she awoke
to a knock and Richard’s voice calling her to the service for the fallen men.
Maddox sat sleeping in her desk chair with his bare feet propped and his hands
folded at his chest. She roused him, but only to tell him where she was going
and that she’d return soon. Once her somber duty was complete, she rushed back
to her cabin and ordered Richard not to disturb her for the night, unless they
were under attack.

When she closed the door
behind her, she heard Richard’s faint giggle and shouted through the door at
him to go away and find something constructive to do, or go to bed. Maddox rose
from the chair and met her halfway through the room. They collided as two ships
in battle, attacking each other—neither willing to relent. Battered and raked
bare, he swept her up in his arms and again, carried her to her bunk.

* * * *

Ivory awoke the next morning
covered in only a sheet. She writhed and stretched as the first beams of
sunlight broke the window panes and laid a pattern of golden squares and
rectangles throughout her cabin. Through squinted, swollen eyes, the room
focused and became once again familiar, but for the muscular golden arm now
pressing down and around her waist, and the firm but tender palm resting flat
against her abdomen. A contented smile rose from her feet until it washed over
her face and escaped as a sigh. She gazed at his wrist and found a curious, and
unlikely, piece of jewelry which was far different from any of the ornate
pieces with which he usually adorned himself.

Her shoulder dipped
backwards, and she turned beneath Maddox’s secure embrace to face him. She
longed to be the first eyes he looked into every morning, and the last he saw
at night. Her wish was granted when her stirring roused him, and his long, dark
lashes fluttered, drawing up to reveal those emerald green jewels, still
covered in a veil of sleepiness.

Ivory rose on one elbow and
gazed down at his face—still flawless, though covered in stubble, and perhaps
even more handsome than ever before. He wore her love on his skin like
moonlight and sunlight as they passed each other at dawn and dusk. He was
golden, yet he also wore a shroud of pale silver beneath the bit of light
creeping though the sheer curtains draped around them. There was no longer
space between them for words, and his mouth found hers the moment she leaned in
for a closer look.

His hands explored her,
until he discovered the smooth dip of her lower back, and he inched her closer
against him as they lay, still locked in a tender, yet impassioned, kiss. When
she had thought him dead, she’d all but barred the memory of how the soft
feathered hair of his chest felt against her bare skin, as well as the strength
of his back as it rippled when he moved under her touch. Most of all, she’d
buried the bliss of his breath in her ear and the low, soft sounds he made as
he made love to her and shredded her ability to defend herself. Something in his
touch gave her permission to feel good when she was at her most vulnerable. She
loved him freely, and in doing so, she was at last complete. Every pleasure was
now exhumed. This time, she surrendered each suffering piece of herself. This
time, she was fearless. This time, it was their true first time.

Chapter
Thirty-Two

“Have you any doubts to
share?” Maddox asked, as he lay back and watched Ivory bathe. The morning sun
danced over every curve and edge of her now more blossomed form. The last time he’d
seen her, he could count the vertebrae down her back, now they were barely
visible. She poured the clean water onto a washcloth, rubbed it lightly with
soap, and briskly drew it over her neck, down between her breasts, and onward
until, finally, she rinsed and wrung it out.
 
She continued to repeat the process until she felt clean.

“Of course I have many
doubts. I, however, do not doubt that when we reach Port Royal, there will be a
man o’ war awaiting us, loaded down with guns. What then?” she asked, blotting
her body dry as she turned and faced him.

Maddox raised his arms and
locked his hands together behind his head. “The
Cat
is following us. I’m sure you already knew, but I want to be
completely honest with you. She is following to assist in your defense.”

“I’m surprised that I
haven’t yet been informed!”

“Your man, Willy, was made
aware of this entire plot, Ivory. Alphonse and I pledged our loyalty to you,
and he was assured we are no longer on opposite sides. Thankfully, he is a wise
old buzzard, and once Madame Cassandra was made aware as well…”

“Wait, Cass knows you’re
here?”

Maddox rolled up from his
back and sat with a groan. “Hopefully, she’s engaged much the same as we’ve
been by now—depending, of course, on whether or not her own reunion was at
least half as pleasant as ours.” He reached out his hand and took Ivory’s,
pulling it to his lips.

“Thank you. However, even
with the
Cat
on our side, I’m
cautious.”

“We are always cautious, as
it is our nature in our line of work to be so. We must remind ourselves,
though, that we are capable and clever enough to survive. We are also wise
enough to revise our plot, and perhaps change our course.”

“Change our course?” Ivory
repeated.
 
Maddox pulled at her hand and
drew her closer against him, until his face gazed up at her from between her
breasts. “And go where?” she asked, smoothing the messy mass of waves from his
brow.

“Ocracoke.”

“Ocracoke? To what purpose?”

“That freedom you so
desire—and I as well.”

“Ocracoke is teaming with
pirates. What freedom can be found in a den of vipers such as that?”

“From there, I can find us
safe passage north. Ivory, even you must confess we will not be welcomed warmly
in any legitimate port.”

Ivory slid back out of his
arms and pulled a fresh suit of clothes from her trunk. “How far are we from
there?”

“Not far at all. Perhaps a
day, if we turn around now.”

“I’ll need to address the
crew, but I can tell you this; my purpose…our purpose... will not be what
drives my crew. I’ll call them together at once. Get dressed.”
 
Ivory buckled her belt and secured her arms.
“Won’t you join me?” she asked Maddox as she looked back at him from the cabin
door.

“It’s what I now live and
die for, my love. As well as, perhaps, some new clothes,” he chuckled.

 
“Will you be returning to the
Cat
?” Ivory asked as Maddox nodded his
head and approached her, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek. Ivory
met his hand with her own, and pressed her face against it again. Her fingers
then slid to his wrist and felt that colorful and unique bracelet.
 
She turned her eyes to it. “Where did you get
this?”

“It was a gift from Zara.
It’s a reminder of how one’s errors and failures can become something more
valuable than gold and precious stones.” He then reached out and loosened that
shortened lock of hair from behind her ear and wrapped it around his other
wrist. “As hair does grow, eventually this remembrance of my faulted past will
disappear. This bracelet will, however, never allow me to forget.”

Ivory reached up and held
his bearded jaw in her hands and brushed her thumb along the arc of his lower
lip. “If I’ve learned anything in the past two days, it would be to let go of
those incidents and memories that do not serve the direction for which you are
aiming. Your loyalty and love have wiped clean any harm you’ve done. Besides,
we were at war, where all things are fair.”

Maddox snatched her wrists
and pulled her hard against him, consuming her parted lips one final time
before allowing her to open the door and lead the way to the quarterdeck. Along
their path, she banged heavily on both Keara and Cassandra’s cabin doors to
call them. Richard came galloping up to her with unbridled excitement, offering
his services to rouse and herd the crew. Ivory urged him on to that duty as he
stopped for a moment and bowed with a knowing wink and a smile to his former
captain.
 
Then, he shot off, shouting,
“Alright you lot, show a leg!”

“Who’s minding the
Cat
?” Ivory inquired.

“My bosun, as well as a
couple of familiar faces.”

“Zara? Roman?” Ivory stopped
and asked with a thrill in her voice.

“Sadly, no. However, your
cousin Miranda was quite taken with the fact that Alphonse had pledged his
undying affection for Cassandra, and she strongly persuaded my ex-carpenter,
Sandy, to join our cause. She did, however, require a bit more convincing once
she discovered it was I they’d be assisting as well.”

“Oh, you must certainly love
me to have tolerated that inquisition,” Ivory smiled.

“Surely you must be playing
me, Madame—excuse me, Captain. Knowing her as you do, you must admit her
penchant for intrigue wouldn’t have allowed her to miss such a scheme for all
of the farms in Jamaica.”

“I’ll just be pleased she
chose to be close. I couldn’t bear losing any of them. Thank you, Maddox.”

Once the crew was assembled,
Ivory took her place head and shoulders above them and called upon their
undivided attention. Keara and James approached with Cassandra and Master Green
close behind. Ivory’s eyes met Green’s as he exchanged handshakes with Maddox,
and she nodded, emotionless, when she met his sparkling eyes.

“Hear ye! Cap’n Ivory’s
‘bout to speak!” Richard shouted from his perch on the main boom.

“First and foremost, we’ve a
thief aboard this ship, and upon discovery of said thief, we’ll try them and
commence swift justice. Any man or woman with knowledge may come to my cabin
and disclose whatever information you may deem valuable in bringing this
traitor to justice.”

Ivory’s eyes shifted back
and forth across the shocked faces, and could not find one among them who
appeared even slightly guilty. “My next order of business is that we’ve allied
with Captain Maddox Carbonale and his crew from Kingston. As most of you are
already aware, the Captain is, in fact, not dead, and the
Cat
has been following us since we cast off from Charles Towne, so
none of this should come as much of a surprise.
 
And, as I explained previously, Captain Carbonale proved himself our
brethren when he released me in Nassau to rejoin you. Knowing what may await us
in Port Royal, the good Captain has agreed to give us consort to the island of
Ocracoke, north of our current location, in the waters off of North Carolina.

One of the crew called out.
“What’s there fer us?”

“May I speak?” Maddox
requested.

Upon Ivory’s nod, Maddox
stepped up to her side. “A Royal Navy man o’ war ship will, without a doubt, be
patrolling the waters off the coast of Jamaica. They’ll be hunting us—all of
us. They’ll be hunting Ivory for the bounty placed upon her head, and hunting
me for allowing her escape. We can, of course, stand and fight… but why?
 
We have other means of staying alive that
don’t involve at least fifty guns and three hundred British sailors aiming for
our heads.”

“Three hundred?” the man
shouted back.

“Yes, and I know this first
hand, as prior to my now illustrious career as a pirate, I was a lieutenant
aboard one of her Royal Navy’s more grandiose and well-manned vessels. Please
allow me to share with you the fact that not even my
Cat
would last a single blast from such a ship. I have an associate
in Ocracoke who will grant us passage to the island, will purchase what we have
in our holds, and, should you choose, you may find further employment among the
many other ships available.”

“Other ships? What’s he
talkin’ about, Cap’n?”

“Things are winding down,”
Ivory answered.
 
“The sea is becoming a
more dangerous and uncertain place each day. If you continue to follow me, your
lives are in as great of danger as mine.”

“He sunk the
Diamond
, Cap’n, and yet you’d willfully
take him on his word?”

“Need I remind you that he gave
all of you quarter? And, as we all know too well, what happens in battle is
fair on both sides for all, no matter the victor. Yes, I choose to follow
Captain Carbonale’s advice, as I have weighed our options, and I believe
wholeheartedly that you should continue to follow me until you’re out of
danger. Otherwise, at some point close at hand, we will all perish at the guns
of this man o’ war beast. I choose not to sacrifice your lives for my own. The
lives of you all far outweigh the bounty on my head.”

“Captain, may I speak?”
Keara asked, and Ivory nodded.

“I have not yet revealed
this to our Captain, but it is my decision that should we make land, be it in
Jamaica or Ocracoke, and should you choose to remain together aboard this
vessel, I wish to nominate James Roberts as your new captain.”

James stepped forward from
Keara’s side and glanced up at Ivory through glaring streams of light.
 
At Keara’s words, a thick grouping of puffy
clouds blew east, exposing a bright yellow sun. James looked out over the crew
with a stern expression and then turned his face up at Ivory, who was shielding
her eyes from the glare.

“James, do you accept this
nomination?” Ivory inquired.

“That I do, Captain. It’s
been my honor and privilege to serve you, but I’m not finished yet.”

Ivory turned to Maddox with
a look of surprise only he could acknowledge, and then back to James. “Let us
first take a vote on Ocracoke, and should we all agree, James Roberts has my
blessing once I relinquish command, as your new Captain.”

Upon her word, the ship
erupted in “Aye’s” and howls in the affirmative. Ivory glanced down at her
right hand, which was now covered in the embrace of Maddox’s left, and it grew
tightly fixed as hats flew up into the air and men scampered to their posts.
“Bring her about, lads!” Ivory ordered and then turned her attention to those
closest to her. “James, plot the course.
 
Master Shepard, may I please see you and Madame Randall in my quarters,
immediately?”

Ivory stepped down from her
perch and led Maddox back to her cabin. “Please give us a moment,” she said to
her cousins as she and Maddox disappeared inside.

“We’ll pass the
Cat
on our turn to Ocracoke. Upon that
meeting, I feel it would be best if you and Master Green returned to your
ship.”

“My place is with you now
but I admit you’re right,” Maddox said softly as he walked towards her.

“You’ll always be with me,
but this journey, albeit brief, is not without danger. Having you as consort at
the ready to assist me takes precedence over whatever needs my heart…” she
paused as he stepped behind her and slid his hands around her waist, pressing
himself close at her back. “As I said, your support against attack is far more
important than my personal desires.”

“Duty above all.”

“Yes, duty. We’ll be
together again very soon. Look at it this way,” Ivory whispered as she felt his
breath on her cheek and his hands explored her. “I’m sure you have a clean suit
of clothes aboard your ship. No offense, but you’re much more appealing out of
those clothes than in them. They’re positively foul.” Ivory laughed.

“I can oblige you, Madame,
when you’ve finished your meeting.” Maddox continued exploring, placing tender
kisses from her shoulder to her ear.