The Pirate's Jewel (7 page)

Wayland hooked his arm through hers. “I think the lad will
appreciate a moment to collect his thoughts.”

Instead of pulling away, Jewel allowed his support. In
reality, she wasn’t nearly as ready to face Nolan as she confessed. “Are you
angry with me for lying to you?”

The kind crinkling around his mismatched eyes soothed her,
even accompanied with his broken-toothed smile. At least he was friendly.

“I knew you was a girl. I thought our captain could use a
female on board to soften him up a bit. You can see I was right. He might not
be so cranky if he had some womanly company.”

“He wasn’t too pleased to see me.” Jewel understood the
implications behind Wayland’s words but didn’t fear Nolan had any such
inclinations. The man acted as if he had no human emotions beyond rage, and
even the full-blown intensity of that had been a surprise. On his visit to the
Quail and Queen, he’d treated her with a chilly respect that invited only
distance.

Following Wayland, Jewel climbed down the ladder leading
into the ship’s shadowy hull. He waited at the bottom. “You know how to smooth
a man’s rough edges, don’t you, lass?”

“As a matter of fact I do.” No matter Nolan’s justified anger
at her deception, Jewel had the map. She’d do well not to forget that during
their conversation.

Wayland grabbed her shoulders, directing her down the
darkened corridor. “That’s my girl. You give old Nolan hell.”

Too soon, they stopped in front of a cabin door that Wayland
opened without knocking. Nolan swung around like an animal poised for a fight,
filling every inch of the tiny room with his bulk. Jewel froze in the doorway. Wayland
shoved her inside the airless cabin, and then followed, closing the door behind
him. With his body blocking the exit, Jewel felt trapped.

“What in the hell are you doing on my ship?” Nolan’s blue
eyes burned.

Jewel resisted the urge to flee only because Wayland stood
behind her. She forced herself to meet Nolan’s gaze and reminded herself that
he had come to her first. If he wanted the map, she came with it. “I’m sorry
for the trouble with the British, but I’m here now.” She stopped herself from
saying with the map, not sure she could trust Wayland. “I think we should just
forget about how I got on your ship and proceed with the arrangement we
discussed at the tavern.”

“I told you that was impossible,” he snapped. He paused to
tuck a strand of hair that had come loose from the tie behind his ear and took
a deep breath. His eyes lost some of their fury, but Jewel still felt
breathless. How much easier it would be if they were on the same side.

“Nothing’s impossible, Nolan. You appeared in my life when
I’d almost believed otherwise. I’ll not return to Charles Town. There’s nothing
for me there.” Jewel thought she saw compassion in Nolan’s expressive eyes, and
her stomach clenched as she braced herself for pity. She lifted her chin and
squared her shoulders. “I’m not asking for special treatment. Just what’s
fair.”

He leaned on the desk behind him, putting as much space
between them as possible in the tight quarters. His fingers curled around the
desk’s wooden top.

“Jewel”—he said her name with more gentleness than she’d
thought him capable of—“I do understand how hard it’s been for you in Charles
Town. I’ll pay you for the map and I’ll take you to Boston. You can start a new
life.”

“Working at the tavern’s all I know. Let me have this adventure.”
Jewel glanced away, finding it impossible to hold his gaze. The cabin’s tight
space seemed to shrink. A sensation like the atmosphere before a thunderstorm forced
the hair on her arms to prickle when she looked into Nolan’s eyes.

He stared at her, unblinking. “No one will make you marry
a man you don’t want. I can promise you that.”

For the briefest moment, his words left her too stunned to
respond. Though he offered an option she was unwilling to take, not often had
she received so much consideration. “It’s not that simple. Women are expected
to do things for their honor, their security. We don’t have the same choices
men do.”

Nolan lifted his chin slightly, studying her. “You’ll have
choices. I’ll see to that.”

Jewel wanted to believe him, but she didn’t see how he
could change the past, give her a name and a family when she had none. Though
he had championed her in the tavern, he couldn’t always be at her side. Now was
the time for her to champion herself.

Wayland rested his hand on her shoulder. She jumped, having
forgotten anyone else was in the small cabin.

“Ye see, lad,” Wayland said. “Ye owe it to the girl to help
her make a new life, seeing as how ye—”

One glance told her why Wayland ended his sentence so
abruptly. Cold fury showed in the gaze Nolan directed over her head.

Wayland didn’t seem put off. Jewel heard a smug smile in
his voice. “Seeing how you both want the same thing: to find the treasure. And
since the chit has the map, ye should help each other. I think Bellamy would
have liked that.”

Jewel turned abruptly, her surprise that Wayland knew she
had the map obliterated by his second revelation. “You knew my father?”

Wayland nodded. “He was my best and oldest friend. A finer
man there never was.”

Nolan’s voice chilled the warm exchange. “Since you two
have become such fast friends, Wayland can help you find your way in Boston.”

Wayland stepped in front of her. “Sorry, lad. I mean to
help you find the treasure.”

Nolan unfolded from his leaning position. His broad shoulders
seemed to grow. “Sorry, old man. You disobeyed a direct order. I told you to
leave the girl to me, and you went ahead and smuggled her on board.”

“I’m not some helpless piece of cargo. I made my own decision
to find my way aboard.” Jewel glanced between Nolan and Wayland. Apparently she
had a new source from which to discover what exactly had happened to her
father.

“And found my ship moored at a remote anchorage and hid in
the pantry all on your own?” While he spoke to Jewel, Nolan glared at Wayland.

“I’m very resourceful. You’ll realize that once you agree
to bring me along to find the treasure.” Jewel had never liked to lie but she’d
have to sharpen her skills at dodging the truth if she wanted to hold her own
with these two men.

“There you go. Out of the mouth of babes,” said Wayland.

“Get out.” Nolan took a step toward him.

“I’m not a babe.” Jewel held her ground. Nolan would have
to go through her to get to Wayland. “I’m a grown woman.”

“That’s the problem.” Nolan reached past her and held the
door open for Wayland to leave.

The older man winked at her. “Remember what I told you,”
he whispered in her ear before he strode out the door.

Nolan slammed it loud enough to make Jewel jump. He turned
his gaze on her and she couldn’t remember what she was about, much less
anything Wayland had said.

Nolan leaned against the closed door. “Where’s the map?”

Jewel laid her hand on her chest. “Right here.”

Nolan’s gaze dropped briefly. He pushed away from the door
and went to the desk. Confined by the small space, he somehow managed to
neither touch nor look at her in the process. “I’m not going to try to
physically take it from you, though I could.”

Jewel wished she hadn’t left her sword in her hiding place
or she would dispute his claim. Harvey had taught her well. Still, she doubted
she could run Nolan through any more than he would hold her down and take the map
from her. As angry as he was, his threats never got past the scowling stage. “I
don’t think you would do something like that.”

Nolan faced the desk. When he turned to her again, his jaw
was clenched. “Don’t tempt me. Even I don’t know my own depths.”

Jewel ignored the meaning behind his dark scowl, afraid
she’d lose her nerve. At the moment, he looked as if he were capable of
anything. “I was hoping we could make a deal.”

Nolan cocked his head. “Are you good at making deals? What
do you usually bargain with?”

His scrutiny made her uncomfortable. She felt naked before
his gaze even in her male clothing. She resisted the urge to fold her arms
across her chest. “You know, Nolan, there are many sea captains, but only one
map.”

“You would be the loser in that bargain, Jewel, I promise
you. No one else can read the map—and if they could, what’s to stop them from
taking the treasure from you once they find it?”

She studied him for a moment, and then discarded her knee-length
jacket. “Do you think all men so low?”

Nolan’s gaze flicked over her. “I know human nature.”

Jewel plucked at the tie of her shirt. The way he watched
her unlace the garment warned her Nolan battled his own human weaknesses, and
to her surprise, one of them happened to be lust for her. The fact that they were
alone settled on her for the first time, along with the awareness that the tiny
room held a narrow bunk on the back wall along with a desk. The cabin served as
Nolan’s bedroom.

“And what of you, Nolan? Is that what you intended when
you demanded I hand over the map and let you walk out of my life?” She thought
to unnerve him, to somehow gain an advantage, but the way he continued to stare
warned he wasn’t a man easily toyed with.

“I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”

“Neither do I.” She turned and faced the portal, keeping Nolan
at her back. Though her breasts were bound and she could pluck the map without
showing an inch of skin below her collarbone, Nolan’s stare seemed to eat
through cloth. Her hands shook even as she tried to convince herself being
alone with him in his cabin meant nothing.

“Jewel. No. This won’t be necessary.”

She quickly refastened her shirt and turned to face him.
“The map. You asked for it when you shut the door.” She held the paper out to
him.

Nolan stared at it as if she were holding a live frog. “You
were getting the map?” He glanced back up at her, and she swore he blushed. He
took it without touching her fingers.

“It’s all I have to bargain with. Did you expect something
else?” His reaction assured her he had, and that his desire for her had
unnerved him. But as she stood there, trembling and out of breath, she wasn’t
sure if the knowledge would help her or be a total disaster. Apparently she
would not be able to slip past Nolan’s defenses without breaching her own.

He leaned over the desk with his back to her. Jewel moved
behind him to get a glimpse over his shoulder. He had the map unfolded on the
desk, gently smoothing out the wrinkles with his tanned fingers. Jewel marveled
at the gentleness with which his big hands caressed the crinkled paper. She
wondered how he would touch a woman. She both feared and anticipated finding
out.

When he glanced at her over his shoulder, his gaze searched
her face. “Why did you just hand this to me? We haven’t made any bargain. I
could just take it, and that would be the end of it.”

“You said you honored your promises.” Jewel blinked at
this sudden change. Whatever had passed between them was tamped down just as
easily as his anger. She took a deep breath, knowing she wasn’t nearly as
efficient as he in hiding how she felt. She pursed her lips, fearing they had
been wet and parted.

“Yes, but you don’t know what that promise was. Jewel, you
shouldn’t trust me, or anyone. Please tell me you haven’t shown this to anyone
else?”

“No, I haven’t shown it to anyone else. I’m not stupid.”
Except when it came to him, apparently.

Nolan smiled at her before turning back to the map. “I can
see that.” He traced the first line of the text. “It’s written in Latin, so I
doubt it would do many people any good if you had.”

It could have been ancient Persian for all she knew. It
had never bothered her before; lots of women couldn’t read. But the idea of
admitting it to Nolan tightened her throat with embarrassment. She wanted to be
viewed as Nolan’s equal.

His gaze narrowed on the map. He shook his head as if he
didn’t like what he saw.

“What’s wrong?”

He drew a line with his finger to the sketch of an island.
“I thought my Latin lessons would show me what I missed before, but it still
gives directions to Gardiner’s Island. Bellamy and I, as well as half the
colony of New York, have already dug there.”

“You must have missed something.” Jewel had gazed at as
many maps as she could, trying to match the sketch. The small speck of
Gardiner’s Island, off the coast of New York, didn’t resemble the drawing on
this map.

“Maybe, or...” He paused, as if he meant to say something
more but decided against it. “Or we dug in the wrong spot. Perhaps the
directions will be clearer to me this time.”

“I’ve been studying the map every night since my father
left it with me. We’ll find it.” Though she couldn’t read the words, she had
stared at the picture so many times she knew she’d recognize the location of
the treasure. Jewel raised her hand to lay it on Nolan’s shoulder, and then
quickly thought better of it. She feared a simple comforting touch between them
would not be so simple.

Nolan neatly folded the map and handed it back to her.
“You aren’t coming with me, Jewel.”

She took the map from him. He pulled away before their
fingers brushed. She said, “I don’t understand. Why are you giving the map back
to me?”

“Because my offer from the start was to give you your share
of the treasure when I find it, and to see to your safety. That means Boston.
My family is there, and they can find you an honorable situation. If you don’t
want marriage, there are upstanding widows in need of companions.” He smoothed
back the dark wisps of hair that refused to stay in the black silk bow at the
back of his neck.

She stared at him, unable to believe what he was
suggesting. “You didn’t stay in Boston. Would either of the options you’re giving
me appeal to you?”