A Pirate of her Own (7 page)

Serenity stared at the closed door. Lock the
door indeed! Yet even through her mortification, she was thrilled that a heroic man like Morgan could be attracted to her.

Her heart light, she placed his shirt on the oak table and quickly locked the door as ordered. Not that she was afraid of him, nay, far from it.

Her Sea Wolf had proven himself a most honorable man.

“My Sea Wolf,” she repeated, wondering if any woman could ever lay claim to such a man.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She felt giddy, even a little silly. Oh, but it was an incredible feeling. One completely new to her.

Her thoughts still on her magnificent Captain Drake, she finished scrubbing the soot from her cheeks. Even now with the cold water splashing against her skin, she could feel the heat of Morgan’s touch, smell the raw and wild scent of the untamed sea. It was a heady concoction.

Was this what her sister Chatty had felt on those nights when she would sneak out of the house to meet Stephen alone? No wonder Chatty had run away with him. At the moment, Serenity held little doubt that if Morgan asked her to, she would follow him to the ends of the earth.

She heard his voice from outside the door as he called orders to one of his men, and another warm rush ran through her. What a man!

Strong, proud…

A little on the arrogant side and somewhat domineering, but then, who was without flaws?

Sighing, she pulled her brother’s shirt off and replaced it with Morgan’s. The white lawn swept against her skin, raising chills along her arms. It had his scent. Raw and wild, and she fought the urge to bury her nose in the soft material.

A knock at the door startled her.

“Miss James?” a timid voice called. “The captain wanted me to bring you some…” The voice trailed off and for several seconds no sound followed.

She lifted her brow in question.

“Some lady things,” the voice finished, rushing as if the words embarrassed him.

Opening the door, she met the young man who had peeked into her shop earlier that day. He stood on the other side, looking sheepish and unsure while he clutched at an armload of material.

“They call me, Kit, ma’am,” he said, his light blue eyes meeting hers for an instant before he glanced back to the floor. “Barney and the captain told me to look after any needs you might have.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile.

He handed her his armload of clothes. “These are from Captain Dudley. They were supposed to be for his wife, but after Captain Drake had a few words with him, he said that you might have more use of them for the time being.”

Who was Captain Dudley?

“Dudley?” she asked.

“Aye, Jake Dudley. He was the one who brought you on board.”

“Oh yes, I remember him quite well.”

Kit hung his head and nodded. “I thought you might.”

He started to move away, but Serenity stopped him with a light touch on his arm. “Who is Jake Dudley, Kit?” she asked, remembering the way he’d spoken to Morgan. She didn’t know for certain, but she suspected that Morgan Drake didn’t allow many men such liberty with their words. “Is he a member of the crew or just a friend of Captain Drake’s?”

She watched the color fade from his cheeks as if the question terrified him. “It’s not for me to say, Miss James.”

With that handful of mysterious words, Kit took his leave. Chewing her lip, Serenity shut the door and crossed the room. A mystery. How she loved a mystery to solve. And just who should she bother for the details?

Surely not Morgan, he was too clever and cautious by half. And Jake himself scared her to pieces.

Hmm…

It would take some doing, but she was certain she could find a member of the crew who liked to talk as much as she did. Someone who with a few well-placed questions would spill like an over-filled barrel. First thing in the morning, she would find that person.

Shaking out the bundle Kit had left behind, she was surprised to find a modest rose and white striped gown, as well as a couple of things that made her blush every bit as much as Kit. No wonder the boy had been embarrassed. Imagine bringing a corset and pantaloons to a woman! Good gracious!

She started to put the light silk chemise on, then stopped herself. The truth be known, she didn’t want to take off Morgan’s shirt. For some reason she
really
liked wearing it. It was as if he were holding her, protecting her.

What would it hurt to keep it on for the night?

After refolding her bundle of clothes, she placed them in the chest and settled into Morgan’s bunk. Chills spread through her, and she twisted her hands in the warm quilt. Just think, this was where her infamous pirate captain rested his head every night after he’d spent a day chasing the evil Brits.

This was where he came to relax and think through his…

“Oh, no,” she breathed. She suddenly realized that he must view her as a horrible intrusion into his life. This cabin was like her father’s study. Morgan surely thought it to be his refuge—his one private domain.

And he had given it over to her.

Where was he going to sleep from now on?

She couldn’t accept his room for the duration of the trip. Other arrangements would have to be made.

Pulling the quilt up closer to her, she caught another whiff of him and sighed. Her heart fluttered.

Give up this bunk,
she said to herself,
and you won’t feel this close to him anymore.

But, I will keep my self-respect,
she countered.

Aye, but since when does self-respect feel as good as this bunk?

Serenity laughed at herself.
You are an immoral, wanton woman, Serenity James, and for the sake of your sanity, as well as your virtue, you will give Captain Drake back his bed!

All right, self, you win. Tomorrow he gets his bed back.

But tonight was hers to savor.

“Looking a little green gilled, Drake.”

Shaking his head, Morgan rubbed his tired eyes. “Don’t you ever make any noise when you walk, Jake?”

“Well, the way this ship’s creaking tonight, I think I would need a cowbell for you to hear my approach.”

Morgan gave a short laugh as Jake took a seat across from him. The galley was dark, the coals of the fire burning very low. Only the light of a single tallow candle safely ensconced in a glass lantern provided light for the two men. Morgan wasn’t sure how long he’d been down here. It seemed in some ways like an eternity.

“It’s not like you to drink with a storm brewing,” Jake said as he reached for the bottle of rum next to Morgan’s elbow.

“Who says I’m drinking?”

Cocking an amused brow, Jake held the half-full bottle up before the flame. “I guess the bottle drank itself.”

Morgan said nothing, instead he stared at a black spot on a board just over Jake’s head.

“You know, Drake, I seem to recall this impertinent young pup who once told me that problems shared are problems solved.”

Morgan had never been one to appreciate hearing his words flung back at him. Especially not by the infamous pirate king, Jack Rhys. “And I seem to recall a surly pirate telling me to mind my own business or I’d find myself gutted.”

Jake laughed and poured himself a liberal amount of rum. “Careful with that word, lest Barney hear it. If anyone finds out who I am, I’ll be in a worse fix than you. Which leads me to my next question. What do you plan to do about Hayes?”

“What I should have done years ago.”

“Kill him?” Jake asked in all seriousness.

Morgan smirked at the pirate’s answer for everything. “
Confront
him.”

Jake expelled a snarling breath before curling his lip in disgust. “Since when do you take the sissy way out?”

“Excuse me?” Morgan asked, infuriated by the insult.

Jake laughed good-naturedly, dispelling Morgan’s anger. “Face it, Drake, that good English breeding of yours is showing itself. Talking ain’t a man’s way of doing things. You know that. You got a problem, you cut its heart out and then it’s not a problem anymore.”

“Last time I checked, following that philosophy is what has you one step away from the gallows. Forgive me if I don’t take your advice.”

Jake shrugged off Morgan’s words. “You, my friend, have come a long way from the piss ’n’ vinegar youth who used to try my patience. But then, you were always too honest for your own good.

“By the way,” Jake said before taking a swig of rum. “I’m sorry for getting you mixed up with that wench.”

Morgan snorted. “What possessed you to take her hostage?”

Jake shrugged again. “You ought to be grateful. My first impulse was—”

“To cut her throat.”

“Exactly.”

Morgan rolled his eyes. Tolerance had never been a strong point for Jake, and it seemed not even these last years away from the sea had managed to mellow him any. “Just answer me one question. How did Lorelei ever survive long enough for you to marry her?”

Jake guffawed loudly. “What can I say, she puts up a good fight.” He downed the last of his rum. He laced his hands behind his head and sat back with a satisfied smirk. “And she handles a sword better than most men.”

Morgan laughed, remembering Lorelei’s intrepid spirit as she stood toe-to-toe with the surly pirate.

But who would expect less from the granddaughter of the infamous pirates, Anne Bonny and Calico Jack?

“You must be mellowing with age,” Morgan said at last.

Snorting, Jake poured himself another mug of rum. “I think it’s too many years of being around you.” He eyed Morgan keenly. “So, what do you plan to do with
her
?”

“I don’t know,” he answered with a sigh. “In all honesty, Jake, I have so many problems right now, I don’t know where one ends and the next begins.”

Jake gave a knowing nod. “You’re thinking of Penelope?”

Morgan sighed. “Aye,” he said. He could never hide his thoughts from Jake. “I keep thinking that I’m no better than Winston.”

Jake’s gaze hardened. “What, are you daft? How do you figure that?”

“We’ve ruined Serenity every bit as much as Winston ruined my sister.”

Jake frowned. “Last I checked, we weren’t planning on selling Serenity to a wh—”

“Don’t you say it!”
Morgan snarled.

Jake held his hands up in truce. “I’m sorry, Drake. I know how much you loved her.”

And Jake did. If any man alive knew how much Morgan Drake’s sister had meant to him, it was Jake. Jake had helped Morgan track her down and it’d been Jake who’d paid to free her from the bordello she’d been sold to.

“You know,” Morgan said, scratching his chin in thought. “I was actually thinking we might be able to turn this around with Hayes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, this time of year, he usually heads toward the Caribbean to try and roust some of our good brethren from their winter homes. If we were to head that way, we might be able to cross paths with him.”

Jake took a deep swig of rum. “You know there’s nothing more I’d like than to see that bastard dead. But you go after him and the Brits will raise their price.”

“Aye, but maybe the next person will think twice before coming after me.”

Jake snorted. “Leave him be, Morgan. You got more important things to attend.”

“Such as?”

“For starters, you can buy Lorelei a new dress from one of those expensive London designers. She’ll have my head when she finds out I let your woman have that flimsy pink thing she’s been asking for.”

“Serenity is not my woman. You’re the one who trapped her here.”

“Yeah, well, if I had a woman on board
my
ship, I wouldn’t be down here making love to a bottle of rum. I’d be up there showing her the better part of my sex.”

Morgan placed his finger above his brow and traced a line that ran the same length and shape as the scar above Jake’s brow. A scar Lorelei had delivered during one of their numerous and notorious fights. “I think I’ll spare myself the grief.”

Jake laughed. “I assure you, Drake, I
thoroughly
enjoyed earning that scar. And it was certainly worth every stitch.”

With that, Jake took his leave, and Morgan noticed the bottle of rum took its leave as well.
Same old Black Jack,
he thought with a smile.

Some things never changed.

Morgan sat quietly, thinking over Jake’s words. And the fact that Serenity was only a few yards away, no doubt tucked safely in his bed.

In
his
bed.

Would the insults never cease?

Serenity came awake to the sound of rain tapping lightly against the windows. Opening her eyes, she watched the drops run down the thick panes of clear glass.

The ship!

“Oh no,” she gasped, realizing in that instant that the night before hadn’t been a nightmare.

Well, okay, maybe
nightmare
wasn’t the right word. The point was:
It all had really happened
.

She was ruined.

By now her father would have been up for hours

and was no doubt scouring Savannah looking for her. He had no idea where she was, or when she would return.

“Oh no,” she repeated.

The permanence of her predicament hit her like a shot. This was really it. There was never any going back to the life she had lived before.

Serenity prayed for courage and strength to face her future—to face the stinging gossipmongers who would follow her for the rest of her life. Even now, she could hear the vicious comments made about Chatty.

That’s the James girl there. She’s the one they caught kissing that young boy down at the lake. Little harlot. That’s what happens when a woman starts talking social reforms for women. Benjamin should have taken a strap to his wife and never let her fill her daughters’ heads with such tripe. I pity that poor man, left behind to cope with the mess his wife left him.

How many times had she heard a variation of that story? And how many more times in her life would she hear the new one?

That be the poor James girl there. She done run off with pirates in the middle of the night….