A Pirate's Heart (St. John Series) (16 page)

She cut her other sleeve off and pressed it to the bleeding laceration. Looking up at Slim, she asked, “Do you have a doctor on board?”

“No. He died. We haf yet ta find a replacement for da mon.”

Kristina nodded her understanding. She knew what she needed to do. In a trembling voice, she commanded, “Get me a needle and some thread. I’ve got to get this wound closed off before he loses too much blood.”

Slim stood up. “Samuel!” When the boy approached, he instructed him to bring the needed items.

Kristina kept the pressure applied to Max’s head as she surveyed the rest of his body. He had another large wound to his right arm along the center of the large black pin-poked tribal tattoo. But other than that, he appeared to be unharmed.

“What happened?” she questioned.

“When da ship was hit, da railing splintered,” Slim answered as he motioned his head in the direction of the damage. “Max was standin’ over by it.”

“How is he?” Alex interrupted as he rushed to his injured friend. He had been attending to the other wounded, unaware of what had happened.

Kristina looked up at Alex, the worry apparent in her eyes. Truth be told, she didn’t know how he was and wouldn’t know until he woke up.

“I . . . I have to get the bleeding stopped,” she began, trying to hold back the worry in her voice, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Here,” Samuel said breathlessly as he ran towards her with the requested supplies.

Kristina quickly went to work with Alex’s assistance. It took several sutures to close the wound on his forehead. A large dark pump knot had formed from the blow of the splintering wood. Once the wound to his head was closed, she turned her attention to his arm. It took a little longer; the wound was deep and jagged. She had to meticulously pick fragments of splintered wood from the wound. Once the debris was removed, she sutured the jagged edges the best she could and cleaned both areas with the salty water brought to her.

She looked up at Alex. “Take him to our quarters.”

Alex picked up Max under his shoulders and James grabbed his feet. Both men struggled under the dead weight of their friend.

“I think you’ve been feeding him too well,” Alex complained as he hefted Max up. “The rear cannon would weigh less.”

Kristina shot Alex a heated glare, but said nothing. She rushed in front of them and opened the door. She tossed back the covers to the bed as the men entered and carefully laid Max down.

Kris turned to look at them. Words formed in her throat, but were unable to come out. She was afraid. Afraid that this man would die and there was nothing she could do about it.

Alex could see the turmoil in her eyes. He motioned for James to leave and turned towards her. He wrapped his large arms around her tiny frame.

“He’ll be fine,” Alex tried to reassure her. Truth be told, he wasn’t so sure. Max had been knocked out several times in the past, but never for this long. He had been out for over an hour, his wounds were deep, and he had lost a lot of blood.

Kristina clung to Alex for several minutes as the tears flowed. She didn’t want anything to happen to this man. She had only known him for a few weeks, but she had fallen in love with him. She could feel Alex’s chin resting on the top of her head as he stroked her hair.

“Get your hands off my wife.” Both Alex and Kristina turned towards the bed. Max was lying with one eye open, watching them.

Kristina rushed to his side, overjoyed. “Shhh, you need your rest,” she scolded him as she sat on the bed, tears streaming down her face.

“Didn’t know if you were going to pull out of that one, old friend,” Alex fearfully admitted.

“So moving in on my wife before Davy Jones comes to see me?” Max responded with his normal dry humor.

“How hard did you get hit in the head?” Alex asked. Shaking his head, he continued, “Lord, no, I couldn’t handle your wife. That’s why I put her with you.” Giving Kristina a playful wink, he told her, “I’ll leave you to attend to your husband, Mrs. Hart.” She smiled sweetly at him as he left, leaving Max in her caring hands.

Chapter Sixteen

Angelica moved slowly back to her ship,
The Demon
. She always despised the fact that Roger made her be the one to pay the commodore “his dues”. Roger Dearing was the captain of
The Demon
. He had made a deal with Commodore McClain several months ago. The commodore wanted to grant Dearing a Letter of Marque. Roger had refused, stating he had no desire to be a privateer, being under the thumb of others. He had a better offer. His idea was to split his bounty with McClain. He agreed to pay dues to ensure safe passage thorough the Caribbean. In return, McClain would turn the other cheek while Roger plundered to his heart’s content, splitting the profit with the Commodore.

Angelica shuddered. Roger got off easy. He just had to battle, but she had to be the one to deliver the profit and pay “the dues”.

It had been two days since the dues were last paid to McClain and her backside was still tender. He preferred the “back door method” as part of his payment. No matter how he phrased it, it was still anal sex. McClain would always point out that he did not want to catch anything from her. He informed her that if he pleasured himself with her the normal way, she would surely give him something no amount of mercury or no man could cure and that would disrupt his plans of marrying the Earl of Hyntington’s lovely daughter, Lady Madison St. John.

As Angelica rounded the turn on the dock, she spotted a familiar looking vessel. A slow seductive smile crossed her face.
The Abyss
had docked. Wonderful. Max could always make her forget the commodore. He was such a remarkable lover. She saw him descending the gangplank. He was walking slowly, which was unusual for him, but she dismissed the thought from her mind. She didn’t notice the woman behind Max or the way she was guarding him.

Angelica marched right up to Max. Without saying a word, she entwined her fingers into the collar of his shirt, pulled him down and kissed him. As she pushed him back, she sucked his lower lip, pulling it outward. “Hello, lover,” she purred.

Max was taken aback. He had never expected to run into Angelica here. He knew Dearing hated Nassau. Before he could respond, he watched in astonishment as Kristina planted her fist into Angelica’s jaw, causing the female pirate to stumble backward.

“Keep your hands off my husband,
puta
,” Kristina hissed in a dangerously low voice.

Shock crossed Angelica’s face. Never had a woman had the audacity to attack her! She was renowned! Feared! She turned to face her attacker. Angelica towered over the angry Spanish woman; her height usually intimidated other women into cowering away, but not this one. She faced her head on, unnerved.

“Do you know who
I
am?” Angelica asked in a sardonic tone.

“
Si
,” Kristina replied coldly. “You are the
perra
who is going to die if you touch my husband again.”

“No,” Angelica said just as coldly. “I am the woman who is going to kill you for touching me.”

Max stepped between the two enraged women. He knew why Angelica was angry; no one ever attacked her nor did anyone stand up to her. He also knew what was on Kristina’s mind—the argument they’d had last night.

Somehow their conversation had turned and the subject of divorce was brought up again. They had an argument, and Max became angry. So he had casually told Kristina that she could not take any lovers until after they divorced.

“A lover!” she yelled at him, fire shooting at him from her brown eyes. “Well, let me make the same suggestion to you,
my husband
. If I cannot take a lover, neither shall you!”

Max took a weak breath. His strength hadn’t fully returned and wouldn’t for several more days. “Ladies,” he interjected in an attempt to defuse the situation. “There is no need to fight over me.” A malicious thought came to him. “There is plenty of me to go around.”

Angelica took advantage of Max’s proposition, and she placed her hand on his chest. She still needed to erase the commodore’s touch from her body. “That would be wonderful, lover,” she cooed as she took her finger and seductively stroked his jaw. “But that woman still must pay for touching me.”

Kristina’s blood was boiling. She grabbed Max by his injured arm and dug her nails into the wound, causing a stitch to rupture. He did not turn to face her, but ignored her touch, along with the pain in his arm, as he continued to turn his charms onto the brunette.

Kristina stepped in front of him. Turning her back on the woman, she took the heel of her hand and hit Max in the forehead where the healing wound was located.

“Ow!” he yelled, instinctively placing his fingers on the laceration. He looked at his fingers, checking for blood, and touched his head again. “What the hell did you do that for?”

She ignored his question and whipped back around to face the evil woman. Kristina wanted to claw this woman’s eyes out. And it must have shown in her expression for Angelica took a step back. Irreverently, Kristina seethed, “I am going to warn you only one more time,
puta
, keep your filthy hands off my husband or I will cut them off.
Comprendido
?”

A faked expression of innocence crossed Angelica’s face. “Max, whatever is this delusional woman talking about?”

“This delusional woman is my wife,” Max replied. “And I would appreciate it if you would remember that before you even think of insulting her again, Angelica.”

Angelica laughed. “Oh, Max! I’m so happy you finally developed a sense of humor. But I do say, if you must play a joke like this, the least you could have done was chosen a pretty woman to play your wife.” A cynical sneer crossed her face as she looked Kristina up and down.

Before Max knew what was happening, he watched as Kristina raised her fist and hit Angelica again and again. She planted her fist onto Angelica’s mouth, then hit her nose twice, before pushing her off the dock into the water. As Angelica fell backward, she reached out and grabbed Kristina’s shirt pulling her with her into the warm waters.

Kristina surfaced quickly, sputtering from her unexpected dunking. She swam over to the dock and was hoisted from the water by Max. She turned to find Slim watching Angelica pull herself out of the water, not offering assistance of any kind to the voluptuous brunette. Kristina was furious! She was already mad, then the confrontation with this woman made her angry, and now an unexpected swim!

She whipped around to face the tall woman again, only to feel Max’s hand on her arm. “Kristina,” she heard him say with warning in his voice.

She turned to face him, her eyes aglow with rage. “What?!”

“Let her be. I think you’ve made yo—” Before he could finish his sentence, Kristina placed both hands on his chest and pushed hard, shoving him into the water as well.

Slim put a tight grip on Angelica’s arm as he watched the married couple bicker. His mouth dropped when he saw Max fall into the water. Fear gripped him like icy fingers when he heard Max yell his wife’s name. He was thankful that he was not the one the quartermaster was angry with.

“Go to hell!” Kristina yelled back at him and turned to Slim. She still needed blood from that woman. As she reached Slim, she was quickly yanked backward by a large, wet arm. “Get your hands off me, Max!”

“Slim, make sure Angelica gets back to
The Demon
while I deal with my wife.” Max instructed his tall Jamaican shipmate. He left with Kristina, dragging her by her waist.

Jerking her arm away from Slim, Angelica heatedly stared at Max. She stood with her mouth agape for several seconds, watching the couple leave. Wiping her bloody mouth with the back of her hand, she looked down at it. She looked back to the bickering couple. Max was married! Never in a million years did anyone expect that man to marry. He was adamantly against it. She watched as they walked back up the gangplank onto
The Abyss.

“Take your leave now, Slim. I don’t need help from
your
kind.”

“I wuz not plannin’ on helpin’ ya anyways, wench,” Slim replied as he turned and approached a local man to hire his help to deliver the cargo
The Abyss
was carrying.

The realization of what had transpired hit Angelica full force. Max was married, never to be her lover again, and it was that Spanish woman’s fault. No, that Spaniard had assaulted her!

Angelica turned and began walking to
The Demon
again. Her mind was racing trying to figure out a way to get rid of that horrid woman who insulted and attacked her. Then, she remembered the rumor she’d heard about
The Revenge
.

Later that afternoon, Angelica approached two men at a local tavern called The Eagle’s Nest. She had heard that the slave traders were in need of a certain type of woman. From the way she had heard it, they had sold a woman to a tavern owner in Tortuga. The tavern owner’s assistant had paid a hefty sum for her, but she escaped. Now, the tavern owner was demanding the return of the woman or he was going to take great delight in dismembering Hawkins . . . slowly. She approached the two men.

They were so engrossed in their conversation that they did not notice her until she spoke, “Excuse me, gentlemen.”

Both men looked at her. Hawkins leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his thin chest. He took in Angelica’s battered appearance. She had a busted lip and a cut to her left cheek. Her right eye was puffy and black. There was a small cut running along the bridge of her swollen nose.

“What do you want, Angelica?”

“Hello to you, too, Edwin,” she replied as she pulled up a chair and sat down. She motioned to the barmaid for a drink.

“Well?” Edwin questioned again.

She picked up her beverage and took a drink. Her tongue ran it over her lips, licking the sweetness from them. “I hear you need a woman.”

“Not interested,” Edwin said and turned back to his comrade.

She slammed the tankard down causing the liquid to spill over the sides and hissed, “I wasn’t finished.”

“Are you disrespectin’ the capt’n? Cause if’n ya are, I’ll carve up yer face worse than it already is,” Jimmie cautioned as he pulled out a long knife and placed it on the table.

Angelica looked at the knife before turning her gaze back to the short disgusting man. A snort escaped her. “Do you think I’m frightened of you, little man? I could slit your throat before you even moved. So do not threaten me.”

Hawkins took a slow breath. “Put away your weapon, Jimmie, and let’s hear what the wench has to say.”

Jimmie put the knife back in the sheath on his belt. “Well, get on with it.”

“I heard that you sold a woman to Mr. Nubian, but she ran away and if you don’t return her you will have . . . considerable issues.”

“Go on,” Edwin replied, his curiosity piqued by what Angelica had to say.

“Well,” she continued as she took another drink of her beverage. “What if I told you I know where one is that would fit the description of the one you lost?”

“We didn’t lose her she ra—” Jimmie began, but was interrupted by Hawkins.

“She didn’t like her current situation so decided to leave, yes. How do you know of this?”

“Never mind that,” Angelica stated, flipping her left hand outward. “So are you interested?”

“I might be,” Edwin warily replied.

“Well, I just happen to know where there is a Spanish lady. She should be easy to take, but . . . ”

“But what?”

“Well,” she began and swallowed uneasily. “She’s with the crew of
The Abyss
.”

“Aw, hell,” Jimmie mumbled, rubbing the side of his face.

Edwin sat up straight as a rod. “Are you mad?” 

She defiantly lifted her chin. “No, I am not crazy, just angry. I want that woman gone and you are in need of one. So,” she stated as she lowered her eyes to a slit, “you either do it or . . .” She let the thought float in the air like a noxious fume as she watched the men.

“Or what?” Jimmie asked.

“Well, you know I am very close with the commodore,” she stated, letting the men know what she implied.

“Let me get this straight,” Edwin stated. “You want us to kidnap this woman who, I’m assumin’, was the one that beat the hell out of ya. If I don’t do it, you’ll make up some false accusations and turn us over to McClain. Correct?”

She downed the rest of her drink and smirked coyly. “You’re not as stupid as they say you are. So, do we have a deal?”

“Even if I agree to this—which I haven’t—I don’t even know where
The Abyss’s
crew hides out when they dock here.”

“If I find out where they went and how to get there, would you agree?”

Edwin looked at the brunette beside him. Her offer intrigued him. He was in desperate need of a Spanish lady, and not just any Spaniard, but a fiery, petite woman with full red lips who just happened to be virginal. And since Mr. Nubian’s assistant knew what the woman looked like, he couldn’t substitute her with just anyone else. They had to look like the runaway woman. He had been searching for her, or one that looked like her, for almost three weeks now without any luck. Mr. Nubian had given him only a month to find the woman or he was going to notify his hired thugs where
The Revenge
and her crew were located.