Moontide Embrace (Historical Romance) (54 page)

Liberty could see nothing from her vantage point.
Standing on her tiptoes, she almost lost her balance when
the
Sea Serpent
came about. Finally, as the ship turned
leeward, she caught a glimpse of the
Winged Victory,
and
she wondered why her sails were running lose. What was
Judah doing? Was he going to give up without a fight?

The cabin door opened, and Captain Ismar strolled in, a wide smile on his face. "It would seem your husband wants to offer me the
Winged Victory
as a gift. He offers no resistance for fear of harming you. I had expected a glorious battle from Judah Slaughter. Apparently it took his love for a woman to bring about his destruction. What a pity."

Liberty felt tears in her eyes. Captain Ismar was mistaken; Judah had not come because of his love for her. He had planned on facing Abdul Ismar in battle anyway. Her capture had merely advanced the time of the fight. "You have not won yet, Captain. Judah will never surrender the
Winged Victory
to you without a fight."

Abdul was so certain of victory, he had come below to gloat before Judah Slaughter's wife. "Will he not surrender? I have made a pass in front of his nose and he holds his fire. I am about to pass in front of him a second time. When I meet him on the third pass, I will cut him down with cannon fire. If any men are left on board after that, I will place them in irons."

"You said you wanted Judah alive," Liberty reminded the pirate.

"Perhaps I will still spare his life. It is something I will think on. I see no glory in capturing a man who will not even fight."

Kaboom!
The loud explosion rocked the
Sea Serpent.
The ship shuddered and groaned, and Liberty was thrown to the floor while Captain Ismar grabbed onto a chair, trying to steady himself. His face was drained of color, and his eyes were wild as he heard the sounds of splintering wood.

"That bastard!" Abdul Ismar shouted, running to the door just as another explosion rocked the ship. "That tricky bastard."

Liberty crawled over to the bed and pulled herself up onto it. By now, the sound of cannon fire filled the air and the
Sea Serpent
rocked drunkenly as the two ships
came together in a grinding clash. Liberty clamped her
hands over her ears, not wanting to hear the sounds of
men in pain and agony. The exploding cannon fire soon
gave way to crackling pistol shots. Liberty realized that the crew of the
Winged Victory
had boarded the
Sea
Serpent,
and both crews were now engaged in hand-to-
hand combat. For what seemed like an eternity she lay
trembling on the bed, too fearful to move.

Moving across the deck of the
Sea Serpent,
Judah
finally faced the man he had sworn to kill. Eyes blazing,
he crossed swords with the pirate. In Judah's heart, hatred burned. This man had killed his father and taken his wife captive. "If you are a religious man, Captain Ismar, I would suggest you make peace with a higher power. I am about to end your miserable life."

"You will try, Judah Slaughter, but I do not think you
will succeed," Abdul bragged.

"Before I end your life, I want you to know why you
must die," Judah said, slicing through the air with his rapier.

Ismar made a thrust, which Judah easily side-stepped. "You do not have to tell me. I know it is your wife that I
have below in my cabin."

"My wife is only part of why you must die today, Captain Ismar. You see, I am also here to settle an old debt."

Abdul thrust again, but Judah's rapier caught and held
the pirate's blade. "What old debt? I know of nothing I have done to you."

Judah's blade sliced through the air and the point
rested against Abdul's throat. "Many years ago, you killed
my father. I want you to remember this as you die."

Abdul dropped his sword and stared at Judah, knowing
he had been outsmarted in every way. "I do not remember
your father.  I have killed many men. How can I be expected to remember them all?"

Judah’s eyes burned into the pirate's. "If you cannot
remember my father, think of my wife. You will die for
both deeds!"

Before Judah could make his final thrust, the mast
above him groaned and. swayed. He glanced up, and saw
that the battered spar was about to come tumbling down.
With a wide leap he made it out of the way, but the luckless Captain Ismar was pinned beneath the broken
mast. Judah did not have to examine the man to know he
had not long to live.

Liberty pulled on the door, but it would not budge. She then paced the floor, wishing she knew what was happen
ing on deck.

Suddenly the door was thrust open and Judah stood
before her. Liberty stared at the bloodstained blade in his hand, evidence that he had cut his way through the enemy
to get to her. She reached out her hand to him, unable to
force words from her throbbing throat.

Judah's eyes came to rest on Liberty's face. He witnessed momentary hesitation, then joy and relief before he moved to her and gathered her in his arms.

Liberty threw her arms around her husband, loving the
strength that flowed through him to her. "You are alive,"
she cried, burying her face against his neck. "I was so afraid you would be killed and it would have been my fault."

She felt Judah tense. He waited for her to raise her
head and look into his eyes. "Were you hurt in any way.
Did that bastard touch you?"

"No, Judah, I was not harmed. I was just frightened. He was going to ... to sell me ... to—"

"Do not think about it, Liberty. You are safe now." Judah picked her up in his arms, and held her to him for a long moment. Then he silently made his way out the door and up the companionway.

Once on deck, Liberty closed her eyes against the
ghastly sights and sounds that surrounded her. The
Sea
Serpent's
three masts had been shattered, and men lay
under their weight, either dead or dying. Judah's arms
tightened around Liberty. He wished he could spare her the sight of men dying.

He stepped over debris, and was about to leap onto the
deck of the
Winged Victory,
when a weak voice called out
to him. "Judah Slaughter, help me. Be merciful and put me out of my pain."

Judah glanced down at Captain Ismar, a grim expres
sion on his face. "You deserve nothing from me."

Liberty shuddered when she saw that Abdul was pinned
beneath a splintered mast and blood was trickling out of
the corner of his mouth. She raised her head, stared in
disbelief at her husband. This was a side of Judah she had never seen. How could he be so heartless? Pity
softened her heart, and she wriggled out of Judah's arms.
Moving quickly across the deck, Liberty picked up a
dipper of water, then knelt down beside the dying man. Despite Judah's protest, she raised Abdul's head and gave
him a drink.

"Judah Slaughter," Abdul whispered in a pain-dulled
voice. "You are a most fortunate man to have this . . . angel for a wife. You have won . . . you are the
better…" Captain Abdul Ismar's eyes darkened, and his
head fell sideways in death.

Liberty could only stare in horror at the death mask that descended over Abdul's face. Judah muttered an oath, and picked Liberty up in his arms. She could feel
the anger in him as he jumped across the rail, and landed
on the deck of the
Winged Victory.

A shout went up from the
Winged Victory's
crew as
Judah placed Liberty on her feet. Joy was on the faces of
the men who had just performed a daring rescue. Lib
erty's heart reached out to every one of them, as tears ran
freely down her cheeks.

"Thank you all," she said, looking at each dear face, and receiving smiles of adoration in return.

When Liberty saw Philippe, she ran to him, and was
quickly enclosed in a hug. "We are glad to have you
back," he said in a gruff voice. "I know I speak for all of
us when I tell you how glad we are that you are safe,
Madame."

Liberty moved out of the circle of Philippe's arms when
she saw the scowl on her husband's face. "How many of
our men were injured or killed?" she asked, looking around to see who might be missing.

"Not a one,
Madame,"
Philippe assured her. "Unless
you count the dunking Rojo got when he missed the rail and fell into the sea. He almost missed the whole battle.
By the time he got onto the deck of the
Sea Serpent,
the
battle was over and most of the prisoners had been rounded up and placed below in chains."

This brought laughter from the rest of the crew and a
mumbled oath from Rojo.

"Philippe, if you can be spared to attend to your duty,"
Judah said acidly, "you can come about, and fire shots into the
Sea Serpent.
Send her to the bottom of the sea."

Philippe cleared his throat. "Aye, aye, Captain. Men,
look sharp we still have work to do."

Judah took Liberty by the hand and led her down the
companionway. By the time they reached his cabin, she
saw the anger burning in his eyes. "Must you flaunt
yourself in front of my men?" he asked angrily. "I could
not believe you gave comfort to Abdul Ismar. Did you make him fall in love with you too."

"Judah ... I ... no. That is not fair. I never ... I wouldn't do that." Hurt showed in her blue eyes. "How can you even suggest that I — "

He broke in, his voice sharp. "I will expect you to remain below until we reach our destination. Now, that
we have come this far, we must proceed to Tripoli and try
to rescue the Blackburn family."

Liberty was hurt and angry. She raised her chin and
gave him a haughty glance. "The Blackburns are not in
Tripoli. Captain Ismar told me that they were being kept at the Trade Wind Inn, at Martinique."

Judah's eyes narrowed with jealousy. "How did you come by that little piece of information? Did you charm it out of the pirate?"

"No, I did not. He was so sure you would not be able to rescue me that he volunteered the information."

At that very moment, the sound of cannon fire ripped through the air, followed by a splintering of wood and a
loud explosion. Liberty knew that the
Sea Serpent
would
soon rest in a watery grave. She shuddered, thinking how differently this day could have ended.

Still hurt and confused by Judah's attitude, she went to the bed and sat down. She could feel his eyes on her, but
she refused to look at him.

"I trust you will heed my advice and remain in this cabin," he said.

At last she gave him a scorching glance. "I would not
dream of disobeying. I thank you for the rescue, Judah. I
do not thank you for your cruel words. You treat me like a wayward child when I am your wife."

"I am very aware that you are my wife, Liberty. I could
hardly forget that."

"Perhaps if I were your mistress, I would get more courtesy from you," she said in an angry voice.

Their eyes locked in mental combat. Liberty did not flinch or lower her eyes. All Judah really wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her close to his heart. He realized he had been acting like a jealous fool.

He took a hesitant step toward her, but when she looked away from him, he felt a chill in his heart, "I will not disturb you tonight,
Madame."

"I am sure you would rather spend your time with Adriane Pierce. It is a pity you had to interrupt your little reunion with her to rescue your wife."

Judah's jaw tightened, and his turquoise eyes burned with green flames. Without another word he turned, and left a confused Liberty, wondering why he had acted as if he despised her. She lay back on the bed wishing Judah would come back.

For the three days that it took to reach Martinique, Liberty remained in Judah's cabin. In that time, her husband did not visit her, and her pride would not allow her to ask to see him. Finally Philippe came to the cabin to escort Liberty ashore.

A clear blue sky welcomed the
Winged Victory
back to Martinique, but Liberty did not see Judah as she crossed the deck of the ship, and climbed down the rope ladder. The first mate accompanied her to the house and left her in the hands of a smiling Hayman. Adriane Pierce was gone, but then Liberty knew she would be. Judah was not so foolish as to keep her under the same roof with his wife.