My Lady Vixen (26 page)

That night Fox made love to her as if he might never see her again, and Alexa responded in a like manner as their lovemaking reached new heights of erotic delight. With hands and lips he brought her time after time to levels of ecstasy never before attained, and she matched his urgency with her own. Never had her pleasure been so pure and explosive. When Fox finally left her at dawn she was filled with an amazing sense of completeness so profound that she barely registered his words when he bid her goodbye and assured her that one day he would return for her.

Fox/Adam was gone, and Alexa’s transformation began almost immediately. The first thing she did was to secure Lana’s friendship. The young girl reacted favorably to Alexa’s initial overtures and within a day or two they were chatting and laughing together like old friends, for there were but two years separating their ages. Alexa was immensely pleased when she learned that Lana was an adventurous sort; being overly protected as she was by her doting parents she longed to taste more fully of life. She confided to Alexa that she greatly admired daring and courage in a woman.

Time was growing short and Alexa, throwing caution to the wind, took a wide-eyed Lana into her confidence. The girl, intrigued and excited by Alexa’s daring, eagerly agreed to help. Alexa waited until Mac came to bid her goodbye before setting her plan into motion. Mac, looking fit and healthy after his ordeal, arrived for supper the night before he was to leave New Providence
Island.

“Alexa, you do understand why Fox left you behind, don’t you?” he asked while they were partaking of Trini’s excellent meal consisting mainly of conch, a sort of shellfish, cooked in diverse dishes, fresh vegetables and fruits.

“Of course,” Alexa replied sweetly.

Though Mac was startled as well as perplexed by Alexa’s sudden calm acceptance of her lot, he chose not to delve too deeply into her reason for doing so. He had always found women too complex to figure out. That’s why he had remained a bachelor for so long. They talked awhile longer and when it was time to say their goodbyes, Mac tenderly embraced Alexa, placing an almost, but not quite, brotherly kiss on her lips. “We’ll meet again, milady,” he smiled.

“I’m sure of it,” predicted Alexa impishly.

The moment Mac’s jaunty step carried him out of sight, Alexa called Lana to her and they began immediately to prepare for Alexa’s great adventure from which the Vixen would eventually emerge.

Hurriedly Lana helped Alexa dress in the sailor garb she had collected and helped tailor to fit Alexa’s petite figure. Then she departed and returned with a packet of food and a jug of water calculated to provide sustenance for several days, a change of clothes including a bulky sweater and hat to conceal her long, dark hair. Her excitment at a fever pitch, Alexa was finally ready.

Keeping to the shadows, Lana led her long a deserted path to the harbor. Displaying her own mettle and inventiveness, Lana managed to distract the man guarding the
Lady
A long enough for Alexa to sneak up the gangplank undetected. Once aboard Alexa breathed easier, hoping Lana wouldn’t be punished too severely
for her part in Alexa’s wild scheme. She cautioned Lana to display ignorance about her disappearance and hoped the girl would comply.

Thoroughly familiar with the ship. Alexa made directly for a place in the hold that rarely saw any of the crew. The brig used to house crewmen in need of restraint. All of Mac’s men, as well as Fox’s, were loyal and true and rarely, if ever, required discipline. She would be safe here until she chose to make her presence known, Alexa reckoned. If all went well she expected to remain hidden until Mac was too far from Nassau to turn back.

By frugally rationing her food and water and extinguishing one of the candles thoughtfully provided by Lana whenever she heard someone approaching. Alexa contrived to remain concealed a full week. The hardest part was not seeing or speaking to another soul. But on the eighth day, her food and water all but gone, consumed by loneliness, Alexa timidly ventured forth from the hold. Dressed in her sailor’s garb, her hair concealed by a knit cap, she resembled a young lad and was immediately mistaken for such by the first person who saw her as she emerged from her concealment.

A rather stunned seaman noticed her as she crept stealthily from the hold into the light of day, and he immediately challenged her. “You there, lad, what are you doing down there in the hold where you have no business being at this time of day?”

Alexa froze, refusing to face the man. But when he called out again asking who she was and where she came from, she slowly turned in his direction. The dark scowl furrowing his brow alerted her to the fact that he did not recognize her as a crew member. “By Jupiter, a stowaway!” the seaman cried, pouncing upon her. Alexa was too stunned to resist as she was dragged forward by the burly seaman. “Yer lucky it’s Captain Mac ye’ll be
brought before, lad, and not another, for Captain Mac’s fair and will let ye work yer passage.”

Finally Alexa stood before a frowning Mac, head bowed, eyes downcast. “What have we here, Beggs?” Mac asked, a smile lurking at the corners of his mouth. “No doubt some likely lad who has a yen to fight the British.”

“Aye, Captain,” nodded Beggs vigorously. “I caught the lad sneaking up from the hold.”

“Hmmm,” mused Mac thoughtfully, pretending to ponder the dilemma brought about by a stowaway. “Looks skinny, probably starving after a week in the hold. Take him to the galley and tell cook to fill his belly, then put him to work scrubbing the deck. Does that meet with your approval, lad?”

“Aye,” murmured Alexa in a voice pitched deliberately low.

“Aye, what?” challenged Mac curtly.

“Aye, sir,” responded Alexa.

“What’s your name, lad?”

“Al … Alex, sir,” Alexa answered, thinking quickly.

“Well, Alex,” Mac informed her, “it’s too late to turn back so it looks as if you’ll have your way, though before you’re through you may well wish you had remained safely in Nassau.” Mac did not notice the triumphant smile lighting Alexa’s pert features as he turned away to pursue more important matters.

“Come along, lad,” Beggs said gruffly but not unkindly. “But first, seeing as how the Captain has been so generous with ye, the least ye can do is doff yer cap.” So saying he yanked the knit cap from Alexa’s head. “The Lord preserve us!” he gasped as Alexa’s long, ebony locks tumbled freely about her shoulders and down her shapely back in a profusion of tangled curls. “Lady Alexa!”

There was not a man aboard the
Lady
A who did not recognize Alexa from her previous journey with them. During the weeks she had sailed with them across the ocean they had all come to think very highly of her and to a man they would have gladly died for one of her sweet smiles. Beggs, particularly, felt close to her since he was the one who had originally brought her aboard the
Lady
A long ago in England.

Stunned. Mac did not want to believe his ears when Beggs called out Alexa’s name. Thinking he was hearing things, he whirled about, only to find he did indeed face a defiant Alexa ridiculously garbed in sailor’s clothing yet somehow managing to look feminine and vastly desirable. “My God, Alexa, what are you doing here?” he ranted, imagining Fox’s rage once he found out that Alexa had stowed aboard his ship.

“I warned you and Fox I would not tolerate being left behind,” replied Alexa smugly. “You both harbor the notion that because I am a woman I am mindless, or too weak to be of any help.”

“Do you realize what you’ve done, Alexa? We’re too far from Nassau to turn back. What am I to do with you?”

Alexa smiled winsomely. “Why, you could teach me to sail, to fight, to navigate. You can help me learn all I need to know in order to become a good sailor.”

“For what purpose?” Mac asked, disguising his anger. Why couldn’t she have stowed aboard the
Ghost
where Fox would be obliged to handle her?

“Who knows?” shrugged Alexa mysteriously. “Someday the knowledge might serve me well.”

Suddenly Mac became aware that the entire crew was clustered about them, avidly hanging on to every word spoken, their indulgent smiles making him realize whom they favored in the exchange. Grasping her arm he led
her toward his cabin where they were afforded a measure of privacy. Once the heavy oak door shut out prying ears and eyes. Mac began anew to berate Alexa.

“I don’t know what to do with you, Alexa,” he said, stomping about noisily. “In Nassau I received word that a flotilla of British ships are carrying arms to Savannah to aid in the conquest of the south. If I turn back now I might miss them.”

“Then don’t turn back,” begged Alexa earnestly. “I know I’ll be safe with you. And I want to learn. Mac, everything. Please,” she pleaded in such a way that poor Mac had no chance at all.

“I can’t keep you with me forever, Alexa. Fox is bound to return one day to Nassau and discover you missing. What then?”

“Let’s compromise,” Alexa hedged, sensing her victory. “Give me three months to learn all I need to know. Just three months, Mac, and then I’ll return to Nassau.”

She looked so helpless, so appealing, that Mac found himself agreeing to her outrageous demands. “You win, Alexa—three months, then back you go. No pleading, no begging. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Alexa exulted. And so began a period in Alexa’s young life that proved a turning point.

The next three months found her working harder and toiling longer than she had in her entire life. Not only from Mac, but from the entire crew who thought it a lark to teach Alexa all their hard-earned skills. Alexa learned to climb the riggings, trim the sails, and wield the rapier with some dgree of proficiency given her limited strength. More difficult was learning to use the sextant to map the course and to read the stars. The latter was taught by Beggs who had been a sailor for more years than any man aboard the
Lady
A save for cook.

All things taken into consideration Alexa proved a quick study and an avid student. There were times when she scampered aloft in the rigging with an agility many of the seasoned sailors admired. Mac held his breath, fearing for her life. And when she came down he scolded her soundly while secretly marveling at her spunk and ability. Among the many things she learned were the rudiments of weaponry, particularly the deadly cannon bolted to the quarterdeck and main deck.

Finally the day arrived when Alexa, strictly against Mac’s wishes, participated in a battle. The
Lady
A had taken two ships, both sunk in the fray during Alexa’s period of training. When the third was sighted Alexa refused to be relegated to her cabin and showed up on deck during the heat of the battle, acquitting herself admirably with rapier against one or two of the clumsier English sailors. When Mac first spied her it took ten years off of his life and his eyes never left her slim form. She had many protectors that day among her friends aboard the ship. Notably Drake, who considered Alexa his personal charge and under strict orders from Mac became her guardian angel thereafter.

After that first encounter. Alexa crept away and vomited in private, then fell into bed so exhausted she could barely lift her arms or move her legs. The following day Mac ranted and raved at her for her foolhardy actions, but to no avail. The next ship they attacked, Alexa was where she belonged, in the midst of battle, exhilarated by the skill with which she acquitted herself. The third battle enabled her to prove her merit when she saved the life of Drake who fought at her back and would have sustained a serious injury save for her quick action. Alexa had never felt more confident of her ability as when she was cheered by the crew for her courage and deftness with a sword. Watching in silence,
Mac was eternally grateful the time had arrived to return Alexa to Nassau. He lived in fear that she might be seriously wounded in one of their skirmishes which had become more and more frequent as the weeks went by. Fox would have his hide should he allow anything to happen to Alexa.

Nearly three months to the day Alexa had stowed aboard her namesake. Mac took her aside and told her to plot a course to Nassau. Using her newly acquired skill, Alexa did just that. But as fate would have it they were enjoined in battle one more time before they reached their destination, serving to further hone Alexa’s prowess in battle. As a tribute to her bravery Mac awarded her the prize, the ship
Star Chaser
, a sleek English frigate they had just taken. He generously offered the loan of Drake and several of his most trusted men to man the
Star Chaser
for Alexa.

“Drake will make you a good captain. Alexa.” Mac told her as he presented his parting gift. “As owner of the ship a share of the profits will come to you and indirectly you will be doing your part in the war.” Mac thought it a perfect solution. With the
Star Chaser
to keep her occupied her stay in Nassau should prove less of an ordeal. And with an experienced man like Drake as captain the profits would give her a measure of security no matter which direction her life took. It was not too farfetched to consider the possiblity that neither he nor Fox would survive the war.

If the English proved victorious in the end. Alexa would never be allowed to return to America, and should he or Fox fail to survive, she would be fixed for life. In due course both ships entered the port of Nassau, the
Star Chaser
to be turned into a privateer and the
Lady
A to take on food and supplies.

Alexa was elated with her gift of a ship. Had Mac
known how easily he had fallen in with her plans he would have been astounded. The ship was a plum she hadn’t counted on and it literally fell into her hands. When Mac left Nassau a week later to continue his pursuit of the British, he thought he left Alexa in a safe haven for the duration of the war. How little he knew the new Alexa. The moment Mac cleared the harbor Alexa boarded the
Star Chaser
and called together Drake and what crew members from the
Lady
A Mac had left behind. Swallowing her nervousness she faced them squarely and boldly laid out her proposal.

“Men,” she said, her voices quivering with excitement. “By now you all know me. For three months we have sailed together and fought side by side. I am confident in saying I have proven myself many times over, in many diverse situations. I do not believe you found me lacking.”