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“What is this?” Fraser sputtered. She felt his presence from across the room, vibrating with anger.
Captain Will smiled. “This is your bride having second thoughts. ”
Time seemed to stop as she summoned every last shred of her courage. Holding her breath, she reached a tentative hand out. Her heart thudded so, she thought surely he’d be able to spy the pulse in her neck. She grazed a finger along the captain’s cheek, and then touched him again with her whole hand. She stroked his face, keeping her eyes wide on his so he might not forget their strange yellow flecks.
Her fingers were close, so close. She would be courageous. She’d strike at the very heart of the evil pirate. She raked her hands through his hair. He chuckled, a husky sound, so she dared it again. And this time she lingered over his ears. She stroked some more, and with each pass, grazed his black pearl. “My da always said sunlight followed in my wake. ”
She was close to her goal, but needed to push herself further, to leap from the precipice. She parted her lips on a sig
h, and his mouth closed in. His teeth knocked into hers, and she clamped her eyes shut tight, fighting the urge to shudder with revulsion.
Feigning passion, she made herself return the kiss, writhing in his arms, all the while raking her fingers through his hair, stroking his cheeks.
A commotion on deck distracted him. He pulled away, and she refrained from smearing the back of her hand along her mouth. “You’re a peculiar wee minx,” he said, cupping her jaw. “They say women aboard ship are bad luck, unless naked. What say you, minx? Are you ready to be naked? Because I think I might like to keep you. ”
“I think I might not let you. ” She’d tried to adopt a saucy tone, but her voice trembled, and she hoped he’d take it for excitement, not fear. For in her palm was nestled a single, black pearl.
Barking a laugh, he pushed her chin from his hand.
Men shouted on deck—words sounding like “land, ho!”—and Captain Will went to peer out the porthole.
“You’ll excuse me,” he said. Giving her a regal bow, he added, “I regret I’ll not have more time to convince you. I didn’t believe Fraser when he told me. But I see now, it is the still waters which flow the deepest. ”
As he left, Elspeth’s chest shuddered with a quiet sigh of relief.
Fraser glared at her, clearly uncertain what to make of her little scene with the captain, and then he rose to peer out the porthole for himself. “I see by your salacious behavior that you’re familiar with a man’s touch. ” He kept his back to her as he spoke, staring out at the water. “I’ve not asked where you spent last night—I thought I’d spare you the discomfort. For now. Your paramour’s identity will be discovered in time. ”
He stepped aside, pinning her with a flat stare, but all she saw was the hazy silhouette of land in the distance.
They were about to dock in Arbroath, and yet there was still no sign of Aidan. No grappling hooks, no shots off the starboard bow.
Where was he? She was spinning a wild tale, casting herself as heroine, and needed her hero now more than ever.
What if he thought she wanted this wedding? Even she’d convinced herself that marrying Fraser was her only option, that he’d provide financial salvation for her and her father, saving them from the poorhouse.
Even so, Aidan would still come for her. He’d sweep her into his arms, and steal her away, telling her with a kiss that she belonged to none but him.
But they disembarked, and they were whisked into a carriage, and they were taken to Fraser’s property, yet there was no Aidan.
“The minister will be here soon,” Fraser said. He’d set her up in a dismal salon in his so-called grand Arbroath estate, which was naught but a dank, drafty seaside manor.
She pulled her arisaid tight around her shoulders. “You’ve never seen reason to take a bride before. Of all women, why me?”
He gave her an oily smile. “You’ve the mind of a man, but the body of a woman. ”
She recoiled. “You don’t seem to think much of the female sex. ”
“I’ve never seen the need for a wife before, no. But despite your plain ways, you strike me as brighter than the others. Over time, you’ll come to see how like-minded we are. ” His gaze slithered down her body, then back up again. “I imagine we’ll be well matched in other ways too. ”
She’d agreed to this union to save herself and her father from the poorhouse. But surely there was no worse fate than the one she faced now. “Do you expect me to take your words for a compliment?”
“Aye, and to be grateful for it. ”
She no longer took pains to hide her disgust. She’d spent a lifetime being grateful for scraps, now she was expected to be thankful for casual indignities as well? This man was a louse, a scoundrel. She’d not marry him, even if it meant she’d have to end her days as a charwoman on a faraway plantation.
She needed Aidan. Surely he’d come to stop this madness, to save her. She only hoped he’d forgive her. What she’d done was dreadful. In thinking this union was the only way to get free of debt, she’d sold Aidan short. Because they could figure anything out, if only they were together.
But her life would end the moment the minister arrived. He would perform the ceremony, even though the banns hadn’t been proclaimed. And then she’d be wed for good.
