He only hoped that was possible once he’d made love to her.
The narrow passageway that connected the handful of passenger cabins was dank and foul smelling. Talon grimaced and ducked into the cabin he shared with his brother. Daniel was still out cold, and he wondered if whomever Sutcliffe had hired to drug the poor bastard had known what he was doing.
He opened the basket full of food he’d purchased before they left port this morning. Grabbing an apple and a chunk of bread, he slipped them into his pocket. Kate was probably starving. He’d take her this light dinner and then leave her alone for the night.
His stomach turned at the thought of spending the night in here with Daniel. He’d much rather sleep up on deck with the rest of the crew. But that would raise too much suspicion. Kate’s cabin was supposed to be his, and he had to keep up the pretense.
He took a deep breath, steeling himself against the sight of Kate in those provocative pants, and opened the connecting door.
The stench of sickness overwhelmed him. For a moment, he stood motionless in the dark, listening to the painful sound of Kate’s weak retching. Then he moved toward her, striking a match and lighting the lantern on the wall. He blinked against the sudden glare. “Kate? Are you all right?”
She huddled in the corner, clutching the chamberpot. Her green eyes were glassy and unfocused, her face an unhealthy shade of gray. She moaned, and the sound tore at his heart. Poor little thing. She’d been alone and miserably sick for hours while he’d been thinking of ways to avoid her.
“Let me help you.” He sank to his knees beside her and took the chamberpot out of her hands. He set it aside, trying to control his own nausea at the smell.
“Are you just seasick, sweetheart? Or is it something else?”
Just seasick?Kathryn moaned as her stomach threatened to rebel once again. She’d never been so miserable in her life. “Will it be like this until we get to America? I don’t think I’ll survive.”
Talon put his arm around her waist and helped her over to the narrow bunk. “The Channel was choppy today. Perhaps once we hit the open sea, you’ll do better.”
“Oh God.” She groaned, curling up in a little ball on the bunk. “Doesn’t it bother you at all?”
“No.” He smiled a little and sat down on the bunk beside her, smoothing a lock of hair out of her eyes. “I’ve been at sea nearly all my life.”
He continued to stroke her forehead, and the wave of nausea subsided. She didn’t know if it was his presence that helped, or if the waters had calmed.
“Please.” She moved away from his soothing touch. He was the last person in the world she wanted to see her in such a state. “Please go. I’ll be all right.”
He frowned and reached out, pointing to the nasty streak of vomit that stained the front of her borrowed shirt. “Why don’t you take that off? I’ll carry it and the chamberpot above decks and wash them out.”
Heat rose in her already warm cheeks. “Take it off?”
He nodded, tenderness and amusement battling for precedence in his blue eyes. “I’ll turn my back. You have nothing to fear from me. I just want to help.”
Of course, he was merely trying to be helpful. She was foolish to entertain any other notion. What man in his right mind would find her attractive right now? “All right,” she whispered, wondering if this day could possibly get any worse. “Thank you.”
He smiled and then turned around. “Just crawl under the blankets when you’re done.”
She stared at his broad shoulders, and then her gaze dropped lower to his lean waist. Then lower still to the curve of his buttocks snugly delineated by the fabric of his tight britches. The fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach intensified as she lifted her hands to unbutton her borrowed shirt.
Even though he couldn’t see her, it seemed terribly intimate to disrobe while he was in the room. She flung the shirt to the floor and struggled to twist her arm behind her back so she could unfasten the binding her maid had used to flatten her breasts earlier.
“Can I turn around?”
Panicked, she struggled once more to reach the end of the binding. “No. Not yet. Give me another minute.” Her breasts ached, but her attempts to remove the binding were useless. Disgusted with herself, she gave up and crawled under the covers, pulling them up to her chin. “All right. I’m ready now.”
He turned around and looked at her for a long moment. She knew he was wondering what had taken her so long, and she dropped her gaze, unable to bear his intense regard. He moved about the room for a minute, picking up after her, which only added to her mortification.
He paused at the door. “I’ll be back in just a few minutes. I have something that might make you feel better.”
She nodded, but she doubted she’d ever feel better again.
* * * * *
Daniel was awake. Talon felt it the moment he entered the cabin they shared. His brother lay on the bottom bunk, staring sightlessly at the wall.
Talon felt a small glimmer of relief upon seeing Daniel conscious. There was no love lost between the two of them, but he didn’t agree with Sutcliffe’s methods of getting Daniel out of England. In a way, Daniel was as much a victim in all this as Kate.
