Sea of Desire (34 page)

A maverick gust of wind caught hold of
Merideth’s hair ribbon, tossing it across her lips. She turned her
face into the breeze, breaking the hold of his gaze, but the
sensual spell he wove still surrounded her. Knowing she was
retreating and not caring, Merideth took one step away from him,
then another.

Merideth cleared her throat. “All that I ask
is that you give me someplace to sleep... someplace other than your
cabin.”

“I’m afraid ‘tis impossible.”

“But—”

The
Carolina
is a privateer, Merideth,
not a packet. Space is limited. Passenger space is
nonexistent.”

“I don’t care where I have to sleep.”

“You would if I put you in the hold, or down
with the crew. But the question is moot. I shall sleep elsewhere
until...”

“Until?”

He shrugged, giving her a knowing smile.
“Until we reach Charles Town.”

Merideth had the strangest feeling that that
wasn’t what he really meant, but she ignored it. “When will that
be?” There were British troops in the colonies, she knew that. Once
she reached land she would find them and somehow make her way back
to England. Things were bleak, but there was hope. At least
Merideth thought so until the captain answered her question.

“It will take us five weeks at best, more
likely six to make the Carolina coast.”

Six weeks. How was she ever going to stay
away from him on this tiny ship for six weeks?

She would have worried even more had she been
able to read Jared Blackstone’s mind as he watched her walk away
from him on the sun-drenched deck.

He may have had some difficulty keeping his
wits about him when he’d looked into her blue angel eyes, but some
semblance of logic had returned. And with it came Daniel’s
description of the woman responsible for his brother’s death.

Beautiful.

Angelic.

Was it Merideth Banistar?

She seemed innocent, with her sweet face and
guileless expression. But the woman who had betrayed John was wise
to the ways of deceit. John may have been naive about women, but he
was intelligent, and committed to the cause of liberty. He would
have kept his guard up unless he’d trusted someone implicitly.

Unless he had believed in her innocence.

Jared’s fingers fisted. He knew Merideth
Banistar to be innocent in some ways—at least she had been until
she’d encountered Jared. She’d been a virgin when he’d first taken
her. Jared was certain of that. But he was just as certain that
John would not have pressed the woman he loved to fulfill his
physical desires. If it was Lady Merideth that he’d adored—and
Jared intended to find out one way or the other—John had done it
chastely. John was too much the gentleman, ruled by a creed that
Jared never could quite understand... or live up to.

For, unlike his brother, Jared had no
intention of keeping his distance from Merideth Banistar. Mayhap
he’d acquiesce to her request that he sleep elsewhere—for the
moment. But he planned to be back in her bed soon.

And he planned to be invited.

Days on board the
Carolina
weren’t as
bad as she’d imagined. To be honest, Merideth thought today was
exhilarating. She leaned into the rail, watching cottony white
clouds form shapes.

Turning her face into the stiff breeze, she
took a deep breath of salt air, realizing how much she enjoyed the
open feeling on deck. She didn’t even mind the cramped cabin
anymore. Whether it was the row of windows along the transom or the
knowledge that the morn would bring a chance to go above deck,
Merideth now slept with the door closed.

Shutting and locking the door had nothing to
do with wanting to keep Captain Blackstone out.

“As if a locked door would do any good if he
really wanted in,” she mumbled to herself, then glanced about to
make sure no one had heard her. The men of the forenoon watch were
busy with their duties, some high in the rigging, others repairing
sail and rope, or scrubbing the deck.

Merideth rested her chin on the heel of her
hand, her elbows firmly planted on the polished rail, and sighed.
The truth was Captain Blackstone showed no desire to enter, his
cabin. For which she was extremely grateful, Merideth reminded
herself. Still, it was strange the way he ignored her. And had for
the sennight since their last conversation. The one when she’d
warned him away.

He neither slept in nor visited his cabin. If
there was something he needed, a chart or clean shirt, he sent
someone, most often Tim, to fetch it for him. If Merideth passed
him on deck, he nodded, and spoke, but of nothing personal. And he
always kept on his way.

Twisting her head aft, Merideth adjusted the
old wide-brimmed hat Tim had lent her when she’d discovered several
sun spots across the bridge of her nose. She stared at the captain,
who was standing spread-legged on the quarterdeck. If she were to
climb the ladder and go up to him right now, he would probably make
some polite comment, then stride away.

Not that she intended to go to him, of
course. Forcing her attention back to the rolling sea, Merideth
decided she’d had quite enough of Captain Blackstone.

But the rest of the crew was fine... for
American privateers. They’d been so many places, and with the
tiniest bit of encouragement they shared tales of foreign ports and
exotic lands. Just last night Mr. Keefer, the ship’s bo’sun, a wiry
fellow with a face as brown and wrinkled as a walnut, told her a
story about the time he was attacked by pirates in the Caribbean.
He—

“How are you this morn, Lady Merideth? I
trust you slept well.”

Shutting her eyes for a moment, Merideth
forced a smile on her lips and turned to face the one person on
board the
Carolina
that she truly didn’t like... except for
the captain, she quickly reminded herself.

“Good day, Mr. Wallis.”

“Daniel,” he said with an ingratiating smile.
“You agreed to call me Daniel.”

“So I did.” He had been telling her of the
vast lands in Carolina at the time. The plantation called Royal
Oak, where he lived. Where Captain Blackstone lived as well. Though
Daniel hadn’t revealed that bit of information, she’d remembered
hearing it from the captain earlier.

“We’re blessed with uncommonly good weather
today,” he said, resting his lace-edged sleeve on the rail.

“Yes.”

He moved closer. “I wonder if you’ve given my
proposal any more thought.”

Merideth couldn’t help a glance toward the
quarterdeck. The captain was still there, engrossed in talking with
Mr. Pochet, the ship’s carpenter. But though he couldn’t hear them,
it surprised her that Daniel Wallis would bring up this subject
now. Of course, it had surprised her from the beginning.

He must have sensed her unease, for he waved
his fine-boned hand in the air. “You needn’t worry about Jared. He
takes the running of his ship much too seriously. He hardly knows
what else goes on.”

“Still, I should think if he heard of your
offer to help me...” Merideth let her sentence drift off, for she
couldn’t imagine what the captain might do. Any more than she could
fathom why his cousin had made the proposition.

“Poppycock.” Daniel shook his perfectly
dressed hair, sending a shower of powder onto the padded shoulders
of his puce silk waistcoat. “I’ve a feeling Jared would be secretly
pleased. He tends to run off impulsively doing things, then finding
himself in a quandary as to how to rectify matters.”

“He doesn’t strike me as the wavering
type.”

“Precisely why he gets himself in trouble.
For instance, I’m sure he sees the error in his ways concerning
kidnapping you, but he’s too stubborn to admit it. Believe me, in
the end he’ll be grateful I’ve taken care of the problem. He always
is.”

“I see.” Merideth didn’t like being referred
to as a problem, but she supposed that’s what she was, at least in
the captain’s eyes.

“Now, I obviously can’t do anything until we
reach port, but once we’re in Charles Town I shall be able to see
to your safe return to England.”

“How are you going to do that?” Merideth had
some vague idea of contacting the British army herself once they
reached America, but she didn’t know exactly how to go about it.
Apparently Daniel didn’t plan to tell her either.

“I have my ways,” he said, his green eyes, so
like his cousin’s, veiled in secrecy. “You forget that I know many
people in the government?”

“Do you mean, I forget you’re a spy?” The
affable expression on his face dissolved, to be replaced by a mask
of restrained anger. “Actually, I haven’t forgotten,” Merideth
continued. “Nor have I forgotten that you accused me of being the
same.”

“ ‘Accused’ is hardly the correct word.”

“You implied, and please don’t deny it,”
Merideth added when he again shook his head. “You implied that I
was this infamous Lady Sinclair. The woman responsible for John
Blackstone’s death.”

He seemed momentarily stunned to silence, but
shook it off quickly with a delicate shrug. “Perhaps I did hold
some doubts about you.”

“Please don’t tell me you’ve seen the error
of your ways, for there’s been nothing done to change your
mind.”

“True enough. But I’ve decided we’ll all be
better off with you back in England... regardless of your political
activities.”

“We?”

“The Americans, because you can be bought and
we can use the information you provide. Myself, because I intend to
be the go-between for that information. And you, because once you
reach Royal Oak, if Jared even suspects you are the one responsible
for his brother’s death, he’ll kill you.”

Air left Merideth’s lungs in a rush. “I... I
don’t believe you.”

“Don’t you?” His winged brow lifted. “Neither
of us is certain he didn’t murder your father, now are we?”

He paused, but Merideth couldn’t deny his
words. The expression of triumph on his too pretty face made
Merideth feel physically ill... or was it the fear that he might be
right?

“Just be watchful, Lady Merideth. And
remember I shall be here if you feel the need to discuss this
further.” With a bow deep enough for the grandest ballroom, Daniel
Wallis backed away, leaving Merideth shaken and clutching the
rail.

“You seem to get along famously with my
cousin.”

Merideth didn’t know how long she’d stood
staring out to sea, but the sound of the deep, familiar voice
startled her. She turned, hand to her chest, to look into the
sea-green eyes she knew so well. “What... what do you mean?”

Jared shrugged, his powerful shoulders
lifting beneath the billowing cotton of his shirt. He glanced away
to break the hold of her eyes, but looked back when he spoke. He’d
seen them talking, watched them bend close. And all the time he’d
thought of the woman who’d betrayed his brother. “It just appeared
that you were discussing something of great importance.”

“Perhaps Daniel offered to help me escape
you.”

“Did he?”

Merideth stepped forward, aware of how much
she longed to tell Jared exactly what his cousin had said. How
anxious she was for him to deny everything once more and assure her
that he had taken her from England only for her own protection.
Even if that was a ridiculous excuse, she wanted to hear it was
his.

But could she believe him? Merideth didn’t
know. And he didn’t seem inclined to convince her.

When she turned away, Merideth realized it
was in part because she was beginning not to care. The heat of his
body seemed to pull, till she wanted to forget everything but how
it felt to be held in his arms. She clutched at her locket as she
would a talisman. “I hardly think I need answer to you about
anything. If you want so badly to know what Daniel said to me...”
She leveled her gaze on Jared. “Ask him.”