The Notorious Lady Anne: A Loveswept Historical Romance (10 page)

While all along she’d been stealing from you, hiding those papers from you while you kissed her and touched her and lost control in a way you’ve never lost it before
.

Emmaline’s image was nothing but an illusion to mask the evil inside her and he’d fallen for the illusion. The woman he’d thought he held in his arms didn’t exist at all.

With a vicious curse, he swung away from the porthole and the view of the pirate ships following them.

And to think he’d felt guilty for what he perceived as a ruthless and shameless attack on her, when it had been nothing compared to the attacks she’d perpetrated in the last several months.

Why do you think?

Why did he think Emmaline stole important information from him? Not because she was sent by Kenmar to spy on him. Hell, he would have preferred that reason over the other.

He forced himself to remember her laughing eyes when he warned her at the ball that pirates were a very real threat. He’d assumed her laughter was harmless flirtation. Now he realized she’d been mocking him.

His fingers curled into fists. Hatred burned through him.

The lock lifted from the outside and the door swung in. The pirate named Phin stepped through, ducking in order to make it through the opening.

For a long moment the two stared at each other, neither moving. Nicholas with smoldering, insidious hatred and Phin with curiosity laced with suspicion.

Nicholas recalled the moment Emmaline had stepped up to Phin, and the way her eyes sparkled in what he could only describe as delight. Unconsciously, he rubbed his chest where his heart pounded in dread and horror.

After learning she was Lady Anne, he’d begun to suspect her tale of a husband was a ruse, like everything else that spilled from her lips. But what if it wasn’t? What if she was married to Phin?

Good God. The thought had him staggering back. Phin and Emmaline? Immediately, his heart wanted to deny it, but his head wouldn’t let the thought die. Jealousy surged through him. Like a wounded animal he wanted to attack the man, and barely held himself together to remain civil.

“Where is she?” He pushed the words out through a tight throat.

Phin cocked his head, his expression amused. Mocking? Did he know Nicholas kissed Emmaline? That his hands knew her curves intimately?

“Who?” Phin asked.

“Mrs. Sutherland.” He couldn’t force himself to call her Lady Anne.

A mocking smile lifted one corner of Phin’s mouth. “She is well. Fast asleep in her own cabin.”

Nicholas’s gut twisted at the image of Phin tumbling Emmaline’s naked body onto the bunk, before his mind snapped to reality. What did it matter? It wasn’t as if she were Nicholas’s woman. She was a
pirate
, for God’s sake. It would be best if he remembered that and put his mind toward more important things, like his crew and the predicament he found himself in.

“Where is my crew?”

“They boarded tenders and were set free.”

Setting prisoners free in tenders was a common pirate tactic. A
humane
pirate tactic. While he didn’t want to be beholden to these people, he was relieved to hear his crew had been freed. “Were they given food and water?”

“Aye.”

It was the best Nicholas could hope for, and better than being on this ship, captive to pirates. Like he was.

“Are you the captain of this ship?” he asked.

“Quartermaster.”

Ah, quartermaster, second in command. Nicholas was surprised. If anyone possessed leadership qualities, Phin did.

“I wish to speak to the captain.”

Phin frowned. “Impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because the captain does not wish to speak to you at this time.”

He shook with impotent rage. Two years ago he vowed never to feel this helpless again. That he did now, at the hands of
her
, ate at him. “Why is that? Because she doesn’t want to face me?”

“You best watch what you say.” Phin stepped closer, his hand curling around the hilt of the sword that hung at his side. Anger replaced his earlier amusement and straightened his wide shoulders.

“Or what?” Nicholas asked. “What are your plans for me?”

“You ask too many questions.” Phin’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and Nicholas understood why people whispered his name in fear. Oh, Nicholas had heard the rumors. Any sailor worth his salt knew of Phin’s terror on the seas. Ruthlessly attacking and plundering ships. There was a substantial price on the man’s head, which merely increased his fame. That Emmaline was associated with him disappointed Nicholas.

But the rumors of Phin’s reputation were nothing compared to Nicholas’s fury. He was the brother to the ninth Earl of Claybrook. Nobility ran in his blood. He would
not
let these pirates best him.

Nicholas leaned forward, barely inches from Phin’s face. “I won’t pirate for you, and if your purpose is to ransom me, you will be waiting a long while. My brother won’t pay.”

In truth, his brother would pay, but Nicholas didn’t want Phin to know this, nor did he want his brother to discover he’d been taken by pirates. He’d caused his family enough grief when he’d been injured, and the doctors hadn’t known if he would survive. They didn’t need more.

Phin moved to the door, but did so cautiously, without turning his back to Nicholas. “I will tell the captain you are resting comfortably in your accommodations.”

“You can give the captain a message from me while you’re at it.”

Phin waited, and Nicholas said, “Tell her that when she has time, I would like a tour of her ship.”

Emmaline’s door flew open with such force it hit the wall and bounced back. She grabbed the cutlass at her side, had it half out of its sheath before she recognized Phin.

“Damn it, Phin. I should run you through. What’s the purpose barging into my cabin like this?”

“Who is he, Anne?” He stormed in, his green eyes snapping in fury.

Her sword dipped until the point touched the floor. “Who?”

“Addison. Who is he, really?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” But she did. Her heart pounded and her hand turned sweaty on the hilt of her sword. She sheathed the weapon and leaned it against her bunk.

“He’s not
merely
some sea captain. A sea captain doesn’t speak the way Addison speaks.” He took a step toward her. “A sea captain doesn’t have the dignified bearing Addison does.” He took another step. “A sea captain doesn’t look down his nose at people he thinks inferior. Like Addison does.”

Phin’s chest was practically heaving with the effort to control his fury. “Who is he?”

Emmaline’s mind took flight. Phin had a right to know what she’d done, but it didn’t mean she wanted to tell him. She’d been irresponsible, something she rarely was, and this irresponsibility
might kill them all. Especially Phin, who had a substantial bounty on his head. Damn it! She was never this reckless.

“He’s the brother to Sebastian Addison, Earl of Claybrook.”

“Bloody hell,” he whispered. His face lost some of its color. “What have you done?”

Her chin went up. “I couldn’t let him go, not now that he knows my real identity.”

“He’s nobility, Anne.” The words were soft, but might as well have been shouted. Phin was furious and he had every right to be.

“His brother has the ear of the king. The
king
, Anne. Do you know what that means?”

“Of course I know what that means. What would you have me do? He knows who I am.”

“Kill him.”

“No.” The thought made her physically ill. Addison was a good man caught in bad circumstances. Killing him would … kill the last remaining kernel of decency that still existed inside her.

“This will be the ruin of us all.”

“Not necessarily.”

Phin made a rude noise. “And how, pray tell, do you figure? He’s the brother of an
earl
. Hell, he probably has his own damn title. He’s been kidnapped by pirates. When Claybrook discovers this—and don’t believe he won’t—he’ll go to the king and a bounty will be put on your head. Not to mention that the already enormous bounty on
my
head will increase.”

She winced and looked away. “I know.”

“Then what are you going to do about it?” This time, he did yell.

“Well I certainly can’t kill him now. That will bring down the royal wrath for sure.”

He glared at her, his green eyes bright with fury. “This isn’t like you. What happened between you and Addison that suddenly you’re squeamish about killing?”

Emmaline glared at the floor, hating the guilt eating at her. She was a grown woman. She was allowed to kiss whom she wanted, when she wanted, and she didn’t have to answer to anyone for it. Especially not Phin, whose own prowess was well-known and talked about everywhere.

She never questioned
him
about whom
he
kissed. But his escapades had never put them in peril.

“Dear God, you have feelings for him, don’t you? Look at me, Anne, and tell me you harbor no feelings for the man.”

Emmaline was able to captain a crew of bloodthirsty men without hesitation. She could attack and plunder ships, run a sword through an enemy’s heart without a thought. But she’d never been able to lie to Phin, and he knew it.

“It’s not what you think,” she said.

When he didn’t answer, she chanced a look at him, then wished she hadn’t. The fury was still there, but beneath it lurked pain.

Bloody hell. This was becoming more and more complicated.

“Phin—”

“He’s the brother of an earl. Nothing good can come from this.”

“I am aware. You need not keep repeating it.” Oh, how she was aware. Addison was everything she was not. Her course was plotted eleven years ago. His was plotted since birth, and their paths should never have crossed. Only bad luck made it so.

“I hope you haven’t set your sights on a goal that is completely out of your reach.”

Emmaline stilled. Her eyes narrowed. “What are you saying, Phin?”

He glared at her. “He’s not your people and you certainly are not his people.”

Her fingers folded into fists. Lord, how she wanted to take a swing at him. Punch him right in the jaw. But for what? For being brutally honest?

“I should never have allowed you to embark on this fool plan.” He ran a hand through his long hair and paced away.

She lifted her eyebrows and forced her fingers to relax. “As if you
allow
me anything.”

“We should have sailed to Boston on our own, and retrieved the information
on our own
.”

“Looking back and rethinking plans is a waste. This is what we did, and this is what we
have to live with.”

“He’s furious.”

“I have no doubt.”

“And he’s hurt.”

Her head jerked up. “Pardon?” She pictured the blood splattered on his shirt. Good God, she’d assumed it was someone else’s. How hurt was he? And why didn’t Phin tell her this when he first walked in?

“He’s angry as hell at you, but he also feels betrayed. Why would he feel betrayed, Anne?”

Betrayed? Of course. Addison wasn’t hurt physically, he was angry because she lied to him and made him believe she was something she was not. Pressure built against the back of her eyes at the thought of the magic moment in Nicholas’s cabin, when his arms were around her and their bodies were so close she felt the pounding of his heart. He’d wanted her and he probably hated himself for wanting her.

“On Alphonse’s ship, he was prepared to defend me.
Me
, Phin.” She pounded a fist against her chest. “No one has ever done that before.”

His brows lowered in confusion. “There’s been no reason. You can defend yourself.”

He didn’t understand. She barely understood herself. “It’s his goodness, Phin. He’s a good man.”

“You mean he’s the first man who’s looked at you as a woman and not a pirate.”

She paused, surprised at Phin’s insight. “Yes.”

“Then you’ve done your job well, making him believe you’re Emmaline Sutherland.”

He was right, of course. She’d set out to make Addison believe she was Emmaline, a married woman sailing to Boston with nothing but time on her hands. That he believed her should have given her satisfaction. Instead it left her feeling more tainted than she’d ever felt before, because, in the end, she’d begun to believe her lies as well. In Addison’s cabin she’d let herself believe she was nothing more than a lonely woman in need of a man to make her feel
complete.

She’d conveniently forgotten about her mission, about her past, about her father. About everything that had shaped her life and driven her actions for the past eleven years. In Addison’s arms she
believed
she could be something better, when the truth was she would never be the type of woman Nicholas Addison, sea captain and nobleman, wanted.

“He wanted me to pass a message to you,” Phin said.

“Yes?” Damn her traitorous heart, racing in anticipation. She felt like all those foolish girls at Aunt Dorothy’s ball. She felt like the girl she used to be before darkness stole her life.

“He requests a tour of the ship.”

Emmaline stood at the bow of the ship and pressed her fingers against her lips. She closed her eyes and drifted back to the moment when Addison kissed her. When she was naught but a woman. Not a pirate. Not a scoundrel bent on revenge, but a woman yearning for a man’s kiss.