The Pirate Captain - By Kerry Lynne Page 0,166

hyacinth-colored flash of a parrot in the trees.

“Beatrice?”

“It certainly is!”

The gravelly voice came from behind. Startled, Cate yelped as she spun around. “Nathan!”

He swung a final leg over the balcony rail and stood before her, puffing from the climb.

“What on earth are you doing here? Come in here before you’re seen,” she hissed.

“I played bloody hell trying to find you.” Nathan shook an admonishing finger at her as she pulled him inside.

“What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

The thought of him looking for her was touching…but…

“Didn’t fancy I would find you, did you? Looked all over!” Hooking his thumbs in his belt, he struck a triumphant pose. “Thought you could give me the slip—get away clean—but I found you.”

Cate fanned a hand, backing away. “What’s that smell?” Even as she asked, she knew: there was no mistaking cheap perfume.

“I had me virtue threatened,” he said.

“You couldn’t have been in much of a hurry, if you had time sufficient to stop at a whorehouse.”

“I was attacked. An innocent, I was!”

Cate pressed a cautionary finger to her lips. She lowered her voice, which obligated her to move closer to both him and the smell. “How did you ever find me?”

“My impeccable instincts—” Her dubious stare brought Nathan’s boast to an abrupt halt. “And Beatrice,” he conceded, crestfallen.

A myriad of questions popped to mind, none of which Cate desired to pursue. Capture for him meant an appointment with the gallows.

“You have to go, before you’re discovered,” she said.

“I came to help you escape,” he said, resisting her attempts to urge him back to the balcony.

“Escape? I don’t need to escape.”

“Aren’t you under arrest?”

“No,” she said, puzzled by such a far-flung assumption.

Nathan prepared a reply, but then noticed she wore only a shift. The soot-colored eyes flicked toward the tousled bed and eyes she had always known to be warm went cold. He stalked to the bed to snatch up the bedclothes and shake them at her.

“Ah, so it would appear the fly didn’t mind being caught by the spider after all. A roll at the tavern wasn’t enough, eh? Decided to give the sheets a wearing here, as well?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked in clipped precision.

Growling in disgust, Nathan pitched the sheets aside. “I know you went to his room. You’re a faster worker than I’d credited,” he said with grudging admiration.

“You’re not making any sense.”

“Coy does not suit you, Missy. I had the inseparable duo follow you—”

“You had me followed!” Cate flinched at her own volume, and hissed lower, “How dare you. You didn’t trust me…”

Nathan stalked back, glaring. “I trusted you, then. I sent them to assure you were safe. I see now I was grossly misguided in me concerns.”

She flushed at his accusation. “We don’t have time for your childish arguments—”

“Childish!”

Cate waved away Nathan’s indignant sputtering. “So far, I know Creswicke’s fiancée is definitely en route. She should be here within the week, more or less, but she’s not to go to Bridgetown directly. She's to stop off somewhere, but I haven't been able to learn where.”

“Did Harte tell you all that during the first shining of the sheets or the second?” Nathan shot back with a cutting edge. He tilted his head to critically survey her. “Did your hair up for him, too, I see. Sweet-smelling soap; fancied up for him, too,” he added, leaning nearer to sniff. “Prettying yourself up, employed all your tricks; bloody fast work for less time than a watch.”

“What do you care?”

No longer of a mind to deal with this senseless sparring, Cate drew a deep breath, and said in measured calmness, “Supper will be rang directly. I hope to know more by the time it’s finished. Shall I try to make my way back, or would you prefer I just keep going?”

Nathan exhaled sharply through his nose. “I’ll be in that garden, tonight.” He pointed toward the balcony, and then stabbed a finger at her. “You be there!”

A baring of teeth punctuated his demand. With a low grumble, he turned on his heel and headed for the balcony.

“How are you to get away?” Cate asked from close on his heels.

“That would be me own problem, wouldn't it?” Nathan snapped over his shoulder. Checking the grounds below, he threw a leg over the banister, pausing to glare once more. “You be there!”

And then he was gone.

Cate watched Nathan disappear into the woods at the garden’s edge with a sinking sensation. The look on his face had been quite damning.