straight away.”
Knowing Nathan’s bent, it was a credible threat. Conviction or provocation could precipitate such an act, more so of recent, if there was any grain of truth to the stories he’d heard.
Nathan pitched several bits of shell into the fire as his agitation grew. “Any man what takes a woman through war—nigh on to a goddamned hero, as I hear it—and then leaves her to suffer God knows what alone, deserves a blade to the gut. God protect us from noble men,” he intoned to the sky.
Thomas frowned but nodded interestedly. It explained a good deal of the woman’s hardness—not in the way of coldness, for any man could see an internal fire of spirit and flesh—and wisdom. The woman was a mystery and a wonder.
“And you would never do that—leave her, that is?” Thomas mused.
Nathan twitched. They both knew he had left a good number of women in his wake and not always with a proper taking of his leave.
Nathan swiped away the thought. “That was different different…’cuz she’s…she’s different.
“Charm her.”
Nathan rolled a dubious look from the corner of his eye. “Charm her, how?”
“I don’t know, like you always do. Hell, Nathan, I’ve seen you charm the scales off a fish. Flash her that smile of yours and she’ll be clay in your hand.”
Nathan’s bells—God knew where the hell those things came from!—tinkled when he shook his head in disbelief at Thomas’s failure to comprehend the delicacies of the situation. “She’s different.”
“C’mon, Nathan, if you can’t be honest with her or me, at least be honest with yourself for once.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think you know.”
“Goddamned taskmaster, aren’t you?”
Sputtering like a reprimanded schoolboy, Nathan pointedly fixed his gaze on the fire. Within seconds, his eyes crept back to find Thomas still staring. “You know, you remind me of me dear old, aged aunt. You’d best hope your face doesn’t freeze like that. Fancy yourself me keeper, eh?”
“Someone needs to; you do a damn poor business of it yourself.”
“I’ve made it this far, haven’t I?”
“Aye and how much further had you been else?”
Nathan held his ire for a moment, and then slumped. “Aye, true enough.”
Thomas’ attention drifted back to Cate’s sleeping form once more. The fire sparked gold and orange in the tumble of copper hair. “She's too beautiful to be kept in limbo waiting for no one. If you’ve designs, fair enough. But if not, you’d oblige me to say as much and step aside.”
Jaw working, Nathan’s gaze settled on her and lingered with a sudden tenderness. “Sad thing is she hasn’t the slightest idea the effect she has on men. All she need do is look at you with those cursed eyes and…”
“And what?”
“And, nothing.” Nathan picked up a bit of driftwood and hurled it into the fire. “That’s what happens: nothing.”
Nathan turned into himself, mired deep in his own murk. Silence fell; the fire’s hiss the only sound between them.
“So, I’ve wore ’round to my original question,” Thomas said at length. “Put a name on what you’re at with her?”
Snatching up the bottle from at his feet, Nathan meditatively rolled it between his hands. At length, he took a drink then blew a tired exhale. “Only one thing I can do: keep her safe, until I can find her husband.”
Now there was a novelty: finding a husband?
Thomas’ mouth sagged.“Safe, as on the Morganse safe? You think it's safe out here?”
“Well, it's safer than anywhere else. Well, it is,” he bristled at Thomas’ dubious guffaw.
Thomas burst out a laugh, only to clap a hand over his mouth when Cate stirred.
“Sure, Nathan,” he whispered, still fizzing with mirth. “You just keep believing that. What makes you so sure she wants to find her husband?”
Nathan gave him a level look from under his brows. “She. Still. Loves. Him.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. I could have sworn I saw something different, but you’d know better than I. You’d best be careful with her, Nathan. That woman could wipe the decks with your carcass.”
Nathan snorted. “As well I know!”
###
Cate woke again much later. The moon had set. The air had the feel of being nearer to day than night. The fire was down to mere coals, glimmering red hot under their blanket of ash. Aside from the rattle of palm fronds, the rush of surf on the reef, and the snoring of over 300 celebration-worn men, the beach was still.
Twisting her head around, she was startled to find a dark form laying barely an arm’s length away. Peering closer, she