The Red Drifter of the Sea (Pirates of the Isles #3) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,32
can’t have it both ways, Moira. Either you’re willing to accept Kyle’s rules and submit, or you need him to drop you ashore. I’d rather submit than be alone, even if he took me to the O’Driscolls or the MacNeils. Just keep your neb out of trouble and keep quiet.
Moira shifted on her knees as she slowly exhaled. She resolved to make peace. Even if she didn’t trust Kyle with all of her secrets, her belligerence was getting her nowhere. Waging war with Kyle on his ship was foolish and pointless, and Moira accepted it as the uneven wood bit into her knees.
“She’ll be the death of you,” Tomas chuckled as he handed Kyle a jug of whisky. The brisk air called for a nip or two to keep the blood pumping after hours in the bracing wind.
“But what a sweet way to go,” Kyle grinned. He thought back to when they returned to the cabin after her debut in only a leine. He considered Moira’s earnestness when she asked how she could convince him to return to his term of endearment. He hadn’t noticed that he’d called her “sweet one” the first couple of times, but once he did, he decided it fit—at least until her little stunt the morning she came above deck in just a leine. He scowled as he thought about the sight his men had received. He trusted most of them to have the sense to look but not touch, but there were a few men on his crew that he barely trusted not to knife him, never mind leave Moira alone.
Since leaving her kneeling in the corner, Kyle had tiptoed along the passageway thrice already that day to put his ear to his door. He heard no movement, so he suspected that Moira was still kneeling in the corner, asleep on the floor or his bed, or had found amusement looking at his maps and books. Until he returned, he could accept any of them, since it kept her out of trouble.
“You haven’t suggested setting her ashore,” Tomas pointed out. “You’ve mentioned nothing about ransoming her. And I’m certain you won’t set her adrift.”
“Keith and I don’t attack women.”
“True enough. But I think you might have considered tossing her over before she called you out. It was over then.”
“It was over before that,” Kyle confided to his first mate. He told Tomas almost as much as he did Keith, but never everything. But this he would confess. “I recognized her the moment I saw her. She didn’t have to say anything.”
“So you wouldn’t have let Snake Eye throw her overboard?”
“No. I wouldn’t have.”
“Did you plan to make her your mistress from the start?” Tomas cocked an eyebrow.
“It hasn’t gone well enough for her to agree, as she well reminded me. She’s an interesting set of contradictions,” Kyle pointed out.
“Maybe so. But when have you ever cared enough about a woman to figure them out?”
“I’m more intrigued than anything else.” Kyle had already confessed as much as he was willing, at least to Tomas. He would remain in control of the conversation, his feelings, his ship and, with a prayer, maybe even Moira. “She’s a puzzle to solve.”
“Och, aye. A puzzle. How much is there to figure out to get her to open her legs to you? She enjoyed what you were doing on the deck the other day.” At Kyle’s threatening glare, Tomas grinned and threw up his hands. “I’m not asking for a turn. Just making an observation, Capt’n.”
“Are the men saying anything about having a woman aboard?” Kyle wondered.
“Not yet. But I’m certain they will. If the rough seas continue, they’ll blame her. They didn’t blame her when it chucked it down. They claimed that was Ireland’s fault. But if an attack goes sour, they’ll blame her for that,” Tomas reasoned.
“Aye. And Keith has no idea she’s aboard. I haven’t talked to him about her yet.”
“He won’t step foot aboard!”
“He was the daft sod to fall in love with his captain’s mistress,” Kyle said with a shake of his head.
“Don’t let Caragh or Rowan hear you call her that. They prefer to forget those days. She’s Rowan’s wife now,” Tomas reminded.
“Don’t we all know it? And in all fairness, he wasn’t in love—or even in lust—but he liked Caragh. Who doesn’t?”
“I can think of someone,” Tomas grunted.
“But Alane brought her own death upon herself. The crazy bitch got what she deserved. She’s lucky Rowan didn’t do worse.”