Carried Away Chapter 13

For Disclaimer and other details please see Chapter 1.

CHAPTER 13

Carrying the heavy coil of rope out into the light John inhaled deeply. It wasn’t as if he actually expected to smell anything other than the usual sea-going smells but it was just something that he had done from the first day that he had been here. It had become an important part of his routine. He couldn’t actually imagine not doing it. It was just second nature to him now.

It was only when he opened his eyes once more that something occurred to him. It wasn’t as if it was even something that screamed out at him. It was just a quiet difference to the usual sameness of every morning. Not able to stop himself he heaved a heavy sigh. He hadn’t even been awake for thirty minutes and already his day was starting to turn bad. Surely that couldn’t be true. He was practically just out of bed for god’s sake. Anyone would think that someone up there didn’t like him.

Only now when he thought about it he found himself surprised. She had been with them for over a week. Funny but it didn’t seem that long to him. He was only just able to keep the urge to count on his fingers at bay just to make sure. But he was right. Just over a week. He had barely seen her in all that time because Nash had been very careful about keeping her to himself. The man had even gone to the trouble of keeping her in his cabin.

Narrowing his eyes John realised that he could still remember every detail of the lecture that their captain had made them sit through the morning after she had been brought aboard. It had most probably rambled on for far too long but the general gist had been to keep to themselves. If they saw her out on the deck with Nash they weren’t even so much as allowed to look at her. Not that their illustrious captain had actually brought her out here to the deck.

“Didn’t you learn anything the last time?”

Hearing the softly spoken words from somewhere behind her Mary didn’t turn around right away. For one thing she had been truly enjoying the beautiful view here on the deck. She had been here for a while ... long enough to watch the sun rise anyway. At first she had hidden herself away but changed her mind when she realised that didn’t give her a good enough view. So she had actually dragged herself out of the hiding place that she sometimes used to catch a little fresh air so she could see some light. Or the dark turning into the light. It was truly spectacular. In fact she might have felt her breath actually catch in the back of her throat.

Still she just sat there frozen and unwilling to turn around. There was a part of her that was sure she recognised that voice but at the same time she knew that couldn’t be true. She hadn’t been around enough of the men on board to recognise them ... Nash wouldn’t let her talk to any of them for a start. “I’m sure that I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She said but made no attempt to turn around. She wasn’t even sure if she was talking loud enough to be heard. Her voice might have been snatched up by the breeze.

“I’m sure that you do.” John stated and could hear the hard edge starting to appear in his own voice. That was the pain in the neck of dealing with the supposed upper classes. They hated him and his kind. If he was honest then he didn’t care that much for them either. “You know how Nash feels about you being out here...”

Before he could say anything else Mary spun on him quickly. “NO!” She spat out and saw the way that he almost jumped back. She wanted to smile at that but she bit at her lip and held her expression. “No I don’t know how Nash feels about me being out here. See he doesn’t really like to share his thoughts with me.” She said and shrugged her shoulders as if he should have known that already. “He doesn’t really like to share much with me.”

“That’s not what it sounds like from out here sometimes.” He said without thinking about his words. The moment that they fell from his lips he knew that his eyes were widening. It was one thing to have those kinds of thoughts but another thing all together to actually say them out loud. For starters she was a woman and as such he should be treating her with kid gloves not acting like she was another member of the crew. “I mean...”

Staring at him as if he were something that she had found on the bottom of her shoe Mary shook her head in disgust. “Believe me when I say that it’s more than obvious what you mean.” She said and at the same time she could feel her own face heating. Was she that loud? Did she really lose herself so much when Nash took her that they could hear her out here? That didn’t bear thinking about. In fact it made her feel more than a little sick.

“Sorry.” He said quietly but had no clue if she was even listening to him any longer. “I really didn’t mean to say that. I never think before I speak.” He saw the way that her head turned fractionally so she could look at him. That had to be a good thing. “I mean I’m famous for it. Ask any of the other men if John thinks before he speaks and they’ll all tell you ‘no’ for sure.”

She didn’t want to smile. That was the last thing that she wanted to do but perversely it seemed to be the only thing that she was actually capable of doing. Besides, what he had just said was at least a little funny. “John. I’ll remember that name and make sure to stay away from you.” She said but still didn’t turn around.

“I meant what I said though.” John stated. “You should go back. You can’t let Nash awake and find you not there.”

“Worried that he would take it out on you?” She asked with a smirk that she couldn’t hold back even though she was no longer looking at him.

He found himself nodding. “Well of course.” He said and he realised that he was only half kidding. “I’m not afraid of my captain ... he is a fair man.”

“Oh yes ... Nash is a fair man.” She said with bite to her tone. “He’s so fair that he goes around stealing people from other ships just so he can bend them to his will ... use them in whatever way he sees fit.”

He opened his mouth to reply but then let it close again. How did one answer that kind of statement? He knew that she wouldn’t listen to anything that he had to say that showed Nash in any kind of good light. She was after all going on her own experiences here. His nose wrinkled up at the thought of what she had just said. The slicing comment about the man that he knew to be so fair and thorough using someone ... using a woman the way that he was using her. No matter how he looked at things there was no way that he could imagine the man forcing her to do anything that she didn’t want to do. That wasn’t how Nash operated. He had never needed to. John had been around the other men when they were ashore to know that was never an option. Several women were usually pursuing them at a time.

“You need to get back there before he wakes.” He said again. It was something that he was sure of. He knew that his boss wouldn’t get angry when he didn’t find her tucked up beside him in bed but it would surely irritate him.

Snapping her head around to fix him with a cold look she just stared at him. It was only then that it hit her how young this man was. He couldn’t be much older than her ... actually she would be surprised if he was older than she was. And he thought that he could tell her what to do. Oh she really didn’t see that happening any time in the near future. “What will you do if I don’t?” She asked and deliberately injected a note of flirtation into her voice. It was difficult for her. Flirting wasn’t something that came to her with any kind of ease. In fact she couldn’t remember any time that she had done it before. And batting her lashes when she was a child didn’t count. Especially when she considered that it had never worked for her even then. “Will you run off to tell on me?”

“I might.” He said but at the same time he had a strong urge to smile. He had a feeling that she was trying something here but her voice sounded so odd. Whatever she was trying to do was falling flat. Her voice sounded so strange and stilted. “But if you leave now then you can consider your secret safe with me.” He saw the odd look that she just shot him. “It’s fairly clear that this isn’t the first time that you’ve done this.”

Realising that he wasn’t going to give in to her Mary pushed herself up to stand. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to leave her alone so this time would be wasted. “I don’t need promises from you or anyone.” She muttered as she shoved past him then began to slink her way back to Nash’s cabin.

“What did she mean by that?” John said to himself as his face creased up into a frown. It was only then that it hit him that she meant what he had said about her secret being safe with him. Yes, it had been a little joke but there was a kernel of truth to it too. He had no intention of telling anyone that he had found her here. “It wouldn’t bode well for me if I did.” He said but knew that that wasn’t the reason that he planned on keeping his mouth shut.

-o0o-

Waiting impatiently on the dock Paul tapped his cane on the ground. What in the name of hell was taking her so long? The ship had already docked. After all he was the one who had made the arrangements with the captain of the ship. It was one of his old friends. Looking around him he wondered if perhaps she had passed him and he had missed her. Now that he thought about it a very ugly woman had been in his general vicinity not that long ago. That could have been her.

Then sure that he had heard someone calling out his name he pulled a face and turned towards them. God he hoped that wasn’t her. After all it had sounded extremely masculine to him.

“Paul!”

Narrowing his eyes when he saw the man running towards him he stopped dead where he was and leaned a little heavier on his cane. It wasn’t that he had to use the beautifully ornate piece of wood but he just liked having it with him. It gave him a kind of air of authority. And one never knew just when you would need to lash out at some ingrate or underling. “Douglas.” He said with an imperious nod of his head. “Where is my package?” He asked.

“I’m so very sorry Paul.” Douglas began and tried to look properly contrite. Really he didn’t care that the woman had been taken. It wasn’t as if he had been given any kind of financial restitution for carrying her. Even when he had tried to get some kind of payback she had made sure to cut him off at the knees. For a little thing she definitely knew how to take care of herself if it was necessary. He had walked with a limp for what felt like days. He had been doing it as a favour for a friend. He had just been glad that nothing of any true value had been taken when the pirates boarded his ship.

And just like that Paul could feel the displeasure and suspicion leap higher in his mind. “Sorry for what Douglas?” He asked and took another step closer to the other man. His stick tapped repeatedly. “And you should be very careful right now. I’m really not looking forward to welcoming this woman into my life but it has to be done.” He pointed out. “Now tell me what you have to tell me.”

“She was taken.” Douglas blurted out quickly. The moment that the words were out of his mouth he thought that perhaps he should have couched them better than he had done.

“Taken!” Paul almost bellowed and before he could stop himself he lifted the silver topped can that he held and thwacked the man standing in front of him several times. “How in the hell could you let that happen?”

Trying his best to protect himself Douglas cringed back. He had known that this was going to be his friend’s reaction. “I did not have any say in the matter.” He sputtered out and tried to keep his voice at a reasonable volume. This would be hard enough to say one time so he didn’t want to have to repeat himself. “There was just too many of them. They boarded my ship without my consent. And then ... they just took her.”

“They just took her?” Paul snapped out and wanted nothing more than to just lash out again. But this time he tried to keep his head. The more that he could get out of Douglas the better. “Who is this mysterious ‘they’?” He asked in the same snappish manner.

For a moment Douglas didn’t say anything. He was sure that he hadn’t heard his friend properly. Didn’t he understand. He had been so certain that the other man would know just what kind of people he was talking about. “Pirates.” He said suddenly and knew that the volume of his voice was rising. At that he saw the look on Paul’s face and knew just what it meant. He should lower his voice and moderate his tone or that cane would be meeting his flesh once more. That was something that he didn’t want to happen again.

“They came aboard the ship.” He stated in a much calmer sounding way. “The captain looked around. But it wasn’t him that took her. It was another one.” He said and thought about it before nodding. “If I didn’t know any better I would have sworn that he knew that she was a woman.”

His eyes flashing Paul listened till he could listen no more. “Didn’t you tell her that she was to travel disguised as a man?” He asked and thought about the amount of times that he had tried to drum that into this other man’s brain.

“Of course I did!” Douglas stated. “But ... well it would have taken a very special kind of idiot to look at that woman dressed in simple men’s clothes and actually believe that she was born a male of the species.”

“What?” Paul snapped and stared.

Shrugging his shoulders Douglas took a step back. “She was a woman Paul ... no one could have thought otherwise. Everything that was done to convince us that she was male only highlighted the fact that it was something she could never hope to be.”

Clenching his teeth together Paul thought about how cruel fate could be. All of that time spent fantasising about her somehow toppling over the edge of the deck railing or even being snatched up by pirates. They had only been fantasies nothing more. He knew that for what he wanted then he needed that woman by his side. There was no way that his family or hers would let her disappearance slide.

“I want her back.” He ground out darkly. “Do you know the man that took her?” He asked knowing that the existence of pirates and their names were actually common knowledge among the sailing fraternity.

“Not the man who took her no.” Douglas stated honestly. “But I may have recognised the captain of the ship.” He hedged wondering if this information would be enough to get him a little pouch full of gold coins.

Smirking Paul nodded his head. “Don’t split hairs Douglas … stop doing that and then find her for me.” He said coldly and just like that another idea popped into his head. “I can assure you that you’ll be handsomely rewarded if you do.” Turning on his heel he abruptly ended the conversation and headed back the way that he came. God he so hated being down here by the docks.


But when he passed the particularly rowdy sounding tavern he paused. “Perhaps I can have some fun down here after all.” He mused and tilting his head attempted to look inside. Yes, there were definitely women in there. Fun to be had all over by the looks of things.