The Devil's Necklace. Kat Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ have shouted for help, begged the passengers and crew to come to her aid. But there was Captain Chambers to consider and she didn’t want him harmed, perhaps even killed because of her.

      She was guilty of a terrible crime, and in that brief, terrifying instant when the raven-haired captain had walked into the salon, it was obvious he knew what she had done.

      Who was he? The devil, he had said, and Grace believed him. If she closed her eyes, she could still see the revulsion in his face as he had looked at her. And the hatred. She had never seen eyes such an icy shade of blue, never seen a jaw so hard it appeared carved in stone.

      He was tall, his legs long and sinewy, the shoulder pressing into her stomach as he had carried her down the rope ladder wide and solid. There was no extra fat over the lean muscles in his back, she knew, her face growing warm at the memory of the intimate contact.

      His skin was dark, has face tanned, little crinkles at the corners of his eyes. Sun lines, not laugh lines, she was sure. She couldn’t image the devil captain ever laughing at any thing except, perhaps, someone else’s pain. Instead, his features were hard and unforgiving, brutal, even cruel.

      And yet he was handsome. With his wavy black hair, winged black brows, and well-formed lips, he was one of the handsomest men she had ever seen.

      “Follow me.”

      The words sliced through her, breaking into her trance. Sweet God, why had she ever let him force her off the Lady Anne?

      She mustered her courage. “Where are you taking me?”

      “You’ll need a place to sleep. You’ll be staying in my cabin.”

      She stopped dead still, the deck rolling just then, causing her to stumble. “And where, exactly, do you intend to sleep?”

      His mouth barely curved. “This ship isn’t all that big. I’m afraid you’ll have to share the cabin with me.”

      Grace shook her head, unconsciously took a step backward. “Oh, no. There is no way you are sleeping in the same room with me.”

      One of his black eyebrows went up. “Then perhaps you would rather sleep on deck. I can arrange it, if that is your wish. Or you can bunk in with the crew. I’m sure there isn’t a one of them who would mind sharing his bed with you. What will it be, Miss Chastain?”

      She stared at those unforgiving features and a wave of nausea hit her. She was completely at this man’s mercy. What in God’s name could she do?

      She glanced frantically around the deck. There was no where to go, no place to run. Half a dozen crewmen stood in a semicircle around them. One man smiled and she noticed the black stumps of his teeth. One of them had a wooden leg, another man was big and dark and covered with tattoos.

      “Miss Chastain?”

      Surely the captain was the lesser evil, though she wasn’t completely certain. At the nod she barely managed, he turned and started walking. Grace forced her feet to move, her legs shaking as she followed him down the ladder that led to his quarters in the stern of the ship. At the bottom of the stairs, he turned and reached for her hand, helping her down with a chivalry that was more mocking than gallant.

      He opened his cabin door to let her pass and she stepped into luxurious quarters far more impressive than the tiny space she had occupied with Phoebe aboard the Lady Anne.

      “I gather you approve.”

      How could she not? The walls were fashioned of polished mahogany, as were the table and chairs, the desk and the bookshelves. A wide built-in mahogany berth stretched beneath a spread of small square windows looking out the stern, and a warm fire burned in a tiny hearth in the corner. The glossy wooden floor, covered with a thick Persian carpet, gleamed in the light of freshly polished brass lamps.

      She forced her gaze to his face. “Your taste in furnishings is quite splendid, Captain Sharpe. One might almost say refined.” She couldn’t keep a trace of sarcasm out of her voice.

      “Unlike my manners, is that it, Miss Chastain?”

      “Your words, Captain, not mine.”

      He picked up a silver letter opener on his desk and turned it over with long, tapered fingers. “I’m intrigued, Miss Chastain. Earlier, when we first met, you seemed only mildly surprised by my arrival. I presume that is be cause you were aware there might be consequences to the actions you took in London.”

      She kept her expression bland and prayed he wouldn’t notice that her hands were trembling. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I came with you because you made it clear your men would shoot Captain Chambers if I did not.”

      “So you were concerned for the captain’s welfare, not your own.”

      “That is correct.”

      “Why do you think I came for you?”

      “I have no idea.”

      “Really.”

      “None whatsoever.”

      “Perhaps you thought I meant to solicit a ransom for your return.” He strolled toward her, tall and dark, a panther on the prowl.

      “Do you?” Hoping her numb fingers would work, she reached up to work the clasp on her necklace. “If that is the case, perhaps you will take this in lieu of money. I as sure you the necklace is quite valuable.” And difficult as blazes to unfasten, as if the pearls had a will of their own.

      The captain walked toward her. “Perhaps I can assist you.” The clasp unfastened almost instantly, the necklace falling gently into the captain’s hand. “Lovely.” His fingers smoothed over the pearls. “I wonder how you got them.”

      “The pearls were a gift. Take them as payment and return me to the Lady Anne.”

      He laughed, a harsh, unpleasant sound. “A gift. From an admirer, no doubt.” He rolled them from palm to palm, testing their weight, feeling their creamy texture, then dropping them carelessly onto his desk.

      “I’m not interested in your money, Miss Chastain.” Cold blue eyes swept her from head to foot, and a chilling smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “There are, however, other forms of payment I might consider.” His pale blue gaze came to rest on the curve of her breast, barely visible above the top of her aqua silk gown. “I’ll be busy for a while. I suggest you make yourself comfortable while I’m gone.”

      He plucked the necklace up off the desk, his long fingers curling around it. “Until later, Miss Chastain.”

      Grace watched him cross the cabin and close the door behind him. At sound of the latch falling into place, she re leased the breath she had been holding. The tears she had been fighting welled up and began to roll down her cheeks. Grace hurriedly wiped them away, determined no one would see them and especially not him.

      She had thought he meant to take her back to London, that he intended to return her to the magistrates to face charges for aiding a traitor’s escape. She had known it could happen, that she could be caught and imprisoned for what she had done.

      But she couldn’t abandon her father. Though she barely knew him and didn’t know if he were СКАЧАТЬ