Free Rexanne Becnel by Heart of the Storm

the man muttered.
    “She was,” Oliver swore. “Bloody hell. Now what are we to do?”
    “I could toss her over this wall and down the hill.”
    Eliza’s heart stopped. It had been thundering until he said that. Now it stopped. He hefted her higher in his arm, and despite her struggles, held her just above the rail.
    “Stop fooling around,” Oliver ordered. “We’ve got a real problem here.”
    She felt her captor shrug. “Give her the same drug we gave the boy. Put her to sleep.”
    At once it made sense. They’d drugged Aubrey and meant to kidnap him, just as the same pair must have tried to do back at Guernsey. No wonder she’d felt so uneasy about Oliver. And now, just like before, she’d managed to stumble into the middle of it.
    She began to struggle in earnest now, kicking and clawing at the man who so easily held her. But with only a quick flexing of his thick arm he squeezed her tighter until she feared she would faint from lack of air.
    “We used all the stuff on Aubrey,” Oliver answered.
    “Well, we can’t leave her here to rouse everyone.”
    “Then we’ll just have to bring her with us.”
    Eliza felt the silent shaking of the man’s laughter before it came out. “The captain shall have our hides for bungling this.”

    “Well, he was the one who bungled it the first time,” Oliver retorted. “He can hardly blame us if she interfered with us.”
    The two men moved swiftly after that. Over the rail and into the lush landscape of the hillside, Eliza bumped along in her captor’s unyielding grasp, terrified. Furious. Oliver Spencer was a ruffian of the worst sort and she should have known better than ever to have hired him. Yet it was clear they’d plotted this a long time. And now she and Aubrey were being dragged to meet this … this captain of theirs. This captain who’d bungled it once before.
    As if her fear were not profound already, a new layer of panic overwhelmed Eliza. This captain must be the one who’d crept into Aubrey’s cabin that night. The one who’d hauled her so rudely from the bed. The one who’d touched her body and kissed her—
    Eliza squeezed her eyes tight, though the black night already hid as much as her eyelids did. But nothing could blot out the terror that had her in its foul grip. She was being dragged off by two of the vilest cads in the entire world to be given over to the clutches of their even viler captain.
    Eventually her hands were tied before her and both her eyes and her mouth were bound with rather smelly handkerchiefs. She was lifted and placed on a bench—in a boat, she realized from the sound of waves slapping against the shore. Aubrey was stowed in the boat as well and the men pushed off. They rowed in silence, but though she could hear little and see nothing, she knew where they were headed. To that ship with the naked woman on the front. To the wicked ship Chameleon . To its unholy captain with his bold hands and even bolder mouth.
    He would finish what he’d begun that night, of course. He would ravish her and she would be ruined for marriage.
Michael could not be expected to wed a ruined woman.
    Then the small boat bumped up against a larger object and her fears doubled. Ravishment could very well be the least of her troubles. And Aubrey’s.

Chapter Six
    “ W hat do you mean, you brought his cousin too!”
    Eliza could hear the shouting even from the small cell they’d confined her to, deep within the bowels of the ship. She and Aubrey were locked in a dark, damp chamber and she sat now with her back against a chilly wall and Aubrey in her arms. Despite all his handling, the boy still slept, breathing even and slow. She smelled an odd flavor upon his breath, something sweet and medicinal. But at least they’d not hurt him, she consoled herself as she hugged him close. No telling why they’d stolen him, but at least that pair of thugs had seemed intent on keeping him safe. Until their captain ordered otherwise, she worried.