Free Sea of Desire by Christine Dorsey Page B

“Now, may I suggest you repair the damage you’ve
done?” His voice was low, like smooth silk encasing solid steel.
But it did nothing to disguise his intensity.
    Merideth swallowed. Helplessness was not a
feeling she enjoyed. She’d felt it too much during the last year
not to recognize it With all her being she wished to toss back her
hair and send him a look filled with disdain. To tell him he was
free to do with this mess what he chose, but she would do
naught.
    In the end she bent and in an angry motion
swept up a rumpled shirt. A slightly musky scent she recognized as
Captain Blackstone’s drifted from the linen. To salvage her pride,
she balled the shirt and tossed it toward the open chest. It caught
on the lid.
    Jared could barely keep from laughing. At
that moment she reminded him of his younger sister, Betsy. She was
a stubborn child, woman now, and used to getting her way. Then Lady
Merideth spoke and her words erased that image from his mind,
reminding him that their business together was serious—deadly
serious.
    “I want to know where you’re taking me... and
why.”
    Her chin was set at a defiant angle, and
though she swept up a chart rolling near her feet, Jared didn’t
think she planned to do much more toward cleaning his cabin,
regardless of his implied threats.
    “I thought I made myself clear as to the
why.” Jared crossed his arms and studied her face. She still had
the look of an angel about her. But a fallen angel to be sure.
    “And I think I’ve made myself clear that I
don’t know the information you seek.”
    “Your father indicated differently.”
    “Before you killed him.” Merideth watched a
dull-red stain his bronzed face. “Is that why you did it, because
you thought me easier to coerce?”
    “If I thought that, I most certainly was
wrong. Your father was willing to traitor himself for mere
coin—”
    “That’s a lie!”
    “You, on the other hand,” Jared continued as
if she hadn’t spoken, “have yet to name your price.”
    “There is no price because there is no
information.” She didn’t know why she took the effort to dispute
him. His smirk made it obvious he didn’t believe her. But she
didn’t care what he thought. She knew. Knew her father wouldn’t be
a party to treason, no matter what the rewards. He wouldn’t.
    Perhaps he had let their finances get out of
hand. And he did have a weakness for gaming tables and drink, but
he was a loyal Englishman. He was!
    “I’ve had enough of this.” Before she could
back away, the captain’s grip, iron hard, shackled her arm.
Merideth yanked but it did no good. He held her still. His eyes
burned into her, and his hot breath wafted across her cheek as he
spoke.
    “If you think to demand more money in France,
think again.”
    “That’s where you’re taking me, France?”
Merideth tried to mask the panic from her voice. But he seemed to
notice neither her tone nor her words.
    “I’ve a notion you’ve already been paid. And
I wish to know the name.”
    “I’ve been paid nothing, and for the last
time there is no—”
    “I carried gold when I came ashore. I still
had it when I met with your father.”
    “You mean when you killed my father!”
Merideth swung her fist, but never knew the satisfying feel of
flesh against hated flesh. He caught her wrist as easily as if
she’d told him what she intended to do. Her fury—and fear—mounted
as he yanked her up against him. She could see the prisms of fiery
green radiating from the center of his eyes.
    “I did not kill your father.”
    There it was again. The temptation to believe
him. But what he said was a lie. It had to be. He’d lied about
everything else. Her father. The money. If there had been gold,
they would have found it.
    Besides, there had been a trial. The
magistrate had found him guilty. He was guilty. He had to
be. There was no one else.
    “Now, if we could get on with this.” He
scowled down at her, and Merideth wondered if he could hear