Free Heather Graham - [Camerons Saga - North American Woman 02] by A Pirates Pleasure Page B

him.
    “Mam’selle! Do you comprehend me?”
    “Yes!”
    She saw the expression in his eyes soften and he moved hishand, as if he would touch her, almost as if he wanted to reach out to her. Then he swore and snorted, and spun around.
    Then he was gone. The doors slammed and the bolts slid in his wake. Skye stared after him, not breathing.
    Then she gulped in air and cast herself against the floor and gave way to a flood of tears.
    An hour later, after a great deal of reflection, she determined that she would clean the mess she had made. She brooded long and hard over the action, but in the end, she had to agree that the pirate had made one good point—a jar of jam was not worth this awful humiliation.
    She picked up the tray and the shattered porcelain and glass and cleaned the floorboards with a linen napkin. When she was done, she approached the windows and pulled back the drapes. She was startled to see that the sun was already fallen. They must have slept very late into the day. Night was coming again already.
    She tied the draperies by their cords, eager for the light that remained. The lamp had gone out and the stove had issued its last warmth and light. Skye knotted her fingers into her fists.
    He would leave her here again, she thought. Locked in as darkness fell. He would see her reduced to a groveling fool once again, and he would laugh all the while. He would assume that she deserved it.
    There was a knock upon the door. Startled, she whirled. She did not think that the Silver Hawk would be knocking. She pulled the coverlet tightly around her shoulders. “Yes?” she called softly.
    The door opened and the handsome young man the pirate had called Arrowsmith walked in, somewhat burdened by the weight of one of her traveling trunks.
    “This is yours, I believe?” he said.
    “Yes,” Skye said.
    “Then you’ll excuse me if I put it down. ’Tis heavy! What on earth is it that you women carry?”
    “I’m sure you’ve taken plunder enough to know the answer to that!” she retorted.
    He grimaced. “No, milady. We ransom off our plunder, just as we do our hostages.”
    “You’ll swing by the neck for it, just the same.”
    “Perhaps.” He grinned, setting down her trunk next to his master’s trunk at the foot of the bed. “I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until we reach the Caribbean for me to bring you the rest of your trunks,” he said apologetically. “The captain went through this one and thought that it offered all that you might require for the next few days of travel.”
    “The captain—went through it?”
    “Yes, milady.”
    She thought that she would scream her outrage, but she kept silent. Her clothing and jewels were valuable plunder. She was probably lucky that he had decided to clothe her.
    “I shall take this away,” Arrowsmith said. He smiled and picked up the tray with the broken cups without blinking. He turned to leave the room.
    “Wait, please!” Skye said. He was a pirate, too, she reminded herself. Even if he was young and handsome and even gentle in his way. He stopped, looking to her.
    “Could you … light a lamp for me, please? It is growing dark.”
    “I shall take care of it, Robert.”
    Startled, they both looked to the doorway. The Silver Hawk had returned.
    “Aye, Captain, as you wish it.” Robert Arrowsmith inclined his head toward Skye and exited the room, brushing by his captain. The Silver Hawk came into the room, turning his back to her and, with slow purpose, closing the doors. He turned around again, leaning against them. He looked over the floor, and over Skye, and to the foot of the bunk where her trunk now lay.
    “I came to light the lamp for you, milady,” he said softly.
    She said nothing, standing still and awaiting his next move. It was a long time in coming. He strode across the room and lit the wick of the lamp. The glow filled the room. Skye lowered her head in a turmoil. She had thought that he would exploit her fear, that he would