Linna : Historical Romance (The Brocade Collection, Book 5) (15 page)

“I’m past
…the point…of caring.”  Cord sucked in another breath. It whistled through his teeth. That made him shake. Wobble. He put all his effort in conquering the sensation. It wasn’t working.

“Don’t you even want to know why I went and what I’ve been doing?” 

“It’s probably just…another lie.”

“I do not lie
. I’m not lying now. I was in the captain’s cabin. I was there all afternoon. Where else could I have been?”

Cord shrugged
.  

“You are so maddening
! That’s why I had to go, you know.”

“What?” 

He was having trouble staying on his feet. He hoped it didn’t show. He should have used what little time he’d received this morning to sleep, he realized belatedly. It would have been more productive.

“So now you don’t care?”

“I don’t know…how to care, lady.”

“So...it’s true.”

Whatever he’d expected, it wasn’t that. Cord lifted his eyes to look at her. “What’s true?” he asked.

“Who you are and what you’re hiding.”

Cord pulled a hand across his forehead. None of this was making sense. Nobody knew anything about him. Nobody knew of the voyage to claim his inheritance. Nobody knew of how the ship had been fired upon, so he could be dragged from his bunk and sent to hell.

Nobody
.

Except
Marcelle, the man who’d done it.

“What
…are we talking about?” he asked softly, tensing his entire frame so tightly, his shivering actually lessened.

“Rex Fletcher, your
—uh…associate. I read everything, and what I didn’t read, I’ve been apprised of.”

“Fletcher?”  He whistled the disgust through his teeth
. “Fletcher isn’t my associate. He was a…necessary evil.
Why was it so hard to concentrate?
“He wanted a few things…done. I needed money. He offered it. Well...the second time he wasn’t offering. It was more along the line of a threat.”

“That isn’t what I was told
. You two go back some ways. He told me everything.”

“Who?”

“The captain,” she replied.

“You haven’t been with the captain.”   

“Says you,” she replied.

Cord didn’t know what the emotion
overtaking him could be, but it didn’t help steady him. “Make up another lie, sweetheart. I’m tired of hearing this one.”

“You won’t have to listen to much more - for much longer.”

“Why not?” he asked. He should have been more wary of the answer. He realized it as she gave it.

“Because of what’s in
your papers.”  Her voice stumbled before clearing.

H
is heart moved, firmly lodging in his throat as he watched her. Nothing she’d said was clear, his head was pounding too sharply to think around it, and the only one thing in his papers that could harm him was the one he should have shredded: his wanted poster.

“I hope you haven’t
gone and done…what I think you have, lady,” he said.

“And what would that be?”

Cord started unbuttoning his shirt. The shivering had worsened and it wasn’t pleasant. It no longer mattered who she’d talked to or for how long, only that she had. Her words would send him to the brig. Just like old times. Well. He might as well start off dry and warm. The accommodations there wouldn’t be conducive to dryness, warmth, or comfort.

He didn’t question it
. That much he knew.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Preparing…myself.”  He pulled his rack of wardrobe out and looked at his row of shirts. He was afraid the reaction was visible. He only hoped she wouldn’t spot the weakness overtaking him. This was bad.

Life was just as bad.

“Preparing yourself for what?”

He close
d his eyes and tensed everything, working to get any reaction under control. It wasn’t her fault she was a spiteful, vicious wench. It was definitely his fault this was happening to him though. He was the one who’d taken out her chosen groom. He hadn’t needed to. When Fletch had accosted Cord on the Larroquette Plantation, all the man had wanted was to see Linna Daniels wed. Fletch had looked crazed, and one didn’t argue with a crazed man and a gun barrel. Fletch had promised to put a hole through Cord if Linna Daniels wasn’t fetched and then wed.

All he’d had to do when he’d
found her and seen her wedding that boy was turn away. He could have told Fletch he’d been too late - and that would have been that. It would be over. He wouldn’t be standing in his cabin while she wreaked havoc with his life. Nor would he have given her the means to take away his chance for vengeance.

Cord didn’t let any of it show anywhere on him as he looked over his wardrobe
. He couldn’t. He didn’t think he was capable of buttoning a shirt yet either, so he simply turned away before selecting one. He’d put it on when he’d stripped completely. The cold damp of his clothing was chilling him to the point his teeth chattered.

At least that’s what he told himself the reaction came from.

He started unfastening his trousers. They were wet, too. Salt spray made the material stiffer and the buttons more difficult to maneuver. Despite everything, he was still trembling, too. He hoped she wouldn’t spot that.

“You’d better not be doing what it looks like you’re doing,” she said, in a tight little voice he didn’t recall hearing before.

Cord glanced at her and looked away before she could read anything in the look. He was afraid he was close to breaking. As if he’d have his mind on anything to do with her when she was sending him to hell! Only a sick mind would think such a thing.

There was a prickling sensation behind his eyes
. Cord closed them hurriedly before any of it could be displayed.
Kill it! Kill it! Kill it
! He replayed the phrase through his mind and through his veins, until any vestige of tears left him. He wasn’t shaking as badly anymore either.

He opened his eyes on the plain flooring beneath their feet
. Light slithered across to her feet then back over his head with each rock of the ship. His hands came back into focus again. He may be going to the brig and then facing a magistrate, but he’d escape. He was going to find her again, too. He was going to find her, smash through to her cold heart,  then rip it from her breast.

He
told himself he was going to enjoy it, too.

“I’m cold, I’m wet
…and I’m exhausted, lady. I’ve been up all night. Most of today. Yesterday, too. I’ve just come in from a storm. My clothing is wet. I’m changing.” 

The words ran together
. If he was getting as feverish as it felt, he didn’t want her to know it. She’d get too much satisfaction from it. His voice was as cold and flat as he could make it, too.

“I’m sorry,” she replied, softly.

Cord had the bottom button out and had just opened his fly when her words stopped him. He wrinkled his brow, looked up, and met her gaze. “What…did you just say?”

Whatever she was going to answer fled her mind the moment his eyes met hers. Linna gaped. She couldn’t help it. The little furrow across his brow was back, a lock of his hair was falling between his eyebrows, and there was a thin line of hair carving directly to where he had the front of his trousers splayed apart. There was only one thing she’d ever seen to compare with it, and those memories were stealing her breath and causing a riot of heat through her.

“What did you just say?” he repeated, standing to his full height.

“I—” 

Oh
! That was even worse! Especially as he hadn’t put one piece of his attire back together. Linna couldn’t possibly answer him if he insisted on standing nearly naked before her, with his hands nonchalantly framing his hips. She couldn’t even find her voice, let alone use it.

“Answer me!”

He took a step toward her, then another. Linna backed into the basin and felt the tray fall before she heard it. He wasn’t wearing enough clothing to get her mouth to work. Surely he knew that much. The man couldn’t be immune to his own attractions, could he?

“I
—uh.”  She swallowed and tried again.

“They’re not coming for me?” 

Linna frowned. He had a strange, almost pleading quality to his voice. He scrunched his eyes shut. The look that flitted across his cheekbones made her brows draw together. He looked a little pale, too.

  “Who
? And why would anyone come for you? Nobody cares that I know of.”

“You didn’t...tell
them?”

Cord had opened his eyes, spearing her with a confused look
. Linna watched as the lamp above his head swung back, then pitched forward, smacking him from behind. Her cry wasn’t heard above the loud cracking noise the glass made, although it didn’t break. Cord didn’t appear to notice as he fell, first onto to his knees,  then full out, sprawling directly at her feet.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Linna didn’t move as quickly as she should have
. It was due to fright, of course...and something else. She knew it had something to do with the look on his face before he’d fallen, but she refused to think that through!

She nudged him with a toe
. His head rolled a fraction. Otherwise, he didn’t move. His breathing didn’t even change. She frowned, as she realized what had happened. He was unconsciousness. She nearly giggled at his plight. A big strong man like he was, knocked silly from a little oil lamp? That bore remembering if only for teasing purposes later. Her smile died the instant she knelt. Good heavens! The man was burning with fever!

Linna could feel his heat the moment her knee came into contact with him
even through her heavy serge skirt. What had he said? He was exhausted and wet? Linna slid her hand to his breeches, wetting her palm the moment she touched them. He was soaked. What a fool. Didn’t he know the consequences?

There was nothing for it
. She was going to have to undress him, dry him, and keep him warm. She didn’t know what might happen otherwise. She didn’t even know where they were going.

Linna sighed
.

She’d just have to nurse him
. It shouldn’t be too difficult, although chores of that nature didn’t come naturally to her. She’d had practice with a colt just last spring, when one of the mares had  delivered  twins. One had foundered from birth. Linna had lost her heart to it and stayed for three nights in the stable with it.
But you lost that one anyway, Linna
, she reminded herself.

She shook off that memory
. Cord didn’t remotely resemble the little colt anyway, all legs and frightened breathing. He actually more resembled its sire, pawing and rippled with muscle....

Linna
stopped the recollection. She wasn’t likening him to a stallion, she wasn’t! It was bad enough he’d already made the comparison with her adding to it.  

She
’d have to roll him over. She waited until the pitch of the ship worked with her before pushing. It didn’t work. He simply rolled back. She moved to brace her back to the wall and heave with her legs. That didn’t work either. He simply rocked once and settled back into place.

Well
. She had to get him out of his trousers. That was next to impossible without his help. Oh. Wait! He’d unfastened them. She’d just watched him do it. Linna straddled his lower legs and peeled the wet material to his knees, soaking herself, too. She kept her mind on getting the chore done, rather than what she was actually doing. And seeing. She was merely getting him dry. And warm. She kept telling herself that as she twisted his ankle to reach his boot lacing. That’s when he rolled over, exposing his nudity to the flickering lamplight. Linna blushed severely, but couldn’t keep from looking. And looking again.  

Cord groaned,
twitched. Linna moved her eyes back to his boot. It was made of soft leather and laced all the way to the knee. To the knee? She should have known. Nothing he did was designed to make it easier for her.

The rawhide was soaked with water and completely resistant to her fingers
. Linna broke two fingernails as she worked with the boot laces.

What she wouldn’t give for a pair of sewing scissors!

Linna pulled one boot off the moment she had the lacing loose enough. That wasn’t soon enough. Her fingers were getting clumsy. It was his fault. His trousers had soaked into her skirt when she’d straddled him, and now she was cold, too.

She couldn’t imagine how he’d handled it for so long.

Linna renewed her efforts
. She broke another nail before she had the second boot and his pants off, as well. Then, she stood. She had to get him warm. Actually, she had to get them both warm.

Linna
regarded the wall with the hidden cot and realized the obvious. She wasn’t going to be able to get him into the bunk, not by herself. But she could move the bedding to the floor. The latch gave her trouble. Her fingers weren’t cooperating. She was shivering when the plank finally slammed down.

She quickly stripped off her
clothing, stopping at the blouse and chemise. Then  gathered the quilts in her arms. That when Cord gripped to her ankle, making her stumble.

“Where...do you think you’re going?”

Stomach muscles bulged everywhere, sweat was beading him, his face was flushed, making those green eyes even more startling, and Linna couldn’t think of one thing to say.

“I asked...you a...question,” he finished
before his head dropped to the floor with a thump.

Linna dumped the coverings onto him
. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m trying to get you warm. Stop that!” 

“
Don’t want quilts. Want...you.”

His hand
crept up her calf, warming her.

“
Really? Well, you can’t have me,” she replied as she shoved the cot-thing back into the wall, and slipped the loop over the peg to hold it into place. If she had to tend to him on the floor, she didn’t want to have the cot in the way. The light wasn’t staying one, either. With the way the ship was moving, something untoward could happen to it. There was also the matter of her own lack of wardrobe and what he might do if he saw it, she reminded herself.

He groaned
, the sound reverberating up from the floor. “I haven’t…got anything...you want,” he told her.

“Well, that much is true,” she replied, twisting the oil rag back into the oil, where the light lingered for a few moments.

“Leave me alone. Leave me....”

She had the light too low to see what he was referring to
.

“Why am I here
? Why? Where’s my—? Where is she?”

“I’m right here, Cord.”  Linna knelt beside him and did her best to get a quilt wrapped a
bout him.

“Mmm....nice.” 

Linna was on her knees, shoving material around him when arms wrapped about her. He pulled her off-balance and then held her to his chest once she fell. He was hotter than before, if such a thing were possible.

“Cord, I have to get you wrapped.”  She was grateful
for the dark. She probably looked as wanton as she felt, on her knees and held to his chest, while her
derriere
met with nothing but air.

“Don’t want to get wrapped
. Want…you.”

Linna rolled her eyes in the blackness
. “You have a fever, Cord. You’re too hot. I have to get you covered.”

“Not hot
. Cold. Mmm, you’re warm. Very warm. Nice.”

Of course she was warm
. It was the severity of the blush as he pushed his nose into the side of her neck and breathed onto her skin.

“This is ridiculous,” she said.

“Not ridiculous. Nice. So nice....”

His voice faded
. Linna waited a bit longer before pulling away from him. That action started an instant shiver.
That’s not so strange
, she told herself,
he is burning hot, and you’re nearly naked
. He had all the blankets, too.      

Linna stood for a moment in indecision, before the ship’s movement careened her into a wall
. She stumbled back to her knees. She couldn’t risk falling atop him in the cramped cell.  

“Where...are you?”

His arm shot out and burned where it connected with her arm.

“Right here
. Stop that.”  She grumbled the last bit as he wrapped both hands about her wrists.

“Don’t go
. Please? I need...want....”

Linna held her breath.

“...water.”         

The dark hid her
reaction. What had she expected him to say? He wanted her? And did she really want that?

“
Well. If you want water, you’ll need to let me go and fetch it. Lucky for you I brought a bucket-full back earlier for my bath.”

“You...talk too much.”

He didn’t feel weakened if his next action was any indication. He plucked Linna from her knees down onto him.

“Don’t need talk
. Need...”

He didn’t have to finish
, his fingers were doing it for him. Linna felt his touch along her spine, spreading his fingers across the small of her back.

“You’re ill, Cord,” she said stiffly, as he pushed her blouse open.

“Better,” was his reply when he had his arms inside her clothing and wrapped about her, holding her against his chest tightly. Her breathing became shallow in what room he left for her. “No corset. Nice.” 

“I never wear
them.”

“Good
. I also like the way you wear your skirts.”

He moved a hand to cup her buttock, and Linna’s gasp of surprise was swallowed against his neck as she buried her face there to absorb the embarrassment
.

“
Umm. Very nice. Have I already said that?”

“How did you...?”

“I’ve taken a chill, Linna love. I’m not dead. Come closer. I need to feel all of you.”

He didn’t wait for her to obey, he simply
made certain, sliding her fully onto his length. Linna lay as passively as possible atop him, her knees in the reservoir between his thighs and her feet grazing his calves.

“They didn’t hurt you?” he asked.

“Who?”

“Anyone...the crew
. The bastards....”

The crew
? She wondered it, but he didn’t finish. Linna sighed. He sank back into unconsciousness. She could tell by the measured breaths he was taking and how rhythmically she rose and fell with them. She counted to ten, then to twenty for good measure, before moving. It didn’t matter. As soon as she turned her head, preparatory to moving, the hand cupping her buttocks tightened.

Linna
gasped as he rolled to one side, scooping her into the enclosure he made.

“Nice,” he mumbled against her neck again
.

Linna lay on her back, her head pillowed on his arm, and told herself the forced embrace was nothing
. He had an arm about her, encircling her ribcage under the blouse. He had a thigh tossed carelessly across hers, and his nose burrowed into her collarbone. It felt amazing. It was difficult to remember that this was the man who had earned the most cold-hearted treatment she could mete out.

He was the man who’d taken gold from Rex Fletcher in order to attack Ryan Daniels
. Linna wasn’t sure why or how, but the Captain had reassured her that when they reached Nouvelle Larroque, she’d find herself speaking with a magistrate post-haste. Rex Fletcher was a wanted man, after all. The captain had also promised to help her resettle.
Resettle where
? Linna wondered again.

Linna had only to get through this voyage to be free of
Cord and every other man. That’s all she had to do. But then he had to wreck her carefully designed facade by moving his hand below her waistband to mold it about the mound that was their babe. Linna almost melted in place as his hand fit about the babe.