Love's Abyss (St. John Series) (7 page)

As Alex was walking towards the rope, he heard the murderer’s voice behind him. “I’ll make you pay for this,” the Commodore declared.

Turning, Alex slowly walked towards the beaten man and bent down. “What did you say?” he asked slowly with ice in his voice.

The sneer was still in McClain’s voice. “You heard me.”

Vengeance was evident on Alex’s face. “You can rest assure,
Commodore
, that pretty little redhead will be screaming my name out with pleasure by the time I’m through with her. And when she’s returned to you, you will be bedding nothing but the leftovers of a pirate’s whore.” Alex turned and started towards the rope again.

“I’ll make you scream like that whore at Port Royal!” McClain bellowed. Alex stopped as if frozen, pivoted and stormed back to the Commodore, his footsteps echoing with purpose.

The Commodore sneered at the approaching pirate. “Did you get to speak with that slut before she died?” he needled.

With one quick move Alex’s large fist connected with the Commodore’s jaw, sending him flying across the ship. The sound of the contact of the pirate’s fist with the Commodore’s face echoed across the ship. Slim’s face cringed as if he had been the target.

“Capt’n,” a boyish voice came from behind him. “A ship approaches from the rear.”

Alex walked to the back of
The Armada
, picked up the Commodore’s spyglass and looked. “It’s the Governor’s vessel,” he told the youngster. “Get on
The Abyss
. Tell the crew to make her ready for sail.”

“But we can take them, Capt’n,” the boy insisted.

“Not today, Samuel. Now, do as I say.”

“Aye, aye, Capt’n,” the boy said and quickly boarded
The
Abyss
.

Alex looked at Slim. “Burn the sails,” he told the tall skinny Jamaican man before him.

Once the sails were ablaze, Alex and the rest of his crew boarded
The
Abyss
. Max was waiting at the quarterdeck with McClain’s mistress. She did not look happy, downright furious, once he got to thinking about it. A thought crossed Alex’s mind.
Wonder if Kris saw Max bring her aboard The Abyss? If she did, everyone look out
.

Chapter Eight

At the helm Alex yelled for Samuel. “Take her to my quarters and don’t leave her.”

“But, Capt’n,” the boy protested, “You have more use for me up here.”

“Aye, you are handy up here,” the Captain informed the boy. “But she is rather resourceful. I don’t want to walk into my cabin and find myself shot.” Alex turned from the boy. “Drop all sails and release
The Armada
!” He took hold of the helm. “Go on, Samuel.”

“Yes, sir,” the boy said reluctantly. He took hold of Madison’s bound hands and pulled, “Come on now.” She pulled back in protest. The boy pulled harder until she stumbled in his direction. He turned towards her and raised his brow. “I suggest you come on before you make the Capt’n angry,” he informed the struggling captive.

“And what if I do?” she hissed.

“Then you might find yourself attempting to swim back to
The
Armada
in shark infested waters,” she heard the pirate Captain state. She plodded along with the boy as flames of hatred flared from her eyes at the pirate over her shoulders.

As she stumbled below deck, the ship jerked, creaked, and popped from the power of the wind filling her sails. It was difficult to move as the ship rose up and down from the force of her cutting through the water. She was moving steadily through the seas.

The blond-headed boy dragged her into the Captain’s quarters. Madison studied the quarters. It wasn’t much different than Andrew’s. Upon entering the room, there was the typical large mahogany table with maps and papers scattered about. Instruments of all shapes and sizes lay on top of the papers. Several large black leather chairs surrounded the table, each piled high with books. There was a huge wall to the right lined with leather bound books.
How odd
.
Why would they have need of those
? There was a clean aroma to the room, one of leather and another scent that Madison could only describe as manly.

“Watch yer step,” the boy told her.

She slowly stepped up trying to keep her balance with the swaying ship.

When she entered, she hadn’t notice that the Captain’s bedroom joined the office. Her eyes grew wide as she observed a huge four-poster bed with tall sides covered by a colorful quilted blanket.

“Sit here,” the boy said as he pointed towards a dark leather loveseat.

She sat down and looked around the bedroom. In the right hand corner she spied a hammock with blankets piled underneath. There was a huge wardrobe mounted to the left side of the room. Her eyes darted back to the bed, then to the window behind it. It was a spectacular stained glass window, especially for a ship. Several pieces of glass had been replaced with multiple clear windows. The rainbow of colors danced around the room. Her eyes traveled the length of the window until they fell on the large copper object. She studied it for a moment before she realized it was a tub. “Peculiar,” she whispered.

Before the boy could reply, someone burst through the door. “Where is she?” Madison heard a lady say with a thick Spanish accent. “Where is the
puta
that had her arms around my husband?”

Madison turned towards the voice.

“Ah, there you are.” The lady was wearing a large black hat. Her long raven hair was braided down to her waist. Her crisp white shirt was partially covered with a black leather vest and of all things she was wearing trousers! A vindictive smile crossed her ruby lips. The Spanish lady looked at the boy.

“Soooo, this is the woman who had her arms around my husband!” she stated with anger in her voice. She approached Madison and pointed her finger at Madison’s face. “Stay away from him. He is mine, and I will kill anyone who tries to steal him from me.”

Madison looked at the woman with shock and confusion upon her face. “You’re married?” she asked as a smile cross the Spanish woman’s face “Are you insane? I’ve just been kidnapped off my fiancé’s ship. So, if you think I’m interested in
anyone
on this horrid vessel, you’re truly mistaken!!”

“Good, now that we’ve got that all cleared up, let’s talk,” the Spanish lady bubbled. “It’s been a long time since I have had another woman to talk with. What is the latest fashion in London?”

An even more confused look crossed Madison’s face. “Are you in your right mind? I’ve been kidnapped, forced onto this pirate ship and
you
want to discuss fashion?!”

“Oh, come now. There must be some type of new fashion,” the raven-haired lady continued, not paying attention to Madison, “Not that it would be of any use to me, but I still like to know these things. Dresses have no use on a ship, but occasionally I do like to dress up for Max.”

A dreamlike look appeared on her face. “Oh, and when I do . . . the love we make is beautiful, when our bodies intertwine . . . mmmmm.” She took a long deep sigh and smiled. “My name is Kris.”

The Spanish lady jumped from one topic to another so fast that Madison had a hard time keeping up with the conversation. She sat there for a minute, collecting her thoughts, trying to comprehend what the Spanish lady had said. When she realized what Kris was talking about, Madison’s eyes grew wide in disbelief. “It is not proper to discuss
those
things, especially in front of a child.”

“Hey!” the boy yelled.

“It’s all right, Samuel, I’ve got this,” Kris intervened. “He is not a child. His name is Samuel. And he knows plenty about these things, considering where he grew up.”

“A pirate ship?” Madison said with disgust.

“No, a tavern,” the Spanish lady stated with a ‘where else’ tone to her voice. “What would you like for dinner? I’m trying to figure out what to prepare. Everyone here always says it doesn’t matter and then complains when I cook something they don’t like, which isn’t too often. I tell them if they don’t like it they can cook for themselves or allow James to do so. But no one likes his cooking since his biscuits could be used for cannon balls.”

She was talking so fast and with such a thick accent, she was difficult to understand. “Oh, you need something else to wear!” Kris stated. She darted over to the wardrobe and flung open the door. “You can’t wear a dress upon a ship. Why that thing would be wound around your head by the end of the hour!” She started digging through the cabinet. “Samuel, you can take your leave now. We need to discuss womanly things.”

“No problem,” the boy replied and ran out the door before Kris changed her mind.

“I’m fine, really,” Madison said in disbelief.

“What’s your name?” Kris asked.

Madison held her head high. “Madison St. John, the fiancée of Commodore Andrew McClain.”

Kris stopped her pilfering through the wardrobe and slowly looked at Madison. She burst out laughing. She laughed for several minutes. When she stopped, she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Pardon my rudeness, Madison. But I thought you said you were the Commodore’s fiancée.”

“I did.”

“Oh, you poor thing!” Kris cried with sympathy in her voice as she scurried over to Madison and sat down beside her. Kris took Madison’s hand. “Did he force himself upon you? Is that why you have to marry that wretched man?”

Madison jerked her hand away from Kris. “No, he certainly did not! Andrew is a proper gentleman,” she exclaimed.

Laughter filled the room again. “I’m sorry. But hearing ‘gentleman’ and the Commodore’s name in the same sentence is just so funny.”

“You apparently don’t know who you’re talking about,” Madison defended.

“Oh, I do,” Kris replied coldly. “And I would just soon walk tee-totally naked in front of these sex-starved pirates, well, except for my Max, of course, than to be fully clothed with a chastity belt strapped on waiting to wed that raping, lying Commodore. Now, you never did tell me about the latest fashion,” she began. Her mind switched subjects as rapidly as a hummingbird flapped its wings.

“I . . . ,” Madison launched, but before she could continue, the vivacious Spanish lady began talking again. She talked nonstop for over an hour. She would ask Madison questions and before Madison could answer, she had changed the subject.

The door to the quarters opened. Madison looked up with a “please help me expression” on her face. She then realized who was standing there—the horrid sea pirate who ordered her kidnapped.

“
Ahola
, Captain,” Kris said. “I have been entertaining our new guest.” The Captain gazed around the room until he spied the beautiful redhead sitting on the loveseat. “Oh, you’re bleeding all over the place. If you get this floor stained after Samuel and I spent all day yesterday cleaning it, I’ll have your hide,” she informed the Captain as she walked over to the pile of blankets on the floor and rummaged through them. She pulled out a small one and placed it on the Captain’s shoulder. “Go over to the chair and I’ll get my kit . . . and not that chair,” she said as the Captain headed towards the table, “The chair by the window, better light you know.”

She left the room in a whirl.

Madison sat there in disbelief. Her head was spinning from all Kris’s incessant talking. She talked so long and hard Madison’s ears had begun to ache. The silence in the room was overpowered by the ringing in her ears. Madison watched the Captain walk over to the window. He slowly removed what was left of his shirt from his long, lean muscular body. Each muscle in his broad chest was clearly defined. He was watching her. She caught his gaze and turned quickly away in a huff, the color coming to her cheeks as she realized she was admiring his body.

The silence in the room was broken by Kris entering the room, still talking. She quickly went to work on the Captain’s shoulder, talking the entire time. “Do you mind, Kris?” asked the man in the chair.

“Oh, am I doing it again? Talking too much?” she asked innocently.

He smiled and nodded his head. She smiled sheepishly back at the Captain and sewed up the long laceration just above his left shoulder blade. His eyes focused on the redheaded captive while Kris worked. He didn’t wince, not even once as she kept piercing his skin with the curved needle.

“Sorry, I just talk too much when I get excited. There . . . all finished.” She looked across the room with her almond eyes and whispered in the Captain’s ear. “This is Madison.”

“Not really interested in what her name is,” the pirate stated rudely.

“Well, you have to call her something. Oh, my gosh! Max? Is he hurt? I need to go check on him! Oh, by the way Madison, this is Captain Alex,” she said and left the room just as quickly as she entered it.

Alex watched the sassy Spanish lady leave the room. Her continuous rambling could get irritating, but no one would have her any other way. She had a heart as big as the sea, but don’t make her angry. He remembered the last time she became angry, she had nearly destroyed his ship.

His eyes looked back to the auburn-haired Madison. She was sitting on the loveseat, her erect body as stiff as a board, her nose pointed up. He stood up, walked over to a cabinet, and pulled out a bottle of rum. He placed the bottle up to his lips and took a long slow drink. “Now,” he said as he moved towards her, “what to do with you?”

She glared up at him, her emerald eyes aglow with rage. “How about return me to
The
Armada
?” she snapped.

One side of his mouth curled up in a half smile. “I think not. You’re my insurance for safety right now. With you on board, McClain will not dare come after me.” Not that he cared. He hoped McClain would come. He needed his revenge. The desire to seek vengeance had coursed through his body every day since he saw Maggie’s beaten lifeless body. That image could not be erased, but he would have justice for Maggie. 

Alex walked to the wardrobe and opened it. He took out a clean blue shirt and put it on, slowly pulling it up over the wound on his muscular shoulder. He sat down in the chair by the window and stared at Madison.

Minutes passed. She sat with her back straight, looking forward. The sound of the clock on the wall ticked slowly, methodically, until Madison couldn’t take it anymore.

“What?” she yelled at the Captain as she turned towards him. He said nothing. “What?!” she yelled again as she stood up and walked over to him. “Are you expecting me to do something or go somewhere?”

“Where would you go?” he asked smugly. “You don’t have the protection that Kris does on this ship, so you can’t leave this room.”

It was actually a warning. Kris could walk about
The Abyss
without fear of the men. She was Max’s woman, and a painful death would be certain for anyone touching or even so much as looking her way. Even with his hatred for the Commodore, he could not allow his men to harm the captive. His quarrel was with him, not her. He would have Samuel put the word out tomorrow. She was off limits to everyone.

“Madison what?” he questioned her.

“Why do you want to know or care for that matter?” she hissed.

He studied her some more. She looked so familiar, and he had heard that name before. “Madison what?” he questioned again. She stood there glaring at him. “What is the last name of the Commodore’s mistress? Odd that he would bring his mistress on a ship heading down port when there are many taverns.” He was needling her on purpose, trying to get a rise out of her. “But of course you are such an exotic specimen. Where did he find you? Madam Marie’s?” Her stare was unyielding. “No? Clarisse’s Place? Hmmm?”