My Seaswept Heart (23 page)

Anne just rolled her eyes as the captain
continued to talk to the dolphin as if it were a child. “But why
was it attacking our boat?” Granted the animal seemed harmless
enough now, but it had nearly swamped them earlier; things might
have been different.

“I don’t think we can call what Lucy did an
attack.”

“Lucy?” The dolphin seemed to glance around
but Anne ignored it. “You named it Lucy?”

“Had to call her something,” Jamie said, a
grin forming.

“And what makes you so certain the dolphin is
a girl?”

The grin was full-blown and wicked. “I know
these things,” he said as his gaze traveled down Anne’s front.
Blushing Anne hastily yanked the edges of her clothing together,
covering her breasts. Which only made him chuckle.

“No need to hide yourself. I know you’re a
woman, too.”

Anne sent him a scathing look, as she
buttoned the jacket. “I still don’t understand what the
dolphin—”

“Lucy.”

Her lips clamped together. “Have it your
way... What Lucy was doing if she wasn’t attacking us.”

“Signaling, perhaps.”

Anne cocked her head in disbelief.

“Or getting our attention.”

Anne wanted to tell him how foolish he
sounded, but decided against it. If he wanted to think the dolphin
was trying to get their attention, so be it. It did seem like a
friendly creature and after several coaxings Anne reached over to
touch the top of its head.

“She likes ye.”

Anne shrugged. “I’d say she seems fonder of
you.”

“I do have a way about me, when it comes to
the fairer sex,” he responded and Anne felt the heated color rise
all the way to her curls.

The captain continued to play with the
dolphin as the sun rose higher in the east. Though she wanted to
suggest he could make better use of his time... rowing perhaps, or
catching something edible... Anne kept quiet. For one thing the
light showed them surrounded by water just as yesterday. Even Anne
was beginning to wonder if it was worth the effort to row.

And though she was hungry and thirsty, the
idea of eating more raw fish made her nauseous. The only thing that
held any appeal was settling back down on the boat bottom with
Jamie MacQuaid, and she didn’t think she should suggest that. So
Anne sat, brushing her fingers back through her hair and waiting
for the captain to tire of rubbing the sea creature pressed to the
side of their boat.

As it happened, it was the dolphin who seemed
to tire of the massage first. With a flip of its tail that sent a
shower of salt water over Anne, the creature turned and dove
beneath the surface. Moments later the dolphin shot into the air,
gracefully executing an arc before again disappearing into the
sea.

They both watched in awe as the dolphin
performed her water show, each time moving farther to the south.
When the creature had all but disappeared, Jamie sighed. “’Tis a
sad thing we cannot swim like that.”

“I can’t swim at all.”

He glanced at her, his dark brows raised. “Ye
live on Libertia, surrounded by beaches and water so blue it hurts
your eyes and ye don’t swim?”

When he put it that way it did seem strange.
But then she didn’t spend her days lolling on the beach.
She
was the one everyone else depended upon to make certain the sugar
was cut when it should, and boiled, and shipped. Anne lifted her
chin. “I never had time for such pursuits.”

He stared at her in earnest now, a quizzical
expression on his bronzed face. Anne finally became so
uncomfortable she crossed her arms and turned away, but not before
she noticed the slight shake of his head. Well, he had a lot of
nerve, disapproving of the way she spent her time. He who roamed
the seas preying on innocent people. Robbing, and Lord knows what
else.

A memory of what they were doing when the
dolphin knocked into their boat sprang to her mind and Anne felt
tingly all over. She also felt foolish. “Are you planning to catch
us something to eat today?” Neither the question nor the tone was
pleasant. Anne realized it as soon as the words blurted from her
mouth. But she couldn’t seem to help herself.

He shrugged in that noncommittal way he had,
and reached for the harpoon. “I didn’t know ye were so fond of raw
fish.”

“I’m not.” Anne let out her breath. “But I am
hungry... and thirsty.” Parched was a more accurate term, and the
tropical sun had barely begun its climb into the heavens. With
nothing to shade them... Anne couldn’t even finish the thought in
her own mind. So she concentrated on watching the captain as he
leaned over the side, makeshift spear held at the ready.

He seemed stronger today. The wound on his
shoulder had scabbed over during the night, and his fall of
unbound, sun-bleached hair hid where they’d hit him.

Whereas Anne could feel the effects of the
sun on her skin, and could only imagine how red she was, Jamie
MacQuaid only grew a deeper brown from their exposure. He removed
his shirt to fish, and his large body was covered only by a pair of
breeches that clung to his lean hips. When he leaned forward and
they slid lower, the skin was lighter, but still appeared darkened
by the sun. She couldn’t help wondering how far down one had to go
to find untanned skin.

Her gaze dropped to his feet. They were wide
and long toed, planted firmly on the boat’s bottom. Of course they
were as bronze as his face and hands. And like much of his body,
spattered with burnished, curly hair.

“There ’tis a likely candidate to break our
fast.”

Anne’s gaze leaped up from contemplating the
muscles in his legs, to where he pointed. Just below the surface
she spotted a large orange and turquoise fish. It was beautiful and
she almost hated the fact that he would have to kill it.

He lifted his arm, balancing himself as the
fish swam closer. Anne was so intent upon watching the grace of his
movements she barely noticed the shape approaching from the other
side. When what was happening did register it was too late. “Watch
out, Jamie!”

Her warning came the same instant the dolphin
slammed into the boat. Jamie lost his tenuous hold on stability and
tumbled over the side. Anne screamed and jumped up as the boat
rocked precariously.

He was only a blurred shape beneath the
surface, seemingly going deeper. “Jamie! Oh God, Jamie.” Anne wrung
her hands not knowing what to do. In the meantime the dolphin
batted his head against the side, splashing water.

He was coming up. Anne started breathing
again as bubbles broke the surface, followed by his head. He shook
wet hair from his face and laughed, and Anne, who felt on the verge
of tears, could have taken an oar and knocked him over the
head.

“I fail to see what you find so amusing.” She
reached out to help him aboard, glad to see he’d held onto the
spear.

Ignoring her hand Jamie hiked himself onto
the boat. “I’m afraid I let the fish get away.”

“I shouldn’t wonder.”

He wiped both palms down his face, and
grinned. “I see our friend is back.”

“If that’s what you wish to call her. She’s
the one who knocked you overboard.”

“But ye didn’t mean it, did ye, Lucy girl?”
The dolphin seemed to nod her head in agreement, and Anne knew
she’d been out in the sun too long to even imagine such a
thing.

Again, the captain spent his time playing
with the sea creature, seemingly forgetting about the need to find
them food. He petted and talked, and Anne crossed her arms and
watched with growing annoyance. She was thankful, though the
captain obviously wasn’t, when the dolphin swam away, again
executing a series of swoops and dives.

“Now do you suppose—” Anne began only to have
him hold up his hand to silence her.

Jamie shaded his eyes and squinted toward the
south watching the porpoise. “What do ye make of it?”

“Make of what?” She was beginning to think
longingly of the taste of raw fish, a testimony to how hungry she
really was. She was also hot. Wishing she didn’t feel quite so
naked without it, Anne shed her jacket. When she looked up the
captain was still watching the dolphin, who to Anne’s consternation
appeared to be swimming back toward them.

“Look what you’ve done. The poor creature is
besotted.” Anne folded her arms. “And we aren’t in need of a
pet.”

“Nay.” Jamie’s eyes narrowed as he followed
the dolphin’s progress. “’Tis more than that.”

“More than what? What are you doing?” Anne
watched as he pulled the oars off the bottom and settled them into
the slots. “Don’t you think we should find something to eat
first?”

“Later.” The captain started to row, pausing
when the dolphin turned, as if he hadn’t spent most of last evening
preaching the uselessness of such an endeavor. When he noticed her
expression, Jamie grinned. “I think Lucy wants us to follow
her.”

“Follow her?” Anne grabbed for the sides of
the boat. “Are you mad? Lucy is a fish.”

“Not precisely. Dolphins are animals much
like a dog or horse, only they live in the ocean.” He shook his
head when her eyes opened wider. “I know it sounds like
foolishness.” Jamie bent into the oars, working hard to keep up.
“But I’ve heard tales.”

“Tales? What kind of tales?” Anne fell
forward when he pulled up the oars.

“Where did she go?” Jamie scanned the swells,
giving a whoop of joy when he spotted Lucy. “Be a good lass, Annie,
and turn about. Keep an eye out for our friend.”

It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. But
after sighing loudly Anne did it anyway. They might as well die
following a dolphin as picking a random direction. And the dolphin
was friendly. She played and splashed, swimming close to the boat,
then diving deep only to surface and arc into the air. And she led
them further and further south as the sun crept to its zenith.

She even stopped when they did.

“’Tis sorry I am, Lucy, but I need a rest,”
Jamie called out as he pulled in the oars. “And something to eat.”
He grabbed up the spear and peered over the side. “Keep watch Annie
and let me know if she deserts us.”

Anne accepted the filleted fish with only a
hint of distaste. She didn’t eat hers nearly as fast as the captain
did, but then she wasn’t so sure that they needed to follow the
dolphin. “Tell me about these tales,” she reminded when they were
again rowing south.

“’Tis just pirate lore, or so I thought.”
Jamie grunted as the oars sliced down through the water. “Stories
of sailors being saved from drowning by sea creatures.” He
shrugged.

“Dolphins?” Anne chanced a glance over her
shoulder. “Aye, dolphins usually.” He paused. “Though occasionally
the savior is a mermaid.”

Anne’s lips thinned when she heard his
chuckle. “What exactly do these dolphins do?”

“I don’t know exactly. I never paid that much
heed. But I do recall that they befriended men.”

“And saved them?”

“Aye.”

Anne didn’t need to ask if that’s what the
captain believed the dolphin was doing now. It was obvious he
thought that. And Anne wanted to believe it, too. But the idea was
so preposterous.

Still, as the afternoon dragged on, and the
dolphin did seem to be leading them, a kernel of hope bloomed. And
Anne began watching not only the antics of the porpoise, but the
muted edge of horizon where the sky met the sea.

She saw nothing.

Even when the shadows turned the sea a deep
cobalt, heralding the end of another day.

“We won’t be able to see her once the sun
sets.” Anne voiced the worry that was nagging her mind.

“’Tis all the more reason to hurry now,” he
responded. But Anne could read the exhaustion in his voice.

“You should rest,” she said, turning toward
him.

“And be accused of doing nothing?”

“You’ve done plenty today.” In truth she
didn’t see how he was holding up as well as he was. She was weak
from hunger and thirst and the constant exposure to the sun. And
all she’d done was sit and watch the dolphin, while he rowed.

When darkness finally did shroud their world,
making it seem smaller, there was nothing to do but stop. Jamie
settled on the boat bottom, and was asleep before Anne had a chance
to ask him anything.

She sat for a while staring out into the
night, hoping for some sign that the dolphin hadn’t deserted them.
But she could see nothing, and soon settled into her own corner.
But sleep didn’t come as easily to her. She wanted to crawl over
next to the captain and cuddle against his chest, but decided
against it.

When she did sleep it was to dream of
dolphins and mermaids and men of the sea who swam with them, their
bronzed muscles gleaming in the water. It was a fantasy world,
sparkling and erotic, making waking up all the more unpleasant.

The reality of her existence was skin that
felt dry and burned, muscles sore and cramped and a mouth so
parched her tongue felt swollen. Anne opened her eyes, only to
close them again. There seemed little reason to even sit up.

It was the captain’s voice that finally made
her throw an arm across her eyes and struggle up. He appeared in
equally poor spirits as he called out the dolphin’s name.

“She isn’t there,” Anne said, after she
twisted around, scanning the endless, endless expanse of sea.

He spared her a scathing look before calling
out, again. “Lucy, I’m ready to follow ye again.”

“The dolphin can’t hear you,” Anne snapped.
“And she never could understand you. So you might as well stop all
your shouting.”

His eyes met hers again, hard and narrowed,
and this time they held. “I don’t believe I need ye to tell me what
to do.”

“Well, you obviously need someone.” Pent-up
anger, at herself, at the situation, exploded.

“And ye think ye should be that someone, I
suppose.” Jamie sat forward on the seat facing her, hands clamping
his knees. “Nay, I don’t suppose. I know. You’ve been trying to
order me about since the first time I laid eyes on ye.”