Page 20 of Scandalous

Daniels shrugged, his face a study in shame, mortification, and misery.

Martín swore in three different languages. “Get every man on deck. If de Heeckeren gets to the other ship and frees the crew, there will be hell to pay.”

Daniels scurried off, and Martín slammed the door and turned around, his eyes settling on the woman he had just been preparing to bed and now wanted to strangle.

“Your damned de Heeckeren has escaped the brig,” he shouted, yanking open his wardrobe and pulling out a pair of breeches. He didn’t bother to turn away as he stepped out of his silk trousers and pulled on his oldest buckskins, tucking his still rigid cock behind the fall.

She sat bolt upright, apparently speechless, whether at the sight of his naked body or the surprising news, Martín could not have said.

He snatched up a battered leather jerkin before pulling on his boots and grabbing his still-holstered weapons from the hook on which Jenkins had hung them earlier in the day.

Martín pointed a finger at her. “You stay here.” He didn’t wait for an answer and strode from the cabin, slamming the door behind him.

The deck was ablaze with a dozen torches, and Salier, the loudest man onboard, was yelling across to the Dutch ship.

Martín snatched up his glass and opened it, peering through the darkness. Of course it would be a night with almost no moon. He cursed.

Salier continued to yell while Martín gave the order to bring them closer. He kept his eyes fastened on the dim ship. Only because he was staring so intently did he see the small flare of light.

“Incoming!” he yelled, just before the blast of a cannon filled the night and the dull whoosh of a large ball of iron cut through air. The ball landed in the water mere feet from their bow.

“Prime and load numbers four, six, seven, and nine.” He snapped the glass closed and felt for his pistols while he moved toward a torch. He checked one gun and handed the other to Jenkins, who’d materialized beside him, disheveled but awake and aware. Martín heard the clatter of feet behind him and turned to find the Englishwoman, breathless, wearing only his dressing gown.

Martín’s mouth opened at the sight, but he didn’t have any words available.

“What has happened?” she demanded.

“Go back down below, now.”

“You cannot mean to fire on their ship?”

Martín thought his head might explode before his cannons did. He turned away from the infuriating woman, afraid he might do her bodily harm.

“Daniels,” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Captain Bouchard,” Sarah shouted behind him, her voice almost as loud as his. He ignored her. A hand gripped his arm, and Martín whirled around.

“Assez!” he bellowed, his entire body shaking. “You will go below deck with Daniels or I will have you bound and gagged and thrown into the hold. Do you hear me?”

She planted her fists on her slim hips. “There are innocent people on that ship. You cannot fire on them. If you will stop and think a minute, you will agree. You wanted to save those people, Captain, not kill them.”

Daniels appeared and laid a hand on her shoulder.

She brushed Daniels’s hand away and took a step toward Martín. “Captain?”

Martín’s eyes threatened to bulge out of his head at her chastising tone. He gave her a look that should have reduced her to a smoking pile of rubble before turning to Daniels.

“Get her out of my sight or I will.” He turned away, ignoring the sounds of a scuffle from behind him; Daniels could manage one skinny woman on his own.

“Captain!” The word was like the crack from a pistol. The faces of the men in front of Martín were almost laughable; to a man, they stared in open-mouthed horror at something behind him. Martín did not want to turn, but his body acted without consulting him.

The woman was ten feet away, pointing Martín’s own pistol at him.

He let out a string of vile curse words and looked at Jenkins, who stood empty-handed with a terrified expression on his face. Martín shook his head. “I will deal with you later, Jenkins.”

“If you fire those cannons, I shall shoot you, Captain Bouchard.” Her voice was loud enough to be heard on the other ship.

Martín did not hesitate before striding toward her.