Bound by Decency Read Free Page B

feet. When he did not immediately jump to, he gave the man’s backside a sharp kick. “Up, King. You may take back your wheel.”
    The man scrubbed at his eyes. “Aye. Sorry, Cap’n. With ye at the helm , I let me eyelids droop.”
    Cain accepted his apology with a curt nod. “Keep her steady.”
    He ambled down to the main deck, stepped over a round of coiled rope, and paused at the rail to look out at the sea. This late part of middle watch, an hour before morning watch began, remained his favorite. Men worked efficiently, careful to keep their voices low. The hushed murmur brought comfort. The ringing of the bells brought peace. Compared to the more boisterous moments when the sun stood at its highest, here he could think.
    A distant light on the horizon marked another vessel several leagues away. With the overhanging clouds, he couldn’t make out mast or sail. In truth, he didn’t care. He felt no need to plunder. Not until he settled his score with Richard. Turning from the ship without a word of warning, he made for his cabin.
    Inside, he found his windows open and India huddled in his chair. On closer inspection, he observed she slept. Glancing around, he inventoried his meager things. She had not nosed about, as he’d expected. Odd. Curiosity was a woman’s second bane. He had yet to meet a one who couldn’t curb the habit.
    Cain went to his desk to turn up the lamp before going to her. A rough shake of her shoulder brought her upright with a squeak. Her eyes widened to twice their normal size, and she visibly shrank from his touch. The ashen color of her delicate features further announced her fear.
    Good.
    “You are not here to rest, Miss Prescott. This is not a respite of pleasure. You’re here to recall where Richard set his sails to.”
    She swallowed, then shook her head. A shiver rolled through her, setting her hands into a tremble. Cain frowned at the wet blanket she wore around her shoulders. “Why do you still wear that soggy thing?”
    With effort, India sat up straighter. Color filled her cheeks as she looked to the floor. In a near inaudible voice she answered, “It would be indecent to lounge about in my sleeping clothes.”
    The visual gave him pause. A remembrance of her sl ender body cloaked with wet, white muslin, so thin he could witness every shapely curve, burst within his head. On its heels rose the forbidden fantasy of creamy skin cloaked only by her long ebony tresses, her full breasts swaying beneath the satiny drape. His entire body tightened. His heart kicked a heavy beat.
    Appalled by his unexpected reaction to her simple statement, Cain moved to the windows. He pulled one shut with more force then necessary and slammed the lock in place with a balled fist. “Richard. Tell me where he is.”
    “I don’t know.”
    She had spirit, he’d give her that. But her willfulness would accomplish little, lying even less. Though lies were the third, and most intolerable bane of femininity. He yanked another window shut. “Fabricating stories will get you nowhere. One of two things will happen—you will tell me where he is, else I will find him without your aid. The latter I don’t advise.”
    “Even if I did know, I’d not tell you. You wish to kill him. I’ll have no part in that.”
    Cain chuckled beneath his breath. She wasn’t as brave as she wanted him to believe, for the vibration of her voice betrayed her disguised fear. Her fear was his salvation. If he played upon it, she would come to believe he was truly capable of doing her harm. And to avoid harm, she would confess her secrets.
    He turned around to level her with a hard look of warning. But when his gaze fell on her wide eyes, his throat seized, denying him words. Not blue, as he had thought before. No, in the brighter lamplight they gleamed deep turquoise. Like the clear waters near Nassau .
    Saints teeth, more than a dozen women had tumbled through his life, and not once had he ever glimpsed such fathomless