Sapphire

“If I was a cad, I’d keep you in the blanket. But…if you’d rather remain in the natural, I could take these things back—”

“No.” She shook out the shirt and managed to lower it over her head without dropping the corner of the sheet. “You think you’re so superior,” she snapped from under the shirt. She popped her head through. “Maybe you should have thought of bringing proper attire for me when you kidnapped me!”

He cut off another piece of cheese. “And maybe you should have thought before you hurled yourself from that coach into the street and ruined your gown. You’re lucky you only twisted your ankle. It’s a wonder you didn’t break a bone or get trampled by my coach’s horses.”

She scowled at him as she slipped her bare feet into the pant legs and stood on her good foot to draw them over her hips. The soft, worn canvas pants tied at the waist and fit her almost perfectly. She didn’t drop the sheet until she’d laced them.

He took a step back. “Best-looking cabin boy I’ve ever seen.”

“You stole these from a cabin boy?” She pulled her hair back over her shoulders.

“I bought them from Ralphie. You’ll like him.”

“Probably not,” she said tartly, retrieving her apple and taking a big bite; she had no intention of sharing it with him.

Blake just stood there eyeing her.

“What now?” she asked when she could no longer stand the silence or his stare.

He appeared bemused, which annoyed her further.

“What now, what?”

She felt her nostrils flare with resentment. “What am I supposed to do, stuck on this ship with you, against my will?”

“We could make love again,” he offered with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “I heard no complaints at the time.”

She was tempted to throw the apple at him, but she was too hungry to give it up.

The l

ook on her face must have given him a hint of what she wanted to say because he went on.

“Or,” he said, “we could read. Play cards. I brought a chess set. Do you play chess?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, sitting back on the bunk again, finishing off the apple. “Of course I play chess. My stepfather, Armand, taught me.” She arched her brows. “I’m really quite good.”

“As am I. At a number of things, which brings us back to how we could occupy our time. We could make love.”

She glared at him.

“Suit yourself. Or maybe, if you’re up to it later, I could carry you topside. It’s a beautiful day to be sailing.”

“A walk, yes, that would be wonderful,” she said quickly, wondering if they were still close enough to shore to be passing other ships. Perhaps she could get someone’s attention on another vessel, maybe even gain the assistance of one of the sailors on the boat.

“Don’t get your hopes up. No one on board this ship is going to help you escape, row you ashore, or anything as equally dangerous or stupid.” He licked his fingers and reached for the pewter tankard. “I hired this ship to take my goods and me back to Boston. It’s no one’s business if I have an elephant in my cabin, and no one on this ship would dare question it.”

Finishing the apple, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Surely you must have given some explanation.” She gestured with the apple core. “The captain must have questioned why he thought he was sailing with one passenger this morning and now he has two.”

Blake finished the last of the cider. “I told him the truth.”

“That you kidnapped me?”

“No. That you are my mistress.”

Sapphire threw the apple core at him and she didn’t miss.

17