Touch Me

He almost smiled as he realized manners had forced her to acquiesce when she clearly did not wish to.

"I believe I will retire to my cabin and check on Melly."

Good idea. What she was doing on the deck in the first place without her maid, he did not know, but someone needed to take the strong-minded female in hand. "In the future, bring your maid with you when you walk the deck."

"Oh." If her spine got any straighter, the first mate could use her as a line for his navigation. "I am years past needing a nursemaid, I can assure you."

"I did not suggest you seek one out. It is a lady's maid you seem to have forgotten on this particular stroll, Miss Selwyn."

Her expression turned arctic. "I do not need you or anyone else to dictate my behavior. If I choose to walk about on deck unescorted by my maid, then I will do so."

She punctuated her words with shakes to her parasol. Twice it came perilously close to hitting him in the face. Snapping his fingers around the handle, he held it in place.

Meeting her glare for glare, he said, "No, you will not."

She yanked on her parasol. "Excuse me."

He let go just as she yanked again. Her momentum carried her back against one of the sailors, who took obvious delight in catching her. One look from Drake and the sailor let her go without a single ribald comment.

She made a show of smoothing her gown and adjusting her parasol. "If you are finished issuing superfluous orders, I will leave you to your boiler problems."

Drake was conscious of the amusement of the sailors witnessing this exchange. He abandoned his stance near the boiler and walked toward Thea, pleased when she began to back up. He did not stop until her back was pressed against the ship rail and he was mere inches from her body.

He leaned down until his face was so close she would be certain not to miss his words. "I own this ship. The only man aboard who would dare to refuse my order is the captain, and even he would consider it carefully before doing so. I suggest you follow his good example."

Wide eyes stared back at him as her breathing grew rapid. "What if my maid is sick the entire voyage? You cannot expect me to stay in my cabin for six to eight weeks."

A soft curl of chestnut escaped the confines of her pins. He wanted to wrap it around his fingers and pull her face the remaining distance until their lips met. Suppressing the urge with a supreme act of will, he forced his mind to assimilate her statement.

"Five weeks."

Her eyes were fixed on his lips. "What?"

"Five weeks. We will be in Liverpool in five weeks."

Her head snapped back. "But that's impossible. None of our ships have ever made the voyage in less than six weeks. You cannot possibly believe you will make it in five."

He gave in to the urge and touched the strand of hair. It felt like the silk thread his mother used to do needlepoint. "We will make it in five weeks."

"Not if we don't get this boiler back on the engine."

The sailor's voice jolted Drake back to reality. He dropped Thea's hair and stepped away. Without saying anything else to her, he turned back to the boiler. Her blue eyes and soft little body tempted him, but he would not forget his duty.

* * *

Chapter 4

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Langley arrived unexpectedly to berate me for sneaking in my attempts to see my son. Had he arrived but five minutes earlier, he would have caught me rocking Thea to sleep for her afternoon nap. He had the gall to accuse me of being without integrity. I do not know what to do. I cannot see my son and if I stay here, I may very well lose my daughter.

June 12, 1798

Journal of Anna Selwyn, Countess of Langley

Melly's prayers appeared to have gone awry because they weren't two hours out of port and she was already intimately acquainted with the chamber pot. "Oh, miss, this rocking is sending my stomach into my toes."

Thea thought the ship's rocking rather mild, but elected not to mention it. The sound of her maid being ill was having its own effect on Thea.