The Jezebel (Taskill Witches 3)

Cyrus did not know where she was bound and why, but where else would she go but home to the Highlands of Scotland? He’d made promises, but he’d also tried to get her to break with her lineage and forget her young days in Fingal, making her focus instead on her mother’s death in the Lowlands. The older Maisie got the more obvious his trickery was and the more wary of him she became. Her heritage was not easily forgotten, though, and neither were her siblings, Jessie and Lennox. She had to find them. She could only hope that she would be able to disappear north, into the Highlands, before Cyrus closed in on her.

“What in God’s name are you doing above deck?”

Maisie leaped with fright, startled from her thoughts by the captain’s booming voice close at her side.

“I told you that you’d have to stay out of the men’s way,” he said, his brow deeply furrowed.

“I came up to take the air for a few moments,” she retorted, rankled that he seemed so intent on keeping her locked up. She had just ridded herself of one tyrant. She did not want to replace him with another, especially when she would be with this one for only a matter of days. “I didn’t think that much would be disagreeable to you,” she added with sarcasm.

“It is.” He grumbled and loomed over her, almost as if he intended to hide her from the rest of the men on deck with the shield of his body. To no avail. She could see them craning their necks and whispering to one another as they went about their duties.

“You cannot expect a soul to survive down there for long.” She jerked her head toward the hatch.

“You’d be surprised.” When he glanced back over his shoulder and saw the men hovering, many of them blatantly staring as their captain conversed with her, he grumbled some more.

His hair was swept back from his face and Maisie searched his craggy features, momentarily captured by the way he looked, and distracted from her retorts. Despite the cool autumnal air he wore no coat, and his shirt hung open to his breastbone, as if he cared little for his appearance. Why did that catch her attention? Maisie looked him over, admiring the way his body tapered from broad shoulders down to hard, narrow hips. Hips that had been against hers.

Clutching the railing at her back, she steadied herself.

“You can survive down there well enough,” he added. “It’s safer than being up here, especially for a lady such as yourself. Now get back below deck and be quick about it.”

Maisie saw no sense in it. She looked beyond and gauged the men’s reactions. Some of them frowned, while others laughed and whispered and nudged each other. “Your men have seen me now, so what is the point in sending me back down there?”

Roderick’s head snapped back to meet her gaze. “If I had known what a contrary sort you are you would still be in Billingsgate begging for passage. I’m responsible for everyone on this ship, and that includes all of the shipmen and any passengers. It is for your protection and my men’s sanity that I ordered you to stay in the comfortable quarters you have been given.”

Maisie was about to take issue with his opinion of what might constitute comfortable quarters, then thought better of it. She hadn’t seen the other cabins below deck, and if they were worse, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. But she did want to see the sky and the elements at play. Besides, she had become intrigued about life aboard ship, and how the sailors worked with the weather in order to cover great distances so quickly. “I refuse to be locked away for the duration of this voyage, and I am here with good intentions. Surely there is some task I can do that will help you in the running of the ship.”

The captain looked at her as if she were insane.

“Captain...Roderick.” She softened her tone in an attempt to appeal to the good nature she had witnessed the night before, that which underlay this rough exterior of his. “You have been most accommodating, and I know you mean well. However, I feel sure I might be useful instead of being hidden away.”

He narrowed his eyes.

She looked at him from beneath her eyelashes, and smiled.

He muttered under his breath and then glanced about again. “I suppose you might assist Adam with some of his tasks.” Turning back, he ran his eyes up and down her figure. “You’ll be a temptation to the men, so I must warn you not to flaunt yourself. I cannot afford to have my crew distracted and the ship land on the rocks because a fine woman has turned their heads.”

A fine woman? Was that what he thought of her? Maisie couldn’t help being pleased.

Closing on her, Roderick grasped the cotton of her shift where it showed at the top of her bodice, and wrenched it higher.

His action surprised her. It also aroused her to have his hands on her that way, and the tug of the cloth against her breasts was most stimulating. “Whatever are you doing?”

“Protecting your modesty.”

Maisie found herself greatly amused.

When she laughed, he gave her a stern look. “If you are to be cavorting about, please attempt to cover yourself.”

“Cavorting? I offered to work.” The wild tingling in her breasts made her feel quite reckless. She put her hand against her bodice to quell the arousal he had set in motion, but pressing against her gown only made the situation worse. Apparently, now that she had been initiated as a woman, her state of readiness for her lover remained high. Would it always be that way for her, now that she had been awakened, or was it the prowess of her lover that made her feel that way? She wouldn’t know, she supposed, until she was no longer with him. Maisie quickly found she didn’t want to consider that yet. She was enjoying her time with Captain Roderick Cameron.

“And if you work,” he replied, “you need to cover

your bosom.”

It was in such contrast to his behavior the night before that she had to quell her laughter. “You seemed more intent on uncovering my bosom last night, Captain.”

He shook his head and gave a deep, heartfelt sigh. “I was aware your presence would cause me trouble. I did not realize quite how much.”