She leaned over the rail. He worried, even though he knew he shouldn't. She had shown again and again how perfectly she walked the ship. So why was he storming across the deck?
As he approached her, he could hear her calling enticingly down the side of the ship, cooing down at the water.
"He-ere fishy, fishy. He-ere fishy."
His lips twitched.
"Fishy want a tow?" she asked playfully, bowing over the side of the ship.
When he reached her, he looked out to see a shark diving and swirling around her bait as if trying to decide about it.
"How will you get that thing aboard?" he asked. "It looks to be quite large."
She didn't appear surprised that he was there. She gave him an impatient sigh and pointedly glanced at the rod and reel she held. Speaking in slow tones as though answering a small child, she said, "When the fish takes the bait, I will begin to turn this crank until it's raised to the deck. It's magic," she breathed sarcastically.
"Fine, fine," he said with a grin. "He just seems a little large for you to reel in."
Irritation made her face tight. "I have taken a lot from you, and I'm so tired of you always underestimating--" She didn't get any further because the tip of the rod was now pointing straight down and jerking her forward.
"Damn and blast you, Sutherland!"
But he was already behind her, with one hand grabbing the back of her trousers and the other reaching over her for the rod. He steadied it against the first surprise she'd had and held it as she wound the crank. And grew amazed. She repeatedly, expertly let out line before quickly reeling it back in. She knew how to tire the shark, so it would be easier for her to pull him in.
He'd always been curious about how she'd survived in the ruthless world of sailing, and he thought her actions here were an insight. She might not have great physical strength, but he'd wager she always found ways around that.
Although he felt unneeded, he stood behind her, grabbing the rod if she got a tug, receiving a glare over her shoulder each time.
Nothing could have moved Derek at that moment. He basked in the scent of her hair in the cold air and how her body warmed his front when he wrapped his arms around her. He caught himself thinking that he should prolong this as much as possible, but he could feel her body tiring.
Surprisingly, she'd gotten the shark to the side, but looking at its size, he didn't believe she could haul it aboard by herself. He peremptorily took the rod from her, braving her initial one-handed slaps and pushes. He finished reeling the flailing shark up to where a crewman had a grappling pole ready.
When their catch lay safely on the deck, his gaze locked with hers. Then, seeming discomfited, she turned her attention to the thrashing beast, kneeling down to scan it with a wide-eyed scrutiny.
He could feel her exhilaration. She'd probably caught a hundred of them, but her eyes were snapping and bright with excitement, her lips unconsciously drawn up at the corners. And she blushed, probably after noticing the way he kept watching her.
He knelt on the other side and couldn't resist asking, "Still think you could have taken him?"
She blew a curl out of her face. "I admit, if I'd hooked it off my own ship, I would have cut line and fished for smaller."
He smiled, and could swear an answering smile shaded her lips. She stared at his face, then his lips, before appearing flustered and looking down.
Without warning, he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her up. He tugged her toward his cabin, past the seemingly uninterested deckhands, only pausing to tell Jeb to have the catch cleaned for dinner.
He'd been pleased just to be near her this morning, to share her company. After this calm weather they were enjoying, they'd probably encounter a storm before long and he'd be needed on deck soon, but holding her and then seeing her face flushed with pleasure had been too much. He wanted her. Needed her. Now.
However, he had a plan he wouldn't deviate from; he would be patient. He'd force himself to simply talk to her and possibly gain her trust.
He looked down and found her wide-eyed at his behavior. Damn it, his high-handedness had startled her. They'd had a rocky start, to say the least, and he needed to be careful with her. Easing his cabin door closed behind him, he politely motioned for her to sit with him. Seeming too curious to resist, she slowly removed her hat and edged onto the seat.
"There's been a...misunderstanding between us. I don't want to rehash it, but we need to come to some kind of terms," he said in a tone that was too commanding even to his own ears. Her face grew tight.
Excellent opening. Charming. No wonder she avoids you.
"Hmmm, misunderstanding." A shadow crossed her features. "You make it sound so light, when in fact it was hellish for me. Not knowing about my crew, mourning my ship." Her eyes glistened. "That ship was my home."
He moved to touch her, and though she shied away, he could swear it was less than before.
The look in her eyes tore at him.
"I spent a good portion of my life on the Bella Nicola and almost all of it with that crew. They were my family, since all I had was my father. And now, now it's worse," she said as she swiped away a tear that had fallen, "I know what you've done to them." Her voice grew choked. "Mutiny is a hanging offense."
Derek made a low growling sound as he stood. "If you are worried about your crew, I left orders for them to be freed a week after we sailed."
Her eyes opened wide, then narrowed in disbelief. "You ordered them...released?"
"I did." He saw her indecision. "I would've done it sooner, but I didn't want them to come after you." When her look of indecision began to fade, he said, "I swear to--" He didn't get a chance to finish because she was on him, stretching up to him, standing on her toes to get her arms around him. When he reached down to her, she grasped his head in both hands and planted smiling kisses all over his face and neck.
She drew back. "My crew's safe? They were released?"
He nodded. "Have you thought this whole time that I would have them tried for mutiny?"
She closed her eyes briefly.
"My God, you must have thought I was a monster," he said as he ran a hand over her hair. "I guess I didn't give you much reason to think otherwise."
"I do now," she said softly. "I can understand why you were so angry with me. It didn't look good. But, honestly, I was only back at the casks because I'd never seen iron drums up close."
He groaned and said in a low, chiding voice, "I can't believe you were spying in the first place."
"Well, there was that." She blushed. "But I never would have come if I didn't feel so attracted to you." She stood on her toes again to wind her hands in the hair on his nape. "And I've never regretted that night."
His brows drew together. He couldn't believe what he heard; he'd always wondered if she, like him, revisited that night. The knowledge that she did made him hunger even more for her, and he crushed her to him. Unlacing her thick braids, he threaded his fingers through her hair while running his lips down her neck. She gasped, then inhaled sharply.
Strangely, she went still, then backed away, grimacing at his chest. Absently raising a finger, she said simply, "Fish."
He glanced down at his own clothing to find transferred fish slime. With raised eyebrows, he looked up, and was answered with an endearing, sheepish smile.
He couldn't help but smile in return. "So there is. No harm done." He strode over to get fresh clothing. When he'd finished peeling off his outer layer and changing, he turned and caught her nibbling her bottom lip, hastily plucking scales from his sweater.
Grinning, he threw her a clean one. "We'll finish this tonight, sweet."
Nicole couldn't sleep with the stillness on the ocean this night. The fog, thick over the lifeless water, amplified every sound. It was that eerie stillness so absolute it presaged only the most violent weather. She dreaded another big storm, but to be honest, her anxiety tonight came not from the coming gale but from Sutherland.