The Raider (Montgomery/Taggert 9)

“Jessica,” he murmured and buried his face in her breasts.

“Let go of me, you old piece of fish bait!” she yelled, but he ignored her.

“I mean to make you my wife! To have you always! Mine, Jessica, mine for all eternity.”

Twisting about, she saw Alexander standing on the cliff above the cove. “Help me!” she screamed. “Get this squid off of me. Mr. Clymer,” she begged, “remember yourself.”

Alexander took an infuriatingly long time getting down into the cove. Jess struggled while the fat old man slathered her breasts with his wet kisses. She thought she might be sick.

Alex minced his way across the rocks, making sure his shoes didn’t get wet. Delicately, he kicked a fish aside as he made his way to Jess. He tapped Mr. Clymer on the shoulder.

At first the man didn’t respond. Alex had to tap him three times before he looked up. His red, glazed eyes bugged when he saw Alex. He straightened and pulled away from Jessica.

“Might I suggest that you’ll find your own home more comfortable?”

“Why yes…I was just…Yes, I’ll…” Mr. Clymer released Jessica, then scrambled up the cliff bank. They could hear him running through the forest.

“Well!” Jess said, straightening her dress and then looking around for her fish that had flopped all over the cove. “Some r

escuer you are!”

“I got rid of him, didn’t I?”

“Not until after he’d…You should have hit him.” She broke off to look down at herself with a sneer. “He slobbered all over me.” She went to the water and began to wash her exposed bosom. She was unaware of the increasing heat in Alex’s face as he watched her.

Alex turned away and sat on the fallen tree. “Have you made up your mind yet?”

“About what?” she asked, tossing a couple of codfish in a bag. “Oh, you mean about marriage. Yes and no.”

He dusted an imaginary bit off his coat. “Let me guess. You want to marry the Raider, but he hasn’t come forward to ask for your hand.”

Jess dropped a fish, then retrieved it. “What do you know?”

“Every unmarried woman in town wants to marry the Raider. They all seem to think he’s taller than life. It’s like marrying a handsome prince from a child’s fairy tale.”

“He’s flesh and blood, I know that for a fact,” she said smugly.

“A flesh-and-blood who isn’t here. How do you know he isn’t one of your many suitors?”

“I’d know him, believe me. Alex, put your foot on that fish’s tail and hold it there.”

With a sigh, he put his toe on the big fish’s tail. “Jess, you have four days in which to decide. You have to make up your mind.”

She tossed the last fish in the bag and then sat down on the tree by Alex. “Can I be honest with you?”

“Of course,” he said softly, his eyes intent.

“I don’t like any of them.” She looked down at her hands. “I don’t want to let Eleanor know, but I’m getting a little worried. I know you’ve guessed how I feel about the Raider. He and I are…we’ve been closer than most people think.” Her head came up. “I don’t want to marry any other man. I want to wait until this is all over, then the Raider can reveal himself to me and I’ll be more than happy to marry him.”

“But, Jess, our problems with England won’t be solved overnight. What if they go on for years? What if England sends more men to pursue the Raider? What if he can never reveal himself to you?”

“I’ll wait. He’ll come to me someday, unmasked, and I’ll be waiting for him.”

“But you don’t have until ‘someday.’ You have four days and you have to marry someone.”

“I’ll wait.”

He rolled his eyes upward in frustration. “What do you plan to do? Wait until midnight four days from now? If he hasn’t arrived by then, will you close your eyes and choose one of your other suitors?”