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.“I was only--”“Hie yourself below.” Trevor pushed her away with sufficient force that she tripped.“If I so much as see your face on deck, I will blister your hide.”With head held high, she walked to the steps leading to his quarters and descended.Her absence should have made him feel better.It did not.For a long while he stood there, second-guessing the weight of his actions and the implication of the emotions that held him captive in some invisible, but nonetheless real, prison.Trevor could not move.Until he surveyed the angry, almost mutinous, faces surrounding him.“Carry on,” was all he could say.At his station, he noticed for the first time the sweat on his brow.A vision of Caroline’s lifeless form, prostrate on the deck, flashed before him, and he shuddered.As if teetering on a precarious precipice, he leaned forward and placed his hands on the rail for support.Closing his eyes, he desperately tried to regain control and composure.“Do ya want to tell me what that was about?” George chucked his shoulder.“Trevor, for God sake, what’s the matter with ya?”“There is nothing wrong.” He bit back the bile rising in his throat.“Everything is fine.”“And who the hell do ya think yer foolin’ with that, old friend? Ya ought to look at yerself.Yer as white as a sheet, not to mention the death grip ya got on that rail.”Opening his eyes, Trevor cursed his white knuckles.“Mr.Todd, I will take the wheel.You are relieved.”The helmsman abandoned the quarterdeck quicker than normal.“Cap’n, what’s goin’ on with the chit?” The first mate inclined his head.“I’ve never seen ya lose yer mind over a woman.That’s it, isn’t it?”“Let it go, George, and make yourself scarce.” Compressing his lips, he focused on the horizon.“I will take the watch until dinner.”Although the sun blazed a wide arc in the sky, time stood still as Trevor reran the earlier scene through his mind, over and over again.In each instance, his chest pounded, his throat tightened, and he labored to breathe.Gazing at nothing, he wondered what was happening to him.But he would rather face a court martial than explore the possibilities.Fate had to be laughing.When he plotted to kidnap Dalton’s mistress, his only consideration had been the punishment exacted in recompense for young Randolph’s prior slight.The scamp had levied the first shot, and honor demanded Trevor respond, in kind.But he was no greenhorn in the games men play.He should have recognized the threat the minute he actually saw Caroline.What in the hell had possessed him to take her? And how fast could he get rid of her? One thing was certain; he wasn’t ready to face her.Not yet.Not after his uncharacteristic outburst.So Trevor ate lunch with the crew, thinking it best to give the dangerous doxy time to calm down before he returned to his cabin.He was in no mood to dice with a weepy female, but it was his unpredictable reaction to her tears that truly frightened him.When he joined her for dinner, he would have himself in hand, and she would be ready to accept his explanation, whatever that was, for what had transpired on deck.Not that he felt the need to explain himself.Despite her recklessness in the rigging, Caroline was blessed with uncommonly good sense.Her desire to help with chores was commendable.She did not fuss over herself and never complained.Neither was she given to histrionics, a trait he found offensive in so many of her sex.As captain of the ship, it was his duty to dispense discipline when needed.The courtesan had taken an unnecessary risk and had been punished, as would any member of the crew.It sounded plausible.She would understand.And so it was with that rationale he descended the steps leading to his quarters.The tension in his shoulders eased, and he relaxed.As he passed the galley, Trevor’s cabin boy gave him pause.“A word, Cap’n?”“Aye?” As he looked forward to settling matters with his charming captive, he swallowed his impatience at the delay.“What is it, Billy?”“It’s the lady, sir [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]