A Woman Made for Sin by Michele Sinclair

Author:Michele Sinclair [Sinclair, Michele]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Regency, General
ISBN: 9781420126549
Google: EL9HAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Zebra Books
Published: 2014-08-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

October 24, 1816

Collins paused to look at the angry seas. The foul weather had finally caught up with them and the storm was going to make things very tense on the ship for the next several hours. The only person in their cabin and not working was Lady Aimee. Collins prayed she had believed him when he told her that she was not—under any circumstances—to leave her cabin. The men needed no distractions.

Aimee had nodded before calmly sitting down, but then that was how she responded to all of his instructions. The ship had already started rocking fiercely, but Aimee just sat there as if she was unaware of the storm and the nausea it should be creating. The damn woman did not even know when to get seasick.

He glanced across the upper deck, waiting for the captain to give him the signal that it was time to move the sails to the storm configuration. Just before the first gust hit, Collins had been in the captain’s quarters, trying for the third time in the last forty-eight hours to tell the captain about Aimee’s presence on board. But before he could, the storm had made its presence known. Immediately, Reece had gone topside to take over the wheel and Collins had gone to make sure Aimee was not just safe, but safely out of the way.

Another wave slammed into the side of the boat. Collins gripped the rail and watched the water recede across the deck and back into the ocean. The winds were growing in strength. The storm mimicked his mood, and both were growing worse by the minute.

“Collins!” Reece shouted, barely loud enough to be heard. He pointed to the sails and mouthed the words “heave to.”

Collins nodded in understanding and gestured to Kyrk, who also had been waiting for the captain to give the signal to climb the rigging. It was time to change the sails and reduce the amount of canvas that caught the wind. It was important to leave just enough sail via the staysail and both fore and main topsails to minimize forward drift and the resulting strain on the vessel.

This balance between the force of the wind in the sails and the drag of the underwater keel was key to keeping a ship afloat. If the balance shifted and the ship turned its edge to the wind, it would be beaten by breaking waves. As an experienced rigger, Kyrk knew exactly what needed to be done. He and the Poulsen brothers had already taken down the jibs and were working on the foremast to get down the two highest sails—the royal and topgallant.

Once done, all three men quickly descended back to the deck and got ready to do it again. Shiv made his way back to the spanker while Lamont and Kyrk headed to the mainmast where Jolly George was untying the ropes to the main sails. Just then an enormous rogue wave crashed over the ship’s starboard side. When the water

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.