Care and Feeding of Pirates by Jennifer Ashley

Author:Jennifer Ashley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical romance, regency romance, sea stories, pirate romance, buried treasure
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley

*****

Chapter Fourteen

Far down the Thames a ship called the Starcross rounded a headland and entered the Channel. The day was fair, the wind steady. The muted green of England slid along on the starboard side while men on the yardarms unfurled sails that caught the wind and snapped taut.

Honoria sat on a bench against the stern gunwale, breathing the fresh fragrance of open sea. They'd left the stink of port behind them--no more fouled and muddy river, no more fish strewn on wharfs, no more towns packed with people living shoulder to shoulder. Ocean and wind assailed her, and Honoria drank it in.

The stiff breeze caught Honoria's tail of hair and flipped it every which way. She'd decided to leave it down in a braid, because the wind pulled out any pins she pushed into it. The ship started to heave in earnest now, but her heart soared with it. Voyages always reminded her of happy times sailing with James when Paul had been alive.

This voyage, however, was taking her to a new life. As a point of fact, Honoria had no idea where they were going. Christopher had never definitely answered whether their destination would be Charleston. England and America were at war, an added complication. Ports were blockaded, and frigates prowled the seas. Blockades had never stopped James, who viewed them as a challenge, and Honoria suspected that Christopher would behave in the same fashion.

Her husband stood not far from her now, his coat billowing in the wind. He steadied the ship's wheel and spoke with Mr. St. Cyr and Manda, who was dressed in breeches and coat similar to her brother's. Crew worked the ship with energy, hoisting or tying off sails, winding lines, scrubbing the deck, or whatever job they had been assigned.

This morning, Honoria had said good-bye to Diana, severing her link to family and home, to set off who knew where with a husband she barely knew. And strangely, she was not afraid. She'd married a pirate and now sailed on his pirate ship, but Honoria experienced no panic as the shore receded and they headed to open sea. Shipboard life was familiar to her, and she at once felt more at home than she had in the most elegant townhouses in London.

Christopher glanced over at her, his blond braid sliding on his shoulder. "Honoria," he said. "Take the wheel."

She blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

He gave her an impatient look, not a husband irritated at his wife, but a captain annoyed with a disobedient sailor.

There are some orders I expect you to obey without question.

Honoria would understand an order to get out of the way in a dangerous situation, but to take the helm of the ship? In her blue lawn gown that lifted most perniciously in the wind? She had chosen to sit with her legs curled beneath her for that very reason.

Honoria unfolded herself, letting the wind take her skirt, and padded across the small space of the deck. Christopher stood with one hand on the wheel.

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