Romancing the Pirate 01 - Blood and Treasure by Jennifer Bray-Weber

Author:Jennifer Bray-Weber [Bray-Weber, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Lianna awoke to the sound of crashing waves. Her eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the painfully bright light. The cloth that covered her lean-to flapped in the breeze rolling off the sea. She commanded the world to stop spinning. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears and her queasy stomach lurched with every stiff movement. Moaning, she raised up to her elbows to scan her surroundings. A pale yellow dress lay folded next to her. Clutching at the wool blanket wrapped around her, she whispered, “Oh no. I didn’t.” A disturbing thought crept into her throbbing brain. Never before had she got caught up in her airs as she did last night. She tried to summon up what happened but the fringes of barren emptiness and memories blended together. Wouldn’t she have remembered if she engaged in…?

Slowly she lifted the blanket up to peer underneath. “Whew.” Relief. She still wore her own dreary tatty clothes. She hated to admit it, but Sadie had been right. Though she shouldn’t, Lianna felt ashamed of her appearance. Egad, even the pirate wench dressed better than she. Her head hurt too much to brood on it any further. Besides, she remembered the toll of destructive self-pity. It demanded a steep price.

Moving to all fours, she peered out of her shelter. The sun blazed high in the east. Mid-morning, she thought. The Rissa’s crew toiled about the beach, working to repair the ship. A new day, a renewed sense of urgency. To her right, a spitting fire burned beneath a cauldron heating up the water inside. A pile of dirty laundry laid waiting. How could that be? She had washed every last scrap of rag in the pile yesterday. On closer inspection, colorful fabric layered the heap. Shore clothing. Well, pirates need clean social attire, too, don’t they?

Without hesitation, she crawled off of her pallet, changed dresses, and left the shelter to place the clothes, including her own, into the bubbling water.

Agitating the wash, she tried to recount the last night. Self-inflicted mortification blended with the regretful aftermath of taking in too much drink. She was all too aware of that. ’Twasn’t her first time around that mulberry bush. She grew cross at herself for getting foxed, letting it get out of hand. Usually, she could handle her alcohol, drinking most men long under the table.

Ah, the dancing, she remembered the dancing. A smile played across her face. Blade certainly had been a merry partner. What gaiety! Did she really fall into Sadie? Her smile grew wider. A brainless thing to get carried away in the company of pirates. Her impairment put her safety in reckless danger. She had much to thank Captain Zane Fox for.

Captain Fox! Her cloudy memory cleared and her smile faded. Humiliation closed in, crowding her. She had made an utter fool of herself in front of the man.

She stirred the pot excitedly. Dancing. Stumbling. Oh, I hope I wasn’t slobbering. Lianna gasped. Or worse. Talking politics! Wait. Walking on the beach.

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