Daniel and Jaxon stared at each other, neither one understanding how the conversation had grown so heated.
Daniel shrugged holding his open palms up. “I never thought a woman would come between us,” he said. He picked up the sea chest he just placed under the hammock minutes before. “Good luck. I hope it all works out. Just remember they all have a sheath for your sword. Hers is not lined with…frankincense and myrrh.”
Daniel saw the fist flying at his face too late to block it by lifting the chest. The blow landed on his cheek, just below the black eye Charlie had given him. “I’m not going to fight you, Jaxon. You’ve made your bed….”
Charlie heard the raised voices as she came down the passageway and opened the door in time to see Jaxon hit his brother.
Daniel nearly knocked her over in his haste to leave making her spill some of the willow bark tea she carried. “I’m taking my quarters back,” he said to her. He paused. Daniel knew there was little he could do to stop Jaxon from rushing into a relationship with her. “Oh, I just thought you should know; your ship was coming back for you yesterday when we set sail. Jaxon knew they were no match for the speed of his Baltimore clipper.”
Daniel shot his brother a caustic smirk before he disappeared down the passageway.
“Is that true?” she asked turning to Jaxon. “My ship came for me and you didn’t even ask me if I wanted to stay or go back?”
“Charlie, I didn’t find out you were a woman until after we’d sailed.”
“And that makes shanghaiing me all right?”
“Charlie….”
“You had no right,” she shouted. “The decision should have been mine. You have no idea what you have taken away from me.”
“Charlie….”
“Turn the ship around. They’re probably still pursuing us.”
“No, Charlie, I’m sure they’re not. Second mates are easily replaced,” Jaxon said.
“I’m not just the second mate, Captain. My father and Dr. Kirk owned the ship. I am now half-owner of the Arcadia.”
He hated to admit to what he’d done, but she might as well hear all of it. “We put your uniform on Jimmy’s body and transferred it to the corsair. They were to give it to your crew and tell them you had met with a terrible accident. As you know, Jimmy’s face was unrecognizable.”
Charlie was dumfounded. Morty was the only person on the ship who would have known a male corpse was not her. She doubted anyone would look past the face to check for the scar on her arm. Morty was her only hope and he had been locked up in the brig when her ship had abandoned her. Unless the others told him when they released him, he would have no way of knowing where she was.
Charlie knew abandoning her had been no accident. Byron hated her since he realized the captain was Charlie’s father, but the crew going along with him surprised her. It was piracy plain and simple to leave her there when she owned the ship. Perhaps the crew was just trying to make a point. They had been terribly angry with her in the days since she locked up Morty. That was why they came back. Her lesson learned. Either that or they remembered Morty was locked in the brig, released him, and he had convinced them to go after her.
She was angry and hurt. Not just by her shipmates, but by Jaxon as well.
“Morty,” she said to the air. “If you truly love me, come get me off this ship. You are the one person in this world, I know I can trust.”
She set the tin cup of willow bark tea in front of him. “You’re no better than those damn Limey bastards that took my crew members.” Charlie turned on her heel and strode towards the exit.
Jaxon shot to his feet. He had an arm around her waist before she reached the door. He pulled her to him, her back against his chest. With long arms, he reached around her and swung the door closed. “Charlie,” he said, wrapping his other arm around her. He held her firmly, but not tight enough to hurt her. “You’re right about everything, baby. It was wrong of me to do it. But I can’t undo it and since I have you in my life because of that decision, I wouldn’t change a thing if I could. I know I should tell you how contrite I am, but I’m finished lying to you.”
“Have a care, Captain,” she said in a tightly controlled tone. “You need to understand when it’s best to let me leave. All I can think about right now is how many ways I can inflict pain on you from this position. The count is over half-a-dozen.”
He chuckled, “Enlighten me.”
“The leather over the wooden heels of my boots will do little to cushion an impact to your instep, knee or shin. With the way you have left my arms free, I could easily scratch you or gouge your eyes or even pull your hair. I believe I can also throw an elbow into your ear or face.” She didn’t mention the head butt because that was where she intended to start her attack if he didn’t release her. “The only thing you did right is protecting your wound, because the way I’m feeling right now I would happily double you over with an elbow or fist to that area.”