Ocean's Justice (10 page)

William grinned at me and raised his hands above his head, clapping to a beat only he could hear. Yet my memory stirred as if I could still hear the faint fiddle floating on the wind. I counted eight before I stretched my toes out to take the first sliding step of a reel I'd only ever danced alone. I lifted my arms above my head, desperately hoping I'd remember the steps as I finished a circuit around William and back to where I'd started. His feet hadn't moved, but he looked astonished. I stopped, looking down at my feet. I'd surely committed some societal faux pas that I didn't understand.

"Maria, where did you learn to dance a reel? Please, let me dance with you," he said eagerly, angling his body like the couples had at home. I matched him, mirroring his motion with each step, tap and turn. I measured my steps carefully, knowing how precise they had to be. Though I should have expected it, when William linked his arm with mine and whirled me around, he left me momentarily breathless. I recovered quickly and remembered the rest of the steps until he touched me again. I laughed aloud for the joy of it – the first time I'd danced with someone else.

The reel ended and he stopped clapping as we both bowed. Still bent over, I gasped when William grasped my shoulders to haul me upright, before he planted a smacking kiss on my lips. "You're better than my sister, Sarah! Where did you learn to dance like that?"

I swallowed, wanting to him to kiss me again instead of asking questions I didn't want to answer. "Home," I responded sadly.

William curled an arm around my shoulder and stared at the ocean over the starboard railing. "One day, I'd like to take you to my home. You can meet Sarah and her husband, my brothers and their wives, too. I'd wrap you in thick McGregor tartan so you wouldn't feel the cold. Maria, if you let me, I'd take care of you, all your days, in any home you wish." The look in his eyes was one of longing. One I felt I understood – better than his words, at least.

Cautiously, I placed my hands on his cheeks and lifted my lips to his. The kiss we shared was gentle and it seemed to calm his restlessness. He held tight to me as we stared out over the ocean together. My feet tingled to dance some more, but for now I was content in his arms.

Fifteen

"I'll be right back, lass. Just going to the washroom to make myself look good enough to be seen with you tonight." William winked and closed the door behind him.

Alone in the cabin, I dropped my borrowed pants. The islander girls wore skirts when they danced and I intended to do the same. I stripped the sheet from my bed and checked its width against my legs. Too long, I decided, folding it in half before wrapping it around my waist. I tucked in the top corner, much as the sarong-clad islander girls did, and twisted around, trying to see if it hung straight at the back. I glimpsed someone standing behind me and lifted my eyes to meet William's.

He closed his mouth and shut the door behind him. "You look beautiful," he said. William crossed the cabin so that he was close enough to kiss, but he stood back. "Can I suggest one thing? You should...you should untie your hair. I'm sure one night won't summon disaster. Please?" He caressed my neck, then pulled my braid until the ribbon on the end lay in his fingers. He pulled it off, weaving his fingers through the strands to loosen the braid.

I held my breath, wanting him to continue. Last time he'd used the comb, though, and that was still in my pants pocket. I moved away from him to retrieve it, then held the tortoiseshell comb out to him. "Pl...please?" I asked carefully.

"How can I refuse, when you ask so politely?" His arms circled me, pulling me over to his bunk. We sat so close I could feel the heat of his body behind me. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on his rhythmic strokes as he tamed my hair once more.

"You'll love it. I remember taking Sarah to Hogmanay in Glasgow for the first time. We were dancing what felt like the hundredth reel that night and a storm blew in. A gust of wind caught a fair few kilts up and Sarah screamed. It took me a while to get her to calm down enough to tell me what'd happened. Turns out the breeze had whipped some kilts so high she'd gotten her first glimpse of what a true Scotsman keeps underneath. She wouldn't speak to Angus at all that night – I think she was shocked. James had on a pair of tatty underpants and those caused more trouble than Angus' wedding tackle on display. I think that's the night she first kissed James, too. Ha, all the men made fun of him for wearing anything under his kilt, but Sarah thought he was the most civilised of all of us. It wasn't more'n a year later that she married him, true Scotsman or no." William chuckled and I felt his breath on my neck a moment before his lips touched my skin. "I'd ask you to be mine, right here and now, if I knew you understood what I was asking, Maria. What've you done to me? I've barely known you a week, but it feels like longer. You've bewitched me so I want no one else – and no future without you in it."

He fell silent and I turned to see the reason for it. His eyes filled with desire and I was no more immune to it than he was. I reached for him even as he reached for me, tangling together in a passionate kiss that stole my breath away. Yet, panting, I puckered up for more. I couldn't seem to get enough of this man and I wanted more.

"We must...must stop," he panted, holding my face in his hands as he pulled away. He seemed to find resistance as difficult as I did. "You look like an angel, Maria, all dressed in white with your gold halo of hair. I'd never forgive myself if I were responsible for the fall of such perfection. I swear, the day you become my wife there'll be no stopping us, but I can't have you until then." He smoothed my shirt down my sides, then paused to fix one of the shell buttons. "Perfect. Shall we go?" He rose and held out his hand. Together, we walked to the mess deck and my first proper party.

Sixteen

"Maria, you're a very graceful dancer," Captain Foster said as we circled for what felt like the hundredth time this evening. I merely smiled at his evident admiration. It was hard enough to remember the steps of something I'd never danced with others before, let alone with seven men who made mistakes, too.

I crossed the floor again to switch partners and was relieved to find I faced William. The musician fiddling let his last note die away and we bowed. All the men looked flushed and in need of a drink – and I was definitely feeling thirsty, too.

William led me over to a table where one of the stewards was pouring drinks and handed me a partially filled cup. The contents appeared to be a very light coloured tea, but a sniff told me it was as potent as the rum that had tried to make my head explode last night. I tried to hand it back, but William would have none of it. "A girl who can dance a Scottish reel as well as you deserves her dram of good Scottish whisky as much as any man here." The other men we'd danced with, who all held similar cups, laughed. He raised his cup and they followed suit. "To your health on your birthday, Smith!"

Six of them drank. The only man who stood as awkwardly as I did was the first officer – the man whose birthday it was. His eyes met mine and his drink shot into the air. "To the girl who dances like an angel!" All eyes turned to me and a blush crept across my cheeks.

To cover my embarrassment, I took a deep draught of my drink. And choked on what tasted like liquid coal-smoke.

"Are you all right, lass?" William asked, patting me on the back as I coughed. I managed to shake my head as I doubled over, trying to breathe through my seared throat. "Let's get you outside for some air."

He guided me to the main deck, where the strong wind tried to push us back into the passage. There was so much spray in the air that I tasted salt on my lips. I managed to drag in a lungful of air, then another. I counted five before I straightened again. The whole time, William's hand didn't leave my back – a warm, comforting pressure which reminded me that he cared for me. Even if, once again, he had tried to burn my insides with a drink no sane person should consume.

I heard a faint scratching sound, followed by very different music to the reel melodies we'd danced to. This had a loose feel to it, making it more relaxed. I closed my eyes, feeling the new rhythm.

"Better?" William whispered. His breath tickled my cheek as I nodded. "I missed my steps so many times tonight, for I couldn't take my eyes off you. Every time you were on another man's arm, I wanted to tear you away from him so you'd be mine alone. I want to take hold of you and never, ever let go, Maria. What have you done to me? I was lost at sea until I met you. Now I've found you, I'll cling to you like a barnacle to the hull. I won't be satisfied until you're all mine, lass, even if I have to learn whatever crazy colonial language you speak to make you understand. Please tell me I'm not imagining things and you feel the same. That your heart burns for me as much as mine loves you."

"Love," I rasped hoarsely. I knew the word and its meaning, or I thought I did. Love for someone tucked them safely in your heart for as long as they lived, then ripped your heart asunder when you lost them. I coughed and cleared my throat, trying to find my voice again in my whisky-burned insides.

"I'm so sorry, lass. I should get you another drink."

"Water," I whispered. "No whisky."

William laughed and I followed him back to the mess hall, hoping for a cup of soothing water. He made me sit on one of the benches, which had been pushed back along the wall to make room for the dancing, while he fetched me a cup of something from the steward. I sniffed the liquid experimentally but decided it was probably just water, so I downed it in three gulps. William hovered around me, his every muscle betraying an unusual urgency.

"Love," I began again.

William grasped my hands and moved to sit on the bench beside me. "Love," he said eagerly. "Tell me if you think there's any chance you can love me. I know you barely know me and I'm on my way to a job at the ends of the Earth, or so it feels like, but I have the means to take care of you. And I will."

I managed to smile, but he'd only made it harder for me to answer him. I barely knew the words to make myself understood as it was.

"Miss Maria! You have to come and dance to this one!" Charlie appeared in front of me, doubled over and panting. "If you dance the Charleston half as well as that strange Scottish fling thing, every man will envy me. Please dance with me."

William's grip on my hands tightened and his voice came out through gritted teeth. "Maria and I are having a private conversation. Go find someone else to dance with, lad."

"You can't keep her all to yourself, Mr McGregor," Charlie persisted. "She's the only woman here and she's not your wife. Maria has the right to dance with whoever she wants to, without your permission. Maria, will you please dance with me?" He held out his hand to me, his eyebrows pulled so low that they seemed to meet over the bridge of his nose.

"Lad, for the last time, leave us alone or..."

"McGregor. A word, please?" Captain Foster appeared, looking serious.

William looked desperately at me. "Look, captain, I promised I'd take care of Maria tonight. We were –"

"Charlie will take good care of her while you and I have a chat. I'm sure she'd only be bored, listening to talk about the mechanics of the ship. Go on, lad. Maria here is so light on her feet, you'll swear you're dancing with an angel. Don't step on her toes, mind." The captain pried my hands from William's and gestured at the open space where we'd danced earlier. "What girl doesn't love a chance to dance, right, Maria?"

Charlie grabbed my wrist and towed me away from William before I could protest. "He sounds like he's your dad or something. Trying to keep you away from me because I'm not good enough for you. I'm only an apprentice now, but I'll be fully qualified one day, with apprentices of my own. It's not like I'm asking for your hand in marriage. Not yet, anyway. Just a dance. Please, Maria." His eyes mirrored William's desperation.