I shook my head. No, that’s not it.
Red Legs Roberts clutched a jug between his legs and snored deeply.
A couple of men I didn’t recognize split into four. I rubbed my eyes and they went back to normal. My heart thudded to a gallop. “Rusty.”
The sound came again. This time, more urgent.
I straightened my back and touched my steel. A flash of movement from behind the wheelhouse caught my attention. I held the railing with my free hand and staggered over. The anxious grunting was louder.
“What’s going on here,” I slurred.
A pirate I’d never set eyes on before, pale and bald, rose to an enormous height. He didn’t speak, but from under him, Rusty scooted across the deck toward me. With her hands finally free, she pulled a knotted rag out of her mouth. Tears streaked her face.
My vision tinted red. “Did he—”
She grabbed my legs and sobbed. “No. But he tried. I was sitting, looking at the stars. Everyone else was asleep.” Her voice twinged from scared to hysterical. “He came up behind me and stuffed this rag in mouth.”
I unsheathed my sword. “Who are you?”
“How dare you talk to me. Worthless woman.” His voice was a growl and his shirtless body was ripe with muscles. Scars crisscrossed his face and his large hands gripped into fists. “Now get out of here. Let me finish my business. Or you’re next.”
He grabbed for Rusty, but my steel moved on its own and bit into his wrist. His hand froze.
“Go on Rusty. Get out of here.” I felt her let go of my legs and I heard her skirts rustling as she obeyed without question.
The world pitched around me, but the giant of a man stood strangely still. I glared at him. “Get off my schip.”
He jerked his hand away. Blood sprayed across the deck. As though he wasn’t even injured, he retrieved his blade from his side and stood at ready. Scarlet oozed down his arm. “You want me gone? Make me gone.”
I assumed the position. The voice that slid over my teeth didn’t sound like my own. “To the death.”
He nodded and struck out with his sword. Mine intercepted. Still, I didn’t move my eyes from his. My lips twitched into a smile.
His mustached face went scarlet and he attacked again. My steel clanged against his as I thwarted his sword. With a flick of my wrist, I plunged my tip into his shoulder. He let go a roar as his face contorted into a grimace.
Booted feet pounded the deck behind me, but I didn’t take my eyes off the monstrous giant of a pirate that stood before me.
Tommy’s voice rang out first, then Solo’s. “Let her be, Nikolai. That’s Captain Jack’s wife!”
I yanked my sword free and held it at ready.
“She’s dead now,” Nikolai growled. “Don’t give a damn who she is.”
Metal clanged again through the still night air as his sword crashed into mine. I broke free and ducked as his blade slashed across where my head had been.
The brief thought of protecting my belly swirled into my mind. The possibility of being pregnant had occurred to me before. Once I told Bon, the thought sort of drifted away with her. But now, it was back. When one swill of Spanish rum made my stomach turn, I just knew. Now here I was, drunk and pregnant and dueling the biggest man I’d ever seen.
I pushed the thought away.
Of all the times to be distracted, now was not one of them.
“Red, look out!” Rusty’s voice was dripping emotion. “Please stop!”
I dropped instinctively to one knee, my sword before me. As Nikolai hulked over me, him an ancient mountain and me a helpless little pebble, I saw my chance. Holding my sword with both hands, I jammed it up hard through Nikolai’s chin. The big man dropped his steel to the deck with a clatter. Surprise widened his black eyes. He sunk to his knees.
“By God’s Blood,” Solo whispered.
I yanked out my blade, and Nikolai crumbled to the deck.
“He’s dead!” Solo finished. He sounded shocked. But I wasn’t.
I listed against the railing and hung my head.
“And you’re dead drunk!” Solo stared at me, his eyes wide. “Not one of us could beat Nikolai sober—God knows most of us have tried.”
“He tried to rape Rusty,” I slurred. “Then said he’d kill me, the old brute.” My blood, which had been cooling, began to boil anew. When the red ring tinged my vision, it was as though I stepped out of myself and into the skin of a killer—who would stop at nothing to win.
I shook my head, then immediately regretted it. Instead, I held up a finger to my crew and wagged it like a schoolmarm might. “And that will never be allowed.”
A couple of men chuckled, but I couldn’t tell who they were.
“Red?” Solo stood there, staring at me. “I’m a little drunk. But—am I dreaming?” Finally, Red Legs waddled over. “I’ll get Rusty safe to her bunk, Red.” He looked at me, then looked at me again. “You need assistance gettin’ to yours?”
I patted my belly as my vision cooled and the red ring faded. As the adrenaline ebbed, I became myself again.
We did good, baby.
“I’ll take care of Red.” Solo’s voice comforted me on some level. My knees started to shake as the adrenaline ebbed.
