I shook myhead. “No, I won’t, I swear.”
His grip on myjaw tightened with aggression and he leaned in close, our nosestouching. “Good. Because, if you do, there won’t be a rope tiedaround your waist next time.”
Chapter Nine
After Henry’s warning, I desperately wanted togain his trust. I had a sliver of it, but I wanted more. I neededit, especially if I were to convince him not to kill The Cobhams. Iquickly adjusted to my new role aboard The Devil’s Heart and foundcomfort in duties.
I cookedand cleaned while constantly on the lookout for Henry, hoping tocatch glimpses of him but he very rarely left his quarters.I daydreamed aboutwhat he must have been like in those early days after he’d finallyescaped The Burning Ghost. Days went by in a blur and I wasgrateful we had planned to meet landfall soon because the meagerfood supply I started out with grew smaller by the day.
I foundall the tools required to cook, but as far as food went… a bag offlour, a tub of butter, half a sack of stale oats, a few satchels of what Iassumed were baking powder or something, a crate of old potatoesand carrots mixed together, and some dried fish was all I found.Most of that was gone in the first two days and I had a crew of adozen men to feed.
On day three,I wracked my brain to think of something for lunch and found anear-empty jar of molasses at the bottom of a crate. Then it dawnedon me. The perfect idea. And easy, too. I began to sift togetherthe basic ingredients for an old bread recipe my mom taught me. Onethat didn’t need yeast.
I fired up thestove and placed a massive cast iron pan on top to heat up. Itwasn’t long before I had a massive basket full of freshly madefried bread, an age-old Newfoundland favorite. Henry’s favorite,from what his journal told me.
Therewasn’t enough molasses for everyone to share, but I doubted thecrew would have anything to say about it. Before lunchtime rolledaround, a few whosenames I’d yet to learn came sniffing around and took theirseats in anticipation. When the mess deck was full, I laid out astack of plates on my counter next to the basket oftoutans.
“Dig in,boys,” I said loudly.
They raced tothe front, pushing one another out of the way, and grabbed handfulsof the dense pancakes. I felt a slight sense of pride that Imanaged to please a large group of men with such skimpyingredients.
“Thesesmell good enough to eat,” Finn told me with a wink. He had threein his hand and then stuffed one in his mouth. “Ye keep cookin’like this and the crew will love ye in no time.”
“Thanks,Finn,” I replied and stuffed one for myself in thefront pocket of my apron.Then I grabbed the tray meant for Henry and made my way up theladder. I knocked on his door but didn’t get a reply. Thinking hewas maybe asleep, I snuck in to place the tray on hisdesk.
“Whatare you doing?” a voice bellowed from a far corner.
I letout a shriek and nearly dropped the tray. “Jesus! Don’t dotha–” But words escaped mewhen I realized he was getting dressed. He’d managed to shove onhis trousers, but his torso remained shirtless as he stood andstared at me.
Henry’s angryeyes fell to the tray I held and his face softened. “Is that…”
“Toutans,” I replied, holding the tray outtoward him. He walked over and stopped right next to me. Hishalf-naked body made my pulse do crazy things and I forced my brainto formulate words. “Your favorite?”
Henryexamined my face with strange scrutiny and then smiled, the firstone I’d seen reach his eyes. “The journal.”
“Yeah,sorry,” I told him. “I didn’t tell anyone down below if that’s whatyou’re worried about. I just did my job, cooked the food, and leftthem to help themselves.” I laid the tray down on his desk. “AndI’ll leave you now, too.”
“Wait,”Henry spoke. I turned back around. “Would you… eat withme?”
My browsraised in surprise. “Seriously?”
“Yes,please. I often eat alone. It would be nice to have some companyfor a change.”
I peered downat my dirty apron and slightly less dirty appearance.
“Idon’t–” My breath caught while Henry reached around myshoulders.
My body frozeas his fingers brushed the skin of my neck, moving my hair out ofthe way. I should have backed away, I should have told him to keephis bloody pirate hands to himself. But I couldn’t bring myself tosay it, to say anything. He terrified me. But, the big, burly,chiseled pirate before me… I didn’t know that I would have arguedif he took me in his arms and demanded my body. And I was sorelydisappointed when I realized that he was just removing my apron ashe untied the knot at the back and tossed it aside.
“Youlook perfectly fine to join me for a meal, Dianna,” his raspy voicecaressed my ears and I felt my nipples harden.
What was wrongwith me? I caught him quickly glance down at my chest, where mybody deceived me, and I hastily crossed my arms. Henry just grinnedand walked over toward his small dining table, grabbing a whiteblouse from the back of his desk chair as he did.
The two of ussat across from one another in silence as Henry divided up thestack of toutans I’d brought. My stomach was in knots. I didn’tlike the feeling that he was attracted to me, that he could take meif it pleased him to do so because he was used to just taking whathe wanted. Being a pirate, and all.
But anotherpart of me twisted in a knot at the realization that… I wanted himto. He was mysterious and dangerous, with a dark and tortured pastthat only I knew about. It made me feel special but also fear formy life. Sure, he showed an interest now, but he could turn on mein a second if he felt that his secret was going to be exposed.
I watched asHenry drizzled the molasses over our plates and my mouth watered.“Eat,” he ordered.
I
