“In exchange he’ll give you the information you need. About the pirates, and the smugglers he was working for.”
He met her gaze evenly. “I suppose he doesn’t want your father to know.”
She pursed her lips. “He seemed terrified of facing a court martial. But he made it clear he couldn’t keep living on the run. Poor man seemed terrified of the smugglers he owed money to. From the sounds of it, he’s trapped in the middle of two terrifying groups of ne’er-do-wells.”
He stared at her for so long that a blush rose in her cheeks. “What?”
“Poor man?” He arched his brows. “Abigail, you are the victim here, not him. You do know that, yes?”
She sniffed. “I am hardly a victim. He spoke to me, that’s all. And I told him I would do my best to convince you to help him.”
A foul sensation turned his stomach as he thought of the handsome former officer. “You don’t—er, that is, he hasn’t charmed you, has he?”
Her lips parted and she burst out in a laugh. “Of course not. I wasn’t even terribly fond of the man when he was father’s right-hand man and striving to win Minerva’s affection. I certainly have no regard for him now that I know what a fiend he is.” His muscles relaxed slightly and she noticed. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Caleb?”
“Yes?”
“Were you...jealous?” Pink crept into her cheeks but she did not look away.
He couldn’t answer. Yes. Yes, of course he’d been jealous. He’d be jealous of any man who earned any sort of affection from his angel, even if that sentiment was little more than pity.
But she was his.
That surge of possessiveness was irrational, but he couldn’t shake it.
Yet he couldn’t say as much, either. She deserved so much more than this. Than him.
The memory of the kiss reared up in his mind and filled his gut with an unbearable guilt. “Abigail, I, uh...” He cleared his throat, and it took all his will to meet her questioning gaze. “I’m sorry for taking liberties—”
“Don’t.” Her cheeks were vividly pink now, but it was her sudden frown that had him pausing with his mouth still open. “Don’t. Just...please don’t.”
He blinked, unsettled and ill at ease as he turned his attention to the fire. She was embarrassed, no doubt. Likely wishing it had never occurred.
His mind chose that moment to call up her eager response, the way her lips had clung and the way her whole body had responded.
He leaned back away from the fire. He had no need of that heat on top of the fire that was burning in his veins.
She regretted it. That was what mattered now. He’d no doubt taken advantage of her fear and her relief, and all the other emotions she must have felt after facing down the villain who’d threatened her life.
“You said he gave you that message to relay to me.” He glanced over to see that she was staring into the fire. The children’s voices that typically annoyed him had faded into the background as they worked on lessons on the other side of the room.
For a moment he thought she hadn’t heard him but then she dipped her chin. “That’s right.”
“Why me?” he asked. “He must know that I’d kill him on sight rather than listen to his excuses.”
She turned to him with a wan smile. “I suppose he’d rather risk your wrath than be imprisoned for treason.”
Caleb grunted in acknowledgement. He supposed he could understand that.
“And besides...” Her brow furrowed with a frown. “It sounds as though he was more frightened of the pirates and smugglers than anything else.”
Caleb huffed again. That he could definitely understand. If this new crew of pirates Marcus had been chasing was growing so powerful so quickly, then surely they were ruthless.
“So, he’ll tell us everything he knows in return for safe passage on a ship out of port,” Caleb muttered.
Abigail turned to him. “That was what he said.”
He met her gaze evenly. A long silence passed between them and he wished he had any idea what she was thinking. Whatever it was, she looked more serious than he’d ever seen her. And he couldn’t bring himself to look away.
“What’s to stop me from throttling this bloke the moment he’s done confessing?”
Her lips twitched up slightly at the corners and the sight of that near-smile was enough to loosen the tightness in his chest, if only slightly. “My word.”
His brows arched high. “You gave your word that I would not hurt him?”
She lifted her shoulders. “He needed assurance.”
He muttered a curse under his breath that would have made most ladies blush.
But then again, most ladies hadn’t been raised in the shadows of a military encampment, he supposed.
“You expect me to meet with the man who threatened your life and not kill him?” he asked. Honestly, he was starting to wonder if she knew him at all.
Perhaps she hadn’t understood what sort of man she was dealing with. That would certainly explain why she’d allowed him to kiss her.
And why she’d kissed him back.
He shoved the thought to the side. There’d be time to dwell on the feel of her lips later. Right now, there was business at hand. “I’ll listen to what he has to say, but I cannot let the man who harmed you get away without punishment.”
“But he didn’t harm me. Thanks to you.” Her lips curved upward again and he found himself willing a smile from her. This was a woman who should always be smiling. She shouldn’t have a care in the world, least of all a threat hanging over her head.
The thought had his muscles tensing and she reached a hand out to touch his forearm. That gentle touch did nothing to alleviate the tension coursing through him. If anything, it made his insides coil as some primal part of his brain prepared to claim what was his. His gaze had lingered on her lips without him even realizing.
“You want him gone, don’t you?”
He forced his gaze up
