Page 94 of Dangerous

“You move good for an old man.”

Adam snorted. “And you do all right for an undisciplined savage.”

They laughed and parted ways. Adam entered the cabin to find Mia awake and eating breakfast. He dropped a kiss on her head before moving off to the bed to remove his sweaty clothing.

“What are you doing awake so early?” he asked.

“I woke up and you were not here. I decided it was not worth staying in bed.” She took a bite of toast loaded with preserves and smiled.

“I should have stayed sleeping. I daresay I’ll have bruises on every square inch of my body soon.” He turned to look at his left side in the mirror, where several dark red marks joined their blue and black brethren.

His wife made an impolite noise. “I wish you would not fight with him. You will hurt him and then he will throw us overboard.”

Adam smiled at his wife’s somewhat regular refrain on the issue of Bouchard and the probable outcome of any interaction with him.

“It is too good an opportunity to pass up. He is quite skilled in his way. I will be able to teach Beauleaux a thing or two after this.” Well, if he did not return to England in a pine box.

He didn’t tell Mia that in addition to playing cards and fencing with the man he’d also spoken to him about the danger they would face in Oran. The men they were going to try to fool were a group of hardened killers and rogues who were bent on vengeance for the man they served. The danger would be significant.

Adam had already spoken to Bouchard about Mia and his intention to leave her on board the Scythe while he and Ramsay went to the palace.

“She will not like it that you have lied to her, Exley,” Bouchard said in French as he picked up his discarded shirt and wiped the sweat from his face after one of their morning bouts.

Adam pulled the cork off his sword and re-sheathed it. He would sharpen it after their last sparring match.

“She doesn’t need to like it. It’s bad enough that she will be so close to a man who wants her dead. Tell me again what you will do after I join Ramsay.”

Bouchard pulled on his shirt and sat on one of the crates that held spare sails and equipment. He stuck with his native language for the conversation. “I will split off before we are in sight of the port and anchor off to the east of Quora’s Bluff. If Assad has some tricks planned for the Ghost at the port, you and Ramsay will have to backtrack and come to the Scythe, instead.

“The journey won’t take long, perhaps an hour or so from the palace on foot, but you might have company behind you.” He shrugged. “Let us hope Assad does not have bigger plans or other ships patrolling the area with surprises. He may already know we are coming, or he may not. He does not have the impressive network his father did. I do not think he will want to risk too much destruction. He needs money to buy more ships, not a war to sink the few he has. He wants the ransom and your wife—but he wants the money more. He will forget about Lady Exley if the situation turns into too much trouble.”

Adam tried to find his words reassuring, but couldn’t.

The Frenchman scratched at his shoulder and sighed, as if forcing himself to say something he didn’t want to. “You must tell her she is to stay here, my lord. I will keep her safe, but you must be the one to tell her it was your decision. She has already spoken several times of what she is planning when she reaches the palace.” He fingered the ornate designs on the pommel of his sabre before returning it to its sheath and looking up at Adam. He no longer used a series of corks for their sparring. Instead one of his men had made a leather blade cover.

Adam knew the younger man was right. As much as he’d like to avoid the confrontation and simply leave, it was not this man’s duty to give explanations to his wife.

Adam looked at her now as she ate breakfast and planned for tomorrow. She was eating and watching him clean himself in the basin of hot water. She, at least, was thoroughly enjoying this enforced lack of personal privacy. Adam had to admit he did not mind as much as he’d believed he would.

He wrung out the cloth and wiped down his chest and stomach. Her eyes consumed his body and made him hard, just as they always did. She dropped her unfinished toast onto the plate and daintily brushed crumbs off her fingers. She stood before him and pulled the sash. The dressing gown slid to the floor, exposing her naked body. Her stomach had only a gentle curve, a slight sign of the life that was growing inside her. But there was a pronounced lushness to her that worked on him like a miracle tonic, and he dropped the wet cloth and pulled her into his arms, her skin warm and dry against his. Her hands went to the front of his breeches, her nimble fingers stripping him in moments while he nuzzled her neck, jaw, ear, inhaling the sweet scent of her.

“I love you, Adam,” she murmured into his chest, her mouth closing on a nipple, her clever tongue drawing a ragged hiss from him.

Adam could only hope she still felt the same way about him when he told her he would allow her no part in saving her son.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The night before they reached Oran, Adam and Mia dined alone, hopefully for the last time—at least on this journey. If all went well, Jibril would be with them for the return trip.

As much as she yearned for the return of her son, Mia had enjoyed her time shipboard with Adam. They’d become comfortable with each other in a way that was inevitable in such close quarters. Every day he seemed to become more natural around her. He didn’t even look like the same man. It wasn’t only his skin—which had become surprisingly dark during their weeks at sea, making his eyes appear even more striking—but he seemed to have grown younger. Mia attributed this to Captain Bouchard. The two men bickered like boys, constantly wrangling about cards, horses, pistols, swordplay, the weather, and probably women when Mia was not around. She’d never seen Adam so open, even with Danforth. She wondered if this was what he’d been like before his marriage and the subsequent social censure.

Tonight was their last night before incredible danger, and she resolved to make every second together count.

“I would like to show you some of the clothing I brought with me. I have several robes, one of them Jibril’s, which should fit you. They will be useful to conceal us.” She watched as he cleared aside everything other than their glasses. “I think there might be some other things you could use as well.”

He piled their dinner crockery on the tray and shoved it to the side of the table before giving her one of the slight smiles she found so infuriatingly sensual.

He patted his thigh. “Come and sit.”