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Now she just had to wait for Daniel to wake up Which shouldn’t really be long Henry had assured her he hadn’t given hins of stirringwhen Bullhad carried himashore

A voluble curse froht correctIt was tined tothe battle ahead, Valoree turned and started up the sand to the trees

Chapter Fourteen

Daniel tookanotherlook at hisbound hands and cursed again

What thehell had happened? The last thing he reover fro so liquid down his throatThen he’dwoke-up here?

Where washere, exactly? he wondered a bit hazily Hisfirst thoughtwas that he hadbeen stakedout in the sand and left to drown But he wasn’ton sand really, and there wasno sign of water Thoughhe was staked out Twogood-sized posts hadbeen driven into the sand oneithersideof, and up alittle from, his head, just off the carpet of silkysoftclothhelay on His hands had beenboundto theled "Wouldyou like adrink? "

Daniel glanced down sharply to the wo between his boundfeetas she eyedhilared at her for a moment, then asked between ’ clenched teeth, "What exactly are you up to now? Hanging h, so youhave decided to stake , slow death from thirst? "

He realized how stupid that sounded thethatshe had just asked him if he wished a drink, buthe could do little to take themback now

"I believe youhave to be left out in the sun for that, " Valoree asserted calmly Shemoved to pick upa bottlethathad been laid out on a barrel a short distance away There was also bread, cheese, and what smelled like somesort of roasted chicken there aswell, he noted with interest Hewatched her pour a glass of wine half-full, pick up aspoon, andmove toward him "As you can see, Ilanced around briefly tosee thathe was staked out undera groupof nice shady treesHe turnedtoward heragain as she knelt on the silkymaterialbeside hi, she ht heretobekilled, " she snapped, and he gave her ayou by thinking soIt was notthat long ago that you wereordering h, thenshrugged "Iwasnot happyabout itBut you are the king’s spy, andI did vow to protect my men as captainI had little choice but to see to thatto the best ofmy abilities"

Danielfelt himselfsoftensomewhat, then frowned It was as simple as thatto her She had aresponsibility as captain to see to the safety of her crew He supposed he could understandthat He had been in similar situations and had to make comparable decisions He had even understood that when Henry had explained it to hi had explained it to him, and One-Eye, Skully, No-Nose Hell, the whole crew had had a go at hi their littlechat with: "We’ll just keep this littletalk betwixtus two, hmmm? Noneed forthe captain to know’boutitShe’dthink I was fussing in herbusiness"

Aye, Daniel understood her decision, and he wasn’t really angryabout it either, though hecouldn’t havesaid the saht afterwardOnce histemper hadcooled a bit, he had realized that hewas half to blame for the fiascohimself If hehad been honest fromthe outset andsimply cleared up the inning, none of it ht have happened But he’dbe daet aith himto save his life Not thathe didn’twanttomarry her, butwho the hell needed that?

He did notneed her throwing it inhis face every tireement over the next fiftyor sixty years: I only ! Nay If they married it would be because she had finally ad his hideThe thing of it was, hewas pretty damn sure she did want to marry himOrat leastthatshe wantedto sleepwith himBut he wanted to hear her say it If she would just say it, he would becoh of impatiencefromher drew hishead around as she asked, "Do you want some ofthisor not? "

Daniel eyed theliquid suspiciously He was thirsty, but "Is it poison? "he asked, his gaze narrowing at the spoonful of wine she hadpoured out of theglassand was her eyes, she lifted the spoon to her oldencontents

"There See? No poison Now doyou want some? "

Faceexpressionless, he nodded, and she quickly poured out another spoonful and tipped it into hismouthwhen he opened it

Then she fed him another spoonful, and another It was a perfectly ridiculous way to drink, and most unsatisfactoryHe felt likea child, and histhirst required a fullglass or two poured down his throat to quench it, not these little trickles of thestuff

"If Iamnot hereto be killed, why am I tied down? "he asked after severalspoonfuls, when his frustration got the better of him

Valoree hesitated, then admitted, "Because Henryorried about hoould take the news Ihaveto iuard unless you were tied down"

His eyes narrowed at once at that "What news? And why could younot impart iton the ship? "

"Oh, I couldhave, "she assuredhim quickly, then added, "but I wanted privacy for the other part"

"The other part? "

"Aye"

"What other part? "

"The part thatcomes after the news, " she said evasively

Danielshifted iat his bonds infrustration

"Well, whatbloodynews? "