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"I see" Joss looked around at the asserave He rose to his feet, pulling his cuffs straight "Stubb, tend to Quinn" He turned to the shirtless sailors "Levi, O’Shea Show Mr Brackett his new quarters in the brig Gray--" He tilted his head toward Sophia "Get her belowdecks And keep her there"

Mr Grayson nodded

Levi and O’Shea took the snarling Brackett between theether they herded hiasped Levi’s back was a gnarled mass of healed scars, braided one over the other in theout toward both shoulders She wondered, were they the result of his permanent silence, or the cause?

"Come, sweetheart You need to rest" Mr Grayson’s hand pressed against the small of her back

Sophia shook her head She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the horror that was Levi’s back Not until he disappeared belowdecks "I thought you said you don’t per"

"I don’t That’s why"

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Miss Turner went liht for a moment she’d swooned But when he looked down at her, he found only thick-fringed eyes gazing back up at hi with confusion and unshed tears She hadn’t fainted at all She’d siainst him and trusted him to catch her

Behind hiins, now first mate The men scurried back to their stations Still, the two of theainst his chest Gray wrapped his ar up her slender frauided Miss Turner down the stairs and into the ladies’ cabin

And then came the moment to ease her into a chair But he found he didn’t want to release her She fit so perfectly against him, and he suddenly allowed hi to do exactly this Hold her close Hold her tight Not let go

Together they leaned against the doorfraht be hiainst his arm "I knew you’d put a stop to it I tried, but I only made matters worse But I knew they’d listen to you They all listen to you And I knew you’d never allow such a thing to continue"

Good Lord, Gray thought Here he held this woman in his arms while she made him out to be so a shred of honor And all the while she treainst his body, soft and da the dozens of ways in which he longed to dishonor them both

Would she still allow him to hold her like this, encircled in his arroin, if she could read his thoughts?

If she knew that when she tilted her head to bury her face in his sleeve, she gave him a direct view of the alabaster curve of her neck, the carved ivory of her collarbone, and the exquisite ie that would haunt his dreams--the soft, rose-scented valley between her breasts?

God, what a lecherous bastard he was

He’d been ashas in his life, but never before had he felt so ashamed simply to be a man, a part of this violent, brutish race of creatures who flogged one another, beat helpless boys with overnesses while they were overset with es, deserved better things Better than this ship, this life Better than a base, craving creature like hiht his hands to her shoulders and guided her to a chair

She sank into it slowly, folding her hands on the table in front of her Well, and nohat? He certainly couldn’t leave her alone in this state Her eyes were dark hollows in an ashen face; her lips quivered

Gray paced the cabin He couldn’t coo abovedecks and put his crew to rights, because they weren’t his crew to command

Impotent He’d been rendered ihed with the realization It was not a sensation he’d ever thought to experience, in any sense of the word Coupled with this heat … he would go mad with frustration He rubbed his hand under his collar, then made a fist and punched the wall

"What will happen to Mr Brackett?" Her voice was flat, reave hie, really Down in the hold"

"A cage? How horrible"

"It’s for his own safety, asWhat he did … it wasn’t any worse than what officers on other ships do every day But now that he’s no longer an officer, the sailors e"

"Why did you dismiss him from duty, then? Why not let him remain an officer until we reach Tortola?"

"Even if Brackett’s actions had been justified, I couldn’t have kept him in the post He’s lost all authority with the cre My interference assured that"

"It’s all my fault" Her voice shrank "I’m so sorry"

"No" She jumped, and Gray bit the inside of his cheek Bloody hell Hadn’t she seen enough coarseness today, without hi all sense of civility? He forced his eht to help You were right to fetchthe cabin "What the devil was Davy doing up there with a marlinespike? That’s what I’d like to know It’s a sailor’s duty"

She put her head in her hands "I’ to hi up to the forecastle, and I … I think he wanted to ih "Well, of course he did You ought to take care how you bat those eyelashes, sweetheart One of these days, you’re likely to knock a s of her chair scraped the floor as she stood The color returned to her cheeks "If Davy was trying to impress me, it’s as much your fault as ht back to a boil He hated hi at her, but he couldn’t seem to help it

"You’re the one who humiliated hioaded hi he … well, you knohat he said"

"Yes, I knohat he said" Gray stepped toward her until only the table separated them "I knohat he said And don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy it Don’t pretend you don’t use those men to feed your vanity"

"My vanity? What would you know about feeding my vanity? You don’t so much as breathe in my direction At least the sailors speak toof the Sea’ display wasn’t one long exercise in feeding your own vanity, I’er on the tabletop and lowered her voice "Those men may flirt with me, but they worship you You know it You wanted to feel it Bask in it And you did so at Davy’s expense"