aren’t a lady, after all,” he added insultingly.
Madelaine forced her chin up a notch. She knew her upper lip was trembling and hoped he wouldn’t notice. She longed to avoid contact with those smoldering eyes that threatened to devour her, but she refused to let him see how he affected her. “I am a passenger on this ship. I care nothing about your business here, so be done with it and be on your way.”
“I think you’ll care about my business when you find out what that is, Miss…”
“I will not be sharing my name with you, Captain Angel. If you would like use of this cabin, I’ll take my maid and we’ll be out of your way.”
“You’re not in my way. Not at all,” he said, coming into the room and closing the door. “In fact, it would please me for you to stay right where you are.”
He pulled out a chair and sat down, stretching his long legs out in front of him. Madelaine didn’t trust his casual demeanor one bit. Muscles strained against the tanned skin of his crossed arms and bulged against the black material covering his thighs. He had a positively predatory look about him and she felt frozen where she stood. But why? He was just a man like all the others with whom she’d had unfortunate dealings.
“You have the look of a woman about to be married. Is that true?” he asked, regarding Madelaine harshly.
Her throat went dry.
Olivia gasped audibly.
“Ah, then it is true,” he said, his lazy smile mostly hidden behind his facial hair.
She swallowed and dug her thumbnail into her opposite hand to release her from the power of his mere presence. “And if I don’t arrive home precisely when I’m expected, my fiancé will send his entire fleet of ships after me,” she bluffed.
“That would suit me fine. But surely Hugh didn’t tell you he had a fleet of ships, did he? Last I heard, it was one ship. The Elizabeth.” He sneered the name through his perfectly white, gritted teeth.
“How do you know—?” Olivia gasped.
Madelaine spun around and gave her a warning look, then turned back to their unwelcome guest.
“You know the man I intend to marry?” Madelaine asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
“I don’t answer questions,” he said with authority.
“If you know of him, then you know what he’ll do to you if you hurt us.”
Captain Angel laughed, the covered corners of his mouth lifting, softening the hard light in his blue eyes. Madelaine thought she glimpsed a flash of something that might make him handsome. It was hard to tell much with the thick facial hair hiding his features. But his cool smile quickly disappeared and his appeal along with it.
“He would pay anything for the safe return of my mistress,” Olivia squeaked from behind Madelaine.
Madelaine cringed. She had hoped not to offer the option to the pirate unless it seemed all other avenues of escape were closed. From the look of disdain in his eye, those options were indeed gone.
“Really? And tell me, miss, how much would your fiancé pay to get you back? A farthing? Two? More? A shilling?”
“Perhaps the women you know are worth such a paltry sum, but I would expect that from someone like you. If you wish to know what a true man would pay for his love, I suppose you would have to ask him yourself.”
“Now that is a grand idea. And precisely what I intend to do. Now, be a good girl and come along with me.”
“No!” Olivia cried out at the same time Madelaine told him no. Olivia quickly clapped her hand over her mouth and fell silent, though her eyes were filled with terror.
A sailor appeared in the doorway, reporting on the progress of transporting cargo from the Oxford.
“Very good,” Captain Angel said, gesturing for the sailor to remain where he stood. “What is your name, girl?”
Olivia jumped at the pirate’s sudden attention on her, then answered in nervous haste, “Olivia.”
Madelaine felt her heart drop. If the pirate knew the name of Hugh’s fiancée, he’d know they’d tricked him.
“Obedient. I like that. Take Olivia on deck. Bind her hands like the others.”
“And this one?”
“This one’s coming with us.”
“Aye, Cap’n,” the sailor said, pulling Olivia to her feet.
“It’s going to be all right. I promise. I won’t leave here without you,” Madelaine whispered. Olivia grasped at Madelaine in fear before being pulled out the door.
“Your maid means a lot to you. But you do know she won’t be coming with us. One of you is bad enough, but two troublesome women would be more nuisance than you’re worth.”
“We wouldn’t be a nuisance if you would leave us be,” Madelaine said, trying not to shout. She had the overwhelming urge to run after Olivia, but he must have sensed her intention and moved slightly to block the door. It was hardly necessary. She was in no way a match for him, and he damn well knew it. Even so, his expression hinted at how much he would enjoy a fight from her. She would never give him the satisfaction. For now, she would have to proceed by his rules.
“I will come with you, Captain, but you must allow me to bring my maid. If you deny me, I promise you will know the true meaning of trouble.”
He took a step closer, forcing her to tip her head back to look him in the eye. Despite her instinct, she didn’t back up even a step. She stood her ground and waited for his anger to explode. Instead of hitting her, or shouting at her, he laughed.
A deep, gritty, purely masculine sound of pleasure. It took Madelaine quite by surprise. She remained still, watching his features closely. There was something odd about the beard. His personality seemed as large as the man himself, but it was all hidden behind the wiry, dark beard. She looked closer and held in her gasp as she realized the hair was fake. He was simply hiding his identity. As she stared at his face, wondering what he looked like under the disguise, he lowered his dark head to whisper in her ear.
“While I’m sure you know how to get your way with Hugh, my sweet, I must tell you, he and I are nothing alike.”
She shoved at his chest, but he caught her wrists and pulled them behind her back. He bent down close to her, making it impossible to disregard the perfect angles of his face, his straight nose and white, even teeth.
“Don’t threaten me again. Threats make me angry and you won’t like me angry.”
Madelaine swallowed, the dispassionate warning in his voice reminding her that despite his good looks, he was no different from any of the brutish men she had come up against before.
Still, it was difficult to ignore the warmth of the long fingers that captured her wrists. He held her in a firm grip, but not cruelly. The smell of him filled her nose: the exhilarating scents of citrus, ocean air and tobacco.
What was wrong with her? The man was a pirate. He was about to take her and hold her for a ransom that would never come. She had to pull herself together and think about things that really mattered.
“Now, I can’t keep calling you ‘Hugh’s fiancée.’ What’s your name?”
“You don’t know that, too?” she snapped, trying to wrench free of his grip. “This is indecent. Let me go and I’ll tell you.”
“You’ll tell me this instant. Or things will get much more indecent,” he growled.
“Madelaine,” she said through gritted teeth. She had to use her real name, since Olivia had given hers, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember Olivia’s last name. She had to know it in order for the pirate to demand ransom.
“Very