Shipwrecked With The Captain

‘I do not care.’ She gripped harder. ‘To tell the truth, I am a little afraid to be alone.’

She looked very afraid.

‘Very well,’ he said. ‘I’ll make a bed for myself on the floor.’

* * *

Lucien waited until she was sound asleep before gathering their dishes and slipping out the door. He found the galley and the Captain, who again said how pleased he was that he did not have to squeeze his men any more than merely finding another berth for himself. The fishermen managed to give Lucien another blanket and he returned to the Captain’s cabin.

She still slept.

Dead tired himself, Lucien formed a hammock of sorts with the blanket. As soon as he was settled in it, he, too, fell asleep.

* * *

He was awoken by Lady Rebecca’s cries. The room was pitch black.

‘No! No! Stay away! Stay away!’ She thrashed around in the berth.

He made his way to her in the darkness and held her arms to still her. ‘Wake up. You are having a dream.’

Her thrashing stopped and she threw her arms around his neck. ‘Lucien! I was being chased and then I was in the water and you were too far away to reach me.’

He unwrapped her arms from around his neck. ‘Only a dream.’

She kept hold of his hand. ‘Yes. A dream. I am awake now.’

‘Who chased you?’ Someone from her past? This was hardly the sort of memory he wished returned to her.

‘I do not know. It was as if the blackness pursued me.’ She trembled. ‘I am quite recovered now.’

He remained at her side. ‘Are you certain?’

‘Oh, yes,’ she said, but her hand trembled.

The nightmare was still with her then. ‘I’ll sit beside you for a while,’ he told her.

Her hand seemed small and vulnerable in his larger one.

In the darkness he heard her murmur, ‘Everything was black, then all I could see was you.’

He sat with her until her hand relaxed and her breathing came soft and rhythmic.

When Claire woke the next morning, Lucien was gone. She sat up quickly, her heart pounding.

She was alone!

But she remembered where she was—on a fishing boat—and she remembered Lucien.

She remembered, too, that he’d woken her from that terrible nightmare and remained beside her in the narrow berth. She also remembered how she’d thrown her arms around him.

Her cheeks burned.

Although she could not remember who she was or anything about her past, she knew with certainty that it was shameful of her to embrace a man like that. Even if he had been a perfect gentleman.

Perhaps she was wanton. Could that be? Could it be she’d already compromised herself and that was why she’d felt no hesitation to insist he share the room with her? She might be a lady, but was it possible she was anything but ladylike?

She glanced down at herself and realised the fisherman’s clothes she wore had come loose of her makeshift belt. Standing, she straightened her clothing, but the breeches seemed ready to fall down at any moment. She remembered the etui from the reticule—she could not think of it as her etui or her reticule. She found it hanging from a peg. She took the pins from the etui and used them to fit the breeches to her body.

The door opened.

It was Lucien. ‘I have brought you some breakfast.’

He’d brought a steaming bowl of porridge and a mug of warm cider. How kind of him.

‘Thank you, Lucien.’

Her appetite was hardy. Was she always a big eater? Scenting the porridge, she remembered how it tasted—but she could not remember a time she ate porridge.

She felt Lucien’s gaze upon her as she ate.

She swallowed a spoonful and looked up at him. ‘I am sorry I woke you last night.’

He paused before speaking. ‘How do you fare this morning?’

She laughed lightly. ‘I wish I could say I feel quite myself this morning, but I do not know who myself is. I do feel rested, though.’

He nodded.

‘And you, Lucien,’ she asked. ‘Are you well?’

He waved off her question. ‘Very well.’ He leaned forward. ‘Rest today, if you need to, but I want to assist the fishermen. There are only five of them, including Captain Molloy. I am certain they can make use of me.’

She had not expected him to help catch fish, not a captain in the navy. How good of him. Did he always consider others, perhaps even over himself? How could she be selfish enough to insist he stay with her?

Just because she was afraid to be alone.

‘I do understand.’ She took a nervous breath. ‘I will amuse myself somehow.’ She managed a smile.

His eyes pierced into hers. ‘I will check on you, my lady. Or make certain someone else does.’

She lifted her chin and nodded, hoping she looked braver than she felt.

* * *

Lucien had expected her to complain and demand he remain with her. It was clear that she did not want to be alone. But she had not. And why had she insisted he stay in the cabin with her? If it became known, it would certainly ruin her in her aristocratic circles. Was it her memory loss? Did she not remember how important reputation was for an earl’s daughter?

Spending the night in the same room posed a different problem for Lucien. The intimacy of sleeping near her fuelled fantasies of sharing her bed, of tasting her lips, of feeling her naked skin next to his. He would never seduce her, though, would he? It would be taking advantage of her in the most reprehensible way.