Read Online Island Flame by Karen Robards - Free Book Online

as the full import of his statement sunk in. He actually expected her to submit to that disgusting performance again! She bounced furiously from the bed, dragging the sheet with her to protect her body from his gaze, murder blazing in her eyes. She looked around wildly for a weapon, but before she could find something hard enough and sharp enough he scooped her up in his arms and threw her back onto the middle of the bed. She floundered helplessly in a mad tangle of sheet and hair while he laughed uproariously. By the time she managed to get herself sorted out, he was gone. Cathy glared ferociously at the closed cabin door. Nobody could treat her like a doxy and get away with it! She made up her mind there and then that Captain Jonathan Hale was going to be taught a much needed lesson. He would soon find out that he had met his match in her!

Three

    C athy was left alone to fume for several hours. Which was a wise move on someone’s part, she thought blackly, because she could have cheerfully scratched the eyes out of the first person who crossed her path. Without exception, they were all thieving, murdering cutthroats, and Captain Jonathan Hale was the worst of the lot. How she would enjoy seeing him hang, his long body twisting and turning at the end of a rope, his mocking face blue and swollen! Cathy smiled more sweetly than she had in days. Just imagining it made her feel better!
    Oh, what she wouldn’t give for a long, sharp knife! She would carry it with her constantly, hidden in the sleeve of a voluminous nightshirt, and the next time the brute tried to rape her, she’d plunge it deep into his back! She pictured his writhing agony with deep relish. But the cabin was bare of knives, or any other obvious weapons. So she rescoured the cabin for anything that could possibly be used as a weapon. When she stopped at last, exhausted, her arsenal was not impressive. A heavy brass candlestick was the most promising of the small collection. She thrust it beneath the mattress so that it would be handy for use as a head-basher. The porcelain chamber pot also had possibilities, but she was afraid that if the pot were nowhere to be found, her captor would undoubtedly become suspicious. Despite his villainy, Cathy knew that the pirate captain was far from stupid.
    She flatly refused to dress again in another of the hated nightshirts. If she could help it, nothing of his would touch her skin again for as long as she lived. Instead, she wrapped herself mummy-fashion in a quilt, and settled down in one of the hard chairs to wait. Sooner or later Captain Jonathan Hale would have to return to his cabin. When he did, Cathy wanted to be sure to make the occasion a memorable one.
    It was Petersham, however, who next tapped on the door. The cabin was beginning to darken as the last of the day’s brightness faded away, and Cathy’s legs were growing cramped from sitting so long in one position. But she was determined not to be caught unprepared a second time. At the knock she stiffened, then relaxed. If there was anything certain in this suddenly mad world, it was that the arrogant scoundrel would not have the courtesy to knock before entering. He would just barge right in!
    “I’ve brought you some supper, miss,” Petersham said as he entered. “Cap’n said as how you weren’t feeling too well at midday, but it’s almost seven o’clock now, and you need something solid in you. This seasickness will leave you weak as a kitten if you don’t take care.”
    “I am no longer seasick, Petersham,” Cathy replied acidly, not moving from the chair. Petersham eyed her covertly as he set the meal on the table, his glance touching on her white face and tousled hair before taking in the final evidence of her quilt-clad body. It was plain what had happened. Master Jon, no longer hampered by the storm, had spent the morning enjoying what he would consider the spoils of battle. Well, men had their needs, as he, Petersham, knew full well, but