Read Online Sparhawk's Angel by MIRANDA JARRETT - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: MIRANDA JARRETT
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Furiously Nick ripped off the belt with his sword and flung it onto the desk. "What kind of fool are you playing me for? All this claptrap about following your special course on the chart to an easy prize so I could salvage
my
pride and
my
crew's respect, when all you had in mind the entire time was finding
your
blessed sister!"
"And what's the harm of it?" demanded Lily. "Why couldn't both things be accomplished at once?"
"Because your sister is as great a nuisance as you are." He jerked his arms free of his coat and let it fall to the deck, and began unfastening the long row of buttons on his waistcoat with a quick, angry tug at each buttonhole. "Nay, make that a greater nuisance, since she's betrothed to some ruddy royal frigate captain who'll doubtless now dedicate all his days to chasing me!"
"Oh, pish!" Lily swept her hand through the air dismissively. "As if you'd be afraid of the likes of Eliot Graham!"
"What kind of idiot wouldn't be?" He glared at her as he let the waistcoat
fall onto his coat and began yanking his shirt free of his breeches. "Thanks to
you, I've stolen the man's bride out from under his nose. That should be insult
enough to rouse even some addlepated aristocrat to action, and to help get her back he has thirty-two guns and a crew of a hundred at his disposal."
"What of it?" she said impatiently as he pulled his shirt over his head. "You have the
Angel Lily
, don't you? That should be more than enough to even the match."
Nick grunted sourly as he poured water into the washbasin. He had hoped that by stripping to his breeches he'd offend her enough so she'd leave—he'd noticed before that she never appeared in the morning until he was fully dressed—but still she stayed, unperturbed and unimpressed by his bare chest.
He lowered his face over the bowl, sluicing the water over his head. Nay, it was worse than that, for
he
was the one who felt uncomfortable. Angel or not, she was still female, and he wasn't accustomed to females ignoring the splendid breadth of his chest or the width of his arms. It didn't seem natural.
"Besides," she continued behind him, "Eliot doesn't even know you have Rose."
"He'll know as soon as the
Commerce
reaches Charles Town with the prize crew," grumbled Nick. "The British spies—
your
spies—are remarkably efficient that way. Why the devil I listened to Gideon and didn't ship her off to Carolina when I had the chance is beyond me."
He recognized the familiar little crack of her fan being snapped open, and absently wondered why she needed one at all. Wouldn't a good flap of her wings accomplish the same thing?
"I still don't believe Eliot will bother you, Nick," she said. "He may be intent on marrying poor Rose, but he doesn't love her in the least."
"Understandable enough," said Nick as he splashed the water over his arms and shoulders. "Your sister's a small, shrewish, ill-favored article that would test any man's soul to—damnation!"
The desk chair caught him in the back of his leg, the turned maple slamming against him hard enough that he had to grab the bulkhead to keep his footing.
"You should be more careful, Captain," said Lily mildly. "With all your experience at sea, I would have thought you'd know to be wary of how furnishings can shift about in a high sea."
"The devil take your high sea! There's barely a ripple on the water today, and you know it. That was all your doing, you wicked little creature!" Nick rubbed his leg, feeling the knot of a bruise growing already. "And it
hurt
."
"It was supposed to." Lily smiled sweetly, and with a sinking feeling Nick remembered the exact same expression on Rose's face after she'd told him about her frigate captain.
"I won't have you speaking unkindly of my sister."
"I'll say whatever I damned well please!"
"Oh, I know, because you're the almighty captain and the master and goodness knows whatever else." She sighed dramatically and shook her head. "But I thought you were a gentleman, too, and a
my
pride and
my
crew's respect, when all you had in mind the entire time was finding
your
blessed sister!"
"And what's the harm of it?" demanded Lily. "Why couldn't both things be accomplished at once?"
"Because your sister is as great a nuisance as you are." He jerked his arms free of his coat and let it fall to the deck, and began unfastening the long row of buttons on his waistcoat with a quick, angry tug at each buttonhole. "Nay, make that a greater nuisance, since she's betrothed to some ruddy royal frigate captain who'll doubtless now dedicate all his days to chasing me!"
"Oh, pish!" Lily swept her hand through the air dismissively. "As if you'd be afraid of the likes of Eliot Graham!"
"What kind of idiot wouldn't be?" He glared at her as he let the waistcoat
fall onto his coat and began yanking his shirt free of his breeches. "Thanks to
you, I've stolen the man's bride out from under his nose. That should be insult
enough to rouse even some addlepated aristocrat to action, and to help get her back he has thirty-two guns and a crew of a hundred at his disposal."
"What of it?" she said impatiently as he pulled his shirt over his head. "You have the
Angel Lily
, don't you? That should be more than enough to even the match."
Nick grunted sourly as he poured water into the washbasin. He had hoped that by stripping to his breeches he'd offend her enough so she'd leave—he'd noticed before that she never appeared in the morning until he was fully dressed—but still she stayed, unperturbed and unimpressed by his bare chest.
He lowered his face over the bowl, sluicing the water over his head. Nay, it was worse than that, for
he
was the one who felt uncomfortable. Angel or not, she was still female, and he wasn't accustomed to females ignoring the splendid breadth of his chest or the width of his arms. It didn't seem natural.
"Besides," she continued behind him, "Eliot doesn't even know you have Rose."
"He'll know as soon as the
Commerce
reaches Charles Town with the prize crew," grumbled Nick. "The British spies—
your
spies—are remarkably efficient that way. Why the devil I listened to Gideon and didn't ship her off to Carolina when I had the chance is beyond me."
He recognized the familiar little crack of her fan being snapped open, and absently wondered why she needed one at all. Wouldn't a good flap of her wings accomplish the same thing?
"I still don't believe Eliot will bother you, Nick," she said. "He may be intent on marrying poor Rose, but he doesn't love her in the least."
"Understandable enough," said Nick as he splashed the water over his arms and shoulders. "Your sister's a small, shrewish, ill-favored article that would test any man's soul to—damnation!"
The desk chair caught him in the back of his leg, the turned maple slamming against him hard enough that he had to grab the bulkhead to keep his footing.
"You should be more careful, Captain," said Lily mildly. "With all your experience at sea, I would have thought you'd know to be wary of how furnishings can shift about in a high sea."
"The devil take your high sea! There's barely a ripple on the water today, and you know it. That was all your doing, you wicked little creature!" Nick rubbed his leg, feeling the knot of a bruise growing already. "And it
hurt
."
"It was supposed to." Lily smiled sweetly, and with a sinking feeling Nick remembered the exact same expression on Rose's face after she'd told him about her frigate captain.
"I won't have you speaking unkindly of my sister."
"I'll say whatever I damned well please!"
"Oh, I know, because you're the almighty captain and the master and goodness knows whatever else." She sighed dramatically and shook her head. "But I thought you were a gentleman, too, and a
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