Captive of My Desires

Chapter One She'd been told to hide, and stay hidden. That had been Gabrielle Brooks's first thought as well after the noise had drawn her up to the deck and she'd seen what was causing the commotion. It wasn't the captain who'd given her the order, though. He'd been nothing but confident that he could lose the ship bearing down on them. He'd even laughed about it and shaken his fist at the Jolly Roger flying from the attacking ship's mainmast, which was visible now to the naked eye. His enthusiasm -- and dare she say delight? -- had certainly relieved her mind. Until the first mate pulled her aside and told her to hide. Unlike the captain, Avery Dobs didn't appear eager for the upcoming confrontation. His complexion as white as the extra sails being swiftly hoisted by the crew, he hadn't been gentle about shoving her toward the stairs. "Use one of the empty food barrels in the hold. There are many of them now. With any luck, the pirates won't open more than one or two, and finding them empty, they'll move on. I'll warn your servant to hide as well. Now go! And no matter what you hear, don't leave the hold until someone whose voice you recognize comes for you." He hadn't said until hecame for her. His panic was infectious, his roughness surprising. Her arm was probably bruised where he'd gripped it. It was such a change from the courteous way he had treated her when the journey began. He'd nearly been courting her, or so it had seemed, though that was unlikely. He was in his early thirties and she was barely out of the schoolroom. It was just his deferential manner, his gentle tone of voice, and the inordinate amount of attention he'd paid her during the three weeks since they'd left London, that gave her the impression he liked her more than he should. He'd managed to instill his own fear in her, though, and she'd raced toward the bowels of the ship. It was easy to find the food barrels Avery had spoken of, nearly all of them empty, now that they were nearing their destination in the Caribbean. Another few days and they would have sailed into St. George's harbor in Grenada, her father's last known whereabouts, and she could have begun her search for him. Nathan Brooks was not a man she knew well, though all her memories of him were fond ones, but he was all she had now that her mother had died. While she'd never once doubted that he loved her, he had never lived at home with her for any length of time. A month, maybe a few months at a time, and, one year, an entire summer -- but then several years would pass without a visit from him. Nathan was captain of his own merchantman with very profitable trade routes in the West Indies. He sent home money and extravagant presents, but rarely did he bring himself home. He'd tried to move his family closer to where he worked, but Carla, Gabrielle's mother, wouldn't even consider it. England had been her home all of her life. She had no family left there, but all her friends were there, as well as everything she valued, and she had never approved of Nathan's seafaring occupation anyway. Trade. She'd always spoken the word in disgust. She had enough aristocracy in her ancestry, even if she bore no title herself, to look down on anyone in trade, even her own husband. It was a wonder they'd ever married. They certainly didn't seem to like each other much when they were together. And Gabrielle would never, ever mention to him that his long absences had led Carla to take a...Well, she couldn't even bring herself to think the word, much less say it. She was so embarrassed by her own conclusions. But Albert Swift had been a regular visitor to their two-story cottage on the outskirts of Brighton during the last several years, and Carla had behaved like a young schoolgirl whenever he was in town. When he'd stopped coming around and they heard the rumors that he wLindsey, Johanna is the author of 'Captive of My Desires', published 2006 under ISBN 9781416505471 and ISBN 1416505474.