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her thoughts. Not
Jason Kane. He would not have shown her such a courtesy. She clutched the
quilt tighter to her chin. An unfamiliar voice cut through the silence.
    “Are you dressed, miss?”
    “I need a moment,” she called, spying her chemise at the end
of the bed. She snatched it up and slipped it over her head. The remains of her
dress lay in a torn heap on the floor. The garment would be of no use to her
now.
    “I’ve brought you some breakfast, miss. May I come in?” His
cultured voice contained a note of hesitance.
    Her stomach did a little flip. She had scant desire for
food, and the thought of facing another man’s curious gaze destroyed what
meager appetite she possessed. “I am not yet presentable.”
    Clearing his throat, the man added, “I have also taken the
liberty of selecting a few garments. I believe they will fit you passably.”
    “Bring them in, please.”
    The door opened slowly, as though he were reluctant to
intrude on her solitary confinement. He was nothing like she’d imagined. A
tall, lean man with neatly cut gray hair and blue eyes, which betrayed both
kindness and intelligence, he seemed strangely out of place on a pirate ship.
    He placed a pile of folded clothing on a chair and set the
tray of food down on a small table. Cathy’s gaze lit on the open door. Without
thinking, he’d provided her an opportunity to flee. As if reading her thoughts,
he shook his head, a solemn expression marking an already mirthless face.
Still, she had to seize the chance. If she stayed in this place, she’d fall
completely under Jason Kane’s spell. Escape was her only hope. Perhaps she
could find a space to hide until the ship made it to port.
    Her brain worked at a feverish pace, devising a plan. She
would need to gather rations and water at night when the cook slept. If she
kept herself out of the captain’s reach, she might break away from his control.
    Dragging the quilt around her, she bolted from the bed and
through the door.
    Her heart pounded so hard it seemed to have leapt to her
throat. No one stood in her way. But where to go? Surely there were dark,
concealed spaces on this ship. Now if she could make it appear she’d fallen
overboard. She was halfway down the galley way before strong hands captured her
and hauled her off her feet.
    The captain’s assistant. “Let me go,” Catherine
ground out the words, fighting his unyielding hold. “Take your hands off me!”
    “Not yet,” the older man said quietly, closing the door
behind them as he managed to get her back into the room. He blocked the exit
with his body before he released her from his hold. Cloaked in the quilt, she
faced him and took a good look at the captain’s minion.
    He regarded her with regret-filled eyes. “I can’t let you
run about like that, Miss Catherine. Any woman would be in danger around this
crew.”
    Her eyes widened in indignant amazement. “Your captain is
the most dangerous man on this ship.” Her voice was strong, though her body
still quaked with the aftershocks of Kane’s passion.
    The man’s weary features revealed unexpected compassion.
“Many of these hoodlums would think nothing of using you to slake their hunger
for a woman and tossing you overboard after the act was done to hide the truth
from Captain Kane. The captain will not mistreat you. I can’t say the same
about the crew.”
    She tightened the quilt around her as she considered the
validity of his words. It would be pointless to rail against the captain to
this man. His loyalty seemed unshakeable. He had no way of knowing how the
captain’s touch had branded her skin without mercy, without regard for her
shame. Jason Kane had stirred her senses without violence, but at a far greater
cost. She’d surrendered to Kane willingly, craving the feel of his erect cock
pressing against her belly, the stroke of his fingertips over her flesh, the searing
heat of his kiss. In his cruelty, he’d not even allowed her the comfort of
knowing