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work." He wrenched his life jacket off and stalked to the box where they belonged.
    Bewildered, I stood unmoving as a sea of men swept past me to follow the captain. William yanked my arm, pulling me behind the lifeboats to make way for the others to pass. He helped me remove my lifejacket and passed both of them to Charlie, who joined the queue of men waiting to return the bulky items to their box. The ship seemed eerily quiet when the siren ceased.
    "Don't be afraid, lass," William said, lifting the cover on one of the boats. "These are much better than your flimsy raft and you survived on that. I heard stories of how shipwrecked Dutchmen and Englishmen have crossed this ocean in boats no bigger than our lifeboats – men who lived to find land. They didn't have the supplies ours do, either – and we can thank Captain Foster for that. He was cast into a boat just like these in the war and he survived. If our luck turns bad and we have to board these, I'll lift you aboard the captain's boat myself, for I know he'll steer us safely to land." He held out his arms. "Here, I'll help you up so you can take a look for yourself." I stepped closer and was surprised when his hands closed around my waist, lifting me into the air.
    I panicked and caught the edge of the boat, swinging my legs up over the gunwale, and clumsily hooked my body into the craft. The plank seats stopped me from rolling to the bottom of the boat, but I had barely a second to catch my breath before the boat tipped dangerously and I had to cling to the bench to stop myself from falling out as William climbed over the side.
    He dropped to his knees and wrenched open a locker beneath a bench. "Come and see." He gestured for me to come closer and I inched my way along the seat to look underneath it. William pulled a tin from the multitude crammed inside the locker and held it up. "Captain Foster's supplies. He refused to put to sea unless the lifeboats were stocked with as much condensed milk as water. He says he'll find a way to make it law – all lifeboats should carry condensed milk. One crazy Scotsman, trying to change the world." He laughed, but his eyes turned sad. "I didn't want to change it, only see it, but now I'm beginning to understand why my brothers wanted to settle down. Halfway round the world, in the middle of the ocean, and I finally see –"
    "You planning on sailing away into the sunset with your little whore, McGregor? Is that what took you so long to appear on deck? You had to pull your cock out of her and get her clothes back on? Plenty of hard-working men on this ship – seems to me you should share, seeing as you're only a passenger and all." A hand caught my foot, almost yanking me out of the boat.
    William grabbed me before I fell. "Leave the girl alone, Sciarra. You're lucky she doesn't understand a word of your filth – I'll let it go this time, but if you say it again, I'll break your face."
    I twisted so I could see the grinning idiot behind me. I might not have understood his words, but I didn't like his tone, or his hands clutching at me.
    "Go on, McGregor, just a taste," Sciarra wheedled, his tongue snaking toward my ankle.
    Revolted, I kicked and felt the satisfying crunch as my feet met his face. He landed on his back on the deck. Shock morphed to fury on his face and he sprang to his feet. "You bitch..."
    I shifted to a crouch, ready to leap out of the boat to tackle him to the deck, but William beat me to it, landing lightly on his feet between us. "Get the hell out of here, Sciarra, before I hurt you worse than she has."
    I let myself down to the deck, glaring at the horrible man, his lip bleeding from the damage I'd inflicted. I itched to hit him again.
    "Put a leash on her," Sciarra muttered as he stalked away.
    William and I both stared after him until I felt his fingers close around mine. "I don't know what it is about you, but you drive men crazy with how much we want you. I know if you were mine, I'd never want to let