The Devil's Tide Read Online Free PDF Page B

its borders. The streets had been cleared of tropical vegetation, which had met little resistance from the indolent pirates as it had threatened to overwhelm the town. Governor Rogers was rebuilding the fort on the hill that overlooked the bay. It was an ominous structure that served as a warning to all pirates who would dare return to the port that had once served as their primary base of operations. He had also erected a new palisade around the fort, strengthening its defenses.
    Not a year prior the harbor was crammed with so many pirate ships that it was difficult to see the water between them, but now it was lightly sprinkled with the clean white sails of merchant vessels and a few official navy sloops. Shiny new mounted guns skirted the harbor. A hulking man of war loomed in the distance, near Paradise Island. It was flanked by two heavily gunned navy sloops.
    Fashion was gradually blending. It was difficult to tell one woman from the next, as they all seemed to be wearing the same style of dress. England had come to Nassau and had smothered much of its color along with its pirate populace.
    Calloway looked past the white beach and into the translucent shoal waters that shimmered vibrantly in the early light. "They can take the town," she murmured distantly, "but they cannot take the water."
    "What's that?" Dillahunt called from behind her. "Is it poetry?"
    She faced him, propping her ass on the sill and folding her arms beneath her breasts. "You're taking me with you."
    Dillahunt tossed the covers away and shuffled out of the bed. He stepped into his trousers and lifted them to his waist, fastening them. "I don't even know you," he said. "You wanted to see the hanging, so I used my influence to get you in, despite a full crowd. I wanted a night's pleasure. We were both obliged. Now you want to stowaway on my ship. What's in it for me?"
    "A night's pleasure
every
night," she replied mischievously.
    "You've scarred me," he whined, rubbing the back of his head. "If I'm ever to rise again, I'll require a blow to the skull that renders this morning's conversation forgotten."
    She leapt off the window and moved towards him. He stared, transfixed by the movement of her hips. She cupped his crotch, which immediately hardened in her firm grip. "This tells me otherwise."
    "Seems it has a mind of its own," Dillahunt said, swallowing. "And a shorter memory."
    "Why are you getting dressed? I wasn't through with you."
    He pulled away, retrieving his shirt. "My ship waits impatiently. We depart within the hour. As we speak, the crew scurries about the deck like rats, inclined to anarchy when starved of leadership."
    "How do they feed themselves in your absence?" she drawled.
    "That is a good quest—" He paused, scowling. "Oh. You're making fun of me."
    "I'm coming with you," she insisted, placing a hand on her hip.
    "Some of my crew are former pirates," he said, slipping on a bright red shirt and buttoning it. "They do not tolerate females at sea, and neither do I. It's bad luck. Just ask Jonathan Griffith, if you can find his corpse somewhere at the bottom of the harbor."
    "Which is why I will not board your ship as a girl," she said, reaching up and gathering her hair into a ponytail behind her head. "I'll cut it off. I'll dress as a common sailor. No one will know the difference. Except you. At night. When I steal into your quarters."
    "Someone will notice that," Dillahunt said, curtness rising in his tone. He dropped to his knees and reached under the bed to retrieve his long black coat. "Sailors have nothing but time on their hands, and they spend that time studying everyone around them. Little details that bore you and me become exciting gossips worthy of reenactment over a campfire. A captain sleeping with a cabin boy, while not exactly suitable for reenactment, would prove particularly exciting gossip. And possible cause for mutiny. Not to mention what could happen to you if your true gender were discovered."
    "I'll be