Wherever You Are Read Online Free PDF Page B

say.
    Her fingers tightened on the blanket. She needed to get out of her clothes so he could tend her back, yet asking her to disrobe was out of the question. She began to sink to the ground, as if her legs couldn’t hold her. Morgan reached for her, ready to catch her, but she recoiled and settled on her knees, her wide-eyed gaze never straying from his.
    Morgan, too, sank to his knees before her.
    In his lifetime as a pirate he’d had many people look on him in fear. Fear was a powerful weapon he’d ruthlessly cultivated to get what he wanted. But this woman’s fear was far more than he could take.
    He reached into his boot with careful, slow movements. She tore her gaze from his face to follow his hand, gasping when he pulled out a sharp dagger.
    “Easy,” he said softly. “I won’t hurt you.”
    He turned the dagger and offered it to her hilt first. Again her eyes searched out his. The reddened skin between her brows puckered.
    “Take it.” He kept his voice soft. “It’s yours. I won’t harm you again, but if you should feel threatened, feel free to use it.”
    It was an attempt to show good faith yet guilt pricked him. Even if she tried to use it against him, he was faster, bigger and more powerful. He could easily strip the small weapon from her. He’d given her false hope and somehow that seemed worse than no hope at all.
    Her fingers unfurled themselves from the blanket and she slowly reached forward to take the dagger.
    “I need to get supplies in order to tend your…injuries.”
    She swayed. Morgan reached for her, but she batted his hand away with the hand holding the dagger. He pulled back before he found himself sliced to ribbons.
    Fresh blood dripped to the floor and he had to swallow the bile rising in his throat. Funny, he’d seen damn near everything one human could do to another and never before had his stomach turned so.
    “You need to be in bed. It’s more comfortable than the floor.”
    She gave him a look that said if he thought she was getting in that bed, he was crazy.
    “Fair enough.” He stood. She had to crane her neck to look up at him. Always keep your enemy in sight, it was a good motto to live by and it seemed she’d learned it well. “I’ll be gone a short while to get some supplies.”
    Her eyes widened, the fear turning to terror. Disgusted with himself he grabbed his sword and left, smacking into Thomas who was standing in the doorway bare-chested.
    “How is she?” Thomas craned his neck to look inside the cabin but Morgan drew the door closed. Thomas’s nose was swollen to almost twice its size and blood was smeared across his cheek. She’d fought hard. Strangely Morgan was proud of her spunk.
    “Stand outside this door. Let no one in. And for God’s sake don’t let her out.”
     
    When he opened the door to the cabin with the supplies in hand, Thomas was right on his heels. Morgan knew Thomas felt guilty for being the one to wield the rope, yet it wasn’t his fault. He’d been acting on Morgan’s orders and so the guilt lay on Morgan’s shoulders.
    Morgan stopped and Thomas barreled into his back. “Where is she? Damn it, Thomas, I specifically left orders that she was not to leave.”
    Good God she was in excruciating pain yet she’d found the fortitude to walk out? Had she jumped ship like Thomas said she’d tried to do before?
    “No one left, Cap’n. I swear.” Thomas stepped around him and looked at the spot where the woman had been. There was nothing but splatters of blood on the floor.
    They found her curled in a corner, her bloody back pressed against the wall. There were smears of blood on the wood behind her. How in the world was she withstanding the pain?
    Thomas pulled in a breath and muttered, “Dear God.” He took a step toward her but she whimpered and pulled back. Fresh blood dripped onto the floor.
    “Out, Thomas.” Morgan crouched in front of her and held a cup of laudanum-laced rum to her. “Drink.”
    Her gaze flickered