Part 14 (1/2)

”About what?”Cathy asked suspiciously.

'You'll find out. One day.” He was being deliberately mysterious, she thought crossly.

Jon grinned at her annoyance, standing up and moving away from the table.

”Juta, we've finished,” he called to the housekeeper, then walked around to Cathy's chair and pulled it out for her with a gallant gesture. Cathy stared up at him,then looked suspiciously down the table at the half-empty decanter of wine. Could he be drunk? He certainly didn't look it, but then maybe he carried his drink exceptionally well. Some men did, she had heard.

She stood up at his urging, smiling atJuta as she came in to clear the table, and allowed Jon to lead her into the large sitting room. The longfrench windows were open to the night, their thin veiling of mosquito netting fluttering in the gentle breeze. The only illumination came from a pair of wall-bracketed candles.

”Come for a walk with me?” Jon asked, nodding toward the windows. Cathy acquiesced, still faintly puzzled as she followed him out into the lush garden. The moon was a large, pale disc floating high over the tops of the palms, and the garden was alive with a chorus ofinsects.Sweetperfume from the brilliantly colored hibiscus trees floated in the air. Cathy breathed the heady fragrance deeply into her lungs.

”It's beautiful here,” she murmured, more to herself than him. Jon's arm came around her waist, pulling her loosely against his side, supporting her as they strolled away from the house.

”Beautiful,” he agreed huskily, but his eyes were on her.

”You're very gallant tonight, Captain,” she teased lightly. ”Are you trying to soften me up for some bad news?

”As a matter of fact, I do have something to tell you,” Jon answered, his tone matching hers. ”Whether it's bad or not I leave up to you.”

He hesitated, and Cathy cast a quick glance up at him. Was he about to tell her what had been worrying him all evening?

”Well?” she prompted impatiently.

”I have to go away for a few days,” he said finally. Cathy felt faintly uneasy at something in his tone.

”Go away?To where?”

”There's another island near here-Tenerife. I had word this afternoon that a man there is willing to buy the 'Margarita's' cargo. I had meant to dispose of it in Cadiz, but circ.u.mstances intervened.” He slanted a look down at her. Cathy walked slowly on, not noticing whether he was moving with her or not. Was he not planning to take her with him?

”May I come?” she asked in a small voice, not looking at him. Her feet came to the edge of the small cliff overlooking the beach and she stopped automatically, not even aware that she had done so.

Jon shook his head.

”Not this time, my cat. Tenerife's a rough place, andI'llbe busy.Iwon't have time to look alter your properly. I'd rather leave you here, where I know you'll be safe.”

He came to stand behind her, his armsshding possessively around her small waist, pulling her back against his chest. Cathy stared unseeingly at the reflected moonlight s.h.i.+mmering on the ocean below. The gentle roaring of the waves echoed in her ears.

”Will you miss me?” Jon asked huskily, his mouth nuzzling at the soft curve of her neck.

”You know I will,” Cathy whispered, her pride deserting her. She turned in his arms to slide her own around his neck. Jon stared down at her small face, admiring the translucent gleam of her skin in the slivery light. With moonbeams catching in her hair and her lips softy parted, she was so lovely that she took his breath.

Cathy stood on tiptoe, reaching for his mouth with hers. At the same time Jon's head came down, and their lips met with an explosion of pa.s.sion that set them both to shaking. Jon's big hands moved over her body, slowly at first and then with increasing urgency. Cathy moaned as his trembling fingersshd inside her bodice to cup her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Before she quite knew how it had happened, she was standing naked in the moonlight, Jon's eyes dark with desire as they ran sensuously over her. Her fingers were unsteady as she helped him unb.u.t.ton his s.h.i.+rt, and then with an animal-like groan he lowered her to he in the tall gra.s.s by the cliff. The ground was cool and p.r.i.c.kly against the bare skin of her back, but Cathy scarcely noticed as she held up her arms to Jon beseechingly. When he came to her at last, he was as naked as she. Their bodies coupled fiercely, with no thought of preliminaries, conscious only of a raging need so intense that they were both caught up in its flames.

Ten.

Cathy was sick for the third morning in a row. She lay gasping over the porcelain chamber pot, racked by violent spasms of nausea. When her exhausted stomach was finally quiet, she made her way back to bed, trembling, and resting weakly against the cool linen sheets. What on earth was the matter with her? Had she contracted some strange tropical disease? If this morning was like the other two, she would soon feel all right again, able to go about her business as if nothing had happened. Besides her one bout with sea-sickness, she had never been ill a day in her life before. This intermittent vomiting was beginning to alarm her.

”I bring coffee,mam .”Juta's cheerful brown face appeared around the door. Cathy smiled at her wanly. Useless to expect eitherJuta orKimbo to knock. They treated Jon's house as their own, and herself and Jon were catered to as if they were honored guests. Cathy could not quite get used to them walking in unannounced, but Jon had told her with a shrug that there was nothing to be done about it. He had merely forbidden the servants to enter the little room Cathy used for dressing or the big bedroom that he and Cathy shared.Jutaappeared to consider that Jon's absence negated that last prohibition.

”Mam, you all right?”Jutaasked,concern in her velvety dark eyes. Cathy sat up to sip her coffee, still feeling a trifle shaky.

”I'm fine,Juta . I've just been a little nauseous lately. I don't think it's anything to worry about.”

”Nothing to worry about,”Juta agreed, turning to leave Cathy to drink her coffee in peace. ”Baby's nothing to worry about.Cap'n will be pleased.Proves him plenty strong man.”

Jutasailed majestically from the room while Cathy slowly put the delicate china cup back down on the tray, her hand unsteady. Baby! It couldn't be! She thought back quickly, and blanched. So much had happened to her over the past three months that she had completely lost track of her monthly courses. The last one had been-let'ssee- about a week before she had sailed with the ”Anna Greer.” Her hand crept to her stomach, still firm and flat beneath the filmy nightdress, with a feeling of awe.Juta was right. According to all the signs, she was going to have a child.

Cathy's emotions dissolved rapidly into a wild mingling of happiness, worry, and fear. She would love Jon's baby as she loved Jon. Already her arms yearned to hold her child, to lavish care and affection on it. What would it be-a little boy with black hair and swarthy complexion-or aLittle girl with gray eyes? Cathy faltered. Would Jon be pleased?Would he learn to love her as the mother of his child, or would he turn from her, as she grew big and unwieldy, to seek out females with a more seductive shape? Perhaps he would even send her back to her father, once she was no longer able to please him? She suddenly knew that she didn'treaUy care if she never saw her father or Martha again. Her Lifewas with Jon now, and as long as he wanted her she would stay with him. And if she had her way, he would want her for the rest of his life.

A frown puckered her brow and her hand caressed her belly protectively. According to the tenets of society, her child would be a b.a.s.t.a.r.d-unless she did something about it. If there was any way she could manage it, her baby would have a right to his father's name, would be able to hold up his head with anyone as he grew to manhood-or womanhood. In that moment she resolved to persuade Jon to marry her by any means available. Whether he loved her or not, he had a duty to their unborn child. She didn't think he would shrink from it.

She thought about Jon's background, and chewed her lip. Did she want a pirate for her baby's father-for her husband? A thieving, murdering brigand who would certainly hang if he were caught? Well, like it or not, he was the father of her child. And she loved him. She would marry him and take her chances on the rest.

Cathy got rather gingerly out of the big bra.s.s bed and began to dress. She would really have to see about getting a new wardrobe. Few of her clothes were suitable for the tropical heat. Then she thought about how her stomach would bulge in the coming months, and smiled. She would s...o...b.. needing a new wardrobe in any case.

Dressed, she wandered out of the house and down toward the smaller dwelling at the end of the garden wherePetersham stayed. After the incident with Harry, it seemed that Jon was taking no more chances with her. He had ordered her not to go out of sight of the house withoutPetersham in attendance. The men on the island would keep their distance as long as she was protected, but if some of the more unscrupulous characters were to come on her while she was alone, they might consider her fair game. Cathy obeyed Jon's instructions morefrom a desire for company than from fear for her own safety. The days were long and tedious without Jon, andPetersham was at least someone to talk to.

The valet was sitting on a chair outside the front entrance of the palm-thatched cottage, carving busily at a piece of wood. He smiled when he saw Cathy approaching, his faded eyes crinkling in appreciation of the lovely picture she made with her golden hair piled high on her head for coolness' sake and her simple white dress emphasizing her youthful sweetness. Master Jon was a lucky man,Petersham thought, had he but the sense to know it.

”You're late, miss,” he grinned at her.”Thought you might have decided to sleep all day.”

”Just most of it,” Cathy twinkled in response, and waited while he carefully took the wood he was carving inside.

”Where to this morning, miss?” he asked, dusting his hands as he rejoined her in the garden. ”Fancy another ride on one of them ponies?”

”Oh, no, I can't, thank you,Petersham ,” Cathy said hastily before she thought. She wanted to take no chances where her baby was concerned, but she didn't feel like explaining the facts of her condition to Petersham at the moment. Besides, she wanted Jon to be the first to know.

'You can't, eh?”Petersham said astutely, looking at her through narrowed eyes.Cathy, intent on one of the gorgeous parrots that were as plentiful here as sparrows in England, missed his words and tone. She surfaced to hear him say, ”Well, how about the beach, then?”

She agreed smilingly to the beach. They crossed the garden and climbed down the cliff path onto the white sand. Cathy found a little outcropping of rock and sank down in its shade, resting her back against it comfortablywhile shewatchedthe breaking of the waves.Petershamsat down beside her, his expression thoughtful. It wasn't like Miss Cathy to sit when she could be doing.

Cathy took off the leather sandals that Jon had fas.h.i.+oned for her out of one of his old jerkins and wriggled her toes in the warm sand.Petersham watched her, saying nothing. The merest germ of a suspicion was beginning to form in his mind.

”What was Jon like as a baby?” Cathy broke the silence to ask, her expression dreamy as she stared out to sea.

”About as mean-tempered and pig-headed as he is now, as I recollect,”Petersham grinned. Cathy looked at him reproachfully.

”I'm serious,” she insisted.Petersham chuckled.

”So am I, miss.”

Cathy sent him an admonis.h.i.+ng look andPetersham continued.