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.In the distance, she could see the twinkling lights of Charleston.At daylight she would go ashore.She would be on her own in a strange land, and that thought suddenly terrified her.This vessel had been her safe haven, her shelter from the storm.Soon she would be set adrift, and then what would she do?Brittany turned her face up to the rain as if it would have some magical powers to wash her cares and troubles away and help her find the answers she sought.She thought of Thorn Stoddard, and she realized how difficult it would be to just walk away from him.She now had no doubts that she loved Thorn.She must have loved him from the very start.Brittany was sure her mother would argue that she had not known Thorn long enough to love him, but she did love him, with every fiber of her being.Hot tears mixed with the cooling rain as she stood there drenched to the skin, her head bowed in misery.“Have you gone mad, standing out here in the rain?” Thorn’s deep voice barked out, and she lifted her face to him.“You will catch your death.”A lantern attached to the masts swayed with the movement of the ship and cast its gentle glow on Brittany’s face.“I was saying good-bye to my old friend, the Victorious.”His eyes bore into her, reminding her of when she had bid him good-bye the night before.“You have surely completed all your farewells, by now.Should you—” Suddenly his eyes widened, and she saw a look of bewilderment on his face.“What the hell is this!”“I do not know what you are talking about,” she said, wondering at the reason for his sudden outburst.Why was he staring at her so hard?He tilted her face toward the light and studied it intently.“Damn you, Brittany, do you take me for a complete fool?”Her eyes were bright with dread when she realized that Thorn must have discovered her secret.It had been foolish of her to stand in the rain, because it must have washed the stain from her skin.She backed away from him.“I do not know what you are talking—”Without ceremony, he scooped her into his arms and carried her purposefully down the steps to his cabin.Once inside, he placed her on her feet.His face was a mask of fury as he turned up the wick on the lantern then pulled her into the ring of light so he could see her features.Brittany raised her hand to her face, wishing she could run and hide from Thorn’s probing glance.The anger she saw in his eyes caused her to tremble with fear.She did not know that a stream of hair dye had made a dark rivulet down her face.She raised troubled eyes to Thorn and found him watching her with a strange expression on his face.“What trickery is this?” he demanded.“What have you been up to all this time?”She took a step backward, feeling for the doorknob behind her.“I am sure I do not know what you are talking about, Captain Stoddard.”“Don’t you?”“N-no.”In one swift motion, he unhooked her cape and tossed it to the floor.She stood before him in only her thin nightgown, and he was staring at her white skin.Why had she been so foolish as to go on deck in the rain? She should have foreseen that this could happen.Brittany felt the water dripping down her face and reached up to wipe it away.Her mouth rounded when she saw the black dye on her hands.“I…must go,” she said hurriedly.“I want to look in on Achmed.”Thorn blocked her exit.“I think not.Not until I have a few answers.”Brittany was startled when Thorn reached forward and stripped her nightgown away and tossed it on the floor.Her face burned with embarrassment as his eyes moved over her naked body, and there was a light of possessiveness in their blue depths.With a smothered oath, he scooped her up in his arms and deposited her in the tub of water where he had bathed earlier in the evening.Before she could object, he was lathering her hair and rubbing soap over her shoulders and arms.When her face and shoulders were thoroughly lathered, he reached for a pail of water and poured it over her head.“I’ll be damned,” he hissed through clenched teeth.“You and your eunuch must have thought yourselves clever to have duped me for so long.You might have gotten away with it if you had not been so adventuresome tonight.”Brittany sputtered and fought him as he poured more water over her head.Thorn ground his teeth, and he was not gentle as he lifted her out of the bath and wrapped her in a towel
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