“Then what is it like? Do tell.”
“She . . . intrigues me,” said Mardon, watching as the wind blew her skirt and she bent over slightly to hold it down. “She excites me in an odd sort of way.”
“What? You’re saying you want to bed the nun?” Aaron laughed even more. “Mardon, I think you have been too long without a woman. Go back to the tavern and seek the pleasures of a whore before we set sail.”
“Nay. There’s no time. We’ve got to find the treasure before Nereus gets to it.”
“Then take a quick dunk in the sea to cool off,” said Aaron. “If not, you’re going to do something with that nun that you’ll regret for the rest of your life.”
“I will not! Don’t be ridiculous.” Mardon waved away the thought. “I would never touch a holy woman and you know it.”
“What about the rest of the crew? After all, she is comely, even though she’s a nun.”
“If any of them even look at Sister Emmaline with lust in their eyes, I swear I’ll have their heads.”
“Mmm hmm.” Aaron started up the boarding plank, but Mardon grabbed his arm and held him back.
“Wait. What the hell did that mean?”
“Nothing. Now let go of my arm. I need to instruct the crew to prepare to set sail.”
“Spill it, little brother. What is going through that thick head of yours?”
Aaron shook off Mardon’s arm. “I told you, I don’t like when you call me that, now stop it.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t do it again. And to answer you, I guess I just know you all too well. I’ve seen that look in your eyes before whenever you decide you want to bed a woman. Only this time, you have it bad for a nun and it shocks me that you’d even consider the idea. After all, nuns are celibate. So if you want to roger Sister Emmaline at the rail, it is going to be against her will.”
“I don’t rape women. I have never done that, and I never will.”
“Tell me that again when you’re so hot and randy that you sneak over to Sister Emmaline’s hammock during the night.”
“Hammock? Nay, she’s not staying in the cabin with us.”
“Good. I was hoping you were going to say that. After all, this is the first time I’ll actually have a hammock to sleep in since Tristan is gone. I agree. Let her sleep with Nairnie on the deck with the men.”
“Damn, I forgot about that.” Mardon ran a weary hand through his hair.
“About what? Mardon, you’re not giving away my comfortable new hammock to a nun. Please tell me you wouldn’t do that to me. I’m your brother!”
“Of course not.”
“Good.” Aaron started to smile until he heard the rest of it.
“Nairnie will take your hammock since the galley burned down and she has no place to sleep. Sister Emmaline will take my hammock, and I’ll sleep on your pallet on the floor.”
“Nay! What about me?”
“The cabin is really too small to fit four of us,” said Mardon. “I guess you’ll have to sleep in the lookout basket or on the deck with the crew.”
“How can you do this to me? I was already kicked out of the cabin by Tristan and now you’re going to do it, too?”
“It’s only until we get to Canterbury and drop off the nun. Just for a few days.”
“Then you stay on the deck and I’ll use my pallet in the cabin instead.”
“Nay. I’m captain, so I get the cabin.”
“I’m quartermaster now, not to mention bosun. The way I see it, I should have two spots secure in the cabin, but you’re not even giving me one.”
“Stop your complaining, Aaron. Besides, you like sleeping in the lookout.”
“Fine, I’ll do it. But as soon as the wench is gone, I get Tristan’s old hammock, as well as my pallet back, savvy?”
“Savvy. But you’re the one who is going to have to kick Nairnie out of the cabin, because I certainly will not be the one to do it.”
“It doesn’t matter. Grandmother likes me best. Mayhap she’ll kick you out of the cabin instead.”
“The day that happens is the day I resign from being a pirate.”
“You’d better not touch that nun or Nairnie will have your head.”
“Don’t worry. I told you, I don’t touch nuns.” Mardon pushed past Aaron up the gangplank, seeing Emmaline holding on to the ship’s rail as the wind whipped at her clothes, causing her big breasts to jut out even more. His mind raced. Lustful thoughts filled his head. For some reason, he pictured her turned up hard nipples as well as that blond patch of hair between her legs. It was as if he could see right through her clothes, and it was driving him mad. What the hell was happening to him?
“Prepare to set sail,” he called out, rushing past the women and taking the stairs to the sterncastle two at a time. The bottom stair squeaked horribly, and he hoped to hell that Peg Leg Pate got the supplies he needed to fix the damned thing. After all, Tristan had been on his ass about it for weeks. If Mardon had to do it himself, he would.
“Cap’n, who’s the nun and why is she here?” asked Stitch, walking over to the helm, looking down to the deck to survey the women.
“Her name is Sister Emmaline.”
“God’s eyes, ye’re not bringin’ another wench on board, are ye, Cap’n?” Coop hurried over to join them. “Don’t forget all the trouble Tristan’s wench caused.”
“Aye, we had a string of bad luck with her aboard,” Stitch reminded him. “Coop is right, Cap’n. A wench on board is only goin’ to be bad luck.”
“She will not,” snapped Mardon, taking the helm, looking down to the main deck as his crew gathered around Nairnie and the nun. “Tell the crew the treasure is hidden in Canterbury Cathedral and the nun is here to help us get it.”
“Really? We’re goin’ to find the treasure?” asked Coop. This thought excited the broad-shouldered, round-shaped man. Coop’s body sometimes reminded Mardon of the barrels that the man fixed and constructed. “I’ll tell the crew at once, Cap’n.” He hurried down the stairs.
“A nun is goin’ to steal for us?” said Stitch, giving Mardon a look that said it was absurd. “Come now. Why is she really here?” Older and wiser than the rest of the crew, Stitch wasn’t easily fooled. Only this time, Mardon wasn’t trying to fool him, even if he didn’t believe it.
“I really did bring her to help us get inside the cathedral,” said Mardon.
“And she agreed to it?” He raised a brow.
“Aye. Nairnie talked her into it.”
“So it was the old woman’s idea to bring the nun.”
“Nay, it was mine. Well, both of ours, I guess. I can’t stop thinking Sister Emmaline is familiar although I can’t figure out why. Take the helm, Stitch, and lay a course for Canterbury. I’ve got to get down there and make sure the crew knows to keep their hands off the wench. Plus, I need to figure out why I get this nagging feeling that I know her.”
By the time Mardon got down to the deck, the crewmembers had surrounded the nun, backing her up against the rail. Nairnie was over near the burned galley and rushed over with her ladle in one hand and frying pan in the other. “Get away from her,” she yelled, swinging at the pirates, clearing a path to Emmaline. “No one touches her or ye’ll feel these smashin’ into yer skulls.” She banged the ladle into the cast iron pan, making a loud clanging noise.