"He's my horse." She turned her back on him and grabbed Kapu's reins. "Take his saddle and go back to your ship and set up the pulley. I'll stay here with Kapu until I see you wave. If it's dark, light a lantern and swing it three times."
His lips tightened. "You're not staying here."
"Are you afraid it's not safe? I'm not going to run away. You're taking Lani to your ship. Do you think I'd leave her?"
"No, I'm not afraid you'll run away. Dammit, it's too dangerous. You can't-"
"You're wasting time." She slung the halter over Kapu's back and began fastening the leather straps. The stallion neighed and shifted uneasily. "Kapu's already getting nervous."
"Not nearly as nervous as he'll be when we try to fasten those ropes to him," he said grimly. "You'll be lucky if he doesn't crush you against the ship. I have a chance of keeping him away but you- What are you doing?"
"Taking off my clothes." She finished unbuttoning the jacket and shrugged out of it, revealing only a thin cotton chemise. "This riding habit is too heavy. It will drag me down once I'm in the water.'" Her skirt dropped to the sand and she stepped out of it. Her hands went to her petticoat.
"Wait!" He cast a glance at the longboat, where the four sailors were watching with delighted grins and Bradford with an expression of startled bemusement. Only Lani's expression was impassive. "You can't strip naked here."
"I most certainly can." The petticoat fell to the sand, and she held on to Kapu while she took off her boots and stockings. She stared at him with impatience. "Why are you so upset? You've seen me wearing less."
But somehow that nudity on the beach had not been as provocative or stirring as the sight of her standing here in those flimsy undergarments. He was acutely aware of the curve of her small breasts beneath the thin cotton chemise, the contrast of smooth golden skin against the soft white garment. The curve of her bare calves beneath the drawers. He was readying, and, goddammit, he knew his arousal was being echoed by those gaping seamen in the boat. He wanted to step forward and bundle her back into the riding habit, veil her from their eyes, from any man's eyes. He gestured furiously toward the longboat. "But they haven't seen you, blast it."
"Not me, perhaps, but Lihua and the others."
"You're not Lihua."
"I'm no better or worse. I feel no more shame of my body than she does in hers. It's you and those others who take and then try to heap shame on us."
"I haven't taken anything from you yet," he said curtly. "I just want you to put that habit back on."
"I won't do it." She shrugged. "But I don't have to take off anything else. The chemise and drawers are light, and I may need whatever protection they offer."
"What protection? That cloth is thin as cobwebs. Put on the habit."
She glared at him. "Would you rather I drowned?"
"I'd rather you kept your clothes on and let me ride the blasted horse."
"That's not a choice. I told you that I was going to do it."
"Because you're too stubborn to admit how dangerous it is for-" He broke off as he realized she wasn't listening to him. She had made up her mind and was closing him out. He muttered an imprecation, snatched up the discarded habit and saddle, and turned on his heel. "Go on. Ride the damn horse. Dive into the sea as naked as Venus. Let him crush you. Why should I care?" He strode down the beach toward the longboat.
"I take it you lost the battle," Bradford asked as Jared climbed into the boat and tossed his burden to a seaman. "She wouldn't listen?"
"She'll be lucky if he doesn't kill her," he said savagely.
"Kapu loves her," Lani said. "He won't hurt her."
"Even when he's mad with fear?"
"She's given him patience and love and care for two long years," Lani said quietly. "He will know she means him well."
Shaking his head in disbelief, Jared glanced back at the woman on the shore. She was standing beside the horse, talking quietly to him while she stroked his mane. She looked small and frail and infinitely breakable beside the big stallion. He tried to hold on to his anger, but he could feel it ebbing out of him, replaced by cold fear. "Christ."
The sun had gone down, but it was still twilight when Cassie saw Jared wave from the Josephine. That was good, she told herself. Kapu would be less nervous if he wasn't swimming in darkness.
Maybe.
She took a deep breath and pulled herself onto the stallion's back. He shied nervously, and she instantly bent over and whispered in his ear. "Easy. It's going to be fine. I wouldn't let anything happen to you. We're just going for a swim." She nudged him gently forward into the surf. "You like the water, remember?"
He might like water but Kapu didn't like ships. He had too many memories of neglect and starvation and a master who wandered drunkenly down into the cargo hold to beat him. When she had first seen Kapu after he had been brought ashore, the fresh whip marks on his body had filled her with anger. It would be a miracle if he submitted meekly to having the ropes put on him.
But it had to be done. She couldn't leave him here. "It won't be like the last time," she murmured as he reached deeper water and began to swim. "No one cared about you then. We're together now. I'll take care of you."
His ears were back, listening, but she could feel his muscles tense beneath her thighs. He sensed this was not like their other swims.
A quarter way to the ship.
He didn't know their destination. If she could keep him turned slightly away from the ship until the last minute…
She lifted her head and saw Danemount leaning over the rail, watching, his expression grim. But he always looked grim and intense.
No, that wasn't true. That night on the beach he had been sensual and free, and his smile had lit his face with pagan recklessness.
He had been happy because he had found her father.
Halfway to the ship.
She whispered to Kapu, "Just stay with me. We can get through this."
He neighed softly as if he understood.
Surely that was a good sign. It was possible he might have forgotten his experience on the ship. It had been two years, and she had made sure he had known only kindness since then.
Almost there.
She kept Kapu's head turned away as she angled toward the ship.
"That's right," Danemount said quietly. "Edge him just a little closer. The rope can't reach him yet."
What did he think she was doing? she thought in exasperation.
"Two feet closer. Just a yard or so more and the rope-"
Kapu jerked his head sideways, toward the ship.
Dear God!
She could feel his muscles bunch beneath her thighs as he saw the ship less than four yards away.
"It's all right," she said frantically. "It won't hurt you. I won't let it-"
He went wild! He screamed with rage and dived under the water, his legs thrashing wildly.
Cassie's mouth and nose filled with salt water as she fought her way off Kapu's back. She grabbed wildly for the reins.
Missed.
Reached again.
Leather! Her grasp closed on the reins as Kapu surfaced, pulling her with him.
"Drop the reins!" Lani's voice.
But she couldn't drop them. It was her only way of controlling Kapu. They would both drown if-
Blinding pain streaked through her shoulder. She had struck the side of the ship.
"Let go, dammit!" Not Lani, this time. Danemount, she realized. He was in the water, only a few feet away. "I have the ropes to fasten him. Let go of the reins before he kills you."
He had the pulley ropes. "Give me one of them," she gasped.
"Get away from him. I'll do it."
"He'll drown before you fasten both of them. You take one side and I'll take the other. We have to get him out of the water."
His eyes blazed at her. "Get him out of the water? Swim to the ladder and let them pull you up."
"We don't have time to argue. He may decide to strike away from the ship. Give me one of the ropes."