She ventured a shaky smile, catching his hands. ‘I can’t stop my fear. Whenever I’m near you, I can hardly breathe.’
He moved in, pulling her hips to his. ‘That isn’t fear, ma chère. It’s desire.’ His mouth moved to her throat, kissing her softly. ‘I don’t want you to breathe. I want to possess every part of you. And were it not a sin, I would claim you tonight.
‘We’ll wed in the Holy Land,’ he swore. With another smile, he added, ‘You’ll have to travel on a different ship than me, Berengaria. Otherwise, I won’t be able to keep my hands from you.’ He stole another soft kiss and released her. He brought her the gold-and-ruby-encrusted cross necklace, fastening it around her throat. ‘Take this token, and think of me when you’re asleep at night.’
Berengaria held on to the necklace, tracing the rough gold. The ship heaved in the water, and she gripped her skirts, terrified of being flung across the room.
‘Are we going to die?’ she whispered to her lady-in-waiting, Adriana.
The young woman came and gripped her hand. ‘The king’s man assured me that he would let us know if we were in danger. It’s just a bad storm.’
Though Berengaria wanted to believe it, instinct told her otherwise. The king’s sister, Queen Joan, reached for a strand of rosary beads, dropping to her knees in prayer.
A loud knocking resounded at the door, and her gaze snapped toward the sound. Adriana hurried to answer it, and a tall man stood at the entrance. He had dark blond hair and grey eyes, and he wore a black cloak fastened with a brooch the size of her palm.
‘My lord MacEgan?’ Adriana addressed the man.
Berengaria saw the look that passed between them, and it escalated her fear. ‘Are we going to sink?’ she interrupted.
‘We’re near the coast of Cyprus,’ MacEgan said. ‘The captain is going to divert the ship towards the shore, so that if the worst happens—’
‘—we can swim to the shore,’ Berengaria finished. She turned away from them, her eyes burning. She couldn’t swim at all. If the ship capsized or sank, she was going to die. Her hand clenched into a fist around the necklace, and she tried to quell the terror that rose up inside.
Then, a loud cracking noise resounded, and the ship tipped violently.
It was less than an hour before water came pouring within the ship. Adriana’s feet were soaked, and she left Berengaria with the king’s sister while she went in search of MacEgan.
He’d kept his word, and she trusted that he would tell her the truth. She saw him rowing alongside the other sailors, his arms straining against the oars as the men fought against the sea’s power. Adriana took one of the ropes and wound it around her arm as she moved forward. On one side of the ship, she saw half a dozen men bailing water with buckets.
As soon as he saw her standing there, MacEgan yelled at one of the men to take his place at the oars. He fought his way toward her and gripped another rope to hold his balance.
‘I told you to stay with the princess!’ he yelled over the roar of the storm.
Adriana’s arm wrenched with the motion of the rope, and MacEgan pulled her back, unfastening the rope and guiding her to him. His grey eyes glared at hers. ‘You could have been tossed overboard.’
‘We’re going to die anyway, aren’t we?’ Her hands were shaking, her clothing soaked from the rain and the seawater.
Liam kept her in his arms, warming her shoulders. ‘Not if I can help it.’ He nodded outside. ‘We’re only a few miles from the shore.’
‘And we’re sinking.’ She gripped his shirt, her feet frigid in the cold water. ‘We don’t have time to reach land.’
He kept his hands around her waist, and she made no effort to push them away. ‘Listen to me.’ His voice was commanding, reaching inside her to push back the fear. ‘If the worst happens, swim as hard as you can toward the shore. I’ll find you.’
Her hands were shaking, and she felt his arms come around her, as if to offer shelter from her fear. ‘I won’t let anything happen to you,’ he murmured.
Despite the freezing water and rain, there was a steady warmth in his embrace. Her instinct was to trust him, to let herself believe that there was a man whom she could believe in… unlike her father and brothers, who had betrayed her.
‘Now return to the princess and Queen Joan,’ he insisted. ‘And we’ll get as close to the shore as we can.’
She held on to his forearms, as if she could take a piece of his courage with her. Then, unexpectedly, he leaned down and touched his lips to hers. ‘For luck,’ he said.
He left her standing there, while he went back to the others.
The ship was going down. Liam knew it with a surety in his blood, but he’d be damned before he’d let the sea claim him. The vessel shuddered, and it was reaching the breaking point. They couldn’t bail the water out fast enough, and now it was only a matter of time before they abandoned the ship.
He let out a curse as another wave soaked the deck. A moment later, the women appeared, their gowns sodden above the waist. Adriana led them forward, holding Princess Berengaria’s hand. Queen Joan followed behind, gripping a strand of rosary beads.
Liam gathered the women together and pointed toward the shore. ‘We’re doing what we can to stay above water as long as we can. But if the sea takes us, try to make it towards land.’
The princess’s face was white, her hands gripped together. ‘I can’t swim.’
He gave a nod and surveyed the others. ‘What of the rest of you?’
‘I can,’ Adriana said. Queen Joan nodded as well.
‘Try to stay together,’ Liam urged. To the princess, he added, ‘If the ship breaks apart, hold on to the largest piece of wood you can find. It will keep you afloat.’
The vessel started to tip as the lower quarters filled with water. Liam heard their shrieks, and saw Adriana lunge toward one of the younger maids, who was pulled under by the force of the water. She caught the girl’s hand, struggling to hold on, but the sea fought to keep its prey.
‘Adriana, no!’ Berengaria cried out. And then both women disappeared beneath the water.
Chapter Two
Liam fought to catch the women, but it was too late. His lungs burned as he swam underwater, his eyes unable to see them in the darkness. He swept his arms through the water, reaching for them. His fingers touched wood, but no flesh. He dived deeper, kicking hard through the water, and suddenly his hand gripped a length of silk.
He pulled hard, the water fighting against him to drag the woman down. And when at last he managed to bring her head above water, Adriana coughed, her body shaking. He saw that she was still holding the other woman’s hand, and when he pulled the maid above water, she was lifeless, her limbs unmoving.
His efforts to revive the maid met with no success, and Adriana broke down in tears.
‘You tried,’ he said, holding her tightly. ‘Her life was in God’s hands.’
‘I thought I could save her,’ Adriana whispered, her body trembling hard. ‘Before the water took her under.’
He let her cry, holding her against him. Her arms embraced him, and strangely, it brought him his own sense of calm. In her courage, he saw a piece of himself. She’d gone after the young maid with no fear, never minding that she’d nearly lost her own life in the effort.
Liam helped bring Adriana to the side of the ship. Berengaria gripped a large rope, but terror lingered in her eyes. ‘When the water fills the remainder of the lower chambers, the ship may split in half,’