His laugh was harsh and entirely without humor. "My mother gave herself to my father only once."
Her gaze flew to his.
Anger welled up inside her at the look of condemnation she saw on his face. "Why didn't you think of it? If we did make a baby, which I doubt, it required your full cooperation."
"Yes, it did." He walked to the door and placed his hand on the latch. "You were right when you said I am a hard man, Thea. No child of mine will ever be labeled bastard. If you are pregnant, you will marry me."
He made the promise sound like a threat as he slammed out the door. She shivered. What had she done?
"What the bloody hell do you mean, a dinghy is missing?"
Drake's roar of fury did nothing to release the anger that had simmered below the surface since his argument with Thea two days ago. Damnation. The little minx had refused to marry him, accusing him of being like her father. Then Fox had gone to ground and an entire crew of seamen had been unable to find him. Drake hadn't slept since Fox's disappearance, and his temper was on a very short leash.
He grabbed the young sailor by the front of his striped cotton shirt and lifted until the man's feet no longer touched the deck. "Didn't the captain give strict instructions to have all the dinghies guarded until Fox was found?"
He was no longer yelling, but that didn't stop the sailor from wincing as if he were.
The sailor nodded, his face turning red. "Yes, sir, he did, but this one was under repair," he wheezed, "not seaworthy. Didn't think he could use it."
"Drake."
Damnation. Thea. He didn't want to deal with telling her
that he had lost Fox and their only link to the spy in the island's shipping office. Bloody hell. His promise to her that he would find Fox rose up to mock him. Some job he was doing of protecting her. He couldn't even find the blackguard who had attacked her on his own bloody ship. He turned toward her voice, still holding the sailor.
She came toward him with the same uninhibited stride that had caught his attention on their first meeting.
Her eyes were wide in question. "What are you doing?" She pointed to the sailor. "His face is turning purple. Put him down before he passes out."
He obeyed the bossy bit of goods with a flick of his wrist. The sailor fell against the deck, making a large thud on impact.
Drake looked past Thea and saw no sign of Melly or anyone else, and the fury he had been trying to rein in spiraled out of control.
Ignoring the sailor, who was crawling away with crablike movements, he glared at Thea. "Where's your maid?"
Didn't she know better than to leave Thea alone with her attacker still loose? Didn't anyone but him realize the risks Thea faced?
She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "I needed some time to think. I decided to take a walk. Melly was with me until I saw you. I sent her to the passenger parlor."
She looked as if she needed rest, not time to think.
"Fox is gone."
Her luminescent blue eyes filled with confusion. "How? We're on a ship. Won't he drown if he jumped overboard?"
"A dinghy under repair has disappeared."
"Is that why you were shaking that poor sailor?"
"He was in charge of guarding the dinghies. He's lucky I didn't throw him overboard."
"But you said it was under repair. Surely Fox would not risk it on the open sea."
"We're closer to land than you think. Besides, he's better off risking the sea than what would happen to him if he gets caught."
Her hands clenched at her sides. "When?"
"Probably last night." Damn, he hated that look of disappointment on her face. "He used darkness to cover his escape. There was no moon."