Never more serious, he cupped her cheeks and made sure her eyes stayed with his. “Even if it meant losing you to my foul nature, I would have come for you, Rose.” He shook his head. “And I would not have been caught because that would have just put you back in your uncle's lecherous hands.”
“It would have indeed,” she whispered, her eyes misty. “You truly are my hero in every sense of the word. You always have been.”
If that were the case, he would have murdered her uncle long ago, but that was irrelevant now. What mattered was this moment. Her. Them. He brushed his lips across hers, then kissed her with everything he felt. What had come before, what literally followed in their wake, and what lay ahead.
The start of something new...perhaps.
He knew he should explain his intentions to her, but all he wanted to do was feel her, love her, so he propped her on his desk, shoved her dress up, freed himself, and thrust deep.
“Thomas,” she gasped, her head falling back.
“Hmm?” He trailed his lips down her soft skin, hiked her legs higher, and rolled his hips, eliciting a throaty groan from her.
“We should,” she began, then gasped when he thrust deeper, harder.
He kissed every surface he could find, then laid her back on his desk and kept thrusting. Taking. Needing. All she could give him. Now and possibly far into the future.
“Where are we going,” she whimpered, her voice strangled with pleasure as he rode her. She arched her back, her eyes half-mast, her words moaned. “What is next?”
“We are next.” He thrust until she began shaking and trembling. Until her eyes rolled back in her head. Entrenched in the feel of her sheath clamping down on him, he braced his hands on either side of her, thrust one last time, and roared with release.
Then finally, as they struggled to catch their breath, he murmured in her ear words he hoped she longed to hear. “We are going home.”
Chapter Twelve
“WE COULD DO IT,” SHE argued, determined to make Thomas see things her way. “There are plenty of opportunities in other colonies.” She nodded. “Plymouth is prospering. We could go there and start anew in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.” Her eyes met his, hopeful. “You and I, Hannah, and even Luke could do well there. We could start a new life.”
She knew she was dreaming, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to do so. Not for a moment. Not when everything she wanted was so close...if but in a dream.
“This is not a story in one of your books, Rose.” He shook his head. “Life in the north is not easy. Winters are hard, summers are fleeting.”
“But there is plenty of work,” she countered. “Commerce is flourishing. You could boat-build, or take to fishing or whaling. Or perhaps try your hand at timber and fur trading.” She fanned her face in the oppressive August heat. “And a fleeting summer would not be such a bad thing.” Fresh hope lit her eyes. “The four of us could marry, just pretend, of course, sail to Plymouth and start a new life.”
“Pretend to marry?” he had replied, amused. “Me and you then?”
“Yes.” She blushed and didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Why not?”
He responded, but she could no longer hear him as he faded. So she called out again and again for him to come back. More than that, she called out what she would have said then had he only asked. “Yes, I will marry you, Thomas.” She shook her head and repeated the silly saying that had become theirs. “From the moment we met until the day we die.”
“No need for all that, darling,” his deep voice murmured from far off until it was right there.
Until she opened her eyes to his.
She blinked, unsure what had happened at first until everything came rushing back. Thomas gave up piracy. A navy ship sailed alongside. What he had done to her on his desk despite all that.
Then things got a little hazy.
“When did we move to the bed?” she murmured.
“Quite a while ago.” A rather arrogant smile curled his mouth. “You were very drowsy in your satisfaction.”
How could she not be when he made her feel like that?
“I had another question,” she said softly.
“Of course you did.” He traced the pad of his thumb along her jawline. “You would not be my Rose otherwise.”
She momentarily drifted, caught by the tenderness in his gaze before she recalled what she wanted to ask. “What happens if and when Big Devil discovers you deceived him with that brooch?”
“He will not.”
“He might.”
“If he does, we will never catch wind of it,” he assured. “Nobody will.”
It took a moment for her to understand before it finally dawned. “Pride, then?”
“Very much so.” He chuckled. “Pirates take their reputations very seriously. To have others discover he was duped would be most criminal. Besides, our ample holdings and very real treasure should keep him well satisfied.”
“You are quite sure, then?”
“Quite sure.”
Relaxing, she slipped back under the soothing lull of his touch, drifted into a near dream state, dwelling once more on his murmured words. What he had asked her. Had that been a dream, though? It seemed so real.
She had to know.
“Did you...just ask me to marry you?”
His brows perked. “Marry you?”
“Yes, marry me.”
“When?
She was fully aware now. “Was that a proposal then?”
“I meant when did you think I asked you to marry me.”
“Just now. When I was waking.”
“Then, no.” A twinkle lit his eyes. “Had you hoped I did?”
She nearly said no but stopped. Because that would be a lie.
“I don't know,” she murmured, not ready to be so honest. Or was she? Maybe just a few more casually murmured words to see how he responded. “How could I hope such all things considered?”
The fact of the matter was she knew what she wanted. What she hoped for. Something he seemed to want too based on what he’d said. “Oh, my!” She widened her eyes when she recalled precisely what he’d whispered in her ear in the heat of the moment on his desk. “What do you mean we are going home?”
“Dress and join me,” he said softly, amusement in his gaze, no doubt at her delayed response. “Then we will talk of...you and me.”
Confused but curious, she dressed and followed him on deck, where he put a cloak around her shoulders to warm her against the chill. The navy ship sailed alongside them, and everyone seemed content enough. Along with a new bite to the air, the coastline’s trees and vegetation had once again changed.
She looked at Thomas. “Where are we?”
“Where you always wanted to go, Rose.” Seagulls cried overhead. “Though a means to escape then, you are going home now.” He pointed at the rocky shore ahead. “That is Plymouth Rock over there.” His eyes met hers. “We are here, love, even if it came many years later. Even if we had to live so much life in between to find our way back.” His eyes flickered from the shore to her. “We are in Plymouth Harbor. We have reached the Massachusetts Bay Colony...we finally made it.”
She glanced nervously from the navy ship to the shore. “But, you are a pirate.”
“I was a pirate.” He held out the scroll, reminding her. “Now, I am exempt by King and country and a merchant free to plight my trade.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Baffled, she looked from the scroll to him. “Your men as well?”
“Free to do the same...with our thanks, of course.”
“Our thanks?”
“The eventual arrival of the brooch,” he revealed. “It will see us all very well off.”
“A brooch I had no idea was worth so much.” She shook her head, confused and worried anew. “What about my sister? Where's Hannah?”
“She is safe.” He grinned. “The signal was left a ways back. She is with my brother, and you will see her soon enough.”
/> “What signal?”
“A yellow ribbon tied around a tree,” he revealed. “Rest assured, your sister is most well.”
“Is Luke...” She looked left and right, not sure how loudly she should speak. “Do they know he defected too?”
“Yes.” He kept grinning. “Luke has given the signal that he has all the treasure and then some. That means the brooch too. Everything worked out precisely how we planned, and we are...”
When he trailed off, she looked at him in question. “What are we, Thomas?”
“You tell me.” He cupped her cheeks and finally asked what she had longed to hear. “Will you marry me, Rose? Will you become my wife?”
“In the midst of all this?” she murmured. “Not knowing...”
“Do you not know everything you need to?” he said softly. “Your sister is safe, and we are granted the King’s Pardon to start a new life...at last.” He looked at her with his heart in his eyes. “Is that not enough?”
It was everything she had been hoping for since her need to escape her uncle, then their first kiss. Then again, when he proposed before he went off to war.
“I would like nothing more, Thomas.”
So it was that they married, and Thomas’s ship was confiscated by the navy in payment for the Royal Pardon that should have come at no cost. Blackbeard and pirates of his ilk continued to roam the high seas, but most saw their end, including Blackbeard himself, the following year in the swift hands of justice. As far as they knew, Big Devil never discovered he had been duped, but then like Thomas said, he likely would not have admitted it anyway.
Against the odds, thanks to a well-laid plan and an underwhelming brooch, Thomas and Rose had at last found their happy ending. An ending that was very much a bright new beginning for generations to come.
The End
Interested in what happened to Luke and Hannah? Turn the page to ride the wild seas and dark undercurrents of their lusty, indecent adventure in Taken by Sin.
Taken by Sin
Sky Purington
Prologue
New Providence Island, The Bahamas
Nassau
1717
LUKE CROSSED HIS ARMS over his chest and eyed the rings and ropes at the head of his bed with anticipation, already envisioning his captive there. She would writhe and beg him for more, regretting she had ever taunted him. She would rue all her ruthless flirtation and finally pay the consequences of her actions.
“Cap’n,” Robert called out. “Yer brother’s waitin.’”
“Aye then.” He joined his quartermaster on deck. “I will send word once I know the plan.”
Robert nodded and clapped him on the shoulder. “Wishin’ ye luck, Cap’n.” He winked. “And treasure ye’ve long been seekin.’”
“No luck needed,” he grunted. “She’ll be mine by nightfall.”
He joined Thomas ashore, and flirted with a wench in passing before his brother’s quartermaster, Charles, confirmed the McCullen sisters’ arrival. One was being brought to the brothel, and the other auctioned off by Blackbeard.
“Why is he selling her?” Luke frowned. “Usually, women end up in the brothel.”
“Seems one of ‘em did.” Charles tapped his temple. “The other ain’t so bright. Deaf, dumb, and mute, they say.” He shrugged. “So they're seein' what they can get for her.” He shook his head. “They didn’t even have a chaperone, so the crew might’ve already had a run at ‘em.”
Luke clenched his jaw. He would kill any who touched them.
Her.
Rather then dwell on uncertainties, he focused on what he knew. An easy deduction based on what Charles had just said about one of the sisters supposedly being mute.
Blackbeard was selling Rose to be sure.
Hannah would never be able to keep her mouth shut.
His mouth watered at the thought of Hannah being so close. Of finally having her right where he wanted her. He could already feel her silky pale blonde locks as he dug his hands into her hair. Hear her denial followed by moans of acceptance.
He enjoyed the luscious sights as they strode into town. The air smelled of sweat, perfume, and sex. The wenches were willing and eager. He would miss this place and its deviant ways. But not so much that he wouldn't trade it all to claim his prize.
To have his payback.
They headed into the tavern and kept to rowdy talk of bidding and the wonders awaiting the chap who claimed Rose. Yet all the while, he envisioned Hannah, eager to claim what she had taunted him with for so long. Before they headed out of the tavern a short time later, rum in hand, a trunk was carried in. Its crest verified the rumors were true.
The McCullen sisters had been captured.
And, just as he suspected, Rose was being auctioned off.
“We hang back,” Thomas murmured out of the corner of his mouth to Luke and Charles. “Lest she spy us.”
He was right to suggest it. He and his brother were taller than most and stood out in a crowd. More importantly, they drew women’s eyes. So they stopped at the fringes and leaned against the overhang of a building that shielded them from the dais.
Moments later, Rose was dragged onto it and held on display.
Naturally, men hooted and hollered.
“Where’s the other one?” Luke scanned the windows of the brothel, barely able to contain his excitement and perhaps a smidge of concern. As it were, Hannah was his. The thought of anyone else having her was inconceivable. “Has Blackbeard let anyone at ‘er yet?”
“Not yet, don’t think.” Charles licked his lips, playing his mock role well. “Rumor has it she’s tied up and waitin’ for her first customer.”
Luke’s heart leapt in fresh anticipation, and he grinned. “Is that right?”
Thomas shot his brother a warning look reminding him that they had a mission. He better not get distracted when the time came but get her out of there. If he faltered, it would cost them both their lives.
He and Thomas plus men they could trust from their ships had talked at length about this. Everyone knew what was on the line and understood the various things that could go wrong. Luke getting hung up on finally having Hannah at his disposal on a bed could put a serious kink in their plan in more ways than one.
As it happened, Rose was sold to a pirate named Big Devil, which in itself could cause issues. After all, his crew, or rats as they were called, had a way of knowing everything all the time.
Either way, they had to move forward with their plan.
A plan that became far riskier when they joined the pirates riffling through the sisters’ trunk and realized what was in there. Worse yet, that one of Big Devil’s rats likely figured it out too.
Chapter One
“WHAT DO THEY INTEND to do with her?” Hannah tried to yank her arm away from the pirate pulling her along. “What are they doing with my sister?”
“Same thing as ye, wench.” He tossed her a lecherous grin, his blackened teeth almost as disgusting as his foul breath. “Puttin’ her to good use.”
Somehow she highly doubted that. Rose was being led in a different direction.
“Tell me where they are taking her this very minute,” she demanded. “Or you will suffer the consequences.” She nodded once. “Mark my words.”
“How’s that then?” He eyed her over. “Ye don’t look infested.” He yanked her close, inhaled her hair and groaned. “Nay, ye’er as fresh as a flower. So what are these consequences ye're yappin’ about?”
“Get ‘er upstairs,” another said in passing. “Or Blackbeard’ll have yer hide.”
Blackbeard? Well, that did not sound promising. But then none of these swines did. Nor the women they kept company with. One of which blew her a kiss in passing before Hannah was dragged upstairs in a building full of painted women and leering miscreants.
Hannah notched her chin. “Do you know who I am?” She gave the lout pushing her into a room a self-important look. “I am the niece of a well renowned Virginia plantat
ion owner.” She gave him a knowing look and told a bald-faced lie. “One who would pay a handsome price for the safe return of his nieces.”
She could not imagine a world in which her uncle cared that much, but this brute didn’t need to know that.
The pirate shook his head. “Wench ye’re only worth what’s ‘tween yer pretty thighs.” He squeezed her cheeks and forced her lips into a purse. “And what this can do.”
When he tossed her on the bed, she tried to scramble off, but he was stronger than he looked. She knew she should be terrified, but all she felt was rage when he pinned her down.
How dare he?
Who did he think he was?
A bloody pirate, you fool, Luke would have said if he were here, and you best remember that before you get yourself killed. Naturally, that only infuriated her more, and she lashed out at the pirate to no avail.
Despite her struggles and getting in a few good punches and scratches, her wrists were tied to the headboard and her legs to the end posts.
“If I did not fear for my life touchin’ ye without payin’ first,” he grunted, clearly angry and aroused as he wiped blood from his lip, “I’d already be between yer thighs and punishin’ ye good for that.”
She nearly bit back with something scathing but ended up listening to Luke’s annoying voice in her head. Did he know their ship had been overtaken by pirates? That she and Rose were at the mercy of these blackguards? But then how could he. Just because he was a pirate himself didn’t mean he knew all the goings-on in this pitiful place.
“I will see ye in a bit,” the pirate promised. “For ye’re worth yer weight in gold ye little hellion.”
Then he left, slamming the door shut behind him.
Rather than focus on her terrifying predicament, she listened to what was happening outside the open-air windows to her right. What were they doing with Rose? The gentler, naïve, and certainly more vulnerable of the two, she feared for her younger sister. She could not handle what the likes of these monsters might do to her. So she prayed Rose fared better than her.
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