“See there.” He pointed out toward the rolling land where forest met a small farmhouse and stretches of fields. “That was my papa’s land, all the way to that ridge. And down there, in the rocks along the beach, that is where as a boy I would play, capturing little crabs in the tidal pools. As I got older, I’d spear fish just past those stones there.”
He turned to find Gilly staring at him. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yes, it is. I often dream of this place.” He chuckled. “Of course, that was when I didn’t drink myself into a dreamless stupor. Now my dreams are filled with visions of a lovely woman. She beckons me, waving for me to join her. Children run past, and she chases after them, laughing. They’re dreams of you, Gilly.”
Her smiling lips quivered, her searching eyes hopeful. He couldn’t keep her waiting if he tried. Never had he imagined he would live this day. “Gilly, will you be my wife?”
She squealed and leaped into his arms. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Laughing, he spun her around. “You’ve made me the happiest man alive.” As he stood there on the ridge holding Gilly near, nothing else in the world mattered. Only his woman and the future he sought for them both. He eased her to the soft ground. “It will be a fortnight before the jeweler will have the diamond ring ready.”
“The diamond I gave you?”
He smiled. “My wedding gift to you.”
“Oh, Thayer. You’ve given me so much already. More than I could ever want.”
“I’ve another gift for you.” He quite enjoyed bestowing presents upon her. He also enjoyed all these new emotions Gilly had brought about. She had put the fire back into his heart. No longer did he look to the past with drunken regret, but ahead with a clear mind.
He took her hand and placed the object in her palm. She looked up at him before unwrapping the silk cloth. He felt he might burst from the anticipation of her reaction. She unfolded the last corner of fabric and gasped.
“Is this…”
“Aye, love. Your father’s pocket watch. Before we set sail from Nassau, I bought it back from the apothecary. I had the jeweler fix the gears. See, it works again.”
Gilly wrapped her arms around him. Her hair smelled of lavender and cream and he breathed her in as if her essence was what kept him alive. Indeed, she was all he lived for. Her whispers rustled in his ear like the murmur of sugar cane in a gentle wind.
“I love you, too, Gilly.” And there on the hillside, he made sweet love to her.
* * * * *
Not ready to trim the sails and head for shore just yet? Stay the course with A Kiss in the Wind, another book in the Romancing the Pirate series, available now.
Marisol Castellan is in trouble. Against her pirate father’s orders, she snuck off their ship to intercept a message meant for a rival captain. Pirate captain Blade Tyburn is not pleased to find the letter he’s been waiting for is missing. He’s even less pleased when he discovers the thief is a raven-haired beauty who bewitches his senses…
CarinaPress.com
Facebook.com/CarinaPress
Twitter.com/CarinaPress
About the Author
Jennifer Bray-Weber has always wished for real life to mimic fantastical tales of adventure, especially those of the high seas. Holding two degrees, one in music and video business, the other in liberal arts, she continued her higher education, that is, until a professor challenged her to further express her creative talents and write a novel. Never one to back down from a dare, her passion led her to write stories of pirates, with her debut novel, Upon a Moonlit Sea, among the 2009 Golden Heart Award historical finalists.
Though she hopes to one day live out her life as an island goddess somewhere in the Caribbean, Jennifer currently lives in her native state of Texas with her husband and two daughters.
For more information on Jennifer and her upcoming releases, please visit her website at www.jbrayweber.com.
Where no great story goes untold.
The variety you want to read, the stories authors have always wanted to write.
With new releases every week, your next great read is just a download away!
Keep in touch with Carina Press:
Read our blog: www.CarinaPress.com/blog
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CarinaPress
Become a fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CarinaPress
ISBN: 978-14268-9374-2
Copyright © 2012 by Jennifer Bray-Weber
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.CarinaPress.com
The Siren's Song Page 27
