She paused again before stroking Will’s chest. “You showed me who I am. Who I’ve wanted to be all my life.”
“And you want us to walk away with you?” The question came from Dowd.
Jun turned to answer him. Her gaze looked at each man. “You are all free to do what you want. Stay. Go. You have served me with loyalty all these years, Mister Dowd, and I have stolen that time away from your family. I give it back to you.” She looked at Griffin, Hills, and Higgins. “And you have been wronged by my people. I owe you a debt as well. You came to my rescue out of respect for your captain.” She gazed back into Will’s handsome eyes. “Such devotion should be rewarded.” She smiled at Ting and Qi. “And you are my family. I want nothing but your happiness.” Jun waved her hand to indicate them all. “I can see to it you all live the rest of your lives in comfort. I am a very wealthy woman.”
“Were a wealthy woman. Ain’t ye dead now?” Hills noted.
A smile tipped her mouth. “That is why we are headed to a tiny island nestled between Bangka and Belitung. It has no name, no inhabitants, but Fu called it our nest within a nest.”
“Nest within a nest?” Dowd asked.
Will frowned at her as well as the rest.
“Yes, it’s very difficult to find, and even harder to navigate a ship into her lagoon. It’s almost completely surrounded by a wide coral reef.”
Higgins shook his head and turned away. “I’ve had me fill o’reefs. Can’t be nothin’ worth riskin’ another try at drownin’.”
“Even for eight chests filled with more gold than we could all spend in eight lifetimes?”
Higgins turned around. “I be listenin’.”
“Fu called it our nest egg. Insurance. If we lost the fleet. Lost our power. We would always have this treasure. He buried it after we were wed. We’re the only two people who know where it lies.” She looked up at Will. “That is until I met you. You know its exact location.”
* * * *
Hours later, Will issued the order to drop anchor after their small crew threaded the needle into Jun’s nest within a nest. At her insistence, he was the only one to accompany her through the pale aquamarine water to the white sands of a small lagoon on the north side of her mystery island. She’d made the rest promise to give her and Will some private time before they joined them to start digging.
Crawling out of the surf, they laid on the warmth of the sand.
Tell me the secret now?
Soon. Jun traced the words in the wet sand next to his.
No hint?
Jun looked at him and smiled that tender little smile that caught his heart and sent a jolt of heat straight to his loins. She straddled him and kissed him before climbing off and offering a beautiful view of her back as she slowly removed her wet sandy clothing. Jun walked naked into the warm water. When she emerged a few moments later, she looked like some mythical goddess rising from the sea itself. Her skin glowed in the late afternoon light.
She came and stood by him where he sat on the shore, letting him drink in the sight of her beautiful body. With the tip of her toe, she scrawled the single word Secret into the sand.
With her naked before him, it was difficult to think beyond his desire to make love to her. What secret? What was she trying to say?
Taking his hand, she ran it down over the curve of her hip, bringing it to rest on the pale petals of her lotus tattoo.
The lotus? He knew all about her tattoo. She’d explained it to him on their first night together. He shook his head, still confused.
And then Jun began tracing the delicate lines with her fingers in slow erotic strokes before stopping and pointing to the center swirl of the design. Lifting his hand, she put his finger where hers stopped. Heat rushed to his erection. He wrapped his arm around her thighs and kissed the patterned flesh beneath his touch.
She trembled before lowering herself to the sand beside him, then kissed him and turned to write in the sand with the sharp edge of a shell. This island is laid out like this lotus. I carry the map. That is why none have seen it but the man who hid the treasure, and now the man who claims it.
Will looked deep into her eyes. He loved her, but what she was proposing was beyond his wildest imaginings. Are you sure about all this?
She frowned and shook her head. Sure about what? Loving you? I’ve no choice in that.
He leaned in to kiss her and licked the salt water from her lips. Will pulled back and wrote. Sharing your wealth with me. Giving up your fleet. Your empire. Not too late to turn back.
Jun shook her head and added below his words. Never going back.
Don’t give it up for me.
Not giving up anything. She cupped his cheek. You’re my life, my heart. My everything.
And you’re mine.
Will pulled her to him and rolled so she was lying along his body. Never in all his years did he ever imagine being completely and hopelessly in love with a woman. This woman. Powerful, beautiful, fierce woman. Swinging a cutlass and ruling tens of thousands of men and women one day, and making love to him tenderly the next, it stole his breath.
Yes, he had known love before, but it was a young man’s crush compared to what he felt for Jun. He had been willing to die for Samantha. With Jun he wanted to live to be a very old man so he could spend a lifetime with her.
Will stroked the side of his chin with his thumb before clasping his hands together. ‘Be my wife.’ Jun watched him carefully. She’d gotten in the habit of trying to guess what his signs meant.
She patted the sand and wrote,
You’re hungry for clams?
The corner of his mouth tipped. Guess again.
You want me to hold your hand?
Something like that.
She lifted one shoulder. I give up.
Will worked Tupper’s ring off his hand. He’d promised to never take it off again after it had brought him luck at the gaming tables. But if he ever believed in the promise of finding the love of your life, he had Tupper Quinn to thank. The love she shared with Gavin stayed with her until the very end. Will suspected she’d approve of him giving Jun her ring.
He slipped Tupper’s ring onto Jun’s finger. Marry me.
Her breath left her in a rush. Will could feel her heart racing over his. He lifted his fist and bent his wrist. That’s how you sign ‘yes.’
‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.’
Jun pulled Will to his feet and led him into the grove of trees just off the beach and showed him how each stood in the same position as the points of the petals on the lotus she wore.
Together they’d claimed a treasure worth more than a thousand chests of gold. They had found and fought and loved one another. And now they were both free to sail into a future open with possibilities, clear skies by day, and all the passion in each other’s arms by night.
Who could guess where they might end their days? As long as they could boast fair winds, following seas, routes that ran true, and plenty of rum…the adventure might never end.
Author’s Note
It is with a very bittersweet heart that I write the last chapter of the Captains of the Scarlet Night Series. All along the way, I have thanked people for their help, support, and encouragement. Now I want to thank my readers, for without you this book might never have been written.
When I wrote Within A Captain’s Hold, I had no way of knowing the extent of the adventure I’d embarked upon. Through each chapter, each story, I fell more and more in love with these amazing characters who graciously allowed me to slip my feet into their boots and sail away with them. I wanted them to come alive for you, as they had for me.
Even at that, I never intended to write William Quinn’s story, but “Bump” grew in my heart and in the hearts of my readers. I will forever be grateful for the gentle…okay not so gentle, push to write his final adventu
re. I can honestly say, this has been the most challenging book I’ve ever written.
Will’s character has given me the unique opportunity to step inside a community I may never have been exposed to. I wish to give sincere and undying gratitude to the members of the deaf community who have helped me to understand Will’s life a little better.
I pray that I have honored your trust in me to bring you this amazing character. I hope he is a true and worthy representative of the amazing people I have met and continue to meet who tell me Will “Bump” Quinn has touched a place in their hearts.
I know, he will forever hold a place in mine.
Thank you all so very much. I love you all!
Lisa……
Within A Captain’s Power
Read on for a special sneak peek of the previous book in the Captains of the Scarlet Night series!
Never underestimate the power of a pirate . . .
Captain James Steele is duty bound to capture the privateer Scarlet Night and bring her rebellious crew to England to hang. Then he will leave his majesty’s service, make an upstanding marriage, and join the landed gentry. But the winds of fate are blowing the straitlaced commander utterly off course.
Once aboard, James comes face to face with a pirate boy who is in reality fierce, desperate—and gorgeous—Samantha Christian, on the run from a sadistic Virginia plantation owner. With her identity unbound, the good captain dutifully takes her under his personal command, whereupon decorum goes out the porthole. But while his heart is lost to Samantha by the time they reach England, her noose still awaits. Now James’s sense of duty will be severely tested. As for Samantha, she has a plan, and a duty, of her own . . .
Learn more about Lisa A. Olech
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/31711
Chapter 1
Pleasant Ridge, Virginia — 1715
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“I’m buying myself some time.” Samantha Christian whispered behind her fan.
“You’re buying yourself another beating.” Her companion, Rebecca Whitmore, whispered back.
“As long as I know it will be the last, Wessler can do his worst.”
The air in the Whitmore’s ballroom was stifling. The room was packed with an overabundance of Virginia’s beautifully dressed elite. Plantation owners with their gossiping wives and pampered daughters wearing their latest Parisian fashions. Political bigwigs vying for attention, and high-ranking British military in crisp, sharp uniforms. All these, and Samantha—in the ill-fitting, cast-off gown of Damian Wessler’s deceased wife. She did her best to blend into the silk damask wallpaper. A mighty challenge wearing the color puce.
It was the annual harvest ball. An anticipated favorite in the surrounding community. It would be social suicide not to attend, which is why Wessler agreed to allow Samantha to come, even though he despised her burgeoning friendship with Isabelle Whitmore and her daughter Rebecca.
“Fine. We’ll go. But I won’t be spending my money on some foolish new gown. One of Marlene’s will do.” He snatched at her upper arm and gripped it viciously. Samantha shook with the effort not to cry out. “And if I catch you talking to those blasted Whitmore bitches, or you embarrass me in the slightest way, you’ll live to regret it.” He spit between his clenched teeth.
It was his favorite expression. “You’ll live to regret it.” There was much Samantha regretted, but it did her little good to go back and try to undo what had already been done. Her only other option was to put her plan in action to leave the vile prison she found herself in, regardless of the unavoidable risk to her health. Wessler’s beating tonight would happen whether she followed his strict dictate or not. She might as well earn it honestly.
Samantha fanned at her cheeks. She and Rebecca stood tucked in amongst the huge floral arrangements decorating the room. Magnolias and dogwood perfumed the space. She caught Wessler glaring at them from across the room and massaged the nauseous pitch and roll of her stomach with gloved fingers.
“Mother has sent word, but if the Scarlet Night has moved on from their hiding place...” Rebecca clutched at Samantha’s wrist. Pale eyes, wide with concern, met hers.
Samantha smiled, trying to reassure the girl. “That’s a chance I’ll have to take.” She closed her fan with a snap, kissed Rebecca’s cheek, and shot a defiant smile in Damian Wessler’s direction. “Now, why don’t you introduce me to the handsome Captain Steele?”
Captain James Steele of the Royal British Navy was among the guests at tonight’s ball. He cut a dashing figure in his dress uniform of navy and cream. Broad shoulders filled his gold-trimmed coat. Brass buttons winked in the flicker of the hundreds of candles lighting the room. He wore no wig, choosing to club his hair. The color was a rich auburn that shone to a light ginger in the candlelight. It made the blue of his eyes all the more striking. Taller than the majority, he was by far the most noticeable man in the room.
After the proper introductions, he swept her onto the dance floor. “Have you lived in Virginia long, Mistress Christian?”
Her gaze darted from Wessler’s livid glare to the handsomeness of Captain Steele. “Six months. However, it feels more like six years.”
He grinned. The curve of his mouth revealed a slight dimple in his left cheek. “Do you miss your home so much?”
“I do, and my family most of all.” She tried to concentrate on the steps of the dance and boost her fortitude.
“I, as well, but soon I’ll happily set sail with orders bringing me back to England. I’m looking forward to autumn in Weatherington.”
“Weatherington? Is that where you’re from?” She dared another glance in Wessler’s direction. His glower caused her to falter and step on the captain’s polished boot. “I-I grew up not too far from there in South Oxbridge.”
Captain Steele never missed a beat. “You don’t say. I know South Oxbridge well.” He spun her to the music before dipping his head and dropping his voice almost to a whisper. “I must warn you, my lady, there is a gentleman standing off my port side who has the most disagreeable scowl directed at us.”
Samantha could almost feel Wessler’s eyes burning holes through her back. She forced a grin. “Does he resemble an overfed hound dog in a wig?”
The captain threw back his head and laughed. The sound warmed her clear through and somehow gave her a necessary measure of courage. “Why, yes, now that you mention it, there is something a bit hound dog about him. Who is he? A suitor perhaps? An overprotective uncle? By his expression, perhaps he is your betrothed?”
She lifted her gaze from his pristine silk neckcloth. The Captain’s eyes were impossibly blue. They were the sky on a brilliant summer afternoon. “No, he is not my betrothed. He is more my jailer.”
Captain Steele laughed again. “Isn’t that somewhat the same thing?”
“Spoken like a man who is either terminally single or unhappily betrothed.”
“Betrothed, but not unhappily. Impatient. I’m to be wed as soon as I return to England.”
Samantha blinked at the quick rush of unexpected disappointment. “Congratulations, Captain. Your fiancée is a lucky woman indeed.”
“Thank you. Lillian is lovely. We’re well matched.”
“Will you wed in Weatherington?”
“Unfortunately, no. Lillian lives in London. She does not share my love of the country. A bit too rustic for her tastes.”
“I’m a true country girl, I’m afraid,” Samantha lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug, “but I’ve always longed to see London.”
His rust-tinged brows rose. “You didn’t sail from there?”
“No, Portsmouth.” Turning once more in the dance, Samantha caught Wessler heading toward them, only to be intercepted by one of the other local plantation owners. He acknowledged the man with a civilized nod. The tolerant set of his j
aw told Samantha he’d been caught in conversation. He shot her another dark scowl.
“Well, if you ever find yourself back in England, you must allow me to show you London.”
Captain Steele’s warm voice softened the edge of Wessler’s threat. “Won’t your Lillian mind?” She blinked up at him.
The dimple in his cheek flashed once more. “I suspect she’d frown like your guard dog.”
“I can certainly understand why. You are quite handsome.” A darting look told her Wessler still watched. Samantha laid her hand on the lapel of the captain’s jacket. “What is it about a man in uniform that is so appealing?” She traced the gold braid.
“I wouldn’t know. I’m surrounded by men in uniform every day. I fail to see the allure.”
Samantha’s laugh sounded tinny and forced to her ear. Their dance ended. Couples began to clear the dance floor. Wessler finished his conversation and seemed intent on making his way through the crowd toward them once again.
“Captain, I do beg your pardon, but I am suddenly feeling a bit…It’s so terribly warm…” She feigned a stumble.
He caught her arm. “Are you unwell?”
“Air.” She lifted a shaky hand to her throat. “I’m desperate for a bit of air.”
The orchestra began another lively tune. New dancers crowded the floor and blocked Wessler’s approach as Captain Steele guided her quickly in the opposite direction toward the French doors leading to the back veranda.
The night breeze was a blessed relief after the heat of the ballroom. Moving them into the shadows, Samantha pressed a hand to her ribs and drew in several deep breaths. She lifted the back of her hand to her cheek.
Captain Steele gave her a worried frown. “Are you all right?”
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