Taken by You

by Connie Mason

  “I will be eternally grateful, Father Pedro,” Don Eduardo said earnestly. “I am in your debt for bringing my daughter home from that heathen country.” He shook his head regretfully. “All these months I thought she was married to Diego del Fugo.”

  I will take my leave, Don Eduardo. I must report to my superiors before I journey forth again.”

  “Tell your superiors that I will bestow a grant upon your order in appreciation for your help. In addition, you will personally be rewarded for your service in my behalf. Please keep me informed on the Holy Father’s progress concerning Luca’s annulment”

  “Well, Luca,” Don Eduardo said once the Jesuit was gone, “you seem to have gotten yourself into quite a predicament Arturo and Cordero thought they had solved everything by wedding you to that pirate, never suspecting that he would live to claim you as his wife.”

  “Where are my brothers?” Luca asked.

  “With the armada,” Don Eduardo said proudly. “We have received little word on the expedition’s progress, but I suspect by now they have joined with Parma’s ground forces and are on English soil.”

  Luca withheld judgment. In her estimation the English fleet was a force to be reckoned with and would not be easily defeated.

  “But we are here to discuss you, my dear. I am at a loss where you are concerned. What am I to do with you? Perhaps Diego will still be willing to marry you once your annulment is in order.”

  Luca’s eyes flared angrily. “Diego is a rutting pig, Father! He duped my brothers into believing e would wed me but instead planned to make me his mistress.”

  Don Eduardo was flabbergasted. He found it difficult to believe an upstanding man like Diego would act in such a vile manner. “Surely you misunderstood his intentions.”

  “No, Father, I misunderstood nothing. It’s just as I said. I will not marry Diego even if my marriage to Morgan is dissolved. I would prefer to retire to the convent and devote my life to prayer.”

  Luca deliberately refrained from telling her father about the baby. She feared he would insist she give the baby up, but once she was safe inside the convent and out of his sight, she felt he would forget all about her. She knew her father well. He was a busy man, too involved with his own life to concern himself with her. She prayed she could persuade him to provide generously for her upkeep, and the good sisters would let her live in anonymity within their walls.

  “I will send my swiftest ship to Havana and apprise Don Diego of This latest development He still has your dowry. He. may not be willing to part with it. I suspect that is why I have heard nomine from him about your abduction from Havana, Don Eduardo said astutely.

  “I do not care about the dowry. Give it to the sisters if it is returned; they will put it to good use and provide a home for me as long as I live.”

  “I will compromise, daughter. You may go to the convent for the time being and I will see that the nuns are recompensed for your care. But if Diego still wants you after your marriage is dissolved, I will give you to him. But you will never become his mistress, daughter, I will see to that. He must either wed you by proxy or do it properly in person before I allow you to take ship for Havana. Everything must be legal and binding. He will not make you his mistress.”

  “I do not like Diego. He is a despicable man.”

  “You judge him too harshly, daughter. You must remember that he expected a virgin bride. I’m sure he would have done right by you. It would have been expedient if Diego had made you a widow immediately upon reaching Havana. Lam most grateful that you did not conceive the pirate’s child. I could not have borne such an insult My pride would never recover.”

  “I will leave tomorrow, Father. I truly think the convent is the best place for me.”

  Don Eduardo’s mind had already turned in another direction. “What? Perhaps you’re right, querida. I’ll make arrangements for your departure and instruct the Reverend Mother to treat you as a guest I never intended that you join the order.”

  “Gracias, Father.” She kissed his cheek and quickly departed.

  A plethora of thoughts raced through Luca’s mind after she left her father. Since she was carrying a child, becoming a mm was no longer feasible. The Reverend Mother had always liked her, and Luca knew she would protect her secret. It wasn’t the first time a wife sought refuge behind convent walls. Sometimes a husband banished his wife to a convent if he thought she had been unfaithful. Nor would hers be the first child born under such circumstances. Luca had every intention of telling the Reverend Mother about her child when the time arrived. In a few months she would have no choice. After the birth she would decide whether she would raise the babe in the peaceful atmosphere of the convent or strike out on her own.

  Luca, astute enough to realize she must plan ahead for the future, would take all her mother’s jewels, which rightfully belonged to her, and hide them among her belongings. One day she might want to leave the convent with her child and live independently from her father. The valuable jewelry would keep them for life if they lived frugally.

  But Luca was wrong about her father forgetting about her. Within an hour after their conversation, Don Eduardo had written a letter to Diego del Fugo and dispatched it to Havana on his swiftest ship. If his missive didn’t fetch Diego from Havana, nothing would. Don Eduardo knew his intended son-in-law well. Diego Del Fugo would not willingly return a dowry as valuable as Luca’s.

  Andros Island

  August, 1588

  Morgan tossed restlessly on his rumpled bed. His fever-ridden body and bloodshot eyes gave grim testimony to his illness. A musket ball had shattered a bone in his thigh, and raging infection had followed, the result of contamination from river water. It kept him bedridden for many weeks. The bullet had been successfully removed and his bone set while they were aboard the Avenger, but nothing could prevent the onset of fever that struck Morgan almost immediately.

  Stan Crawford had made the decision to take Morgan to Andros, where Lani could take care of him, instead of sailing directly for Cadiz. Morgan’s grave condition had given Stan the authority to alter their course, but when Morgan recovered to the point where he realized he was on Andros, he became livid.

  “Bloody Hell, Morgan, you were in no condition to go to Spain. You can’t even walk.” Crawford’s attempt to placate Morgan was met with a splendid display of temper.

  “Damn you, Stan! I’d have found a way.” A nerve twitched in Morgan’s taut jaw. Though he’d never admit it, the pain from his broken bone was excruciating, and his infected wound was slow to heal.

  “Like Hell,” Crawford said, shaking his head. “Luca will wait You should be damn grateful that Lani saved your life. The native medicine she gave you was potent; we had nothing aboard ship to match it. We will go to Spain when your leg is healed enough to walk, perhaps in five or six weeks.”

  Morgan recognized the wisdom of Crawford’s words but didn’t accept them lightly. Every day he spent lying in bed meant another day without Luca. Where was she now? he wondered despondently. Was she happy? Did she think about him at all? He cursed the fates for having denied him the right moment to tell her that he loved her. The notion had been so new to him, so utterly astounding, that he had been reluctant to share his feelings. He had failed Luca, and for that he would never forgive himself.

  Had she left England thinking he cared nothing for her? He’d be the first to admit he hadn’t been the best of husbands. He’d tried to do his duty to his queen and in so doing had lost the woman he loved. Bloody Hell! It had been difficult to come to grips with the knowledge that he loved a Spaniard. He’d hated Spaniards for so long that he couldn’t even recall when he hadn’t. Being with Luca had taught him a lesson in humility. It was a terrible burden to live with such a passion for revenge.

  Luca was sweet and giving and incapable of committing atrocities such as he’d experienced at the hands of her countrymen Perhaps not all Spaniards were like the ones who had killed his family and enslaved him, he admitted grudgi
ngly. Granted, the ship on which he’d spent five miserable years of servitude belonged to Luca’s father, but Morgan had evened the score many times over. He’d plundered more ships of the Santiego line than any other. It was time now to forget and move forward with his life. His gnawing concern was that Luca would refuse to put the past behind them and spend the rest of her life as his wife. His little nun was not meant to be a holy woman. She had too much passion, too much fire inside her to wither and die behind cloistered walls. He needed her; he ached for her; his heart wept for her.

  Wedded bliss. Morgan almost laughed aloud at that supposition. Together he and Luca were explosive. Both in bed and out. Life would never be dull with his fiery wife keeping him on his toes. Where other men might become bored with marriage, he was held spellbound.

  Of course there would be children, he waxed enthusiastically. Morgan cursed himself for a fool when he realized how he had hurt Luca by claiming he wanted no child with her. What an arrogant bastard he had been. He would never forgive himself if his heartless words had cost him his wife.

  The weeks sped by. Chained to his bed by his injury, Morgan cursed his weakness and inability to leave Andros. Unable to go to Spain and claim his wife, he worried that in the interim Luca would forget him and he would lose his Spanish bride forever.

  Chapter 20

  Cadiz, Spain

  October, 1588

  “I’m going ashore with you, Morgan, no matter now vigorously you protest. I know you mink your leg is healed, but you still don’t have complete freedom of movement You need me to pick up the pieces.”

  Morgan sent Stan an exasperated look. “Bloody Hell, Stan, except for This limp my leg is as healed as it will ever be. I don’t need a keeper.”

  “Argue all you want, I’m coming along. My Spanish isn’t as good as yours, but I’ll leave the talking to you. If Luca isn’t at home with her father, we may have to travel to the convent. You haven’t sat a horse since your injury.”

  “The ship…”

  “There is little danger. The Avenger flies the Spanish flag, and Withers is capable of controlling the crew should the need arise. Enough of our men speak Spanish to avoid raising suspicion should they be challenged by port authorities. Besides, Spain is in such chaos after the failed expedition that no one will be paying attention to another ship in the harbor.”

  “Very well,” Morgan said, impatient to debark. His plaguing injuries had delayed him too long already. “Let’s go.”

  Luca stared morosely out through the small window of her tiny cell. Days were somewhat cooler now, but within the ancient stone walls it was always cool and slightly damp. Luca pulled the shawl closer about her shoulders, her mind straying toward forbidden thoughts of Morgan. She had prayed long and hard to extinguish the lingering embers of passion she felt for him, but her pleas were met with only limited success. The babe she carried beneath her heart served as a constant reminder of the love she bore her child’s father. She had not been prepared for the intense love she bore this small life who would so completely depend on her.

  In the three months she had been at the convent, her pregnancy had made itself known in the most basic way. With Renalda’s help she had let out nearly all of her dresses. The Reverend Mother had been shocked when told of Luca’s pregnancy, but she had accepted it with good grace, just as Luca knew she would. As Luca had anticipated, her father neither visited her nor inquired after her wellbeing, though he continued to contribute to her care.

  Her brothers had come to see her shortly after returning to Spain with the remnants of the broken armada. Their stunning defeat at the hands of the English had been a demoralizing blow, and they’d told Luca they were leaving immediately on a voyage to the New World, where they’d heard the streets were lined with gold. When they’d described the suffering and adverse winds encountered by the ill-fated expedition, Luca had thought they were lucky to have arrived home alive.

  After their visit Luca had languished in welcome boredom, devoting her days to prayer, but not even prayer could heal the ache in her heart Then she was befriended by another woman who had been banished to the convent by her father.

  Renalda had been born into a rich and powerful family. She’d been betrothed at birth to a man her equal in station and would have been married at eighteen if she hadn’t done the unforgivable and fallen in love with Antonio, a vaquero’s son. Desperate to find happiness, they had run away, intending to be married by a priest in a small village where no one knew them.

  Her father and fiancé had followed them. Antonio had been killed when their carriage overturned during the chase. As luck would have it, Renalda suffered only bruises. Because she and Antonio had spent one night together, her fiancé had backed out of the marriage, and her father had beaten her and packed her off to the convent. Renalda, like Luca, was neither a nun nor a postulant. But unlike Luca, who was mere by choice, Renalda was a prisoner within the convent walls, unable to leave without her father’s consent For her part Luca knew she would never love again, so she chose to remain with the holy sisters.

  A knock on the door roused Luca from her reverie. The door opened almost immediately, and a slim young woman with lustrous black hair, dark eyes, and skin as translucent as fine porcelain entered. Luca greeted Renalda with a smile and beckoned her inside.

  “Is mere anything you need before you retire?” Renalda asked with concern. She worried that Luca wasn’t eating enough to nourish both herself and the child she carried.

  “Nothing, thank you,” Luca replied, “unless you care to stay awhile and visit”

  Renalda sent Luca a wistful look. “You are lonely for your babe’s father.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “I have to learn to live without Morgan,” Luca said brokenly. After all This time it was still painful to talk about the man she loved. “If he’d cared for me he would have come after me. He’d done it before, with great danger to himself.” She shook her head sadly. “No, Renalda, by now Morgan is married to Lady Jane. It’s what his queen wanted for him.”

  Renalda took Luca’s hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “After your child is born you can leave here and find a new love, but I will likely die of old age without ever setting foot beyond these walls.”

  “If I decide to leave I will take you with me,” Luca promised.

  Renalda sighed dispiritedly. “I fear that is impossible, but your friendship means everything to me. It is the only thing that has kept me sane. At least you will have a child to remind you of your love, while I…” She shrugged expansively. “I must go. I promised Sister Maria that I would set out the bread dough for tomorrow’s meals.”

  “Good night, Renalda, go with God.”

  “Bribing Don Eduardo’s servant was a wise move, Morgan,” Stan said as they left Cadiz behind. “You’re a wanted man with a price on your head. Had you revealed your identity to Don Eduardo, he would surely have reported you to the authorities.”

  After learning that Luca was living at the convent, they had passed the night at an inn outside Cadiz and started out bright and early the next day. Morgan drove a rented carriage. To his chagrin his leg hadn’t been able to bear the strain of mounting a horse. Stan rode in the carriage beside him, tying a horse behind the carriage to take him back to die Avenger when Luca replaced him in the carriage with Morgan.

  “That’s why I approached the servants first Most men will do anything for a price. All I want to do is find Luca, convince her that I care about her, and get the Hell out of Spain as fast as possible.”

  A formidable task, Morgan thought but did not say. So much time had elapsed since Luca left that she probably thought he had forgotten her. He was going to need all his wits about him if he wanted to convince Luca she was the only woman he’d ever wanted.

  Renalda sighed tiredly as she placed a clean doth over the last pan of bread dough By morning it would be ready to bake in the oven. One of her favorite tasks was helping in the kitchen. Keeping busy helped to relieve the
boredom and sameness of each day. Sister Maria had already retired, and she was headed in that direction herself. The halls were dark and deserted. The sisters rose early and usually retired immediately after evening prayers. Renalda looked forward to her own hard bed, for only in sleep could she forget that she had been the cause of a young man’s death.

  Renalda had truly believed she was in love with Antonio, but they had both been so young. She’d never forget his sweet smile and gentle nature. Causing his death had been traumatic. The convent had seemed a welcome haven at first, but it had soon become her prison. She was young, she yearned for life beyond these confining warn. She prayed most diligently that her father would relent one day and come for her, ending her isolation. It was the only way she would ever leave the convent, until death freed her.

  Renalda’s footsteps echoed sharply down the silent hallway as she made her way to her bed. She started violently when she heard a ruckus at the outer gate. Visitors were rare this time of night and never admitted. Whoever was rattling the gate was most insistent. If it didn’t stop. Reverend Mother and all the sisters would be rudely awakened. Renalda didn’t want that to happen.

  Concerned only with maintaining peace within the convent walls, Renalda pulled open the heavy oak door and hurried out to the gate. The night was cool, and she shivered. Suddenly she realized she was not shivering from cold but in anticipation. She had never felt this way before and approached the gate with a sense of destiny. Or was it dread she felt? The feeling was beyond definition.

  The bolted gate was constructed of solid oak. A small hinged door in the center of the gate opened from the inside, allowing the gatekeeper a glimpse of the visitors. Renalda’s hands shook as she opened the small door and peered into the darkness beyond the gate. A full moon allowed her a shadowy glimpse of the large man standing on the other side of the gate.

  “What do you want? It’s late, everyone is abed. No visitors are allowed after dark.”