A squall of monumental proportions was working itself up and a haunting melody was being carried on the bustling wind, it reminded her of a siren song. She pushed her way past several people, and then the ship lurched again. She skidded down the ship straight toward Rafe. He caught her in his arms, and scowled down at her. He was livid. He kept a protective arm around her shoulder. She looked out into the frightening darkness, but could see nothing through the thick mists that had suddenly draped across the landscape.
“Who are the fiends that are attacking us?” she asked breathlessly, as he snorted loudly.
“No one anymore. We made short work of them. They are in Davy Jones’s Locker now. They were a band of enemy pirates. And let me tell you, if I didn’t have such an escort traveling with us, they could have almost given us a run for our money.”
“Thank God, for simple blessings.”
“Aye. I’d warrant that I would have won either way. I may do very poorly at the gaming tables, I never lose when there is a true battle to be fought, especially when it is a battle at sea. That is why you must give up on your dreams of escaping me.”
His eyes had darkened to a steely cobalt blue, and both of his hands now gripped her shoulders tightly.
The man that was presumably Ethan, came up behind Rafe. She had, up until now, only been afforded views of Ethan’s back. But as moonlight filtered across the ship, it danced across the man’s features. She let out a horrified gasp, as Ethan’s face was revealed to her curious eyes.
Blood rushed to her head, and her ears began ringing. She was blacking out. She could feel it careening to consume her. She finally succumbed to the shock, and fainted dead away in Rafe’s arms.
*****
Mallory gathered Elizabeth up into his arms, and her head flopped against his chest.
“Is she still breathing?” Ethan asked, reaching out to touch her shoulder.
“Yes, thank God!” Mallory muttered, as the heavens opened up, and poured rain down upon them. “I have to get her out of this frightful weather. I trust you, and the rest of the crew will be able to make do without me?”
“Certainly. Just make sure that she recovers her health.”
Mallory began walking in the direction of the cabin area, and then stopped suddenly. Turning back, he stared at Ethan curiously, and felt a question on the tip of his tongue.
“Before you go any further, I know what you want to ask.” Ethan held up his hand beckoning for silence. “I knew Elizabeth’s mother at one point in time. After Lady Susan’s rather mysterious death, I went back to America to spill Geoffrey’s guts. When I arrived in Baltimore, I headed for Her Ladyship’s Kindness to finish him off, once and for all. Unfortunately, the wound I gave him didn’t kill him. Mores the pity, for I so did want to send him to the very devil himself.”
“And why was Elizabeth so shocked to see your face?”
“Because she helped me to escape after I ran her father through with my cutlass. That lass can scream like a banshee, I’ll tell you that.”
“She’s a remarkable woman,” Mallory murmured. He glanced down at the raven haired angel he held in his arms, and a tender smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“When are you going to tell her who you really are?”
“Oh, I’ll get around to telling her in due course.”
“And what is your definition of, in due course?”
“Well, that would be right before we exchange our wedding vows.”
“Rafe, you can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I haven’t been so serious about anything else in my life.”
“Watch Miss Elizabeth like a hawk,” Ethan advised wisely. “She was but an innocent lass when she helped me. But she’s not a child anymore, and she’s always had a keen mind.”
“I know that better than you do,” Mallory retorted, groaning as Elizabeth muttered in her unconscious state.
“You’d best get a move on, and whisk her out of these frightful elements. We’re in for one hell of a storm.”
“The rain and wind will be nothing compared to what Elizabeth will barrage me with when she wakes up.”
“God be with you, my son,” Ethan quipped.
Mallory was just about to serve him with a rude retort when the rain began pelting down heavier than it had been just seconds before.
He cradled Elizabeth against his chest, and almost lost his footing on the slick deck. With the added weight, he almost did go crashing to the ground, but he managed to keep himself upright. He stared at the cabin door that remained ajar.
Obviously, Elizabeth had forgotten to shut it behind her. Now, that he could add picking locks to her already long list of skills, he wondered what else he could expect from her.
She was hot-blooded, and had a barbed tongue, but he felt quite certain that she was as innocent as she had been on the night of the ball. But nearly two years had passed. And she had matured from a wistful forlorn girl, into a powerful, passionate woman. She was far ahead of her times, for she did not balk at anything he threw her way.
Perhaps, that was why she intrigued him so much. Her beauty had not been changed from when she had been but a young ingénue, and yet so much more about her had. He wished that she would remember him.
*****
As he walked over the cabin threshold, Elizabeth flickered one eye open, and then closed it again. He gently placed her on the bed, as she wisely continued to feign unconsciousness. His touch made her tingle all over, and fireworks coursed through her skin whenever he drew her close to him. He made her feel safe, which was a contradiction unto itself.
He was her abductor. In all reality, she should be fleeing from him in terror, and recoiling whenever he was near. But he was beginning to affect her. She was becoming fond of him. Her heart danced when he was near, and she found that she was disappointed when he left her side. And in her eyes, he had just endeared himself to her, for he had caught her when she had fainted.
She still couldn’t believe that she had shown such blatant weakness in front of him. She was determined to never again faint for as long as she lived.
Seeing Ethan Foyle had nearly made her lose what was left of her wits. Suddenly, instead of seeing his face, she had seen the face of her mother’s lover. Her mother had tried to keep her affair with Ethan discreet, but somehow the gossipmongers had finally betrayed her. When her father had discovered the affair, he had been infuriated. He had told her mother that she was a scheming whore, and that sluts like her would be punished.
Her mother had finally had enough of Geoffrey. She had told him that she was taking the first available ship back to England. Geoffrey had wished her the best of luck considering the violent war that was being waged across Europe. Then her mother had propelled her father over the edge when she had informed him that she would be taking Elizabeth.
They would live with the Drakes, under her father’s protection, and all would be well. Her mother had protected her from her father’s following displeasure. There had been so many times that Elizabeth had feared her father would finally succeed in killing her mother.
And then he had.
Elizabeth could clearly remember the night of her mother’s death. Her mother had told her to scamper upstairs to bed. She had done so, and had waited for her mother to come and kiss her good night.
But she never came. So Elizabeth had tiptoed down the stairs, only to find her mother lying dead at the bottom of them. Her father had claimed that it was an accident, and to this day maintained his innocence. He’d told her that he could never kill her mother no matter how angry he got with her. He’d begged her to see the truth about him, that he was all bark and no bite. He’d told her that her mother had lost her footing, slipped and fell, breaking her neck. He’d seemed genuinely heartbroken by the death and yet…she didn’t know what to believe.
Elizabeth always wondered if her mother had actually taken a tumble after struggling with her father or if he had done the unthinkable—pushed her to her de
ath.
The shock of her mother’s death had driven Elizabeth to the brink of despair. Her father had not known what to do with her, as she had been inconsolable, and would not even look at him. He had quickly shuffled her off to be with her nannies. As despicable as her father was toward her mother, he had never lifted a hand to her in anger.
Then Ethan had returned. He had been incensed to learn that her mother was dead. He had confronted Geoffrey and had nearly killed him, when Elizabeth had intervened. Her untimely interruption had kept Ethan from doing away with Geoffrey. Sometimes, she hated herself, and wondered whom exactly she’d wanted to save, Ethan or her father.
She had screamed her bloody lungs out, startling her father, and, giving Ethan the opportunity to escape. Though he was quite corpulent now, her father had been the epitome of health when her mother had died…barrel chested and strong as an ox, Ethan had been no match for him.
After that fateful night, she had written to her grandfather begging him to come and take her away to England. He had answered her prayers and had arrived at Her Ladyship’s Kindness hell bent on taking her away from her father.
Her father had done the unthinkable—he had relented and allowed her grandfather to have his way. She didn’t know if her grandfather had intimidated her father as he’d been strong and virile at the time, or if her papa just didn’t want her in his way anymore…either way, he’d told her to go with her grandfather with his blessings.
She had lived such a happy life with her grandfather, cousin and aunt. If only he had lived a little longer…if only he had left all of his money to Raleigh.
If only. She sighed.
Elizabeth’s thoughts were jolted back to the present when she felt the soft pad of Rafe’s hand caress the side of her cheek. The tip of his finger brushed her plump lips. She could feel him coming down to meet her lips.
Concentrating on remaining motionless, she eagerly awaited his first kiss. Every fiber in her being strained, and she wished with all of her might that he would just kiss her. His lips brushed hers ever so slightly, making a pleasant shudder course through her. She blinked her eyelids open, and stared him squarely in the eyes. His eyes widened to monumental proportions, and he quickly broke the kiss. Feeling cheated, she formed her lips into a pout.
His weight still rested on the bed, and he had an arm draped on either side of her. His heat was pressing in on her, and since she was such a highly intuitive creature, she could feel him in front of her, beside her, and all around her.
His powerful presence engulfed the room. Yet she was not intimidated in the slightest. She waited patiently for him to lower his lips to hers once more.
She was hungry for his kiss, and hungry for his touch. This was why she couldn’t marry Raleigh, cousin or not, he didn’t ignite her passions the way that Rafe or her mystery man could.
She had believed that no one could compare to the man that she had met at Lady Belmont’s Masquerade Ball, but now that she had met Rafe she wasn’t so certain. He bewitched, bewildered, and bothered her to no end.
Rafe by-passed her lips, and lowered his mouth to nuzzle her neck instead. She writhed beneath him, as pleasure rolled through her. All that he needed to do was touch her to elicit the most beautiful sensations that she had ever felt.
She raised her arms to wrap them around him, and pull him close. He kissed the swell of her breasts, and was about to investigate further, when she raised her hand to caress the side of his stubbly face.
“Oh, Rafe!” she murmured. He jerked away from her, and sat up, panting heavily. Somehow she had broken the spell, just by murmuring his name. A mixed look of anger, and agony flashed across his face.
“I’m sorry. I do not know what came over me.” She watched as he raked his hands through his sun kissed tousled hair. He looked like he had been to hell and back. “I promised that I would leave you alone this night. And contrary to what you believe, I am a man of my word.” He stood up, and moved toward the door.
Before she knew what was happening to her, she spoke from her heart.
“Stay with me!” Her words came out sounding like a desperate plea. He halted, stood motionless, for the barest of seconds, and ever so slowly turned around to gaze intently at her.
“Is that truly what you desire?” he asked. His eyes twinkled, and she felt her heart flip-flop.
She was a full-grown woman. She knew what she wanted, and what she didn’t want. And right now, she wanted Captain Rafe Morgan.
“Oh, yes,” she murmured breathlessly.
In a flash, he shrugged out of his greatcoat and threw it across the cabin. He walked toward her as if he was the God of Seduction himself.
Chapter Five
Mallory knew that he’d regret whatever passed between them in the morning. And yet, he wanted to take her sweet body into his arms, and treat her like a queen until morning. But he couldn’t. On the night of the masquerade, they had both been swept away by the romanticism of the night, and he had stupidly decided that he could play with her affections.
At that point in time, he had been a selfish little bastard, hell bent on revenge, and not caring how he had to go about gaining it. His father’s death still weighing heavily on him, and he had been struggling to come to terms with the responsibilities thrust upon him. He had been so terribly angry, and he had been willing to ruin Elizabeth and set her loose to the wolves that would eat her alive for such a transgression, and then, then, he’d thought about his own sisters and how terribly protective he was of them, and had been ready to stop what they started, even before they were discovered by Lady Beaconsfield’s friends.
Even if he hadn’t been bent on revenge, he’d been cocky and arrogant when it came to pretty young ladies, and well, honestly, Elizabeth had been the prettiest in the room, even with her fairy mask covering the top part of her face. It helped that she was Geoffrey Woodward’s daughter. The bastard had taken everything from him.
She had melted in his arms, and when he had suggested they go out to the maze, to as he had put it, become closer, she had eagerly agreed. He had been the wolf, and she had been the lost little lamb. He hadn’t wanted the life he had been given. He had been completely happy with being the second son, and having the life of that being a British Naval Officer afforded him, and yet his brother’s death at Trafalgar had changed everything for him, and his father’s weakness for the gambling hells had only sealed his fate.
He had inherited a bankrupted legacy…and now, now, he had to make Geoffrey pay. Making Elizabeth his wife was the only possible way to accomplish that objective. For some unknown reason, that selfish little shit actually seemed to care a little about Elizabeth, and as she was his only weakness, that was how he had to strike out at him.
Mallory often wondered how one man’s life could change so drastically in an instant. He still remembered the fateful day that had brought him to his knees, and had changed his life forever.
His brother Malcolm had been the Captain of the HMS Victory, but his ship had not claimed victory at Trafalgar. They had instead gone down with all hands. Mallory had been forced to carry on with the battle while watching his brother’s ship burn in the distance. He had prayed to God over and over again that his brother would be spared. But deep in his heart, he knew that as Captain, Malcolm would not be coming back to serve him with his cheeky smile.
Heartbroken, Mallory had returned to West Sussex, only to find that his father had taken ill. He would recover from that fever, but he would never again be the same man. Fearing for his health, his mother had taken the entire family to London, to see if the merriment of the Season would uplift his spirits. Unfortunately, that was where Morgan St. Martin’s troubles began, and ended.
The gaming hells were so easy to get to there, and his father had always been such a weak man when it came to such things, weak though he was, he had no talent like Elizabeth possessed, and luck had not been on his side. He could not win against the professionals that the gambling houses employed, and no o
ne had ever seen Geoffrey Woodward coming. Some said he had amassed his impressive financial empire by his winnings at the gaming tables, and from what he’d done to Mallory’s father, he could believe that. He’d also heard that the Woodward played in quite an unorthodox manner, and that one had to be extremely clever to combat such shrewd tactics.
Morgan St. Martin had quickly become known as a gamester of White’s, and had become terribly addicted. One fateful night, he had lost his entire fortune to Woodward. Fortunately, he had never placed their ancestral castle in the pot, or if he had, they would have had nowhere to turn.
Ashamed, and realizing that he had damned them all, his father had again become sick and this time, this time he would not regain his health.
He died a few days after the British claimed their final victory against Boney, and his mother had finally gotten word to him about the death, and had detailed to him in her missive, why his father had perished.
Incensed, with the unfairness of it all, he had started to plot his plans for revenge against Woodward, and had determined fairly shortly that it would be best taken by moving against Woodward’s queen, and that was Elizabeth, for she was his greatest treasure.
He had returned to England during the Season of 1816, and had used the money he made through his privateering days to pay for his Season and that of his sisters, those who were of age anyway.
Mallory had rented a modest townhouse for them in London, and for one blissful season his family had gone back to the days of old, pretending that they had not been ruined and that they still could live the way they had before their father’s death.
They had attended all of the balls that Elizabeth had been invited to, but it took him a while to finally enact upon his plans of ruination for the fair little lady. He hadn’t planned on her being so vulnerable…so easy to woo and win…and maybe it was because she had that same look of hopelessness in her eyes that he sometimes saw staring at him when he looked in a mirror, but he had been unable to go through with making her a pariah of the ton.
His to Hold (Regency Scoundrels Book 1) Page 5
