“I was a terrible father to him… After Ilone left, I cared nothing for anyone. Even my own sons. I had met William’s mother years after Ilone disappeared, and in a moment of weakness, I sired a son. Another son. But not the son I truly wanted.”
A bitterness filled her heart. How could a man deny his own son?
“That is despicable,” she said, scowling.
“I know that, and it is too late to apologize to William…but I can still apologize to you. I was not the best example of a husband. I could not show my own son what it meant to be a true man, a man of integrity and faithfulness. William was weak, driven by his lusts. Like me, he cared nothing for a family. He only took what he wanted. He wanted you. I should have warned you about him, about his hunger for comely maids, but I had hoped your love could change him…just as Ilone could have changed me…if I had not driven her away.”
Suddenly, the anger disappeared, replaced by an unutterable sadness for the man before her. He truly was a broken, hollow man.
“William did not deserve you,” Ioan intoned, the brightness of truth shining on his face. And Glynnis felt something within her crack. For five years, she’d allowed her bitterness at William’s betrayal turn her into a sour-hearted widow. It was clear now…she’d blamed herself for William’s wandering eye. She’d believed that, maybe if she’d been a better woman, maybe if she’d given William what he needed, he never would have left her to lie with another. Maybe he would still be alive.
“Nay. He did not,” she agreed, a warmth filling her. William had been just as broken as his father, even before he’d seduced her into marriage. There was nothing she could have done to prevent what happened.
“And you,” Ioan said, looking to Robbie. “Do you deserve her?” Glynnis turned to look upon him. He was standing, his eyes pinned to her, the color flickering from dark storm to calm seas.
“Nay…I do not.” His voice was low, a rumbling whisper, and it tore her heart out.
Ioan peered between then, his aged face growing ever more animated. For the first time since she’d arrived, the man smiled brightly, happily, his eyes twinkling.
“Ah…I am glad to have you here, both of you.” Rising to stand beside the bed, Ioan opened his arms to them both. “Come, sit. Let us sup. I have mutton stew and bread—freshly baked. I baked it myself.”
Wary but curious and somewhat intrigued by the shift in Ioan’s demeanor, Glynnis sucked in a breath and offered the man she once despised a friendly smile.
“Do you have any honey to go with that bread?”
ROBBIE PULLED GLYNNIS into his chest, his arms tight around her. He told himself it was to keep her from falling from the horse as she slept, but the truth of it was…he liked having her in his arms. And not just when he was pleasuring her, hearing her moans of ecstasy and filling her with his desire. He liked holding her afterward, when the darkness descended and she slumbered…just as she did now.
And it was an utterly disarming realization; that he would actually enjoy something that was more than just the tupping and the leaving. Typically, he would find his pleasure—ensure the woman of hers, of course, he wasn’t a lame cock—and then leave before she finished groaning in satiated delight. But…with Glynnis. It was different. It was addicting, the desire to feel her warm body next to his, to hear her softly breathing, to know that she had given something to him that she’d kept for herself for so long.
God, but he was smitten with this woman, and he had no idea what to do about it.
As they neared the copse of trees where they were to tether the horse, he gently nuzzled Glynnis awake. She startled but then relaxed back into him, humming softly.
Heaven.
Readjusting his suddenly awkward position, he cleared his throat. “We are here, it is only a short walk back to Dwyn Twll.”
She shook her head but said nothing. He dismounted, sliding to the ground easily, then tied Beggar to the nearest tree before turning to help Glynnis. She held out her arms to grip tight to his shoulders, and allowed herself to be picked up and pulled into his embrace. Chest to chest, they stood staring at one another, their breathing uneven. It was dark so he couldn’t make out the emotion in her eyes, but he could tell from how she melted against him that she was just as twisted up as he was. He ached to kiss her, to taste her passion on his tongue, to lap at her womanhood and feast on her sounds of bliss.
Here is not the place, his logical thoughts finally surfaced, forcefully pushing aside the ravenous, wicked beast, growling to claim its woman. With a heavy sigh, he released her, letting her feet settle on the damp earth.
She let out an answering sigh and ran a trembling hand over her hair—a nervous movement no doubt. It was a rare sight that, to see Glynnis Rees nervous. He wanted to howl into the darkening sky.
“Come,” he said instead, taking her hand in his to lead her to the hidden opening in the cliffside. She followed him, silent, her hand loose in his. He knew she was thinking, he could feel the tension thrumming through her body. But how did a man so unused to speaking to woman of his thoughts and feelings ask the woman about her thoughts…perhaps her feelings…about him?
“Watch your head,” he instructed before ducking his head and shoulders to fit inside the squat passage that led to another passage that led to another passage before depositing them into another passage that would take them to the main cavern. “Remember what Lucian said about this passage…it is slippery here,” he said, just as she lurched forward. He turned and caught her before she could fall.
Her breaths puffing against his face, she stiffened then murmured, “Aye, I remember now.” She pulled herself away. “Thank you.”
Fighting down the urge to shake her and make her tell him what had hardened her toward him, he simply offered, “My pleasure to catch such a lovely woman.” He meant it, but he knew how it must sound to her, like a feckless, flirtatious comment, empty and oft used. And, to be honest, he probably had used it with other women, but he actually meant it now.
Damn! Could he ever say or do something with Glynnis that wouldn’t come across as cheap or hollow? Nay, for you are cheap and hollow…
Sighing, he turned and continued on, his hand now bereft of hers…his fingers tingling with the desire for his flesh to touch hers once again. But he dared not thrust his attention on her…not now when there was something amiss.
As they finally entered the main cavern, they found it empty. No doubt the others were taking care of their parts of Saban’s plan. And, once again, he was reminded that he may look like a Rees, but he was still as welcome as a lone wolf in the pack’s den.
His cottage, the one Saban had assigned him, was nearest the shallow lagoon where they moored the flat-bottomed boats they used to come and go. The lagoon was sans boats, which meant he’d been correct to assume they’d gone to prepare and plan…without him.
He refused to give a moment’s thought to why that bothered him.
“Where have they gone?” Glynnis asked, her voice husky and heavy behind him. He closed his eyes, letting her voice roll through him. He opened his eyes and turned, an expression of nonchalance on his face—at least he hoped he appeared relaxed rather than wary. She made him wary, for he had no idea where to tread with her that wouldn’t lead to her leaving and him having to chase after her.
Because he would always come for her. He knew that now. No matter what happened with the Rees, he would not leave Glynnis behind. She would fight, probably claw and spit and bite, and after their bout of fierce lovemaking, he’d convince her to come to England with him. They could start a new life there. Together.
The magnitude of those thoughts would be felt for generations to come, but he couldn’t care about that. Glynnis was his. And he craved her more than light and laughter and…life.
“Saban is with Lucian and Brendan, plotting first strike. Or, at least that’s what I assume…” Robbie answered, aware that Glynnis’s expression was flickering from cool and calm to heated and frantic.
Now is the time…
“We are alone, now, Glynnis…” He let his voice drop and a low, deep, rumble escaped his throat. His chest tight, his body taut, he waited to see if his woman would sense just how much he needed her.
Chapter Thirteen
GLYNNIS HAD WATCHED Robbie’s back bunch and twist as he’d maneuvered them through the maze of twisting passageways leading to the Rees hideaway. She’d admired the lithe yet confident movements of a man who was no stranger to leading; the flickering light of the passage torches only added to the masculine beauty. And once they emerged and he turned to face her, his eyes hard with deep emotion, she knew something had changed. Gone was the smile of a man who gave them out like grains of wheat to sea birds, and in his place was a man who seemed to struggle with something he was feeling. She could read it in the tension of his shoulders, the flaring of his nostrils, the tightness of his usually flippant words.
“Aye, we are alone, Robbie,” she said, her tone stronger than she’d thought it would be. “And there is something I have been wondering.”
His eyes widened for a fraction then returned to their hooded sensual expression.
He crossed his arms, emphasizing the bulge of his biceps and the width of his shoulders, and—damn it—the overall appeal of dastardly criminal charmers.
“And what is it you have been wondering?” Was it the air in the cavern that made his voice sound so hushed…so intimate?
Inwardly shaking herself, she blurted, “You are a Rees…will you stay a Rees or will you go home…to be a Bowlin, once again?” Trembling, she allowed the words to form and then fall from her lips. Her heart lodged in her throat, her blood slowing to a crawl… She could not tear her gaze from the man before her, his alluring, deep green eyes peering down into her soul.
It unnerved her, the weight of it, the strength of it, the absolute intensity of what she felt for this man.
He had only been in her life for a little over a week, but he had pierced to the heart of her, shaking loose the emotions she thought thoroughly tangled in her past with William. She hadn’t loved William…not how she loved Robbie. Her heart sang for Robbie, crying out for him, to him. But with William…it had been silent, only beating for what she thought he could provide: a home for an orphaned girl, alone in the world.
But she was no longer alone. Or at least, she hadn’t been. If Lucia and Rose could be believed—and those women never had cause to lie, even to make another feel better—Saban and Brendan had made sure to watch over her; those “gifts” left at her door had been their way of continuing to provide for their cousin—even if not blood. If Robbie did choose to leave, she still had the other Rees to rely on. She wouldn’t have to remain secluded in the forest, hidden away from the world to wallow in all the pain and bitterness she allowed to settle over her.
She was free. She could choose to live…and love again. Though, if Robbie chose to leave…
Please…stay…her heart whispered.
He dropped his arms and cocked his head to the side, his gaze raking over her face as if to see beneath the mask she’d slipped over it.
Slowly, as if gauging her response, he drawled, “I suppose that decision is best left until after the others have finished with me.” He took a step closer to her but stopped. “I do have a life in England to return to…a trove of stolen goods to sell…nobles to rob and maidens to plunder,” Robbie said plainly, his words sinking into her chest and gouging a furrow into her heart. As she should have known…she meant nothing more to him than a convenient tup. And she’d let him burrow into her with his charming smile, his intoxicating touch, his surprising gentleness. It was all just a means to an end, to find release wherever he could.
So what? It is your turn to take what you want—and it is freely offered.
Nay! She couldn’t throw herself at him as if she were a wanton…it would rip the heart right out of her. Swallowing, she plastered on a smile and nodded. “I suppose you are right. I will leave you to rest, then.” She meant to turn and leave, perhaps find a hole into which she could crawl…and then scream at the top of her lungs, but his hand on her shoulder stayed her.
“Will you be here when I return?” This time, his words were nearly whisper soft, and there was a pleading to them she’d never heard before. And it flipped her over.
Would she still be there in the morning, once the men had gained their revenge and their lost goods? Could she face the waiting, the wondering if he would return harmed or even return at all? Could she face him knowing he cared so little about her?
How could she not? Despite everything, this man had rooted himself in the very essence of her, and she never wanted to cut him loose.
“Aye,” she answered, her voice husky. “I will be here…”
Robbie stepped closer, raising his hand to caress her cheek. His eyes burned with a green fire, a fire she knew was reflected in her own gaze.
“And will you welcome me back with open arms?” Deep, resonant, hungry…and hopeful. “Will you miss me while I am gone?” She almost laughed at that—though humorous it was not; Ravishing Robbie was uncertain if she would be pleased to see him upon his return…but he wanted her to be. A swirling light stirred the emotion within her belly, and this time her smile was genuine.
“That depends,” she said, teasingly, caging that voice that was demanding she remain strong against his allure.
His black brows arched upward. “On what?”
She pressed her trembling hand to his hard chest, and reveled in the beat of his heart against her palm. Warm, steady, strong…this man took her breath away.
Even if all I had was one more night with him…it would be worth one-million more without him. “I will miss you…if you give me something to miss…” Her breath hitched, she let her gaze drop to his mouth. She watched as his lips curled, and the wicked smile that could so easily undo her slowly appeared.
Growling, he drawled, “I think that can be arranged.”
Their lovemaking was passionate, drawing out pleasures she never thought possible for any earthly being to feel. His kisses, his caresses, they stirred her, twisting her up until she cried out from the bliss of it all. And when they were done, he pulled her into him, cradling her against him as a man would a woman he cared for.
It was confusing—she was just one of many, after all—but she reveled in it, the strength of his arms around her, the steady beating of his heart beneath her cheek, the slide of his fingers over her arm as they lay there, satiated, in the silence.
“How did you come to marry William?” his voice rumbled into her and she stiffened. It was a question she’d never thought to answer, because she’d never thought he’d care enough to ask.
“He offered what I could not decline,” she began, listening to Robbie’s breathing. She continued, “I had been an orphan for ten years, and I had found work in a tavern. One night, a handsome man entered and took a seat at one of my tables. He smiled, winked, and promised to make an honest woman of me.”
Robbie’s heartrate increased.
“What happened to your parents?” was his question, and she was certainly glad of it.
“A plague swept through our village. We lived in a cottage on a small patch of fertile land where my father raised parsnips, and my mother raised me and my three younger brothers.” She swallowed, the memory a long and deep one. “They all died within a week of each other.”
His hand stalled. “I am sorry…” he said, his tone telling her what his words did not…he knew and understood her pain.
“I took ill but I was the only one who survived. I cannot remember many details, but I do remember someone carrying me to the doorstep of an abbey. The nuns there took me in. By the time I was well enough to leave my bed, my father’s creditors had taken the land, the cottage, and all that was left of my family. I had nothing. I could not stay with the nuns, they were barely able to feed themselves let alone a healthy and able young woman. So, I left and found work in the village.”
“You met William there…when you were most desperate.” Robbie’s voice was flat, but there was an underlying danger to it.
Sighing, she began tracing the outline of Robbie’s chest, drawing her fingertip through the indentations between the plates of his muscles.
“I was draw to him—not the way you are thinking—I cared little for his…physical charms. It was his promise that truly won me over. I had never met a man who could speak with such confidence about caring for someone. He’d so easily sworn to carry my burdens, to build me my own home, to give me the family I had lost.”
Robbie began stroking her arm once again, as if sensing her need of his touch…his assurance. “He offered you what you wanted most.”
“Aye.”
“But he lied.”
Her heart lurched. “Aye.”
The tension in the silence was enough to make the cottage seem to shrink.
Glynnis could feel something between them shift—it was barely there, but it was precious. Robbie let out a slow breath then tucked his finger under her chin and nudged her face up to meet his. In the light of the candles placed throughout, his face was soft yet sharp. His eyes fierce and fiery yet gentle. “If he were alive…I would kill him.”
She reached up and pulled his head down until their lips almost met.
“Not if I killed him first.”
His deep, throaty chuckle made the points of her breasts harden and she gasped, suddenly overcome with the need for him. Heat bloomed in her belly, spreading in all directions until she was trembling uncontrollably.
“What am I to do with you, Glynnis?” he asked, brushing his lips against hers.
She sighed. “Make love to me.”
And he did, until the sounds of returning Rees ripped them from their haven.
Chapter Fourteen
ON THE MORNING of his fortieth day as a Rees, Robbie felt less like a Rees and more like a lovesick puppy, whimpering after his master.
Pirates of Britannia Boxed Set Volume One: A Collection of Pirate Romance Tales Page 41
