The Pirate's Heart

by Bethany M. Sefchick

  Katherine knew Daniel was right, but the urge to simply run away was still strong. She had only just found him again. She could not lose him. Not again.

  “I’m afraid,” she admitted finally.

  “As am I,” Daniel confessed, “but I am also a pirate. As are you, Duchess. At least at heart. We will prevail, my pirate queen.” He reached up to cradle the small swell of her stomach in his hands again. “There is no other choice. Not when our future might already be growing inside of you.”

  Katherine had considered that more than once on this journey. Considering how often they had fucked, she would be more surprised to find that she wasn’t with child.

  “Then we fight,” she said with as much conviction as she could muster. “For what we have lost, what we have gained, and what might yet be.”

  In the dark, she could see the flash of Daniel’s gleaming white teeth. “Spoken like a true pirate, Duchess.”

  “You think I’m a pirate, eh?” she asked saucily as she turned in his arms.

  Katherine was grateful that Daniel had confided in her about his past, but now they needed to look forward. Their future was still uncertain and she had no desire to lose any more time with him. Especially when she had no idea how much time remained.

  “I know you are a pirate at heart,” he intoned as he began to suck on the tender flesh of her neck once more, just above where the Pirate’s Blood still glittered about her neck. “After all, you dress like one and you talk like one. A true pirate queen that all should fear.”

  “I also act like one,” she gasped as he moved lower to suckle her breast which was still tender from earlier in the day.

  “And how do pirates act, Duchess?” Daniel asked as he ground his hips hard into hers.

  Katherine arched into him, desperate to be closer. “Well, for one thing, they fuck. A lot. So fuck me, Daniel, before I lose my mind.”

  “With pleasure, Duchess,” he sighed as he pulled off her shirt to completely bare her tits to him. “With pleasure.”

  Chapter Twenty

  For Daniel, the next few days passed in a blur. Whatever time was not spent navigating his ship through the often-perilous waters of the West Indies was spent in Katherine’s bed. She was his every dream come true, and he had to take care not to become too lost in her, something he could do very easily. After all, there was still the matter of a spy amongst his crew and whatever awaited them on Tortuga.

  He also spent a good deal of time wondering what came next.

  When he had first kidnapped Katherine, he hadn’t thought much beyond simply having her beside him again. Oh, he had made vague plans, either finding a new crew on Tortuga or taking a small skiff to a nearby island where he could assume yet another new identity and smuggle both himself and Katherine back to England.

  But that was before Boucher’s attack, something that he should have anticipated, and before Katherine became, well, whatever it was she was becoming. For she was not the same woman he had known in his youth.

  Like him, her usually prim and proper behavior in their youth had been an act. They were both wild in their own ways. Daring when they needed to be and not afraid to be scandalous or worse when it suited them. Even at a tender age, Daniel had known that Katherine was hiding a part of herself just as he was. Therefore, he should have anticipated that she would not be the same woman he remembered. After all, he was hardly the same man he had once been.

  Normally, Daniel was an excellent planner so why he had bungled this so badly was beyond him. Or perhaps it wasn’t. After all, he had been thinking with his cock rather than his head. That usually led to trouble of one sort or another.

  Now, however, The Darkness floated just off the coast of Tortuga and it was time to make a decision. Stay and fight, or run and hope that Boucher or another of Lord Wilds’ men did not catch up to them. He was inclined toward staying and fighting so that they would be free, but he could not make that decision for Katherine.

  “The crew awaits your orders to put into port, captain.”

  Daniel had been staring out over the sea for so long that he hadn’t noticed when Davis came up beside him. “When the sun rises. We go at first light and not a moment before.” He nodded to the east where the first rays of dawn were beginning to touch the sky. “I’ll not risk my ship being dashed on the shoals. There is more to be lost than to be gained by moving too soon.”

  Though a pirate haven, the shores around Tortuga were rocky and hid all manner of dangers, from sandbars to previously sunken ships, all ready to reach up from the watery depths and snag another victim with the bony claws of death.

  The first mate nodded. “At first dawn then. Any other orders?”

  Daniel knew Davis was waiting for him to announce that he had come up with a grand plan to uncover the spy and defeat Boucher once and for all, but the truth was, Daniel hadn’t. Flee or fight? Midnight Jack would have fought. But what of Daniel Montgomery, who finally had the woman he loved by his side again? Would he be so quick to risk her life? Then again, would he be such a fool as to risk the danger following them home?

  Unclenching his jaw, Daniel let out a long breath. “Not specifically. There is still too much unknown and you know I dislike going into situations unprepared. For now, I only ask that you and the others be on guard. Always. There is a chance that, unburdened by the skiffs and without the additional stop at the cay, Boucher might have made it here first. I doubt Garcia will give us problems. If he does, I’ll simply offer to pay for a new whore for him. Or three. Whatever he likes. He, fortunately, is a problem easily solved.”

  That comment brought a smile to Davis’s lips. “And Lord Wilds?”

  “I’ve no idea where the bloody fool is.” Daniel’s jaw clenched again. “But I have to assume that he is about somewhere, for I cannot imagine he remained behind with that shrew of an intended bride. Not with Katherine unaccounted for, certainly. I have no doubt Wilds departed Barbados the moment he learned the duchess was gone. With the ready coin at his disposal, he might have bought himself some goodwill here for a time. I would not put it past him.”

  “As have you,” Davis countered sharply. “Many of the men here served under you and know you to be a fair man. Do not discount that.”

  Daniel wouldn’t, but he could also not rely upon the past to preserve his future. That was too risky, even for a man like him.

  “When we arrive, I will go ashore and get the lay of things. Once I have determined the risks, I will decide how to proceed.” That was not much of a plan, but it was the best Daniel’s sex-muddled mind could manage for now.

  “Alone?” Davis asked.

  “Alone,” Daniel affirmed, already anticipating the other man’s unspoken question. “I’ll not put her or anyone else at risk. Not after all we have been through.”

  All of which would have been a wonderful plan had Katherine not had other ideas about the matter – and had she not threatened to sneak off the ship anyway if Daniel left her behind. Which was how Daniel found himself on the streets of Tortuga with Katherine by his side, though she was disguised as an unknown female pirate.

  Her hair had been bound up and was hidden beneath a hat. She wore the same undone shirt as she had earlier, leather breeches and boots as before, the Pirate’s Blood necklace still glittering around her throat like a beacon. At her left hip, she had strapped the dagger he had gifted her with and she also possessed a pouch with the smaller ceremonial daggers, all of which had since been sharpened to deadly points, slung around her shoulder. Daniel would have given her a bow as well, but carrying the arrows would have been awkward. Instead, the dulled, rusted saber once intended for The Night Hawk’s daughter hung at her other hip.

  Daniel still wasn’t certain how Katherine had discovered the saber in his quarters, for he could have sworn he had the precious object safely locked away, but now she seemed rather attached to the thing and he was loath to take it from her. Even dulled as it was, the saber could still be lethal if used properly – some
thing he had instructed Katherine on the other night as he told her the story behind the piece of weaponry.

  Why she carried it now he had no idea, but it looked right there, hanging from her hip, so he didn’t question. And really, it wasn’t as if she would have to use the thing.

  “Really, Jack, must you look so glum?” Katherine asked as they strolled past a tavern where the worst sort of filthy language could be heard coming from within. “All is well.”

  “Is it?” he snapped as yet another man ogled Katherine’s unbound breasts that were clearly visible beneath her unbuttoned shirt, the curve of her delectable inner breasts tempting all who passed by, along with just the barest hint of her still-swollen nipples. Apparently, too much suckling did that to a woman’s tits. “I do not see how.”

  “We are still alive, so there is that,” she offered easily. “Earlier in the day, I know you feared we might not be at this hour.”

  Daniel could only grumble in reply, though he supposed she had a point.

  The moment his foot touched down on the badly worn dock, Daniel and his crew had been set upon by Garcia’s men. Though no one had been killed, there had been a few minor injuries. Thankfully, much as Daniel anticipated, he had been able to buy off the other pirate and the man’s crew with the promise of as many whores as they liked. In fact, when Daniel had then handed over a sack of gold to ensure that Garcia and his men had the coin to purchase the favors of whomever they fancied, the other pirate crew turned downright jolly, making him wonder how much danger there had been from the Spaniard and his men in the first place.

  Knowing Garcia, likely not much. The man liked to fire his cannons from the deck of his ship and make a great deal of noise. He was not much for hand to hand combat or attacking other ships. As a pirate, he was rather abysmal, but he did do very well in securing riches from places that others dared not venture, including the native lands along the coast of South America. Therefore, he must have had some level of skill, though perhaps more so as a negotiator and not as a pirate.

  After the incident with Garcia, Daniel’s crew wasn’t approached by anyone, save those who usually scurried about a pirate ship once it put into port. Which made Daniel extremely suspicious. Reginald had not been killed for mere sport or out of a simple taste for blood. There was a reason for the man’s death. Therefore, Daniel would do well to be on his guard and to investigate safe passage away from here for both him and Katherine.

  While a large part of Daniel wished to simply gather up those loyal to him and make for England aboard The Darkness, the more rational part of his brain had finally taken hold and began making firmer plans. As long as both Boucher and Wilds remained threats, neither he nor Katherine would know any measure of peace. They would be forever looking over their shoulders in anticipation of danger. That was no way to live, as Daniel knew from experience.

  Therefore, he would need to deal with the men before he could even consider taking Katherine away to England. The only question remained as to how.

  “You are thinking too much, Jack,” Katherine teased quietly as they continued to walk the streets of the port, their weapons hanging by their sides. “Can we not just enjoy ourselves for a moment? Perhaps two? There will be plenty of time to deal with our realities later will there not?”

  “I suppose.” Something about this entire situation felt off to Daniel, but he supposed that perhaps it was only because he had Katherine by his side and she had always had such an unsettling effect on him. “But we must not allow ourselves to become careless.”

  She quirked an eyebrow at him and pulled him against the side of a building before arching into him. “Not even for this?”

  Katherine thrust her breasts forward and inwardly Daniel groaned. Ever since the night he had fucked her in front of his crew, Katherine had developed a taste for being watched as they fucked. Not all of the time, but on certain occasions when she was feeling a bit brazen. Now, apparently, was one of those times.

  “Duchess,” he warned, but kissed her anyway, their tongues tangling dangerously. He placed his hands on the wall behind her, bracketing her body with his.

  “I want this,” she argued when they broke the kiss for a moment. “I want you. I need to fuck you, Jack. I thought I’d lost you and now that I have you back, I want to make up for lost time.”

  “But, Duchess…” Whatever Daniel might have said was lost as Katherine kissed him again.

  “Would you rather we go to a brothel?” she asked. “Or back to your ship?”

  He didn’t want either of those things just now, even though they both might have been the wiser choice. Instead, he growled, deep in his throat and scraped his teeth down the slender column of her neck. “Fine. Then we fuck.”

  Though in his heart, this was not what Daniel wanted for Katherine. He didn’t want to take her against a rough brick wall in a filthy alley in a pirate’s haven. He wanted better for her. She deserved fine silks and soft bedding, not the stench of rotting garbage and the hardness of a dark alley.

  She had enjoyed those comforts once and would again. Soon. He hoped.

  He also had to keep reminding himself that this was necessary, and that kidnapping her was essential for her survival. If Wilds had managed to get his hand on her, then she would no doubt have been chained to a bed for the rest of her life, a prisoner waiting to be raped whenever the mood struck the notoriously sexually deviant lord. Had she remained with her uncle, she would have been married off to a man who would keep her prisoner in an entirely different manner.

  With him, Katherine was a prisoner in name only and only for a time. Daniel had to remember that. What he was doing was for their future.

  Lost in their kiss, it was a shock when Daniel felt his head snap back as someone grabbed him from behind.

  “Finally. I’ve been waiting for you nigh on three days now, you bastard.”

  Jack heard the accent in the man’s voice and knew immediately that Boucher had found them.

  “We took a detour,” Daniel grunted as he was slammed back against the wall, his eyes searching for Katherine.

  “Aye. I know that now,” the Frenchman spat furiously. “My man told me of your delay at Black Heart Cay.”

  Daniel’s body clenched in anger. “Goddard? Or Jennings?” He had to know who amongst his crew had betrayed him.

  “Both.” Boucher shrugged as if it was no concern that Daniel had spies amongst his crew. “The rest of your lot couldn’t be bought. Not for any price, fuck and damn their worthless hides. You have a very loyal crew, captain. More than you deserve.” Another shrug. “But you also have enemies. Fortunately for me.”

  Daniel narrowed his eyes, trying to peer into the darkness. He could hear other men rustling about, but he couldn’t yet tell how many there were. And there was another set of footsteps mixed in. Hesitant. Loud. As if they didn’t belong.

  “Go away, Boucher.” Daniel decided to try to reason with the man, even though he knew it would not work. “I’ve no quarrel with you, not even after you attacked my ship. Let us be done with this. It is not your fight.”

  The other pirate raised his sword and pointed it in the direction of Katherine. Daniel could feel her behind him. She was safe. For now.

  “Perhaps not, but I have a quarrel with her. She killed two of my men. She is my prisoner now. And my whore!”

  “Wait one moment! She is mine! I paid you to return her to me, you bloody ingrate! I didn’t say you could keep her, damn it all!”

  Daniel’s fists clenched at his sides. Lord Wilds. He should have known.

  That made the Frenchman laugh, distracting him from Daniel for a moment. “Yours? To what end, my lord?” He said the last two words rather mockingly. “To be your whore?”

  “Yes!” Lord Wilds emerged from the darkness, all puffed up with pride, though his normally impeccable clothing looked a bit worse for the wear. Apparently, he had not taken to pirate life as well as Katherine had.

  Boucher snickered wickedly. “And you thou
ght that I would simply hand her over to you without taking my share first?” The man was obviously enjoying himself far too much and gloating as if he hadn’t a care, something that Daniel hoped to use against him. Braggarts were often careless. “What do you take me for?”

  “A gentleman!” Wilds roared and Daniel could see from this interaction that these two men did not like each other in the least.

  “I am a pirate!” Boucher sneered as if that should have been obvious – which it was, at least to Daniel. “I am no gentleman. Nor do I owe you anything!”

  These two had probably banded together to retrieve Katherine, but that was as far as their association went. If all went well, they might kill each other. Or they might not. Either way, Daniel had the feeling that whatever happened in his alley would determine his future with Katherine one way or the other. They had not had a chance to take flight, so fight it would be.

  Though he would have preferred to have at least one other man by his side. Perhaps Davis or Hayes. Anyone but Katherine.

  “We shall sort it out later!” Wilds retorted as he drew his weapon, a finely crafted sword that looked more suitable for show than for battle. Given the way the raging lord was holding the weapon, it was evident that he didn’t know how to use it, but even an improperly wielded sword could kill if it struck vulnerable flesh. “Now hand her over to me!” That last part was addressed to Daniel.

  “No.” Daniel drew his cutlass and hoped that someone from his crew would hear the commotion and come running. Battles in dark alleys were not unusual here and sometimes drew a crowd. At the moment, he hoped this was one of those times. “She is mine and I will not yield her to either of you.”

  With a menacing hiss, Boucher drew his sword with another careless shrug, indicating that he thought Daniel no match for him. “As you like.”