Page 79 of The Pirate and the Pagan
She became impatient with herself. Whatever was the matter with her, shedding tears over a man who simply wasn’t worth it? She had twenty thousand pounds to spend as she pleased and she would again enjoy the witty company of Auntie Lil. What more could she ask? She knew if she was to survive, she must not let herself keep reliving the past. She must wear it like a loose garment, take it off, and let it drop.
Every hour of the day found her climbing to the widow’s walk to see if she could glimpse the Phantom, but each time she was disappointed. Perhaps he wouldn’t come to her rescue, perhaps now that he had had his way with her he would discard her as his brother had.
She came down from the widow’s walk around midnight. She hadn’t expected to see the ship in the dark, but the smallest light in its rigging would have been visible. She closed the French doors which led out to the small balcony and with a troubled heart began to undress for bed. A light tapping on the windowpane set her heart thudding. She threw on her red velvet bed gown and prayed that somehow Spider had managed to again escape.
The tall, black-clad figure of Rory Helford stepped into her bedchamber, the streak of white hair at his temple identifying him immediately even in the dim light.
“Oh, Rory, I’ve been watching for you all day. I had given up hope.”
He grinned at her. “I do my very best work under cover of night.”
“Rory, I have no one else to turn to. Will you take me to London?”
He laughed with delight, lifted her in his arms, and swung her about. “At our last meeting I told you it was inevitable that you would sail with me.” His teeth nipped her ear and he whispered, “Can’t I persuade you to sail to the Baltic Sea or the sunny Mediterranean?”
As she kicked, her bed gown fell open to reveal her lovely slim legs. “Put me down this instant, Rory. I have to get to London because my young brother has been sent to Newgate Prison.”
He suddenly noticed all her baggage stacked and waiting.
“Oh, everything is in such a bloody, rotten mess,” she wailed. “I sent my brother Spencer to London to pay off the mortgage, but it seems your brother was one step ahead of us. He acquired our property for himself. When my brother returned by ship to Falmouth, he was followed to Roseland. My husband commands a swine called Oswald. When he stripped and searched my brother, he naturally found the money on him. He swore he was just taking him in for questioning, but when he didn’t return, I went to Falmouth and discovered they’d sent him to Newgate. Ruark was actually there in Falmouth. How could he have let it happen? I would have trusted him with my life once. How could I possibly be such a poor judge of character?”
Reluctantly Rory set her on her own two feet. “You have no trouble reading me like a book.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
He indicated the mountain of luggage. “You were very sure I would come for you, my beauty.”
“No, to be truthful I thought you too had loved me and left me.”
“Cat, my darling, if you think our brief encounters can be called loving, you have an awful lot to learn.”
His outrageous words did wicked things to her body as she remembered the delicious forbidden wild feelings his mouth on her body had evoked. “Rory, I swore I wouldn’t commit further sins with you,” she cried.
His mouth curved into a hungry, sensual smile. “Then you’ll have to unswear it, won’t you? You’ll have to come now under cover of darkness, but we won’t sail until the morning tide. …” His voice trailed away; implicit in what he said was what would happen between.
“You intend to take me like a piece of pirate booty, don’t you?” she demanded.
He was so tall she had to tip her head back to look up at him. In that moment he was the most wickedly desirable man she had ever seen. He reached out and took her shoulders between his powerful hands, but held her at arm’s length so he could look deeply into her eyes. “Cat, don’t be a hypocrite. Whenever we are within a hundred yards of each other, our bodies scream with desire. You know that if you put out your fingers to touch me, I am hard as marble … and I know if I put out my fingers to touch you I would find you wet and hot for me. We are two of a kind … made for each other. We fit together perfectly, magically, as a sheath fits the sword for which it was designed.”
He lowered his head and took her mouth. It was an act of dominance and submission, each exulting in their chosen role. “Let there always be truth between us,” he murmured against her lips.
“I’m finished with Ruark,” she admitted.
“I love you, Cat,” he vowed.
“I’ll carry everything outside and send two of my crew for your trunks. Are you ready?” he asked her quizzically.
She threw her gray cloak over her bed gown, picked up the jewel case which always held her rubies, and nodded.
“Most women wouldn’t give up Helford Hall and a title so easily. It seems you’re ready to leave without a backward glance.”
“Things aren’t important to me, Rory. It’s people who matter. I’ll miss Ebony, but he and the pony will be well taken care of in the Helford stables.”
Much to her surprise, Mr. Burke appeared to help Rory carry her trunks outside. She shook his hand warmly and thanked him for everything he’d done for her, then she bade him goodbye.
“It’s not goodbye, my lady, it’s only au revoir. May the road rise with you, and the wind be ever at your back, and may the Lord hold you in the hollow of his hand.”
The Phantom was not hidden up the Helford River but rode the low tide off the beach below the hall. When they were safely aboard, he looked down at her and said, “You know your way to my cabin.”
