My Wicked Pirate. Rona Sharon
we might see each other yet again,” he spoke her thoughts, “perhaps in a future ball in France, but I doubt it. Louis is rather cross with me at the moment for stealing his frigates, and you are a soon-to-be-married dame, busy with producing blond toddlers.”
“You say this as if you care,” she mumbled stiffly, her eyes on the approaching ship.
“You say this as if you care.” His lips scalded the delicate slope of her nape. “Do you?”
Yes. She shut her eyes. Pulling her wobbly self together, she turned to face him. The heat in his eyes unhinged her. “You’re off to fight the French, then.”
He was all suave Italian charm again. “Does a valiant soldier merit a friendly adieu?”
Inadvertently she glimpsed at his mouth. “I was not aware that we were friends.”
Eros pulled her to him. “I have Santo Giorgio to watch over me, but no ragazza to shed her tears. Will you think of me from time to time, Amore? Shed a tear or two?”
“You have Gelsomina to shed tears for you,” she retorted bitingly.
“It won’t be the same.” He stared at her mouth, his eyes heavy with desire. Her head fell back. One last parting kiss, she thought, waiting for the torrid taste of his mouth…
“Ship on bowsprit, Captain!” a voice hollered from the forecastle.
“Trim the sails!” Eros called over his shoulder, activating a disciplined commotion. Sailors climbed the ropes to furl the sails. Grappling hooks flew from one warship to another, bringing the vessels closer together. Alanis glanced at the warship approaching starboard. She wished she could stop time for one crazy moment, for one last parting kiss, but with Lucas came reality.
Eros looked grim. “Duty calls, my beauty.” Sighing, he released her and marched off. His lionlike voice carried on the breeze as he fired orders, his strides establishing an air of authority.
Feeling cheated, Alanis took position at starboard where she secured a vantage view of the scene. It was not long before she spotted Lucas standing at the railing of the Dandelion. He was changed, she thought. The priggish lord was transformed into a dashing commander.
“Good God, Alis, it is you!” His green eyes expanded in a newly tanned face. “What the deuce are you doing here? Are you all right? Were you ill treated in any way?”
She had hoped for a warmer reunion. She sensed a large, annoyance-radiating presence at her back, and a crisp voice stated, “She was treated exceptionally well.”
Alanis smiled. Eros sounded a little bit jealous. Deciding to tweak his temper, she called out cheerfully, “Hello, Lucas! I’ve come to offer diversions and support. I had the misfortune to be taken from my ship, but I’m in perfect form and dreadfully bored. And you are?”
“Splendid, but I do not much appreciate your coming here. It’s wartime and the High Seas are polluted with scavengers.” He shot the man at her back an intimidating glare. “I am shocked Dellamore allowed you this harebrained adventure. Kingston is hardly London, you know.”
“Enough with the tear-jerking drama,” Eros barked frostily and slammed both hands on the railing on either side of her. “Silverlake, we have business to attend to.”
Alanis stiffened. She was facing her fiancé, yet every nerve in her body responded to Eros’s closeness. She felt his jaw brushing her temple, felt his heat permeating her bloodstream.
“Ciao pezzo di ragazzo!” A ravishing hoyden in purple breeches and boots came to stand beside Lucas, her jet curls swelling, her blue eyes glowing. She threw Eros an orange and a kiss.
“Gelsomina!” Eros caught her gift and plunged into a torrential monologue in fluid Italian. Alanis studied his profile; he radiated such joy upon seeing this odd female. She knew he had come to save his mistress, but nothing had prepared her for this. The cad paid advances to her while he was in love with another, and she was brainless enough to fall for his dubious charms.
“Jasmine, I told you to stay below deck!” Lucas berated the woman at his side.
Ignoring him, she greeted Eros’s men. Giovanni laughed and blew her a kiss.
“Silverlake, I have a proposition for you,” Eros shouted. “Your fiancée for Jasmine. You’ll never get a better deal than this.”
“I do not wheel and deal with cutthroats, Viper. I have the authority to seize your ship and hang you, but if you wish to surrender, I might be persuaded to spare your Italian arse!”
Eros boomed with laughter. “Sorry to disappoint you, clown, but I never had a sovereign over my head before. I most certainly am not about to embrace one now.”
“You will surrender, nonetheless. If not, you and your cronies will meet the scaffold!”
Eros curled an arm around Alanis’s waist, making her catch her breath. “If this beautiful creature means anything to you, you’ll release Jasmine right now. Or I shall be tempted to keep your delectable fiancée for myself and return for Jasmine in a less friendly advent.”
Lucas lost his composure. “Let her go, Viper, or you’ll pay dearly for this!”
“You obviously know of me, so you must also know that I do not make idle threats. Lady Alanis hasn’t been harmed in any way, but if you insist on dismissing my offer, neither you nor her family will see her ever again. Believe me when I say that delightful thoughts cross my mind at the prospect.” And in a flint-chipping voice he added, “Let Jasmine walk the plank, or you’ll spend the rest of your life scouring the markets of the Orient for your golden bride.”
Stabbing his arm with her nails, Alanis glared up at his stern face. “How dare you threaten me with slavery.” And Lucas—she glowered at him—the blockhead was taking his principle of not negotiating with pirates to the bitter end. Her bitter end! She was not so dense she did not twig what was afoot here: He fancied the Italian tart! “My grandfather will slay you for this,” she hissed, and glowered at Eros again. “He’ll slay you as well!”
Unperturbed by her attack, Eros caught her wrist and wrapped her more firmly in his arms. “I wonder, Englishman, what would the Duke of Dellamore make of your lack of cooperation? I fail to see a brilliant office in your future. If I were you, I wouldn’t antagonize Anne’s advisor.”
Lucas crimsoned. “Bloody bastard! I won’t be blackmailed by the likes of you! If you do not release Lady Alanis this instant, you’ll be hounded by Her Majesty’s Fleet until you—”
“You’ll have to do better than this,” Eros cut him short. “I’m already pursued by every navy on the High Seas. Surely you don’t expect me to balk at your uninspired threat.”
Exasperated, Alanis called, “Let him have his girl and be done with it, Lucas!” If she didn’t put her foot down, the two oafs were likely to stand there all day, exchanging threats.
“There’s a sensible advice,” Eros remarked. He smiled at her. “Desperate to escape me?”
“Do not even presume to think I’m on your side, villain. Now let go!” She tried to pry his steely arms off of her, but Eros only squeezed tighter, seeming to enjoy their embraced position.
“You’re an overeager pup, Silverlake,” he shouted, “unschooled in the ways of the world. I could let my entire crew taste this precious morsel, and you’d still be obliged to recover her. I’m offering you the sweeter deal. Grab it with both hands.”
Lucas seethed. “I won’t cower under your bloodstained flag! I won’t relinquish Jasmine!”
The English soldiers seemed as amazed as the pirates, but not as aghast as Alanis. “Lucas!” She choked, mortified. She looked at Eros. The empathy in his eyes made her feel worse. That he should pity her was the worst humiliation.
He ran a finger beneath her eye and stared at the tears he’d collected. Fury lit his eyes.