To Save a Fallen Angel (The Fallen Angels series Book 2)

by Julianna Hughes

  He laughed. She giggled. And then his pants gaped open. Peggy wrenched them downward. Neither one of them were laughing now. Their eyes locked in passionate combat as their chests rose and fell ponderously. No more words. No more laughter. Just the heady need to join with one another whirled between them.

  In the peripheral of her vision, Peggy saw his member jutting dangerously from the dark nest of hair at the top of his legs. It seemed to bounce and grow with each breath he took. Peggy blinked and wondered if they would really fit together. Gustav had not been nearly as large as Luc.

  He must have seen the consternation in her eyes. His face softened and his hand rose to gently caress her cheek.

  "Peggy," he entreated.

  She knew he had misunderstood her surprised look at the size of him as dismay. Or maybe as second thought. “Are you sure we’ll fit?” she asked.

  He laughed and his face relaxed. The irises of his eyes seemed to soften with a look of love, of adoration. And then Luc's eyes took on the mischievousness she was coming to love.

  “Aye, lassie, will fit,” he said, his Scottish burr stronger than ever.

  He turned and glanced at her bed. Her large, extremely comfortable bunk, miles away, on the other side of her cabin. Then his head dipped and he gazed perplexed at his pants, tangled around his legs and moored in place by his knee-high boots.

  When his eyes rose once again, she knew what was coming and began inching backward until her naked buttocks met the hard, immovable table behind her.

  "I'll never make it," he growled.

  Peggy smiled. "I don’t think I will either."

  His eyes dropped to the table behind her and a roguish grin split his face. She laughed as his hands settled around her waist, and he lifted her to the table's top. Peggy giggled. Luc growled as he prowled forward. The wood beneath her was hard and cold. The body pressed between her thighs was an inferno and hard as steel.

  Luc moved forward, his hands locked around her waist. He smiled down at her even as he pulled her back towards his waiting body.

  "I'll do this better the next time," he promised as his member prodded the opening of her sex.

  Peggy didn't think they were doing so badly this time. It was already a hundred times better than what she had experienced with Gustav. But she would hold him to the promise nonetheless. And then he entered her. Hesitantly at first. His face contorted with pleasure as he slid an inch into her and then froze.

  Peggy locked her ankles around his waist and drew him down. A groan ripped from his lips and then he withdrew. Grasping his forearms, she stayed his withdrawal and pulled her body towards his, fully seating his member inside of her. Exquisite pleasure rocketed through her, and her eyes closed of their own volition.

  The two of them remained locked together thusly for eons and then he moved. Waves of pleasure shot up and flooded her body and mind. Each thrust was even more pleasurable than the one before. And each withdrawal pulled from her a sigh, a moan, or a gasp of pleasure. The table shook and the floor creaked from the power of his thrusts. Suddenly, unexpectedly, her world exploded and her body convulsed around his.

  She cried his name. He answered with hers. And then with one more mighty thrust buried himself deep into her body and spilled his hot seed into her.

  Chapter 25

  He had killed her. Or maybe she had killed him. Either way, Luc was beyond being able to do anything about it. Beyond thinking. At least until he heard her moan. Slowly, he propped himself up on his elbows and gazed down at the most amazing woman he had ever met. The woman he intended to make his own. Just as soon as he figured how to talk her into it.

  Luc was under no illusions that what they had just done had changed her mind about marrying him. Not with this woman. She would fight him every step of the way. But eventually he would persevere. He hoped. But for now he needed to address a much more immediate and no less mundane issue. Like getting off her so she could breathe.

  He smiled at her, and she returned his smile shyly. A moment ago, she was an ancient Amazon warrior, or a Barbary pirate going after what she wanted. Now she seemed like a shy young woman.

  As carefully as he could, he inched his way backward until his boots were once again on the floor. Glancing down he felt a bit like a beast. He was still wearing his pants. Admittedly, they were hopelessly tangled around his legs by his knee-high boots.

  His eyes caught the movement of her legs, dangling off the end of the table and right in front of him. They too were still encased in cloth and sporting her footwear. He found the white silk hose and red shoes she wore very arousing.

  Peggy gracefully rose up and perched on the edge of the table as he slid into the chair he had occupied earlier. Their eyes met and simultaneously they burst into laughter.

  "That was. . ." she started but trailed off.

  "Yes, it was," he agreed and they both began to laugh heartily.

  When their laughter wound down, he watched as Peggy glanced to the left at her bed. His heart thudded and his cock stirred to life.

  "Maybe this time we can. . ." She nodded in the direction of her bed.

  Luc felt himself smile with all the love and admiration he had for this woman. She giggled as she slid toward him, her hand brushing one of the wine glasses they had set on the table earlier. He was surprised they had survived.

  Her hand closed around the one she had nearly upended and then she leaned over, enticingly, and seductively fingering the one he had discarded.

  Peggy slid forward until she was barely perched on the table, and her feet hung down between his outstretched legs. She raised hers toward him and waited for him to take it from her fingers.

  He hesitated and then her eyes dropped shyly once more, and he realized she needed time to recover. Both physically and emotionally. So he took the glass and held it aloft. Her smile returned. And so did her courage. She picked up his abandoned glass and raised it up to his.

  "To-" she hesitated, "-a marvelous adventure?"

  Luc smiled back. She still needed time to come to terms with their relationship. And hopefully where it was leading. He would give her time. He wanted her to make the choice on her own. He needed her to choose him. Luc didn't know why it was so important that she choose him of her own free will, but it was. So he would give her time.

  "To a night of passion, adventure, and exploration," he quibbled in response. And they both downed their glasses and simultaneously slammed them on the table upside down.

  The gray dawn of morning shone through the large windows at the aft of her cabin. They had made love three more times during the night. And when Peggy woke up, her body hurt in places she didn’t know she had. Actually, it was a rather painful ache in her thighs that had awakened her.

  The first thing Peggy had felt-aside from all the aches and pains-was the enveloping warmth of Luc wrapped around her body. She hadn’t wanted the night to end, so Peggy had snuggled into his embrace and closed her eyes to savor the feel of having him surrounding her.

  Her mind wandered back to ‘the talk’ last night, and a little of her contentment abated. He wanted to marry her. A part of her was elated at the prospect of being his wife. Another part was disheartened at the thought that he may have only proposed because he thought it was the proper thing to do. After all, she was a gently born lady. Even if she didn’t act like one. And Luc was an honorable gentleman.

  Peggy was also terrified that she just wanted to marry him because of her desire to have a home and family of her own. It was one of the reasons she had accepted Gustav’s proposal so quickly. Not that she hadn’t loved Gustav at the time. Or so she had thought. Now she knew what she felt for him was not real love, but infatuation.

  Gustav had been an incredibly charismatic and handsome man who knew how to flirt and make Peggy feel like a queen. But she realized after she had given him her innocence that although he admired and, in his words, esteemed her greatly, what he was more interested in was the life he could build with her inheritance
and the ships that would come to her upon the death of her Uncle Eddie.

  It had not changed her desire to marry him, but it had definitely opened her eyes to the realities of the man she had chosen to be her husband. A man that was driven to be successful, at any cost. No matter whom it hurt. In other words, the complete opposite of the man whose arms now encircled her.

  She nuzzled deeper into his embrace, wiggling her bottom until she felt the familiar stirring in his groin. His hand slid upward and covered her naked breasts, causing her nipple to harden.

  She moaned. He groaned. And then his body turned to stone.

  “How in the bleeding ‘ell did you get in here?” he snarled from above her head.

  Peggy’s head snapped around even as her hand reached for her cutlass that normally laid beside her in the bed. Her hand came up empty but then froze as her eyes alighted on the bosun and three other crewmen. Unlike Luc, she didn’t need to ask how the four men had gotten into her locked cabin. She could see the ventilation hatch standing wide open over their heads.

  “What are you doin’ in my cabin?” she demanded.

  Luc began to roll over and come up off the bed when Thibeau pointed his cutlass at Luc’s heart. “I think not, Capitaine Stoughton.

  Luc’s body froze half way up, still shielding her from the men. “What is the meanin’ of this?” Peggy demanded from behind Luc. It was frustrating that she could see the men, and infuriating that for the first time in years, she had not gone to bed with her cutlass and pistol at hand.

  “Mr. Malveaux has demanded yer presence on deck, capitaine,” the man said with a sneer in his voice, then added. “Yours, and Capitaine Stoughton.”

  “And you felt the need to break into my cabin to deliver the message?” Peggy demanded.

  “Oui, Capitaine. “Mr. Malveaux ordered that you be brought up straight away.

  Peggy wanted to groan. Obviously, Joc had lied to her. He still thought to treat her like a child. “Tell, Mr. Malveaux that he may join me in my cabin if he wants to talk to me,” Peggy said.

  She felt Luc’s body coil, and she moved to the side to see why. Thibeau had a malicious look on his face. And his cutlass was now at Luc’s throat.

  “I think not, Capitaine. He said we were to escort ye up to the main,” his eyes flickered over her bare shoulder and made Peggy feel dirty, “as ye were.”

  Luc’s body hummed with tension. She could not see his face, but she could feel the anger radiating off his body. His hand came up very slowly and pushed the tip of Thibeau’s sword away. He then covered Peggy’s nudity with the blanket, even as he slid from the bed, gloriously naked, to face the four men defiantly.

  “Get. Out.” Luc ordered.

  Thibeau snickered and Luc took a step toward the man. But Peggy had looked past the confrontation directly in front of her to the secondary threat behind the bosun. One of the men was holding hers and Luc’s weapons. The other two were aiming cocked pistols at Luc’s heart.

  “Luc, no!” she yelled.

  He stopped in his tracks but did not turn around. But she could see from the movements of his head that he too had seen the greater danger.

  Peggy slid to the edge of the bed and stood up, wrapping the blanket around her like a Roman toga. She wasn’t sure what this was about, but getting Luc killed over it wasn’t worth the fight she knew was brewing.

  Peggy grabbed his pants and then stepped up beside him. “Luc,” she said as she handed him his pants.

  He glanced at her with fire in his eyes. Then he eyed the pants like a venomous snake, before nodding his head and taking them from her.

  “Fine,” he hissed. “But when this is over.” He left the threat unsaid. Peggy saw the other three men blanch as the threat sunk in. Thibeau just sneered.

  Since the death of her uncle, Peggy had known that Thibeau wanted to be captain of the Coral Sea. Although fairly new to their crew, Thibeau had served on a couple of other pirate ships over the years. He probably believed that by embarrassing her in this way that he could be made captain of the Coral Sea.

  Once Luc had his pants on, one of the sailors removed the bar from the door then preceded them out. And with Thibeau and the other two behind them, they started for the companionway.

  When she cleared the hatchway, she heard Joc snarl, “Merde, what have ye done?” he demanded.

  Thibeau smirked from beside them. “What ye ordered, Mr. Malveaux. I have delivered them to ye as quickly as possible.”

  “I did not tell ye to. . .” Joc started but stopped. “Never mind, I will deal with this later.”

  She was about to tell him that she would deal with Thibeau’s insolence, but then she got a look at what was behind Joc.

  Peggy blinked her eyes, not believing what she was seeing. There, in front of the fo'c'sle, stood a number of penguins. Large, human penguins. One male and five females. Their hands bound in front of them, as if they were in prayer. Which Peggy firmly believed they were. Praying, more than likely, for the souls of the pirates that had obviously abducted them.

  Crucifixes protruded upward and rosary beads dangled from the bound hands of what were obviously five Catholic nuns. Or at least three of them were nuns. One was older and had the look Peggy had come to think of as the mother superior glare. Two of the women appeared to be Catholic nuns and two wore the lighter colors of the young novice Peggy had seen during her days at the Catholic school Joc had forced her to attend.

  A Bible, or prayer book, was clasped precariously in the hands of the man. A Catholic priest from the looks of him. Snow white hair capped his head, a beard covered his face, and a large shiny crucifix hung from a red rope on his side. A fierce scowl marred his face and was directed solely on her and Luc. His hostility didn't make sense as she and Luc had not been the ones to abduct them.

  “Oh bloody ‘ell,” Luc whispered beside her.

  Without looking at him, she said aside to him, “I’m going to kill my papa.”

  “You may want to kill me instead,” he said back to her.

  Peggy turned and gazed up at Luc. He had a strange, guilty look on his face. “I think I might be responsible for this debacle,” he said.

  Peggy’s eyebrows snapped together. “How are you responsible for this insanity?”

  He swallowed hard and turned to her. “Because I might have mentioned to your papa last night that I asked you to marry me.”

  Peggy jerked back. “When?”

  He looked over her head and wet his lips. “I might have slipped out in the middle of the night for some fresh water. And I might have bumped into your papa, and then asked him for your hand in marriage.”

  “You asked Joc for permission to marry me?” she demanded.

  He grimaced and shrugged his shoulders. “It seemed the gentlemanly thing to do,” he said.

  “Merde!” she hissed. “I never said I would marry you.”

  Luc grimaced again. “Aye, I know. But I was hopin’ you would. And last night, Joc was there, I was there, and it just kind of came up while we were talking.”

  Peggy glared at Luc, then turned to bestow the same look on Joc. “Papa?”

  “What?” Joc said in a blasé tone. “Last night, ye tell me ye want to marry ‘em. Then ‘e comes, and tells me ‘e wants to marry ye. And I think, it is perfect, no? We are in Portugal. There eez a monastery just outside zee city, with a priest. And I think, why wait?”

  “Maybe because I haven’t said yes . . . yet,” Peggy said.

  Joc raised an eyebrow and Luc cleared his throat beside her. She turned to Luc and glared. But he just dropped to one knee and took her hand in his.

  “Margaret Renée Hennessey, I am in love with you and would love to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  Peggy pull away, but she scanned the faces of the men gathered on the decks of the Coral Sea. These men were her family. They had been for more than ten years. She then looked at the face of her papa. He was trying to do the right thing for her by giving her what she had told
him she wanted.

  “And if I stay on the Coral Sea as her captain?” she asked without looking at Luc.

  “Then I will be your first mate,” Luc immediately replied.

  Her heart soared and she turned to the hopeful face of her lover. “And if I decide to give up being a pirate and want a home of my own?”

  He smiled up at her. “Then I’ll take you to the estate I have in Scotland.”

  Peggy stared silently down at him. Was she really thinking about marrying him? Right now? And in front of the entire crew? Doing reckless and impulsive things had been the hallmark of her life for the last ten years. It was what made her such a good thief. And maybe it had just gotten her the dream that she had held to her heart for so long.

  “Will you? Will you make me the happiest man alive?” Luc asked.

  She took a deep breath, then nodded. She might be foolish and insane. Especially with the uncertainty of why Chevalier or Guerrant had insisted on Captain Peri being present at the ransom exchange. But Peggy wanted this chance at her dream. “Yes, Lucien, I will marry you.”

  Chapter 26

  A pirate’s wedding. It was what Joc had declared when she had nodded her head. Apparently, Luc had asked Joc what kind of wedding Peggy would like, and Joc had told him that his daughter had always wanted a pirate’s wedding. Consequently, Joc had arranged this surprise ceremony for them. And sent an armed detail to her cabin to escort her to the wedding. From the look on Joc’s face when Thibeau had marched her and Luc up the companionway, Thibeau had not been told to bring her up, ‘as is’. So Thibeau had lied about that, and she would deal with him later.

  Peggy hadn’t had the heart to tell Joc that a pirate’s wedding wasn’t her dream, it had always been Eddie’s dream. And in a way, having the ceremony onboard the Coral Sea, with the crew present, seemed like a perfect tribute to her beloved uncle. So she decided to not ruin the wedding by complaining about the way it was being done.