by Meara Platt
“Bhrodi, hold on!” He felt her hand graze his as she frantically searched for him to drag him upward to safety.
But the grip of the tidal waters was deadly and overpowered him no matter how hard he fought against it. Still, he did not stop trying. As the violent swirls eased for just a moment, he managed to swim to the surface with several powerful thrusts. But he was dealing with a force far mightier than his own.
Ridiculously, his biggest regret had nothing to do with kings or battles or his responsibilities as a duke. No, indeed. His biggest regret was that he hadn’t given Prudence a proper kiss.
Or told her that he loved her.
Chapter Seven
“I’M NOT LETTING go of you,” Prudence repeated each time a wave crashed over Bhrodi’s big, unresponsive body. The tide’s ebbing force was frighteningly strong, but no force would ever be strong enough to drag him away from her. She would die before ever letting go of him.
Her teeth were chattering and she was shivering.
How long before she lost consciousness?
She refused to think about it. She would hold onto him even though her hands were too numb to feel his muscles and flesh. She would hold on tight, even though her arms were too numb to circle around his broad shoulders and hold his head above the water.
Shooting pains as sharp as lightning bolts now ran up and down her arms, but she ignored them. “Bhrodi. Oh, God. Bhrodi, don’t give up.”
She hoisted him up as far as she could, which was just enough to get his head above water. His eyes were closed, those beautiful silver orbs that had the power to penetrate her heart with their serpent gaze. His skin was cold and his lips were a dark shade of purple. “Bhrodi, I love you. You can’t give up.”
The water was a mix of red and blue swirls around his body which meant he was still bleeding.
Blood in the water was a dangerous thing. It attracted all manner of ocean predators.
She’d fight them off if any were drawn to this rocky perch.
She’d fight off every creature imaginable to save him.
But in the next moment, she realized that sea creatures were the least of their worries. The traitors who’d shot Bhrodi were now rowing toward them, no doubt having decided to search for them in order to make certain they were dead.
Of all the bad luck. Why had these men bothered? Wasn’t it more urgent for them to pack up their cache of weapons and escape? Was killing Bhrodi more important to them than saving their worthless hides?
“Bhrodi, tell me what to do,” she whispered, hoping he was conscious and could hear her.
There was little either of them could do even if he miraculously recovered his strength in time. So she did the only thing that made sense for her to do. She kissed him with all her heart and soul. She kissed his unresponsive purple lips and cradled him in her arms. “I love you.”
She didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she would fight until she drew her last breath. It wouldn’t be long now. The boat, propelled by a dozen oarsmen, was almost upon them.
Up close, the vessel loomed quite large. It was bigger than she’d realized. In addition to the oars, it had a mast to support one presently furled sail.
She held her head up in a gesture of defiance and gazed steadily at the men standing on its deck. She could make out the faces of several who were peering over the railing and coldly staring back at her.
She recognized one in particular.
Her heart sank.
“Oh, Bhrodi. You were right. He’s in it up to his eyeballs.”
Bhrodi’s eyes abruptly opened wide, alarming her. She gave a soft cry, at first thinking the worst and believing he’d passed away in her arms. But he was still breathing. She felt the steady rise and fall of his chest against her palm, although she was careful not to touch the bloody gash along his chest where he’d been shot. “Do you hear me?”
A low growl emanated from the back of his throat.
What was he doing? Did he know what he was doing?
Something long and slithery suddenly glided past them. Prudence gasped and tried to draw Bhrodi onto the ledge. But he resisted. It wasn’t that his body was unresponsive. He was purposely resisting. She couldn’t lift him out of harm’s way on her own. The creature circled back and glided over Bhrodi, its big, snake body grazing Bhrodi’s chest and arms before suddenly turning away from him and swimming toward the boat.
Prudence blinked her eyes and then blinked again, not believing what she was seeing. That creature appeared to grow in size, its long, round body swelling and elongating until it turned into something monstrous.
A sea serpent of myth.
The Serpent.
But that was merely the name given to the dukes of Pembroke because of their silver-gray, snake eyes and their fighting prowess. In battle, their strikes were lethal and quick.
The creature slid under the boat and gave it a thwack with its tail so that the keel no longer held the vessel steady and it began to rock violently. The men aboard, so smug a moment ago, now clutched the sides in panic. The creature slid under the boat again, then turned and slammed into it with all its might so that the boat was in danger of tipping over.
Then this serpent slowly turned its enormous body, like that of an ancient leviathan, and once again slammed against the boat with crushing force. It repeated the same action until men began to fall into the water and the boat slowly began to break apart. “Bhrodi, can you see what’s happening?”
“I see it, Pru.” His gaze never left the sea serpent as it destroyed the vessel until almost nothing was left of it but a massive, sinking deck and floating pieces of driftwood.
A moment later, Bhrodi doubled over as though in pain. But no, he wasn’t in pain and that alarmed her all the more. She couldn’t be certain because of the noise from the boat splitting open and the men’s screams as they fell into the water, but it sounded as though Bhrodi was still growling like a predator on the attack.
Was he controlling this serpent?
No, it was too ridiculous to consider.
More men fell into the water.
She heard a gut wrenching scream and suddenly the water around the sinking boat turned crimson. Another man screamed in abject fear and then abruptly stopped. Then another. More shrieks that suddenly turned silent. More ominous red swirls appeared in the water as more men disappeared.
“Bhrodi, make it stop.” She’d never seen anyone die before. She didn’t care that these very men would have killed her and Bhrodi. This was a horrible way to die.
Bhrodi finally managed to pull himself onto the ledge and then drew her into his arms. He held her head against his bleeding chest, his breaths heavy as he spoke words to try and calm her. She couldn’t make out what he was saying. The screams of those men were still echoing in her ears long after they’d met their watery deaths.
The boat was submerged now and all that remained visible was its swaying mast upon the glistening water.
Then, it too sank below the surface.
The sun broke through a few passing cloud and now shone down upon the blue expanse that was deceptively tranquil.
The last two men were swimming toward her, crying out to be saved. Sir Emrys de Courcy and his son, Dylan.
The serpent silently rose up behind them.
“No! Not Lucinda’s family.” Prudence held out her hand to Dylan.
A sudden wall of water slammed her back against the ledge.
Her head struck the rocks.
A blinding pain shot through her temples and she lost consciousness.
Chapter Eight
PRUDENCE AWOKE IN an unfamiliar bed.
She attempted to sit up, but fell back with a groan as what felt like a blacksmith’s hammer began to pound inside her head. She put a hand to her brow and realized that her hair was dry and splayed long and loose against her elegant pillows. These surroundings were too elegant for the Pertwee household. Where was she? And how was she not dead?
“Prude
nce, you’re finally awake.”
She recognized Bhrodi’s deep, rumbling voice that was filled with relief and turned to him. “You’re alive. Oh, Bhrodi. I was so afraid I’d lost you.” She struggled once more to sit up, this time successfully.
“I know, sweetheart. You had me worried, too,” he said, his voice still laden with relief, which explained why he’d used the unexpected endearment. Sweetheart. She liked the sound of it. He reached out to stroke her hair, as though needing to touch her and make certain she was real.
His touch felt very real and sent tingling waves of pleasure coursing through her body.
She glanced down at herself and noticed that she was clad only in a linen nightshirt. A man’s nightshirt that was clearly too big for her and kept sliding off her shoulders. Bhrodi’s, no doubt. But the impropriety of the situation paled in importance to the ordeal they’d just experienced. “How did I get here? Wherever here is. What happened? You were shot. Oh, and that serpent. I thought it was going to eat us.” She gasped. “Lucinda’s brother!”
His big, warm hand covered hers. “Dylan de Courcy is fine”
“He survived?”
Bhrodi nodded. “But his father didn’t. Let me have one of my maids bring up some broth and light refreshments for you, and then we’ll talk. There’s much I need to say to you. But first, you need to recover your strength.”
“I’m fine, Bhrodi. Truly. What time is it?” Her chamber was illuminated by candlelight, its luminescent glow appearing to make the light blue silk drapes and matching silk covers of her large, canopied bed shimmer like starlight. She glanced down at herself again, recognizing the significance of her wearing his nightclothes and wondering what had happened to her own wet garments. “Am I at Pembroke? Does my father know I’m safe?”
She gave him no time to answer before she began to ask more questions. “Has anyone looked at your injury? How bad is it? How were we saved?”
Bhrodi moved to sit on the bed beside her.
She ought to have said something, but didn’t. She needed him close, needed to be in his comforting embrace. Propriety no longer mattered. Her reputation was in ruins just by being here, no matter how innocently she’d arrived. Besides, he looked too magnificent to resist. He always did. Particularly now.
The bedchamber he’d placed her in was grand in furnishings and size, but it still felt divinely intimate because she was alone in here with Bhrodi. The door was closed and the drapes drawn. There was a warming fire in the hearth and candles were lit beside her night table. The mattress was the most comfortable she’d ever slept in. Despite the grandeur of her surroundings, she knew this was not his ducal bedchamber. The room was too feminine.
But she was definitely at Pembroke Hall.
She liked that Bhrodi had brought her here and was now sitting beside her. He was dressed casually in a crisp, white shirt that was open at the collar and black trousers that molded to his finely formed legs. He wore polished black boots, but hadn’t bothered to don a vest or cravat or jacket, for that matter. It struck her as odd that she could see no sign of bandages beneath his shirt. Nor did he appear to be weak or in pain. Had she not seen the streak of blood across his chest and known he was shot, she would never have believed he’d been injured.
Indeed, he looked splendid and powerful and dangerous.
His hair was dry and gleamed a magnificent ebony black. His eyes were gray, smoldering embers. His nicely formed lips twitched upward in a smile. “Any more questions?”
She laughed. “Lots, but I suppose I ought to allow you to answer the ones I’ve already asked. I don’t understand how we’re alive.”
He reached out and caressed her cheek. “Because of you, Prudence. You’re not only smart and beautiful, but you’re one of the bravest persons I’ve ever met.”
She gazed at him in confusion. “But I couldn’t hold on to you. That last wave hit me as I tried to pull Dylan toward us. It pushed me hard against the wall. I never reached Dylan and I let go of you when I passed out.”
“You held on to me long enough for me to recover my strength.”
“And you saved Dylan? I’m glad.” She had grown up with Dylan and Lucinda, and would never believe he had a nefarious bone in his body. Even at an age when brothers were supposed to be teasing and taunting their younger siblings, Dylan was always kind to Lucinda. That kindness had extended to her as well. “I’m truly grateful to you.”
Bhrodi sighed and ran a hand roughly across the nape of his neck. “It wasn’t me exactly, although I meant to save him. But not for any heroic purposes. I needed someone from that boat alive to name names and provide details.”
Prudence’s eyes widened as a wild thought struck her. “Are you suggesting that the serpent saved him?”
Bhrodi nodded. “For that reason, I’ve quietly confined Dylan to his home for the moment and not told anyone that he was on the boat. Death is the punishment for treason, and I know the Crown will sentence him to death if word gets out. So, if anyone asks… he was on the beach looking for his sister when he saw the boat approach us and ran to help.”
So many feelings flooded Prudence all at once that it took her a moment to get her words out. Her throat was tight and scratchy when she finally did. “The serpent might have saved him in the water, but you’re saving him now. I’m so thankful you believe in his innocence, but why are you doing this? I’m certain Dylan had no hand in this treachery because I’ve known him all my life. I expect that his father lured him onto the boat for the purpose of revealing his mad plan and having Dylan join him at his side to rule over a newly conquered Wales.”
Bhrodi laughed mirthlessly. “That’s exactly what Dylan said.”
“Because it’s the truth. But you don’t know Dylan at all. Why have you spared him? Is it because your serpent spared him?” She took a deep breath and asked the question that frightened her most. “Are you… are you the serpent?”
He shifted uncomfortably, but his assessing, silver gaze never left her face. “I was raised on tales of my ancestor, the Serpent, and the rumored power he held over a mythical beast that protected his lands. The Serpent’s blood runs in me, I can never deny it after all that has happened to us. For the first time in my life, I felt his power flow through my limbs and course through my blood. There is no doubt that the sea serpent and I are connected. But that creature is not an extension of me. I do not control it. Nor does it control me. We work together for the common goal of protecting Wales.”
She frowned. “But I heard you summon it with your low growl.”
“No, I was responding to its presence. Perhaps I was speaking to it and did not realize it. However, the serpent emerged from those watery depths and began to quietly circle that doomed boat long before we ever noticed its presence. I was not thinking of that creature until the moment it slithered across my chest. My only thought before and after it appeared, was to save you. Those men were traitors. They were traitors and they were coming to kill you. I couldn’t allow that. I meant to fight them off by myself and keep fighting until I took my last breath. No one was going to touch you while I had an ounce of life left in me. But if I truly did control the sea serpent, then I am not sorry that I commanded it to kill anyone who threatened your life.”
“And not yours?”
“I fight my own battles. I do not fear my own death.” He reached out and caressed her cheek. “Pru, do you not realize yet what you mean to me?”
His voice was soft and throaty as he spoke the last, its deep, sensual rumble shooting tingles through her body. “No, Bhrodi. You’ve never told me how you felt, other than to chase me off your lands.”
His grin simply melted her bones. “I’ll have to remedy that, won’t I?” He shifted his big body once more and leaned toward her. “I’m going to kiss you, Prudence. I’m going to kiss you as I’ve longed to kiss you since the first time I tried to toss you off my lands.”
Oh, heavens! Yes, she wanted his kiss so much. “I want you to know that you’re
the only man I’ve ever kissed. And the only man I ever wish to kiss for the rest of my life.”
“Are you proposing to me again, Prudence?”
She winced. “Did it sound like one? Have I just chased you away again because you don’t wish to marry me? I know there is a difference between desiring a kiss, which is merely lust, and desiring my heart, which would mean you love me. So, are you going to kiss me because you lust for me – I’m quite flattered, by the way – or because you love me as much as I love you?”
He nudged her onto her back so that she rested against the elegant, soft pillows, and then he placed his hands on either side of her body to gently trap her. His body was now inches from hers. His lips were poised temptingly close to her lips.
His silver gaze held the smoldering promise of magic to come. “The answer ought to be obvious,” he said in a husky whisper, closing his mouth over hers with what felt like lustful abandon. But as he deepened the kiss, deepening the pressure of his mouth against hers, it began to feel like something far more precious and everlasting.
She was in his embrace now, for his muscled arms had circled around her body and drawn her up against his hard chest at the same time he’d lowered his lips to hers. His kiss, the possessive crush of his mouth against hers, the embrace that held her captive in his arms, revealed he meant to claim her for his own. But how did one tell the difference between these powerful feelings of lust and love? How long would he want her to warm his bed? One night?
Or forever?
To her shame, she would accept whatever he offered. No, she wasn’t ashamed of her feelings. It wasn’t a matter of her being weak or helpless to resist his seductive advances, but a matter of remaining true to her heart.
She’d given her heart to him and could never give it to another.
She was his, whether he wanted her for one night or a good long while.
His tongue teased along the seam of her lips and gently forced them open to thrust inside in plundering conquest. His hands left a trail of heat wherever they roamed along her back, and when he slid one hand downward to catch the hem of her nightshirt and pull it up, her breath hitched. His palm felt warm and exciting against her bare skin as he eased the garment off her so that all of her was now shockingly bared to his view.