The Pirate Lord

by Vanda Vadas

  He’d said duty was his master. That he must survey the entire island, check on the people’s welfare and address the concerns of running the plantation. Why couldn’t he have taken her with him? Unless, of course, he danced attendance on someone else.

  The woman at the beach.

  No point moping about the house awaiting his return. Perhaps later this afternoon she’d find some means to burn off her gnawing frustration.

  She whirled away from the looking glass and descended the staircase, ready to accompany Kamania to the local market.

  They each carried an empty woven basket and trod a wide, well-worn dirt path into the township. Kamania exchanged brief conversation with people who passed them along the way. Eloise didn’t need to understand their native language in order to interpret the meaning behind a happy smile, although she was curious about the nods and knowing glances in her direction.

  ‘Kamania, what is it they say about me?’ she asked.

  ‘Don’t you be worryin’ sweet child,’ she assured her. ‘It be all good. Nothin’ bad.’

  ‘If it’s all good, then why keep it from me?’

  Kamania giggled as if she were a shy young girl. ‘They be wantin’ to know who you are, dat’s all.’

  ‘And what do you tell them?’

  ‘Exactly what the captin said. You be his guest.’

  ‘You mean his whore!’

  Kamania stopped dead in her tracks and dropped her basket. She latched onto Eloise’s arms and gave her a shake. ‘You be nothin’ like dem women in town! You be a lady. Do you hear?’

  It was exactly what Eloise needed to hear. A reminder of who she once was, not the lesser person she’d started to believe she’d become. For all her strength and resilience, Kamania’s kind words had caused something inside Eloise to weaken and snap. She threw her arms around the housekeeper and, on a single sob, said, ‘Thank you.’

  Kamania squeezed Eloise to her ample bosom. ‘You be the captin’s treasure, is what I think. So precious he won’t let you go. If he does, Kamania will deal with him.’

  Eloise laughed at the sobering threat. She pulled gently free of their embrace and swiped at a tear. ‘I think you’re the one person he does fear.’

  ‘Between you and me, child, I think you be right. Come now, these baskets won’t fill themselves.’

  Kamania led the way forwards. Upon entering the crowded main street of the market place, she said, ‘Stay close.’

  They walked among the hubbub of people, children and simply erected stalls. Voices cried out in the name of selling their wares.

  Kamania busied herself filling the baskets with yams, eddoes, potatoes, pumpkins and cassava. She eyed off thick bunches of bananas hung from hooks slung over a rail.

  Eloise caught the pungent scent of fish and heard chickens squawk in cages nearby. Vendors waved their hands over salted meat to keep the buzzing flies at bay.

  She stood to one side of a stall when her basket was full, then set it on the ground while Kamania picked through a tray of woody mushrooms. Eloise straightened, and screamed.

  There, dangling from rope threaded in the mouth and out the gills, and mere inches from her face, were two black, slippery eels. The hand holding the lifeless catch whipped aside to reveal a familiar tooth-gapped grin.

  ‘Cook!’ Eloise chastised, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’

  Through continuous bouts of laughter, he said, ‘Ah, my dear. Thought you might like a fresh sample of what’s to fill your plate when the Justice carries you home.’

  Eloise turned up her nose. ‘No, thank you!’

  ‘Then what about this?’ In his other hand, Cook held up a pig’s head. ‘Perfect size for my pot.’

  Eloise waved him back. ‘Take it away!’

  Kamania intervened to cuff him on the ear. ‘Shoo! Or I’ll cook your head in a pot!’

  The man scurried off as quickly as he was told.

  ‘Kamania, is there no man who doesn’t fear you?’ asked Eloise.

  ‘My husband.’ She raised her eyes to the heavens. ‘Dats why he don’t fear me. I can’t reach him up there.’

  Only when the housekeeper followed her words with a wide smile, did Eloise let a bubble of laughter escape.

  With their shopping complete, the women agreed to separate for a short while. Kamania plunged into conversation with friends and kept an eye on their baskets.

  Eloise strolled at leisure along the streets, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of a world completely foreign to her own. She turned a corner, and then another, walking where a row of wooden structures were built on solid stone foundations.

  One such building drew her interest. She could hear laughter and merriment and so paused inside the entrance to gaze on in at the gaudy interior. Men were seated at tables and bars, drink in hand. Women in various states of undress, tended them. Couples disappeared behind doors on the upper level, while others, some still scantily dressed, exited. Eloise need look no further to know exactly what she’d stumbled upon.

  ‘You shouldn’t be here, miss.’ A burly man guided her swiftly out the door and back onto the street.

  Eloise recognised him as one of Zach’s men.

  ‘Wait!’ The female voice came from inside.

  Eloise turned to see who appeared in the doorway. The woman from the beach. She looked closer in age to Zach. A magenta dress matched her painted lips. Dark hair fell in waves over breasts pushed high beneath her bodice.

  ‘Well, well.’ Her smile lacked sincerity. ‘So this is who the captain has taken under his wing? Lost your way, love?’ She gestured inside the room. ‘Or were you looking to jump on board my ship? I’m sure you’d be a favourite with this crew.’

  Before Eloise could open her mouth to speak, the man at her elbow whisked her away along unfamiliar backstreets and returned her to the heart of the market place.

  ‘Don’t pay Letitia no mind,’ he said. ‘The captain don’t visit her no more. Not since –’

  ‘Over here, child! I been lookin’ for you.’

  Eloise whipped her head around to see Kamania waving her down. When she turned to thank Zach’s man, he’d gone, swallowed up by the crowd.

  She did her best to engage in the housekeeper’s vibrant chatter on the way home instead of thinking about her encounter with the madam of the brothel. Letitia. Jealousy reared its ugly head no matter how Eloise justified the reasons for Zach seeking the services of such a woman.

  A man like Zach, who’d sworn a vow of vengeance, avoided complicated relationships. That, she knew first hand. What was complicated about sex with a prostitute, unless he’d developed feelings for Letitia. If only his man had finished his sentence. The captain don’t visit her no more. Not since –

  Not since what?

  ‘You been awful quiet, child.’

  They’d reach the drive leading to the house. ‘Yes, I’m sorry.’

  ‘Perhaps he might cheer you up.’

  Eloise followed Kamania’s gaze in the direction of the grounds to the right of the house. Her heart lodged in her throat.

  Zach approached them astride a magnificent grey stallion. Barefooted, he wore his customary dark breeches and an open-necked shirt. Unbound, collar-length hair shone blue-black under the brilliant mid-morning sun. He greeted them with a relaxed smile. ‘Eloise, it’s time we explored the island.’

  The amiable tone of his voice lifted her like a bird on the breeze. He looked the picture of strength and authority. Was it the heat in his eyes that scorched her insides, or had the heat of the day dramatically increased in a heartbeat?

  ‘Come,’ he beckoned.

  Stubborn pride held her feet firmly in place. ‘You abandon me, and then expect me to jump when you call?’

  ‘There was much that required my attention. I’ve condensed what should have taken me four days into the two and a half.’

  ‘And your nights?’

  He raised and lowered a brow. Amusement lifted his lips into a smile. ‘Let’s not qua
rrel. I wish to show you a piece of this extraordinary island.’

  Kamania tipped Eloise with a secretive wink and grin, and took both baskets in hand. ‘If anybody be wantin’ me I’ll be in the kitchen.’

  Eloise let her gaze follow the housekeeper’s hurried departure, then raised her chin at Zach. ‘You avoid my question.’

  ‘Ride with me and I’ll confess where I’ve spent every minute of every day. And night.’ His eyes still held a hint of humour.

  ‘I’m hardly dressed for the occasion,’ she sniffed.

  He indicated his own attire. ‘That makes two of us. My horse is without saddle, only a blanket for padding. Best for you to sit with your legs astride.’

  Her mouth fell open. ‘And expose my legs?’

  ‘It wouldn’t be the first time,’ he teased.

  Her cheeks grew warmer than the day was hot.

  He looked at her in earnest. ‘You need not abide by the parameters English society dictates here. This island begs you discard all inhibition.’

  He was right. What more was there to lose? She, Lady Eloise Blakely, had already sustained an irreversible fall from grace. She could sink no lower in the eyes of her peers. She was completely ruined in every sense of the word.

  Pride be damned. Zach had come back to her. She would not let this moment pass, nor let him go. Their differences aside, she found contentment in his arms as he lifted and settled her on the horse. He drew her against his chest and urged the elegant animal forwards.

  She recalled the day he’d abducted her. Never would she have thought then, as she did now, to revel in his touch, in his heat at her back, and the rhythmic movement of their bodies in time with the horse’s gait.

  They approached the mountain and made a steady ascent. Eloise smoothed her hand along the animal’s long, thick mane. It responded with a soft whicker. ‘He is an Andalusian?’

  ‘Yes. A reward from a Spanish prize in my days as a privateer.’

  She bit back the urge to revisit and discuss his past and his future. Instead, she set confrontation aside and prepared to appreciate this time spent together.

  Dense vegetation enshrouded them. The temperature had dropped markedly, a welcome respite to the oppressive heat and humidity in the valley below.

  A cathedral of giant rainforest trees reached skyward to form a thick canopy. The breeze set foliage in motion. Sunlight refracted and filtered through to the ground below. Moisture in the air, and tiny beads of water coating the lush greenery, remained as evidence of a recent, light rain.

  Eloise’s gaze fell to the rugged damp earth. The soil changed dramatically in places, from a rich heavy brown to an oxidised iron-grey or orange.

  Raucous noise overhead drew their attention.

  ‘See there,’ pointed Zach. ‘On that bois pin tree. Sisserou parrots. They protest our intrusion into their territory.’

  Eloise watched in awe. The parrots ceased their outburst in favour of nosing black, hooked beaks among large white blooms to feed on the seed.

  Zach reined in his horse, dismounted and tethered it to a tree. He assisted Eloise down, took her hand, and picked his way through the plant life along a very narrow foot trail.

  The faint sound of gurgling water grew gradually louder. They came upon a stream and followed its meandering course, in the opposite direction to which it flowed. Frogs croaked. Insects skimmed the water’s surface. A small green lizard basked in a patch of sunlight on a rock, while a blue-headed hummingbird flew over their heads and took refuge in a tree.

  Zach stepped into a clearing, momentarily blocking her view. ‘I give you Mercy Island’s hidden natural treasure.’ He moved aside and ushered Eloise forwards.

  She gaped, speechless, moved by what she saw. An imposing concave wall of volcanic rock rose from the ground like a giant oyster shell prised open to stand at right angles to the earth. Moss, lichen and leafy creeping vines covered the craggy surface.

  In lieu of a pearl, the jewel cradled in the base of the volcanic shell was a wide body of water. It sparkled with all the hues of a precious emerald under the late-morning sun.

  A waterfall gushed from a crack high up in the rock. It fell directly into the pool below, continuously replenishing the water that escaped over the uneven lip of rocks to feed the stream they’d followed.

  Eloise found her voice to whisper, ‘It’s beautiful.’

  ‘You’re beautiful.’

  She turned, and gasped. Zach stood naked, virile, aroused. Her heart took off at a gallop. Blood thrummed in her veins. His clothes lay in a pile at his feet. She needed little encouragement to follow suit, and took his hand to wade into the middle of the waist-deep pool.

  Fire leaped in her core when he drew her close in an intimate embrace. Wet heat had nothing to do with the water lapping between her thighs. She hungered for him like never before.

  Zach’s eyes shone dark with desire. In them she read the truth of his need for her. He bent to sensuously lick moisture from her lips, to drop kisses on her face and neck. ‘Sweet Eloise,’ he murmured. ‘What is this power you wield over me?’

  She had no answer other than to press her mouth hard against his. His touch, his scent, everything about him played havoc with her senses. More than that, she struggled to see her way clear of whatever it was that blinded her heart.

  Strong hands cupped her bottom and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her hands at his back. He positioned the tip of his arousal at her centre. On a slow, agonisingly delirious slide, she bore down and took the full length of him inside her.

  She tipped her head back, exposing her throat to his lips, vaguely aware of him carrying her to another part of the rock pool. There, while still standing, he gently eased her on her back atop the water’s surface. One supporting hand kept her afloat, the other held her hip firm against his groin.

  Eloise closed her eyes, let her arms float either side of her and gave herself up to sensation and her lover. He withdrew, slowly, almost completely, only to fill her in a single thrust. She moaned his name and clenched her thighs hard and tight around his waist.

  Hips gyrated, intensifying the torment of potent need. His. Hers.

  Zach’s groans were those of a man whose self-control was on the brink of collapse.

  Another few thrusts and the fog around her heart stirred, shifted. He buried himself deep inside her and held still, joined as one. A perfect fit. As natural as the environment around them.

  On one last, deep thrust, mutual cries of pleasure played counterpoint to the rumble of the waterfall pounding the rock pool’s surface.

  Eloise dragged her eyelids open to see blue sky above, the cooling spray of water swirling in the air, and lush greenery in her peripheral vision. In her final throb of release, the fog evaporated from her heart. She saw, with clarity, what had caused it to swell.

  A warning echoed in her head. Don’t go and git yourself drowned now. I won’t be savin’ you.

  Too late. No one could save her now. She sank, as if weighted with stones, drowning in her love for Zach.

  Zach’s chest rose with soul-deep joy.

  He gathered Eloise in his arms and clutched her close. Water sluiced down spent, heated bodies. He’d mistakenly thought, in their coupling, that he’d possessed her. In truth, she’d possessed him. Completely. Without question.

  The realisation put him on alert like a flag hoisted to signal battle.

  When had he become so pitifully vulnerable to her touch? How much more of him would she own if he were to bury himself inside her again? And after that? How long before she chipped away what he’d spent years constructing?

  He understood hatred and loathing, revenge and retaliation. These were the bricks and mortar of his will to live. To follow a plan, lay waste his shame and restore self-respect. Overcome disgrace and reinstate his honour.

  Intimacy with Eloise caused him to lose sight of the one deed that was sure to set him morally free. Yielding to her body and his baser instincts threaten
ed everything he’d worked for since the day of the fire.

  She had become his weakness.

  Step away. He couldn’t. Not when she rubbed her body against him the way she did now. She stepped slowly around him to stand with her breasts pressed against his back. Small palms flattened on his shoulder blades. He twitched beneath soft, warm lips nipping sensitive scar tissue. He shuddered when the velvety smoothness of her tongue traced and licked moisture from the puckered, jagged lines.

  That she should pay reverent homage to his disfigured appearance, humbled Zach to the point of imploding. He expelled a breath.

  A handful of dark shadows leached from his heart. Eloise and her goodness crept in, nourishing the seed she’d stamped there.

  Like the touch of a silk scarf, her slender fingers skimmed down his back, around his waist and followed south the line of body hair to where he’d grown iron-hard once more. She took him in her hand, bold and firm.

  Zach sucked in a deep, debilitating breath and forced it from his lungs on a slow uneven hiss. His throat moved on a dry swallow. Everything was a blur as if he’d opened his eyes underwater. His head swam.

  Focus!

  Her hand slid along his length. His groan encouraged her tighter grip.

  Another stroke.

  By God! She held his fate in the palm of her hand. Let her continue and he’d cede more than just self-control. She owned his body. He couldn’t surrender to her the last vestiges of his mind.

  Yet another excruciating stroke tortured him more than if he were being stretched on the rack. If he didn’t claw back his sanity …

  ‘Stop!’ His hand locked around her wrist. He hauled in a ragged breath. When she let go, he turned and took an unsteady, distancing step back. It killed him to see hurt and confusion cloud her dilated eyes.

  ‘Is everything alright?’ Her voice quavered.

  Yes.

  No.

  Here, in this pristine sanctuary, and given what they’d shared, Zach found the courage to confront that nameless something that had doggedly plagued him since first he laid eyes on Eloise. Now, she stared at him, so trusting and hopeful, and yet perplexed by his sudden withdrawal.

  He was faced with a choice. One that caused his chest to rise and fall on a heavy heart. A choice that had him torn between his lust for revenge, and love for his captive.