“Shaw doesna want the beast,” he said truthfully. “He took her tae sea and barely escaped with his life. Ye know there’s been trouble with her. He’s tired of sailing a cursed ship and told me tae bring her back tae Perran and leave her.”
Rhoan fought off a grin. “But she is a gift,” he said. “He would insult Constantine by returning a gift?”
“She’s a curse and ye know it!”
That caused Rhoan and Remy to burst into giggles. It was Rhoan who finally spoke. “Aye, she is,” he said. “A beautiful ship, but a curse. In fact, I wonder if the Spanish weren’t in my waters looking for her. They want her back very badly.”
“They can have her,” Kelly said flatly. “Shaw doesna want the behemoth and I dunna believe Constantine does, either.”
Rhoan released Genevieve, steering the weary woman towards a chair so she could sit down as he continued his conversation with Kelly.
“If Con wanted her, he would not have given her up to Shaw,” he said. “She is quite a prize. But… I understand your predicament and I am grateful that you were in my waters to bring Lady Genevieve back. Had you not been, her outcome might have been markedly different. I owe you a great deal, Kelly. You have my thanks.”
The conversation sobered as they veered back to the subject of the abducted lady. “Are ye appreciative enough tae take the ship back?” Kelly asked in a calculated move. “I canna return tae Scarba with her, so I must leave her somewhere. Shaw will have my hide if I bring her back.”
Rhoan looked to Genevieve, who was gazing up at him, holding his hand tightly. He gently squeezed her fingers. Kelly could have asked for the moon at that moment and Rhoan would have done everything in his power to retrieve it.
“Because you saved Lady Genevieve, I will take the ship back,” he said. “Remy, make arrangements to move her up the coast to the River Camel. We hid her there once before and we can do it again. Con will have to decide what he wants to do with her when he returns. He will know that Shaw is wise to his tricks.”
Kelly was vastly relieved. “My thanks tae ye,” he said. “But do ye mind if I tell Shaw that I left the ship on yer doorstep without ye knowing? He would find more satisfaction with that.”
Rhoan smiled weakly. Any chance Shaw, or Constantine, had to one-up each other was an opportunity to be taken. The men were closer than brothers but when it came to nasty tricks, they labored to out-do each other.
“Your secret is safe,” he said. “We will tell Con that you dropped the ship and fled.”
Kelly grinned broadly. “Then I can return home with my head up,” he said. Glancing to Genevieve, he dipped his head politely. “I am glad we found ye when we did, lass.”
Genevieve sighed with relief. She was glad, too. “If you hadn’t, I would now belong to a man named Amaro.”
Kelly’s eyes widened, as did Rhoan’s. “Amaro?” Rhoan repeated. “Is that who bought you?”
She nodded. “Aye,” she said. “That is what Curtiz told me.”
“It was his ship you were being taken to?”
“I would assume so.”
Rhoan looked at Kelly and, suddenly, the two of them began laughing. Remy joined in, and soon the three of them were laughing uproariously. But Genevieve failed to see the joke.
“Why do you laugh?” she asked. “What has happened?”
Rhoan wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. “Because we stole the Leucosia from Amaro de Soto,” he told her. “He always swore he’d get her back, which could have been why he was in these waters. He was looking for her. Hell, he probably thought that buying you from Curtiz might give him the edge in stealing something from Constantine in revenge for the Leucosia. But little did he know that it would be the Leucosia to thwart his plans.”
Genevieve understood, somewhat. She was just glad it was all over. As Kelly begged his leave and Remy followed, the room was suddenly empty. Rhoan went to the door and shut it, returning to Genevieve to pull her into his arms once more. He sighed heavily with satisfaction as he did so, saying a silent prayer of thanks for her safe return. He was still reeling from it, but so very happy.
“Are you sure you are unharmed?” he asked quietly. “Shall I have the physic take a look at you?”
Genevieve gripped him tightly. “I am fine,” she assured him. “A bath and clean clothing, and I shall be as good as new. But… but I must tell you something, Lucifer. This entire event has caused me to think on so many things. When Curtiz was taking me out to the Spanish ship, all I could think about was you and how I did not want to leave you. I… I know I asked to buy my freedom, but I have decided that I do not want my freedom. I want to stay with you.”
Those were, perhaps, the sweetest words he’d ever heard. Cupping her sweet face, he gazed seriously into her eyes.
“And I must tell you something also,” he murmured. “Firstly, you will call me Rhoan. That is my name. Lucifer no longer exists. Secondly, I must apologize for my behavior last night. Genevieve, I am not a man accustomed to speaking his feelings, and I was afraid to voice them to you. I will not make that mistake again. The truth is that I do not want you to have your freedom, either. I want you to stay with me, as my wife. I cannot explain what I am feeling for you, so I will not try. All I know is that you are my sun, and you have brightened my life as I never thought it could be brightened. When I thought you were lost, it was the darkest moment I have ever experienced. But now, my sun is back again and I will never let her go. You will be with me, until the end of the world and beyond, and I will cherish no other but you.”
A smile spread across Genevieve’s dry lips and her tears returned, but they were tears of joy. She never believed her heart could be so full.
“And I shall cherish no other but you,” she whispered. “I will be by your side, Rhoan, for always.”
Rhoan dipped his head forward, brushing his lips sweetly against hers, tasting the salt from the sea upon her. It reminded him of how close he came to losing her, and the strength of his feelings for her filled him more strongly than anything else ever had.
“Then let us go forth into this brave, new world together,” he whispered. “With you by my side, I can face anything.”
This time, Genevieve stood on her toes and captured his lips in hers, kissing him with all of the power and passion she was feeling. It was a brave, new world, indeed, one she was more than willing to face with him. He belonged to her, and she to him, and nothing would ever separate them again.
The man named for a fallen angel was lost no more.
THE END
Pirates of Britannia Series (with Eliza Knight):
Savage of the Sea by Eliza Knight
Leader of Titans by Kathryn Le Veque
The Sea Devil by Eliza Knight
Sea Wolfe by Kathryn Le Veque
About Kathryn Le Veque
Medieval Just Got Real.
KATHRYN LE VEQUE is a USA TODAY Bestselling author, an Amazon All-Star author, and a #1 bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author in Medieval Historical Romance and Historical Fiction. She has been featured in the NEW YORK TIMES and on USA TODAY’s HEA blog. In March 2015, Kathryn was the featured cover story for the March issue of InD’Tale Magazine, the premier Indie author magazine. She was also a quadruple nominee (a record!) for the prestigious RONE awards for 2015.
Kathryn’s Medieval Romance novels have been called ‘detailed’, ‘highly romantic’, and ‘character-rich’. She crafts great adventures of love, battles, passion, and romance in the High Middle Ages. More than that, she writes for both women AND men – an unusual crossover for a romance author – and Kathryn has many male readers who enjoy her stories because of the male perspective, the action, and the adventure.
On October 29, 2015, Amazon launched Kathryn’s Kindle Worlds Fan Fiction site WORLD OF DE WOLFE PACK. Please visit Kindle Worlds for Kathryn Le Veque’s World of de Wolfe Pack and find many action-packed adventures written by some of the top authors in their genre using Kathryn’s cha
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