Wrong Kind of Paradise

by Suzie Grant

  rocked her, holding her tight against his chest. “Everything’s all right now, Angel. I’m here now.” He

  whispered the words against the shell of her ear.

  She sniffled and snuggled deeper into his neck. A huge sigh of relief escaped him and he tightened

  his hold. “I thought I’d lost you.” Fear released its hold on his heart with a weary sigh. He squeezed her.

  “I promise I’ll never let you go again.”

  And he realized now how true those words were.

  Fourteen

  Blac trailed a single digit down Angel’s arm to her hip, following its curve with his eyes as she lay

  on her side next to him. She smiled and snuggled deeper into the nook of his neck.

  Two days on board ship, and he’d yet to leave his cabin. Rigo had taken the helm and Blac planned

  to enjoy this little reprieve for as long as he could. Of course, tomorrow he would have to end this little

  foray into sensuality and return to the ship’s helm. Until then though, he planned to soak in every second.

  Sunlight poured into the gallery windows and bathed her skin in a soft, peach haze. The steady rise

  and fall of the ship could’ve lulled him to sleep if he hadn’t had other things on his mind at the moment.

  The warmth of summer arrived and the heat trapped inside the ship baked them. Their flesh

  glistened with moisture from their earlier exertions. Even with every porthole open in the room, the slight

  breeze didn’t do anything to alleviate the temperature.

  Angel clasped his hand and brought it to her lips to kiss the tip of his finger. His body hardened.

  How could she continue to arouse him even after being sated so many times? His finger traced her lower

  lip and she sucked it into her mouth.

  He gave a playful growl and bent to kiss her. She giggled. “Have I created a monster?” he asked.

  She giggled. “Perhaps. Would that be such a bad thing?”

  His mouth trailed kisses to her chin. “Ask me again in about an hour.”

  She laughed and with both arms, squeezed him. Their bodies made a sucking noise from the

  perspiration between them. “So, will you tell me where we’re going already?”

  A hand captured a bare breast and he whispered against her ear, “Do we have to discuss it now?”

  “Yes.” Her mouth gave a pretty little pout and he groaned in defeat.

  “All right.” He leaned up on one elbow and peered down at her. “Our heading is set for Port

  Royal.”

  She paused and sat up on both elbows. Her blue-green eyes widened. “Really? Why?”

  Blac frowned at the eager expression on her face, and realized he should’ve already told her. He

  shouldn’t have kept her guessing this long about his plans. He’d been selfish to let her believe he planned

  to allow Logan to rot in a cell. Hindsight made him realize if he’d told her the truth months ago, they

  wouldn’t have gone through any of this. But then again, he may not have had her here, in his bed, naked —

  how he liked her.

  He sat up and propped against the wall. “I had already made plans to return to Port Royal, even

  before I’d captured you, Angel.”

  She gasped. “Are you saying you’d planned to get my father out all along?”

  He nodded.

  “Then why didn’t you tell me that?”

  He steepled his hands before him. “I don’t know, honestly. Stubbornness. Anger. Bitterness that

  you’d managed to outwit me so many times already.”

  Angel rose to face him and the sheet fell around her waist. She appeared oblivious to her

  nakedness, and he wished he could be so as well. As it were, his gaze strayed to her breasts again and

  again.

  “And how do you feel now?”

  He grinned. “What do you think?”

  The little siren gave a knowing grin. “I think you are relatively happy at the moment. And satisfied.”

  She leaned over with her little derriere in the air and propped herself up on her elbows on either side of

  his waist. Her body pressed against his lower abdomen. He reached down to sweep her hair over her

  shoulder.

  “I think you’re very right.”

  She sat up and laughed. “So how do you plan to get him out?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  She waved an arm around to indicate her surroundings. “I’ve got time, Blac.”

  He sighed. “I plan to use you as bait.”

  She frowned. “The lieutenant still has my father?”

  He nodded. “He hasn’t even let the King know Logan is in his custody. Which is to our advantage.”

  “So we won’t have to deal with the crown.”

  “Yes.” He lifted her chin. “But it means you have to do what I say, when I say it. No buts, Angel.

  I’m not taking any chances on losing you or having you get hurt. We do this my way or you can forget it.”

  She grinned and crawled back up his body to perch her little fanny atop him. “Will I be punished?”

  He tried to look stern. “Angel,” he warned. “Do I get an answer?”

  But her impish grin won him over and he grasped her by the upper arms to kiss her breathless.

  She reached up a soft little hand and caressed his jaw. “I’ll let you know in about an hour.”

  ~*~

  The sails snapped against the wind and the Serpent’s hull rode the choppy waves in a north-

  westerly heading. They were two days out to sea.

  “Sail ho!” The call came from the crow’s nest. Blac motioned to Rigo. “Four points off the

  starboard stern.”

  Rigo handed him the spyglass. Blac extended it and peered through the piece. “She’s still several

  miles off.”

  “Orders?”

  “None for now. I want to see which direction she takes. She may or may not have spotted us yet. We

  can’t tell her speed, but keep an eye on her.”

  Angel finally made an appearance on deck. The spyglass found its way into Rigo’s hand, and Blac

  only had eyes for the beautiful woman walking toward him. She wore the simple cotton skirt again, and it

  floated around her bare feet. He found it entirely too accessible by far. Thoughts of how easy it would be

  take her to his cabin and relieve her of her clothes distracted him.

  Her smile radiated from her eyes. The cerulean orbs sparkled. “Good morning, Cap’n. Did you

  sleep well?”

  “Like the dead,” he leaned forward to whisper into her ear. A pretty, pink color dusted her cheeks

  and he grinned. “And how did you sleep?”

  She gave him a playful smack on the shoulder and moved into his arms. “Like a baby.” He kissed

  the top of her head. She peered up at him. “I missed you this morning.”

  “And I, you. But I have a ship to captain, my little pirate, and duty calls.”

  A pretty pout turned her lips, which spread into an impish grin instead. He headed them toward the

  railing, and they stared out over the expanse of the sea, content with the silence between them.

  Her soft sigh broke the peace. “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  A sad smile played about her lips, and she laid her head on his shoulder. “I was thinking about all

  the times I would watch Papa sail away.”

  “Oh?”

  “I used to wonder what kept him so often from being home. Sometimes I would wonder if maybe he

  didn’t want to come home. But then he would be there, and I could see how happy he was to see me. I’ve

  sailed a few times with him when I was much younger, but only to nearby ports, a week away and no

  more. He would never allow me to trave
l much due to the danger.”

  She turned in his arms and wrapped her own around his waist. He settled his chin atop her head.

  “Now I know what it is that drives men into the waiting arms of the sea.”

  He peered down at her. “And what is that?”

  “I don’t think I can describe it but while I captained the Serpent, there was a sense of freedom. An

  escape. It was the most exhilarating feeling I’ve ever known...well up until recently.”

  He grinned. “And what is the most exhilarating feeling you’ve felt now?”

  She returned his smile and squeezed him. “I think you know.”

  “I want to hear you say it.”

  She gave a playful punch to his stomach and then settled deeper into his embrace. “Being here in

  your arms ranks pretty high on the list, Blac. I used to pretend you would hold me like this when I was

  younger. Of course holding my pillow doesn’t do the feeling justice, honestly.”

  He laughed and held her tighter. “I’d have to agree with that statement, little one.”

  She smiled. “I miss him though.”

  Her confession tore something inside his chest and he kissed the top of her head. “So do I.”

  “He used to take me down to see Momma’s grave every Sunday. Right before breakfast as the sun

  came over the horizon. We’d walk down the path to the gravesite. I’d place a yellow carnation there, to

  signify the sunshine she brought to our lives.”

  She turned in his embrace and looked up at him. “But you know, I think Papa started that tradition

  long before I can remember it.”

  “I’m sure he did.”

  “Do you think she knows how much we miss her?”

  He nodded. “Oh yes, I’m certain she does.”

  She frowned, her little brow scrunched up delightfully. Everything she did intrigued him, and he’d

  never felt this way before. It confused and enchanted him, all at the same time.

  When she craned her neck to look up at him again, he knelt slightly so that they were eye to eye. “Is

  that better?”

  She grinned. “You are much too tall.”

  “And you are much too tiny. Now tell me what has such a beautiful face frowning so?”

  She frowned again. “I just realized something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You’ve never spoken of your parents before.”

  Blac straightened and turned to place both hands on the rail.

  “I see. You’re shutting me out.”

  Am I?

  He sighed and leaned his forearms on the rail. “Not intentionally, Angel.”

  She mimicked his pose. “Then why did you turn from me?”

  He frowned. “It was a difficult time in my life, I would just as soon forget.”

  One delicate hand wrapped itself around his arm and she pressed her body against him in support.

  “We don’t have to talk about it,” she whispered.

  Surprised, he glanced at her. Most women hounded a man until he relented and told them what they

  wanted to hear.

  She grinned at his expression. “What? Why so surprised?”

  “Most women would never be satisfied with that answer.”

  She laughed. “You will tell me when you are ready. Until then, I am content to just be here with

  you.”

  She moved closer and he wrapped an arm around her. The silence stretched between them but it

  wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. It was the kind of silence one felt in the hush of dawn as the sun first

  peaks over the rim of the horizon. A silence born of pleasure. “My father became overwhelmed at the

  amount of responsibilities he’d suddenly inherited with the title when I was young,” he admitted. “He

  inherited by default after the death of his brother. As the youngest son of the earl, he’d never imagined

  he’d find himself suddenly liable for so many people.”

  Her hand found his and twined their fingers together. “My parents loved each other very much when

  they first wed,” he continued. “But the alcohol and my father’s fear of his duties tore them to pieces. They

  fought often and passionately.”

  She squeezed his hand and Blac offered a sad smile. “I remember my brother and me hiding in our

  room in the armoire. My father got extremely violent and my mother would try to cover or hide her

  bruises from everyone. She would stay abed for days sometimes, leaving the nanny to care for us. The

  older I grew, the more I came to resent my father.”

  He dislodged himself, unsure of why he’d decided to tell her this. “My brother and I grew up early.

  We both take our responsibilities seriously, perhaps because our father didn’t. I watched my mother fade

  into nothing because of him. After the viscount closed down my father’s small, independent shipping

  company, my father’s last chance to right things, he gave up.”

  She gasped but he didn’t turn to see her reaction. “He felt like he had no other reason to fight and

  struggle anymore. His drinking and gambling wasted away our entire inheritance, and we barely kept

  enough food on the table to keep us fed. Our servants left one by one, until we had nothing left.”

  He looked her in the eye. “So the day he sent the ransom money to your father is the day he took his

  own life. He borrowed the money and then left us — me, to pay the price.” He shook his head. “As the

  new Earl, it was left to my brother to take care of the debts but I refused him. I would never allow him to

  pay off any debt owed because of me. It took me several years, but the debt was paid in full. So you

  understand now why it’s so important for me to do the right thing. Because if I don’t, then I will end up

  just like my father. And I refuse to do that.”

  She tilted her head to the side and her eyes softened. “And it’s what makes you such a wonderful

  man, Blac. It’s exactly the reason why I fell in love with you. I can always count on you.”

  He captured her hands and brought them to his lips. He held them tightly for several long minutes

  and then placed one over his heart. “It’s also the reason why I can’t fall in love, Angel. I know things

  seem so wonderful now and the fairy tale seems so real, but this will fade. And when it’s all said and

  done, the only thing you’ll be left with is the shell of the man you fell in love with. And I refuse to watch

  you fade into nothingness like I did my mother.”

  ~*~

  Angel watched him walk away from her. The empty feeling in her gut didn’t come from hunger, it

  came from defeat. How could she fight the ghosts of his parents? How could she possibly get him to see

  that he would never be like his father?

  The wind whipped her hair over her shoulder and she wiped the strands from her face. He stopped

  on the quarterdeck and exchanged words with Rigo. She frowned. Tension seemed to ebb through the air

  and she could sense some kind of change in him. Curiosity got the best of her and she followed him.

  Bruno reached out a hand to her arm and shook his head. She frowned. “What? I just want to see

  what’s going on.”

  Max walked past her on the way to the quarterdeck carrying an armful of maps. “He be the Cap’n

  aboard this ship lass, let the man do ‘is job.”

  “I wasn’t going to interfere.”

  Both men looked at her pointedly.

  She sighed. “All right, I’ll just listen. I promise.”

  Following Max, she reached the quarterdeck. Rigo pointed to the left. The entire western sky filled

  with a churning mass of
black clouds. She frowned. They encountered storms quite often, so why the

  concern over this one?

  Angel squinted. Nothing. Her gaze followed the line of the horizon and then she saw it. A ship

  perched atop the ocean’s edge.

  “She’s tailed us for two days, Cap’n.”

  “What do you think it means?”

  Rigo shrugged. “Honestly?” He turned back toward the tiny vessel bearing down on them. “I think

  she is in pursuit. Has been ever since we left port.”

  Blac peered through the spyglass. “I can’t tell what kind of ship she is.”

  “She’s quick, that’s for sure,” said Rigo. “She’s been steadily gaining on us for hours.”

  Blac set his jaw, lowered the looking glass and handed it back to Rigo. Max laid out the maps

  across the planked deck and together the two of them poured over them. “We’re here, just off the coast of

  St. Kitts.”

  “So we have another three days before we reach Port Royal.”

  “Aye.”

  Blac studied the charts for several seconds. He got to his feet. “Full sails, let’s outrun these lice-

  infested bilge rats and see what this ship is made of.”

  Two hours later, a storm rolled in on top of twenty-foot waves. The bow wash piled high as the

  Serpent’s Revenge cut through the frothy blue waves. Canvas ballooned and they skimmed over the waves

  in a north-westerly heading. A wide, growling swath of thundering clouds circled above.

  “Lash down everything, Mr. Santiago. We’re in for a long night.”

  Blac tracked the approaching storm from the quarterdeck, hands on the wheel. Angel turned to pick

  up the unfettered lines but a hand on her upper arm drew her up and around. Blac shook his head at her.

  “What do you think you’re doing, Angel?”

  “I’m doing my duty.”

  “When I gave out orders, it was to my crew, Angel. Not you.” He pulled her toward the hatch.

  “Now get to my cabin and stay there.”

  “Blister it, Blac! I am not a child. I’ve captained my own damn ship for two years. I can help.”

  “Not today, you won’t.”

  She gritted her teeth. “Do not be stubborn.”

  He paused and pulled her around to face him. “I have an unknown vessel tailing me, what looks like

  a devil of a storm brewing, and an entire crew depending on me to keep them alive. I cannot,” he said and