Hart's Passion (Pirates & Petticoats Book 2)

by Chloe Flowers

  He stood silent and tense, waiting.

  Keelan brought his fingers to her lips and kissed them. “I’m glad you help them.”

  A shadow floated away from Landon’s face. The tense worry lines around his eyes softened. He pulled her into his arms and held her. No words were spoken. They stood together for a moment or two, and then he took her hand.

  “Come with me,” he whispered.

  He led her to his cabin and opened the door. Conal and Daniel were already inside and turned toward them as the door clicked shut. She paused, confused. Before she could ask, Landon knelt before her. Keelan’s heart stuttered at the intensity of his gaze and even more at the humility in his countenance. Where was the cocky grin? The seductive perusal?

  He opened his mouth, closed it, and swallowed before taking a gulp of air. Heaven’s breath, he was terrified. His eyes turned a deep shade of blue, like a midnight sea.

  “Keelan Grey, I give my oath before the eyes of God and these witnesses to bind myself to you until death parts us. Before the eyes of God and these witnesses and upon my honor, I pledge my love, loyalty, and fidelity to thee for the rest of my living days. When we arrive in port, I pledge to seek out a priest to bless our marriage and confirm it is legally binding. If you will consent to have me as your husband for the rest of your life, place your hand in mine and join with me in a handfast, to bind you to me, and bind me to you.”

  Without breaking his gaze, he lifted his hand and offered it to her.

  Kneeling at her feet, proud, guarded Landon Hart, now raw and exposed, offered his heart to her in the presence of he half-brother. Landon Hart, the man who’d said marriage didn’t suit him. When had he decided to risk his heart again? It didn’t matter. He trusted her to love him, and love him she would. Landon’s eyes shone with an indigo light that warmed her as only the truest love can.

  Her legs trembled and wordlessly, she sank to her knees and placed her hand on his palm. His fingers closed over hers and he placed his other hand on top. Her eyes welled and she fought to contain the tears. The emotion seeping into her chest made it almost impossible to utter a single word.

  “Landon Hart,” she said, her voice catching. “I place my hand in yours before the eyes of God and these witnesses and bind myself to you as your wife. I pledge my love, loyalty, and fidelity to thee until death takes me from your side.”

  Landon’s long, lean fingers gently uncovered her hand. He slipped a sapphire and diamond crusted ring on her finger. “My grandmother’s.”

  Keelan stared into those hypnotic, blue eyes, which glittered like the sapphires on the ring.

  “My Keelan. My love. My wife.” Landon brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingertips. Her heart skipped as he cupped her face in his hands.

  “Congratulations, my friend!” Conal clapped Landon on the back, sending him tipping forward against Keelan. So, of course, he took the opportunity to kiss her.

  Laughing, Conal hauled her to her feet, and then offered his hand to Landon and pulled him up as well.

  “And, as ship’s captain, I pronounce you wed! Best wishes, Mrs. Hart, for a lifetime of happiness.” Her half brother grinned and kissed her hand.

  “Thank you, Conal, for agreeing to bear witness,” Landon replied, clapping Conal’s shoulder.

  Keelan had been unsure if Conal would treat her differently after hearing about her mother and his father. She understood his anger and resentment toward both of them. However, she wanted to maintain her friendship if possible, thus his presence here was reassuring.

  Conal gave her a small bow before he turned to open a bottle of wine. Daniel took her hand and bowed over it. “I wish you a long and fruitful marriage, Mrs. Hart.”

  “Thank you, Daniel.” Keelan looked up into her husband’s sparkling blue eyes. He gave her a slow smile before his lips dipped to briefly capture hers.

  “A toast!” Conal pressed glasses into everyone’s hands. He raised his glass and the others followed. “May the seas of marriage be calm, the winds be swift, and the current amiable!”

  Keelan laughed and raised her glass with Landon’s in salute.

  Conal pressed a hand to his chest. “And, on behalf of the O'Brien family, I welcome Landon as me brother by marriage, as well.”

  “It is an honor.” Landon stepped forward, clasped Conal’s outstretched hand and shook it.

  “And, therefore, I give my consent,” Conal continued with a grin, “for you to name your firstborn son after me.”

  They all laughed. Keelan threw her arms around Conal’s neck and kissed him on the cheek, gaining a surprised smile from her half brother. “It would be the very least we could do,” she said.

  “I believe,” Daniel broke in, “our part in this grand affair is complete.” He stepped to the door before giving Keelan a brief bow. “My lady, best wishes to you and Captain Hart.”

  “Aye to that!” Conal said, as he plucked the bottle of wine from the table. “Come, let us celebrate the day’s events beneath the shelter of yonder mizzen mast with this bottle of fine wine and a deck of cards. By the way this bank of fog is acting, we won’t be doing much else for at least a day or so.”

  Daniel opened the door and Conal stepped outside, giving the valet an exaggerated nod of thanks as he passed. The door closed.

  They were alone.

  Landon raised his glass and she raised hers. Together they finished their wine. He plucked the stem from her fingers, and placed it on the table before taking her into his arms.

  The world floated away as his lips leisurely played upon hers. She joyfully returned the kiss and he tightened his arms about her waist, pulling her closer. Their kiss deepened, fanning the fire kindled weeks ago in a garden in Charleston, on a fine spring morning in June. He broke the kiss and touched his forehead to hers.

  “Since the day I gazed upon you floating on the lake, a beautiful, naked water nymph,” Landon’s voice sounded hoarse, “I have wanted to touch you in all the places my eyes admired. I’m like man starved. I crave your touch, I crave your heart. I crave the energy from your presence.”

  They were drawn to each other, the two of them…like a bead of water seeks a dry edge of linen. “I’m yours forever,” she finally whispered. “I can’t imagine living another day without you.”

  Landon leisurely removed her shirt and breeches, taking his time to place kisses on her shoulders, her ankles, her knees, until she stood naked. Keelan’s senses erupted as the warmth of his hand found the firm rounded swell of her breast, his thumb stroking until her nipple grew hard and aroused.

  His other hand caressed her hip.

  Keelan’s heart had been pounding a staccato rhythm in her chest, but now it lurched erratically. Landon was about to make her his wife in body as well as spirit. It was expected. It was the nature of things after all. It was what a husband and wife normally did on their wedding night.

  She longed for it and feared it at the same time.

  “Keelan, my love, your image has haunted me, even in my daydreams, plucking at my thoughts, drawing my attention away from every task. For so long, I have wanted to have you near me…to hear my name fall from your lips, knowing I was forever in your heart.”

  “You’ve been in my heart longer than you realize, Captain.” She could hardly take a breath as his hand pressed her hips against his. Her lips tried to form the words whirling through her head, but it was impossible. She could only breathe his name and curl her fingers into his hair, pulling, urging him closer.

  Again, his lips descended upon hers, but this time they were soft and tender. Her pulse quickened, and a lovely warmth swirled inside her. His tongue beckoned hers to a dance in the moist warmth of her mouth.

  “I taste honey and wine,” he murmured.

  After adjusting the light from the lantern until the cabin was bathed in a faint, orange glow, he lowered her to his bed. Her gaze followed his movements in timid admiration as he undressed. Broad shoulders gave way to a narrow, tapered waist. Th
ere was no doubt Landon was in excellent physical form. His chest was lightly furred; his belly was flat with a thin line of hair running down… Landon’s male reaction to her stare brought a sudden hotness to her cheeks. She quickly blinked and raised her gaze to his face. How would she possibly survive being impaled by an erection of that size? She swallowed and for a moment, the panic swelled.

  Sensing her unease, Landon gently brushed a wisp of hair from her cheek. “I’ll be gentle, love. Trust me, soon you will hunger for this as much as I do.” He traced her jaw line down her throat with light kisses. He made a slight detour to a soft, sensitive spot behind her ear and she almost forgot what year it was.

  “Your skin is soft, like rose petals,” he whispered.

  His softly stroking fingers sent another shiver down her spine eliciting a soft sigh from her. Kneeling on the bed, he drew her up against him and captured her mouth in a soft, tender kiss. Keelan’s heart pounded erratically as he stroked her skin with reverence, as if savoring every touch from her neck, down her arms, over to the small of her back, and down her backside. A small gasp escaped her mouth as he pressed her hips harder against his. His kiss deepened, and his inquisitive tongue distracted her from the unfamiliar hardness. His hand returned to her breast. Waves of heat swirled around her then threatened to erupt when his thumb once again rubbed tight circles around the rosy peak. Her throat vibrated with a deep moan of pleasure.

  “You like when I do this?”

  She nodded, or at least she thought she nodded. He cupped her other breast and repeated the delicious caress, making her sway into him from the sheer pleasure of it. There was more, there had to be more. Something was building inside her, urging her into him, looking for more. The sensation pushed all rational thoughts from her mind, and she covered his hand with hers and pressed it more firmly and he responded by kneading her breast, making her knees weak. His lips moved to her neck then on to touch the delicate tip of her ear. Keelan could breathe only in small fragments and the air around her seemed to thicken as his caresses became bolder.

  “If you like that, then surely you’ll enjoy this even more.”

  He kissed his way down to her breast then took her nipple in his mouth. The wonderful sensation had her fingers convulsing and she delved them into the curls at the nape of his neck. Flames licked at her core as his hot, moist lips brought her near the brink of insanity. His hands wandered along her calves, moving behind her knees in a soft caress, up her thighs to the soft inner hollow near her womanhood.

  Just when it seemed she would implode, he pressed her back to his bed and then began to leave a trail of molten kisses across her belly. “My God, you are so beautiful,” Landon’s voice was husky as he murmured against the pale skin of her stomach. “Like a goddess, bathed in gold and dipped in diamonds.”

  Her skin tasted like wild cherries and sunshine. Landon inhaled the jasmine mingling with her womanly scent. When had he fallen in love with her? At the ball, when she had tried to fool him into thinking she was in love with Everett? Perhaps in the garden, when he had stolen a kiss under the guise of a payment for his silence, only because he could not resist the temptation of her sweet, full lips, which had fallen open in astonishment when he’d called her from her hiding place. Or was it in the early June morning, after dueling with Daniel, when she tore the blue scarf from her head and had given him a spry mocking salute before disappearing into the pines? Her look of brave determination when the Dragon had attacked?

  Keelan.

  His jewel. His love.

  She was soft and strong, pliant as silk and strong as the tide. He wanted to hold her, love her, protect her and cherish her.

  But more than anything, he wanted to devour her.

  Her kisses drove him insane. It was all he could do to hold himself in check and not toss her on his bed and plunge himself into her to ease his own long, smoldering hunger which had consumed him for weeks. He wanted to love her gently her first time. She arched against him and he sucked in his breath. If she’d let him.

  The dew-kissed moistness of her mouth was sweeter than nectar. He brushed his fingers over shoulders, her skin like soft satin. She was everything he desired. The only one he desired. How could have she not seen it?

  “Landon?”

  Landon raised his head and lost his breath at the image before him. His gaze moved over his new bride’s body. Fiery tresses teased by the sun fanned across the pillow beneath her head. Dark, auburn lashes touched her lightly flushed cheeks and her full, deep red lips parted in silent, passionate wonder. Firm, pink-tipped breasts curved gracefully to a creamy porcelain stomach. Lithe, shapely legs met at a tightly curled amber nest of wet heat. Her pupils had widened with desire then went soft as his hand caressed her thigh and then slipped further to touch her warm moistness. His desire to have her was so powerful, he had to remind himself to keep his movements slow, his touch soft. He paused to kiss the other tender pink peak and it pleased him to hear her swift intake of breath. Here was the most valuable treasure he’d ever seen, and she was his. All it had cost him, was his heart. He smiled. It was a good trade, a good trade indeed.

  “What, my love?”

  “I want you. I don’t know how—”

  Landon kissed her again and pressed his body against hers. Keelan’s world was spinning through thick waves of pleasure. She ran her hands up along his hardened ribs, across his shoulders, and pulled him to her. Closer. There was no control, now. Her body reacted without a thought to guide it. He needed to be closer so she could breathe him in, envelop him.

  “I love you, Landon,” she could only breathe the words.

  “I love you, wife. I don’t want to hurt you, but I’ve been told the first time…”

  He shifted gently and pressed himself against her opening and the tender shield of her maidenhead. She stiffened and her eyes flew open. “Landon…”

  Landon’s voice was low and calm in her ear.“Shhh…Keelan, my sweet love, relax. Let me love you. I promise…I will make you crave this.” He caressed her breast then slide his palm down to cover the wet nest of curls joining her thighs; his fingers slid into her folds and she closed her eyes at the bliss she suffered from his fingertips. His caress deepened and she moaned.

  “You are so wet for me, Keelan. So warm, so soft.”

  His lips touched hers, and her hands slipped convulsively over the hardened muscles of his back. Her fingernails dug into his skin as the pleasure swirled and rushed through her like a mighty wave, curling then crashing into the core of her soul. When the pleasure exploded within her, he pressed further and eased inside; the pressure mounted until the thin membrane broke. Pleasure and pain. Inhaling swiftly, she buried her face into his neck.

  He stilled. The heat from Landon’s body enveloped her; she kissed his shoulder then paused. The pain had subsided. Instead, she was filled with a warmth and a need she couldn’t describe.

  She heard Landon’s hoarse whisper again in her ear. “Keelan. Look at me, my love.”

  She leaned her head back and stared up into the deep pools of blue, which locked her gaze to his. His eyes were dark and sensual as midnight velvet, and she found herself falling into them like a petal into a glassy lake. His heartbeat was hammering against her chest. Or was it her heartbeat hammering against his? It was impossible to tell.

  “I love you, Keelan Hart.”

  She continued to search the depths of his eyes as he slowly, slowly started to move within her. There was little pain now, only movement, and her body took control, meeting his gentle, rhythmic thrusts. He filled her, fitting inside her as if his body was made for it. They moved together in an even rolling motion, like the tide moves to and from the shore, with no beginning and no end. Etherial pulses of sensation flowed through her into Landon and from him into her until they were connected by something stronger than sinew and flesh. Their souls entwined and melded together in a golden flare of light.

  A deep hunger began to grow within Keelan’s belly, and a soft mo
an escaped from her lips. Reaching up to Landon, she slid her hand behind his neck, and he responded by crushing her mouth to his. His thrusts quickened and she rose to meet him. Landon’s breathing became ragged and he whispered her name. Little explosions detonated deep inside her and they both cried out with pleasure as he spilled himself deeply within her.

  Fate brought them together.

  Love bound them for life.

  The cradle-soft arms of Morpheus seemed to have barely rocked Keelan to sleep, when a harsh, brutal pounding sounded upon the cabin door.

  “Captain Hart!” An urgent voice penetrated the early morning quiet. “Sorry to intrude, sir, but you’re needed on main deck straight away.”

  Keelan did not recognize the voice heralding her new husband from her side this morning, but she was immediately resentful. She wasn’t ready to relinquish her husband, her companion, her source of warmth, comfort and strength, so soon.

  Landon acknowledged the intrusion with a growl, “What is it, man?”

  There was a slight pause. “The prisoners locked in the hold have escaped, sir. They have stolen one of the canoes. Cap’n O’Brien’s fumin’ mad and means to give chase.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Landon tensed at the news of the pirates’ escape. Keelan’s chest tightened. If the escaped spies reached Gampo and revealed the location of the Seeker, even the dense fog wouldn’t keep them safe. Gampo had made it clear he meant to avenge Crowe’s death personally. Since he blamed her for it, she was in the greatest danger.

  Again.

  She still wasn’t sure if Gampo had pursued them from Charleston because he’d found out she was aboard, or followed simply because the Seeker was part of Fynn Ahern’s fleet, Gampo’s long-time rival. She snuggled closer and Landon reached his arm around her shoulder.