A Pirate's Darkness (Legends of the Soaring Phoenix Book 6)

by ML Guida

  He winked. “But then again, nothing has been easy with my three princesses of the sea.”

  Epilogue

  Raphael and Kane had been true to their word. Penelope and Ewan had spent a blissful day and night. She sat naked on the rock at their pool, allowing the waterfall to cascade down her back. The moonlight glistened off the water on Ewan’s broad chest. Her body was chaffed from his kisses and she was sore between her thighs. But she wanted one more time, one more explosion of sheer pleasure, fast and furious.

  “The sun will rise soon,” Ewan said as he swam over to her. “We will have to return to the ship and Catriona.”

  She stretched out her arms. “I know. Now that I have met your daughter, I have grown quite fond of her, but right now, I don’t want to think of anyone else, but you. Love me one more time.”

  He pulled her gently into his arms and kissed her. She could feel his hard flesh against her feminine core. She caressed his back, marveling at how this powerful man claimed his heart belonged to her.

  She wrapped her arms around his hips and impaled herself onto him, wanting to feel him inside her. He thrust his hips inside, and she matched his passion. She arched her back, and he claimed her breast with his hot mouth. He suckled her nipple while one hand stroked the bud between her legs. Heat fanned down her body and pooled between her thighs. Another orgasm pulsed inside her. The intensity between them grew as they thrust harder and harder, blocking out everything but their hungry passion.

  Ewan flung his head back and called out her name.

  The water strengthened her and the feelings of euphoria soaring through her. Her release was swift and hard.

  She leaned her head against his chest, listening to his beating heart. “I can live like this forever.”

  He lifted her chin and smiled. Passion still flared in his eyes. “My love for you grows each time I take you.”

  She kissed his hand. “Then take me again and again.”

  He smiled. “How can I deny my warrior princess?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her breasts against his chest. “Your belief in me has made me a warrior. As long as you are at my side, I believe we can defeat the darkness threatening to destroy us.”

  Other Books by M.L. Guida

  If you’ve enjoyed A Pirate’s Darkness, the first book of the series is A Pirate's Curse. Like a dark angel, Captain Kane O'Brien rescues Hannah Knight and her father from drowning after vampire pirates murder their crew and sink their ship. Struggling to control and hide her telekinetic powers, Hannah discovers the honorable and bold captain possesses his own secrets.

  Every full moon, Kane turns into a vampire. Finding out Hannah not to be the cabin boy she resembles, but a beautiful, luscious woman, tempts all his appetites. Desperate to be free of his curse, Kane considers handing Hannah over to a demon. But after Hannah uses her power to save his ship from his immortal enemy, Kane can no longer deny his attraction and vows to protect Hannah with his life.

  To find true love, they must combine their powers to defeat evil vampires, thwart Hannah's misogynist fiancé and escape a crafty demon.

  The second book of the series is A Pirate’s Revenge. Cursed by a demon, William O’Brien changes into a dragon with mystical powers he can’t control. In dragon form he becomes a ravenous beast with the power to destroy the crew of the Soaring Phoenix. He’s forced to make a decision: leave the ship or face killing the crew. But before he can go, he discovers a new menace hunts him. The God of the Underworld has released a female demon, more deadly and evil than before, with orders to capture William and combine his powers with a male witch in order to destroy the crew of the Soaring Phoenix. Mariah Fey, a talented witch, wants only to save her brother from the bowels of the evil pirate ship, the Fiery Damsel. If William will trust her, she can teach him how to harvest his gifts, control his abilities and together their true love can defeat their enemies.

  The fourth book is A Pirate’s Obsession. Losing his hand to a demon means Ronan Macmillan is desperate. He’ll do anything to avoid being a cripple, even sacrifice to the same demon an innocent, beautiful undine.

  Angelica knows Ronan is her mate and is determined to show him he’s a warrior, even if he’s maimed. She must forsake the sea life she’s always known, and stay out of the clutches of a clever demon, to win the pirate she loves.

  But when Ronan meets the beautiful Angelica, restoring his hand and handing over the undine becomes complicated. If he fails to obey, the demon promises he’ll make him a monster and not even the crew of the Soaring Phoenix will be safe.

  Will Ronan betray his honor and his heart and deliver Angelica over to the demon? Or will true love prevail and win Ronan and her life?

  The fifth book is A Pirate’s Bane.Imprisoned. Hated. Desperate. Water Elemental Isabella is a prisoner on board the dreaded Fiery Damsel pirate ship. Her choice is mate with pirate Leif Black or die. A demon wants their unborn child to complete a deadly spell. Leif is her chosen mate, and she must use all of her power to resist him for their sake and their unborn child.

  Leif Black has problems of his own. He has kept his sisters hidden from the crew of the Fiery Damsel and never told them that he is a vampire. Love is the last thing on his mind. But the determined demon is one step ahead of him and curses him. He’s now possessed by a dragon spirit, and he’s unable to control his powers, especially his lust for Isabella. Her sweet song awakens something inside him that he’d long forgotten.

  Isabella and Leif fight to deny their forbidden love, but destiny won’t be defied. When the lust proves to be too strong, they must work together to protect their child and trust each other to defeat the evil demon.

  Legends of the Soaring Phoenix Box set contains the first three books—A Pirate’s Curse, A Pirate’s Revenge, and A Pirate’s Agony.

  I also have a paranormal Christmas series called Vampires on Holiday. The first book is A Vampire’s Christmas Wish. Master vampire, Janus Morano, has searched for centuries to find his lost soul mate. When he finally discovers his true love on Christmas Eve in Hawaii, she doesn't know him, doesn't remember her previous life, and doesn’t want him. Janus must get her to remember him and their love, but nothing comes easy with Deirdre Hahn.

  Deirdre is drawn to the mysterious dark stranger, but she came to Hawaii with Brandon Delaney, to heal their broken relationship. Brandon has promised to never beat her again, bending over backwards to be Prince Charming. But the promise is broken.

  Deirdre escapes Brandon’s clutches and her only hope is the mysterious dark stranger. Janus vows to help her but soon she discovers his dark secret. He's a vampire...a vampire searching for her.

  Now Deirdre is caught between two desperate men. Not sure who to trust. In order to save her future she must accept her past and when her Hawaiian vacation falls apart and she’s kidnapped, she must learn to trust Janus or die on Christmas.

  The second book is, A Vampire’s Fallen Christmas Star. It’s the week before Christmas but the last thing Jayden Kye wants to do is celebrate. He blames himself for his twin's brother's death. He hikes up to Rainbow Lake to make peace with him, but Jayden slips down a snowy embankment and impales himself on a tree. He is dying. Eleanor Baines has been a vampire for over a hundred years but she’s never been tempted to turn a human before. Now, facing the sexy rock star, she has a choice, let him die or let him live. Now, she finds herself with a head-strong rock singer who breaks all the rules. Jayden discovers everything he thought he knew is wrong. His best friend and lead guitarist are legendary vampire killers bent on killing him and Eleanor. He must learn to trust Eleanor, a total stranger, to survive. When his manager kidnaps Jayden’s mother and threatens to kill her, Jayden is forced to kill his best friend, or hand over the woman he loves.

  I have another series called Angels of Death, and it a contemporary, paranormal series.

  Betrayal is the first book in the series. Scythe tracks his demon brother to Serenity House, a drug and alcohol treatment c
enter. His brother wants to destroy the director, Heather Bowen, but Scythe is shocked to discover she is his angel-mate and now, he must not only save his brother's soul, but stop him from killing the woman he loves.

  The second in the series is a novella, Deception, What is an Angel of Death supposed to do when a demon holds the key to her whole existence?

  Time is running out for Poison. The Archangel Michael has ordered her to retrieve an evil board and the woman who is it’s victim. It’s a test—and if she fails she will be kicked off the squad and be shooting arrows with Cupid.

  But she has a problem—Ringmaster. The demon got there first and possesses the board and the woman. He’s offered Poison a sinful proposal: Sleep with him and he’ll hand over the board and the woman. Or she can go back to Michael empty handed.

  Ringmaster has had a hunger for his little angel ever since he first saw her. She changed him from being hell’s favorite trickster to a love-sick hell hound. He has to know if what he feels is for real. One hour is all he asks. How can his sweet angel say no?

  The third book in the series is Punishment. Fallen angel, Blade, is determined to seek revenge on the archangel Raphael who cursed him to be human. Unless he repents, he’ll be forced to live his life as a pitiful human. He’ll be mortal and powerless—easy pickings for an angel assassin to pick off. He uses an Ouija board to contact a demon to restore his powers only to stir Raphael’s wrath. Raphael burns his hands forcing him to go to the hospital where he meets an angel of mercy—Abigail Malcolm. Abigail is a nurse and possesses the power of healing, but it hasn’t been a gift. Her healing powers failed to heal her drug addicted family. Her mother and sister are dead and her brother blames Abigail for their deaths. To make matters worse, a mysterious man—a demon—has given her brother a board to contact his mother, but there’s a secret price—he’ll soon turn into a zombie and lose his soul. She must trust Blade, the same fallen angel who murdered her sister. But to defeat the demon and save her brother, they must work together and soon discover true love can stop the devil.

  The fourth book in the series is Cupid. Cupid, has a terrible secret—she’s color blind. After accidentally shooting her intended target with an aversion arrow, she tries to fix it by a shooting a passion arrow. But Lethal, the sexy angel of death she has had a crush on forever, blocks her path. Shot by passion's arrow, he now thinks he’s in love with her.

  Lethal knew Cupid was his angel-mate from the moment he saw her. He’s never claimed her because an angry demon promised murder. But when she shoots him with the arrow he can’t keep his true feelings hidden any longer.

  The demon makes good on promise and pursues Cupid, but not to kill her. She has a hidden power he wants, one that Cupid doesn't even know she has. Only true love can unleash her power and by working together, their love will crush the demon bent on destroying them.

  Excerpt from A Pirate’s Curse

  Chapter One

  The ragtag sailing ship sped toward them in a thirty-knot tailwind, the black flag flapping from the main mast. Pirates! Twenty-year-old Hannah’s stomach tightened as the rogue ship chased them.

  “Miss,” Sally whispered. Hannah’s maid, and constant companion, bit her lip and stared, her eyes wide at the pursuing frigate. “What if they overtake us?”

  “We haven’t lost yet, Sally.”

  Hannah prayed they would be mistaken for cabin boys. She prayed the bindings restraining their breasts and their drooping breeches that hid their curves were convincing. She prayed they would escape her father’s warning of the rape and torture of female captives.

  A cannonball sailed through the air and smashed into the Dolphin’s second mast, splintering wood. Sally clutched Hannah’s arm, digging her fingers into her flesh, and screaming.

  Large holes shattered and ripped the topsails of the Dutch flute ship. Fragments of wood crashed into the black sea, splashing water onto the portside. The smell of burning wood ignited a stream of heat down Hannah’s spine. She coughed and her eyes burned.

  The pirate ship’s long gun fired. Canister shot flew through the air. A sailor shrieked. His face blackened and bloody, he twirled around on the deck and fell over the side into the dark ocean.

  The frigate pursued the slower Dolphin through the black smoke. The flute sailed at twenty knots, her top speed, but the frigate skipped across the moonlight water, closing the gap fast. Cannons fired. Bar shot flew through the air, knocking three men into the water.

  Screams of pain, cracks of guns, splitting of wood, filled Hannah’s ears.

  “Hannah,” her father yelled. “Get below deck. Now.”

  Ignoring her father’s order, she gripped the railing and waited, praying they could out maneuver the pirates.

  “Make ready the guns,” the Dolphin’s boatswain, John Vane ordered. His brown hair had fallen loose from his queue and spilled over his broad shoulders. At over six feet tall John never had to repeat an order.

  He unsheathed his cutlass, his hazel eyes trained upon the enemy.

  Dolphin’s gunners were surprisingly synchronized. Men rammed cartridges down the cannon, packing the charge tight into the chamber. Other crewmen rolled the cannonball down the muzzle. Hemp rope was stuffed in to keep the cannonball from rolling out. After priming the cannons, the men waited for a rolling wave and John's order.

  “Fire,” he commanded.

  The cannons roared, jolting the ship. Cannonballs hit the vast frigate’s haul, but she failed to veer away. Sweat pouring down his temples, her father, Captain Justin Knight, peered through his spyglass. “Damn! It didn’t even slow her down.”

  Her father never swore. Biting her lip, Hannah gripped the railing, her arms shaking.

  The crew held swords and pistols at the ready as the frigate grew closer. Hannah wished her father hadn’t forbidden her a weapon. She desperately desired the security of her own cutlass or sword or pike, even if she had no idea how to use one.

  On the frigate, shipboard cannon returned fire, the loud boom racking her ears. She winced. Musket balls and lead pellets hurled through the air. Two crewmen staggered and fell on the deck, their blood staining the wet wood.

  A chunk of burning timber crashed onto the deck beside her. Fire burst out, lighting up the midnight sky. Swelling smoke snaked around the ship. Men threw buckets of water onto the flames—to no avail. The roaring blaze quickly dissolved into steam. The crew was running out of water, out of buckets and out of time.

  Grandmother’s voice whispered in Hannah’s mind. You can help them. Block out every sound. Concentrate my dear. Control your fear.

  Although Grandmother had been dead over a year, at times her voice would echo in Hannah’s ear and push her to conjure up her power to move objects with her mind. She never saw Grandmother’s ghost, but her voice was real, clear, strong. Her sisters didn’t possess the ability, didn’t want the ability and didn’t need to fight for their father’s love. Grandmother said Hannah was blessed. Blessed wasn’t what her father alleged.

  “I can help.” Hannah stared at Sally as she removed her clinging fingers.

  Sally nodded, her lower lip trembling. “But your father.”

  “I know.” Hannah bit her lip and rubbed her shaking palms on her breeches. She’d be breaking her father’s most steadfast rule—never reveal her cursed power. Her backside ached and the welts had yet to fade from the last time she broke his rule. Chills rushed through her at defying him.

  The ship rocked toward the churning water. Hannah gripped the railing and watched in terror as an angry wave swept a sailor out to sea. Not relinquishing her grip on the rail, she watched as he bobbed up and down, his screams lost in noises of battle.

  Refusing to not let the man drown, Hannah blocked out the screams and sounds of cannon fire and stared at a rope. Her power swirled inside her, spreading tingles over her. One end of the rope flung into the sea, encircled the shrieking man and yanked him back on board.

  Her father stormed across the deck. “You foolish girl
, John would have saved him. I forbid you to use your power aboard my ship again. Or the next time, I swear I’ll sell you off as an indentured servant and send you to the Americas.”

  He grabbed her arm and shook her. “Do you hear me?”

  “Yes,” she murmured. Her grandparents and mother were dead. No one would stop him. What choice did she have but to obey?

  He narrowed his eyes. “No, I think you need something to remember my warning.” He threw her up against the railing and thrashed her lower back. She cried out.

  “Captain,” a male voice yelled.

  “Don’t do it again,” her father hissed in her ear and stormed off.

  Hannah rubbed her backside and blinked back tears. What choice did she have? She had to try and save their crew. Father would punish her again. If they survived...

  She braced her shoulders and refused to give into her panic.

  Ignore the fear. Ignore the fear. Ignore the fear.

  Closing her eyes, Hannah inhaled and drew on her power. Her heart fluttered and her body prickled. Slowing her breath, she opened her eyes, blocked out the screams around her and faced the ocean, palms out. A blowing wind of energy left her hands. Hair swirled around her face and her shirt billowed and her breeches flapped. Using her power to dip into the ocean and create a steady stream of water, she spun the stream into a twirling funnel.

  “The waves,” one of the crewmen yelled. “Blimey. Look out!”

  Droplets of seawater fell onto her face and hands. The funnel splashed onto the deck, sucking up the flames. Steam coiled through the ship. The crewmen stared at her owl-eyed. She half smiled. For once, her powers worked.

  Wetness trickled out of her nose and into her mouth. She moistened her lips. There was no mistake—blood. Damn, a bloody nose. The wind died. Her hair fell limp across her shoulders and her overlarge shirt and breeches sagged onto her small frame.