by Kitty Margo
“Would you like to lime?”
Did he ask if she wanted to lime, or if she wanted a lime? “Excuse me, this music is so loud I didn’t hear you correctly.”
Sean took her hand and led her through the crowd with a grin. “I imagine you did. To lime means to join in with the bystanders and watch the parade, and you need to rest. We don’t want you to over exert yourself and cause a relapse.”
Lynna failed to answer as she was completely spellbound by a scantily dressed lady in front of her who was seductively gyrating her hips to the music, while her upper body remained perfectly still. Lynna had no idea a woman’s lower body could even swivel that way when provoked. Her hips seemed almost fluid as they undulated and contorted in positions that Lynna would have heretofore thought impossible. She had no doubt that her own bones would break were she to even attempt to twist her body into such unwieldy positions.
With a sly smile on her face, the gyrating woman grinned at Lynna, proceeded to swivel her hips and joints with a flowing agility and said in a low, seductive voice, “I wine on your man.” Then she backed up to Sean, pressing her very round bottom into Sean’s lower section gyrating her hips into his in a very obscene manner. Sean simply grabbed the woman’s waist and held on to her hips until she winked at him over her shoulder, straightened her body, and continued down the street. Lynna had never been more totally speechless in all her life, or more spellbound by the tableau taking place before her.
A stunningly beautiful, yet skimpily dressed girl sauntered by and suddenly, out of nowhere, a man left the crowd and practically covering her with his arms and legs shouted, “Oh Lawd gul, yuh looking sweet!” and then proceeded to do an almost violent dance to the beat of the music. The woman bent over, offering her buttocks to the man and after some pelvic thrusting, they did a gentle wind down to the ground. This went on for about a minute, then they parted and went their separate ways only to do the same movements with new partners a few feet down the street.
“Close your mouth, Lynna. It’s all in good fun.” Sean chuckled at her dumbfounded expression. “That’s the dance Grandmama warned you about.”
“I see. It seems to be a… um… popular dance.” Several female participants in the parade were doing it. Then her eyes were drawn across the street to a limbo competition. The contestant’s shoulders shimmied and their hips and backs lowered until they almost touched the ground, never missing a beat as they danced under a pole.
Lynna was consumed by the atmosphere of the extravagant costumes, the loud, heart thumping rhythm of Calypso music, the undulating bodies and sheer sexuality of their dancing, and the smell of rich and spicy food emanating from the vendors stands.
Sean bent to whisper in her ear. “Would you care to try a Carib?”
“Certainly. After the things I have witnessed this night I feel like I can try anything. What is it?” Would she ever learn the language?
“It’s our local draught.” Sean informed her, moving to stand in line at one of the many street vendors. She quickly discovered that Carib was much too strong for her taste, but she watched Sean savor his until the last drop. She settled for fruit punch and they both had servings of spicy jerked chicken.
Remarkably, Sean located an empty park bench where they sat for hours sampling the food from several vendors and watching the revelers party around them. Lynna was spellbound by the costumes, Sean by the bodies undulating beneath them.
The night ended with Sean participating in a dance called Jump Up, a physically exhausting free for all where he danced and spun in the crowded street.
Just before dawn, with Sean breathing heavily beside her, they trudged up the hill toward Devereux Acres, giddy from exhaustion and drenched with perspiration. Before they slipped in the back door Sean turned to Lynna and smiled. “I’m glad you were here to share Carnival with me.”
“That was the most fun I’ve had since... I can’t even remember when. It felt good to let go and not have to worry about anything.” Before Lynna could object Sean lowered his lips to hers. She didn’t pull away, nor did she attempt to prolong the kiss in any way. She simply waited it out.
“Good night, Lynna. Sleep well.”
“Good night, Sean.” They climbed the stairs, both eager for the softness of their beds with calypso music still ringing in their ears.
Lisbeth, in her bed across the hall, snuggled under her cover hearing two doors close across the hall from her room. She laughed softly as memories of past Carnivals swept her toward dreamland. She had been young once herself.
Chapter 26
Joshua and four of his crew rowed the small boat through the turquoise waters of the lagoon. Pulling the boat onshore, they had just stepped out of the water and headed across the sand toward the welcoming shade when a behemoth appeared from the shadows.
“Were’s Buttercup?” Rob asked warily, without preamble. He was wise enough to realize there was a problem or she would have traveled to the island with her husband. Towering over the much smaller man with his huge hands planted firmly on his hips, Rob questioned with a worried countenance, “She sick?”
“I pray that she isn’t, Rob. But, in all honesty, I don’t know,” Joshua confessed.
Rob immediately dropped his hands and clenched them into massive fists. “Whut you mean you don’t be knowin’?”
That’s why I came.” Joshua extended his hand to the huge black man who pumped it vigorously. “Lynna is missing.” Rob’s hand tightened around Joshua’s until he was forced to pull his hand from the man’s firm grasp. “I was hoping you could help me find her.”
“Whut you mean missin’?” Rob’s fists clenched and unclenched at his sides as rage glistened in his charcoal eyes for anyone with the nerve to take the girl he loved as much as he would his own daughter. For a moment, Joshua actually pitied the source of such anger. “Who done got her?”
“Sean Devereux.”
Rob slowly shook his head, scrubbing his hands over his bald pate and looking out across the sparkling water of the lagoon to where the Windjammer was riding anchor. “I been hopin’ he was dead. He be wantin’ Buttercup in a bad way. Has since de firs’ time he laid eyes on her.” Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead and rolled down his temple as he looked Joshua dead in the eye with all seriousness. “Buttercup might not be de… same when we find her.” Rob knew Sean Devereux was entirely capable of raping any woman that refused him. “An’ if’n she ain’t you gots ta ‘member it ain’t none of her doin’. You cain be blamin’ her fo’ nothin’ dat happened when she was wit’ dat pi’ate.
“I would never blame Lynna, Rob.” Joshua met the giant’s steady gaze. “I think you know me better than that.”
“I believe I do, but you be knowin’ ain’t nobody gwine blame Buttercup for somethin’ she cain hep.”
“I just want to find her and bring her home, Rob.” A bright smile lit Joshua’s face for the first time since he had been on the island. “To her son.”
Rob’s face split into a huge grin. He laughed heartily, slapping Joshua on the back. “Buttercup done had a boy?”
“Yes, she named him Beau.
“Beau,” Rob repeated. “I sho’ would like ta meet de lil feller.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged. Lynna had been after me for months to come see to your well being, and we had planned on making the trip after the baby was born. Now Sean Devereux has taken her and I don’t know which island he calls home.” They were wasting precious time. They needed to have the Windjammer in the wind. “Do you know where his home port is, Rob?”
“Yassuh, I kin hep you find him.” Rob nodded lost in thought for several minutes. “He always goes back home fo’ Carn’val dis time of year. He ain’t never miss’ it long as I been knowin’ him.”
“So, you will help me?”
Rob peered into the horizon lost in thought for several minutes. “Yassuh. I done swo’ I ain’t never gwine leave dis heah island again, but fo’ Buttercup I gots to.”
; Turning to his men, Joshua instructed, “Two of you follow me to the pool and fill the water barrels. The other two will hunt for fresh meat.” Joshua shielded his eyes from the blazing sun and looked up at Rob. “Can you be ready to sail in a couple hours?”
“Come on back ta de cave an’ let me git a few thangs. Den I catch us some fish an’ scrimp after I show dem mens were ta hunt.” He stopped and turned around to grin at Joshua. “You still got dat Sam cookin’ on yo ship?”
Joshua chuckled. “Sam Bogan would take a meat cleaver to my head if I allowed another cook to step foot into the galley of the Windjammer.”
“I ‘spec he would.” Rob laughed uproariously slapping Joshua on the back with a meaty paw. “I ‘spec he would at dat.”
They walked by the pool that Joshua had such fond memories of and on to the cave where he formed an image in his mind of Lynna standing at the table kneading breadfruit into dough. “Sean put out word that he was taking Lynna to a man on one of the islands who specializes in torturing women.” Shuddering as he imagined Lynna being submitted to such pain and suffering, he finally managed to push the words past the horrible images that had infiltrated his mind. “Do you know of this man?”
“Put dat out yo mind.” Rob stood at the entrance to the cave and gazed with troubled eyes into the tranquil forest that had sheltered him for this last peaceful year. He wondered what lay in store for him after he left the peace, solitude, and most importantly, the safety of his island. “If Sean got Buttercup he be keepin’ her fo’ hisself.”
Chapter 27
The beauty of the island still left Lynna breathless. It was a kaleidoscope of colors wherever her eyes landed. Sitting on the beach, she watched the waves rush toward her, sifting the powdery sand through her fingers. Her life had turned out so differently than she could have ever imagined. Less than a year ago she had been in the arms of a loving husband with a baby on the way. Now, her husband was dead, Suzanne had once again betrayed her, and her child was being raised without her.
“There you are,” Sean called, removing his boots to walk toward her in the sand with purposeful strides. He had been working in the fields and at some point had removed his shirt in the tropical heat. Sweat glistened on his chest as though it had been oiled.
For some reason, the sight of Sean walking toward her almost took her breath away, making her knees weak and her mouth dry. Lynna could only watch, almost paralyzed as he moved toward her. She felt a sudden and unfamiliar twinge in the pit of her stomach at the sight of his bare and extremely muscular chest. With their own volition, her eyes slid down toward his abdomen, riveted by the way the firm muscles rippled as he moved. His broad shoulders. His narrow waist. His startling white teeth. His tanned upper torso covered with a bright sheen of sweat that she suddenly felt the urge to run her hands over, then through his black, silky hair, then down to the button on his… What! No! She must be hallucinating in the dreadful heat!
Sean followed the trail of her gaze and a bright smile lit up his face, causing his eyes to twinkle. “I have been looking all over for you. Grandmama said this is where I would find you.”
Sean grinned down at her, as he stood before her in all his glorious masculinity. Lynna struggled for a reply, but no words were forthcoming as her lower anatomy seemed to draw into a tight knot. As her eyes moved from his chest to his full, moist, provocative, and oh so desirable, lips she finally found her voice and mumbled, “She knows my routine well.”
“Perhaps we should move to the shade, love.” Sean grinned, fully cognizant of the fact that he was the cause of her having suddenly become so flustered. Her cheeks were flushed a becoming shade of pink and her eyes shone with what could only be described as burning desire. All this time, all he had to do was remove his shirt?
Lynna tried to focus on his words, she really did, but her eyes were drawn to the ridged muscles of his upper torso. As she felt sweat trickle between her breasts, she wondered what it would feel like to run her fingers across those hard muscles. Push him down on the sand and press the entire length of her body against his. Run her tongue over every inch of his glistening skin. Have her way with…No! Stop such foolishness at once!
But as she watched, a bead of sweat made its way down the entire length of his chest until it disappeared in a trail of fine hair below the waist of his breeches. His pearly white teeth gleamed. His shoulder length hair pulled back and held in place with a strap of leather shone in the sunlight. His full, moist lips were parted, waiting. No! What was she thinking!
Sean sat down next to her, his breathing more rapid than normal, his eyes feasting greedily on the creamy swell of breast above her gown. His hand itching to caress, explore every silken inch of her exquisite body. His hand burned as he reached into her cleavage to touch the red quartz stone that she had worn for the past four days. He would have to admit the spell to remove the curse was apparently working. Lynna had not suffered a debilitating headache since wearing the necklace.
As he touched the stone, his fingers brushed against the satiny mound of flesh, causing flames of soaring passion to rage through his insides and center in his manhood. The time had come. For both of them. But an open beach was not the place. He wanted her in his bed, with an entire night to fulfill both their fantasies.
Sean took her hand to help her to her feet. “Lynna, darling, I’m sure you would be the first to admit I have been patient.”
“Yes, Sean.” she replied breathlessly, as a jolt of reaction rushed through her body at his touch. Releasing his hand, she put a hand to her throat, hoping he wouldn’t notice her racing pulse. “Of course I would.”
“You have recovered well. Your body has,” he paused for his smoldering eyes to caress her from head to toe, “blossomed. Your cheeks are rosy again, you no longer have to take long naps during the day and you are no longer forced to pause midway up the stairs to rest. The island has healed you, little one.”
He caressed the line of her jaw with his finger, smiling into her glazed eyes. “I am ready to move forward with our relationship and begin a life with you here on the island, Lynna. Actually, I have been ready for some time, but I refused to rush you. I wanted to give you time to come to the decision on your own.” Lifting her hand to his lips he peered deep into her azure gaze. “Are you ready as well?”
Lynna realized the time for excuses had come to an end. She was so very tired of excuses, ready to move on with her life. Sean had given that life back to her and she owed him. He would take her to her son and that was all that really mattered to her. Her heart pounded against her chest and her breathing became labored as she murmured, “Saturday night after the Hammond’s Masquerade Ball, I will come to your room.”
She noticed a bright light dancing in his eyes as a slow smile of satisfaction curved his sensual lips. “It will be a night to remember, my love.”
Lynna had not a single doubt that his words were true.
Chapter 28
Suzanne shivered uncontrollably as she reclined on a soiled bunk that smelled strongly of urine. The cell was damp and her badly bruised and aching body was chilled to the bone. There were no sheets and the one blanket on the floor at the foot of the bunk was covered with stains and rat droppings. God only knew what bodily fluids had been released onto the mattress by the previous occupant, but streams of dried ejaculation trailing down the wall between the top and bottom mattress were a good indication.
Apparently the jail cell had seen few women behind its bars. For some reason this gave Suzanne a moment of pleasure in her otherwise wretched existence. She had always enjoyed standing out from the crowd. Although, even she would admit, not in these particular circumstances.
Tilting her head toward the open, barred window, she tried desperately to draw fresh air into her lungs. Then she gazed solemnly around her new home. A cot and a slop jar.
Tears stung her eyes as she remembered the delicate ruffled lace on her canopied bed at Magnolia House, the soft, fluffy, ivory colored counterpane that had
felt so comforting against her naked body. The Chippendale wing chairs on either side of a piecrust tea table where she had enjoyed too many afternoon teas to count. Her full-length cheval glass where she could practice her favorite pastime. Admiring herself. The simple joy of ringing for a servant, who would swiftly bring her anything her heart desired. And parents who had doted on her every word.
Where the hell were her parents anyway? She hadn’t caught a glimpse of either of them since being left to shrivel up and rot in this hell hole. And all her dire threats and warnings to the guard had gone ignored. Why wouldn’t anyone in this stinking, rat infested dump believe who she was? She was the only daughter of Silas Fletcher! Of Magnolia House for God’s sakes! One of the largest cotton plantations in the South!
She recalled the agony of waking up on the back of Joshua’s horse, each gallop causing pain to shoot through her aching ribs and her badly bruised and swollen jaw as she bounced around on the horse’s hard rump. Her hands and feet had been tied, she had a handkerchief stuffed in her mouth, and she had been carelessly thrown across the back of his steed.
Then Joshua had ruthlessly taken great joy in ridiculing her. Asking if she was comfortable, guzzling water from a canteen and not offering her a drop even though the handkerchief had dried up every drop of her spittle and she was parched. Calling her immensely ignorant for actually believing that a person could be brought back from the dead. Assuring her that she would be sentenced for attempted murder and he, his father, and Nathan Rhodes would use their combined influence and far reaching personal connections to assure that she was sent to work at the most vile labor camp in the South for the remainder of her miserable life.