by Bold, Diana
“What happened?” Kate rushed to Talon’s side, the concern on her lovely face erasing any doubts he’d had about whether she still cared for him.
Talon attempted a wry smile, feeling a bit sheepish. His split lip pulled painfully, and he abandoned the effort. “It’s nothing.”
Daniel laughed. “He’s so modest. You should have seen him, taking on a brute twice his size to keep a young boy from being brutalized. It was quite heroic.”
Kate shook her head and ushered Talon to a chair. She urged him to sit and handed him a wet washcloth to press to his bleeding nose. “I never doubted his bravery.” Kate brushed a lock of hair from Talon’s forehead. “He’s been my hero on several occasions.”
“I’m not a hero,” Talon said to cover his discomfort. He hated deceiving her. “Besides, if Daniel hadn’t arrived, the lout probably would have killed me.”
“I’ll be the judge of who is brave and who is not, if you please. And I think you should both be commended.” She smiled and then glanced over her shoulder at Daniel. “Would you find me a basin of warm water and some rags so I can tend to your brother’s face?”
“Of course.” Daniel winked at Talon and then left the cabin, closing the door behind him. For the first time in days, Talon found himself alone with Kate.
Her hands drifted over his face, cataloguing his injuries as she tsked beneath her breath. No one had ever coddled him in such a manner. Even his mother had always been too caught up in her own miseries to worry about his.
She massaged his temples, eliciting a small sound of pleasure from the back of his throat. He closed his eyes, reveling in the attention. Her touch was like a gentle rain upon the parched surface of his soul. He drank her in, determined to take as much from this moment as he could since she offered it so freely.
“I think your beautiful nose is broken,” she told him. “Your lip is cut, and you’ll probably have two black eyes in the morning.”
“It was worth it to have you touch me this way.” He didn’t bother to open his eyes and see if his words had affected her. Daniel would be back soon, and the mood would be shattered. He was determined to enjoy her sweetness for as long as possible.
She caught her breath, and he felt the fine tremor of her hands upon his skin. “Talon,” she whispered, her soft voice caressing his name. “You know how much I care about you. But you also know I’m a married woman. I can’t keep letting this happen. It’s wrong.”
“You’re not married.” He opened his eyes and glared at her, willing her to listen. “You’ve been cooped up on this ship with the man for two weeks, but that doesn’t make a marriage.”
Her eyes clouded, and she let her hands fall away. “Maybe not. But it’s a start. Daniel and I have to learn to get along with each other. He’s all I have. There will be no children. We’ll never return to England.”
“You have me, Kate. All you need to do is say the word. I could make you so happy.”
“How will it make me happy to take you as my lover?” Her blunt words shocked him, and she shook her head. “It would be far too easy for me to fall in love with you, and that would only lead to a broken heart because eventually you would leave me. Besides, I could never live with the guilt.”
He sighed and turned his face away. “I live with guilt every day. You manage to get used to it after awhile.”
But that was a lie. He would never get used to it, and it was never going to go away. Even if he managed to win his men’s freedom, the guilt would still be there. If anything, it would be stronger because in saving their lives, he’d have done exactly as Kate feared. He would have broken her tender heart.
The door opened, ending their conversation. Daniel slipped back in, carrying a basin of steaming water he must have gotten from the galley. He set it on the table in front of them, frowning as he took a closer look at Talon’s face. “Well, you won’t be quite so pretty for awhile, but I imagine you’ll live.”
Kate wet the washcloth, lifting it to Talon’s face. “This might sting a bit.”
“It’s all right.” He tried to take the cloth from her hand, unwilling to have her hands on him while Daniel was in the room. “I can do it.”
She put one hand on his chest and flashed him a warning look. “Let me do this for you. I want to.”
“All right.” He couldn’t resist her plea. Despite all her talk of marriage and duty and guilt, she seemed unable to resist this chance to be near him.
Talon held still while she bathed his bloody face, struggling to control his rioting emotions. She traced the outline of his lips with infinite care, and he wondered if she was remembering the kisses they’d shared.
He was. In fact, he’d been unable to think of little else. Especially since that morning in her cabin when she’d come so willingly into his arms. Turning away from her had been so hard, and he wondered why he’d bothered.
He wanted her so badly he ached. More than half a year had passed since he’d found release within a woman’s body, and he knew making love to Kate would surpass all his other romantic experiences.
So, what was he waiting for?
Delaying the inevitable wouldn’t make it any easier when the time came to leave her. Why not steal these few precious days and hours when she still trusted and cared for him? He could turn these days at sea into a memory that would last the rest of his life.
He was tired of spending his days on deck, pacing and driving himself crazy with jealousy. He hated it when Daniel and Kate excluded him.
He wanted to remain in this cabin with Kate and his brother. He wanted to taste this strange friendship and bask in Kate’s golden light. His life had been full of solitude and loneliness. It was stupid to deprive himself of love and companionship when they were being offered so freely.
At last, Kate finished her careful ministrations, and she sat back on her heels to survey her work. “Much better.”
Daniel tossed Kate a book, and she caught it in surprise, raising one eyebrow. “Is this a hint?”
Nodding, Daniel glanced at Talon. “Kate has been reading to me from a volume of Greek mythology. Why don’t you stick around and listen for a bit?”
Talon felt as though his brother had read his mind. Daniel gave a wicked smile when Talon caught his gaze. While Kate was struggling hard against taking him as her lover, Daniel was doing his best to throw them together.
“I’d love to listen to you read,” Talon murmured with no little regret. “But I think I need to lie down for awhile.”
“We’ll come with you. It’s more comfortable in there anyway. You don’t mind, do you, Kate?” Daniel’s smile was guileless.
For the second time that day, Talon was forced to admit his brother was not the self‐absorbed simpleton he’d first supposed him to be. A cunning mind lurked behind Daniel’s bland good looks and mincing manner.
Kate gave Talon a tentative glance. “No, I don’t mind, if Talon really wants to listen.” A hopeful plea lit her eyes.
“I do,” he told her, unable to fight them both.
They filed into the cabin Daniel and Talon shared. Talon kicked off his boots and socks and stretched out on the bottom bunk. Daniel took the only chair, so Kate gestured toward the mattress at his feet. “Will it bother you if I sit here?”
He shook his head, hiding a small smile. He’d wanted her in his bed for weeks, but this wasn’t quite what he’d had in mind.
Kate took a deep breath and opened the book. As she began to read, Talon closed his eyes, listening to the sound of her voice while she spoke of Mt. Olympus, the realm of the Gods. Gradually, Kate’s shoulders relaxed and her hip rested against his foot.
For a long time, he lay still, enjoying the warm press of her body against his feet, but after awhile he grew restless. It wasn’t enough. He wanted more.
He moved one foot tentatively, almost groaning aloud at the slight give in her soft, rounded hip. Her voice faltered for a moment then resumed stronger than before. She touched his ankle, closing her h
and over his bare skin.
At first, he thought she was warning him. Instead, she rubbed his arch with slow deep caresses that made his already warm blood rise to the boiling point.
He’d never known such sensual decadence, to have a beautiful woman rub his feet in the middle of the afternoon. Every other sexual experience he could recount had been a hurried affair. There was always someone else waiting for a turn, or he had a ship to sail or a score to settle.
All these weeks, he’d been worrying himself sick over how to save his men without seducing her. He could have been lying here in his bunk, regaining his strength and listening to her clear, sweet voice. What a waste.
He’d been a fool to resist this. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever known.
She moved on to his other foot sometime during the third chapter, reducing him to complete mush. His mind began to wander, and he drifted away, lost in his daydreams of the woman beside him.
In his dreams, she was his wife, not Daniel’s.
Chapter Fourteen
“I think Talon is asleep.” Kate glanced up at Daniel, then closed the book and put it aside. “I’m going to stop reading, if you don’t mind.”
Daniel leaned back in his chair and gave his brother a sympathetic glance. “He really does have a heart of gold, doesn’t he? He’s nothing like I imagined.”
Kate stared down at Talon’s beautiful, battered face. His lashes lay thick and dark on his bruised cheeks, and his broad chest rose and fell in soft rhythm. “Exactly how did you picture him?”
Daniel gave Talon a pensive stare. “He showed up at the London house when I was a boy. I was playing on the steps when this filthy ragged urchin approached and told me he was my brother. Father sent him away, of course, but from then on he delighted in telling me of his successes.”
“Where did he go after that? How did he live?” Kate was horrified at the thought of the earl rejecting his own son. No wonder Talon hated his father so much. And poor Daniel. It must have been hard to live in the shadow of the brother he’d never known.
“He went to sea and worked his way through the ranks until he finally commanded a ship of his own. Father loved to tell me how brave Talon was, how resourceful. I expected to hate him.”
“He’s rather hard to hate.”
“Yes, he is.” Daniel shook his head. “I can’t help but admire him. He had none of my advantages, yet he managed to make something of himself anyway. He went from the streets to being one of the most successful privateers to sail the seas. He amassed quite a fortune before he was arrested last year for piracy.”
“He’s a pirate?” Kate couldn’t have been more surprised. “I don’t believe you.”
Daniel sat forward, his blue eyes serious. “They called him the Hawk. His ship was a gorgeous clipper called The Western Sky. He targeted mainly British ships, my father’s in particular, but who can blame him for wanting revenge? He raided this very ship not long ago, which is one reason why he’s so worried for our safety. He and the captain are not on the best of terms.”
Kate squeezed Talon’s slim, bare foot. She loved his feet. They were fine-boned and elegant, just like his hands. “I never would have guessed.”
“He was condemned to life in Newgate for his crimes. I thought Father was going to let him rot there forever, but he finally intervened and had him released a month ago.”
“So that’s why he was so thin and pale when we first met.” Kate was horrified to think of this strong, kind man trapped in a filthy, windowless cell. “No wonder he spends so much time on deck.”
“I still haven’t figured out why he’s been so decent to me,” Daniel mused. “Surely he must hate me and everything I stand for.”
Kate reluctantly released Talon’s foot. “I’ll bet he’s anxious to reach the Carolinas so he can be rid of us.”
“He’ll be glad to get rid of me. But I don’t think he minds your company at all.”
She stood and stretched, feeling the kinks in her body relax. She’d been sitting in one place for far too long, unwilling to move for fear she’d lose the warmth of Talon’s body. But this conversation with her husband had reminded her once again why she must keep her distance.
She didn’t care whether or not Talon was a pirate, but she realized now, more than ever, how impossible it would be to hold him. He belonged to the sea. “I think I’ll skip our card game tonight, Daniel. I’m rather tired.”
“Sweet dreams,” Daniel told her. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
* * * * *
Talon wasn’t sleeping. He’d heard the whole conversation, and he barely managed to restrain himself until Kate left the room. As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, he sat up, pinning his brother with a furious glare. “How dare you tell her those things?”
Daniel flinched in surprise then shrugged and gave an easy laugh. “Don’t you know it isn’t nice to eavesdrop?”
“Why did you tell her all of that? Christ, how could you do this to me? I thought you wanted me to seduce her.”
Talon was still stung by the dismay in Kate’s tone when Daniel had told her he’d been imprisoned for piracy. He’d wanted to deny it at the top of his lungs and beg her to believe in him. He’d do anything to keep from losing the one thing she’d given him that no one else ever had—her esteem.
She had thought him a hero.
“Don’t be an idiot.” Daniel gave him a smug smile. “You’ve been slacking these last few weeks. Kate’s gotten too close to me. Hell, she’s even pledged her undying faithfulness. I had to do something.”
“What do you think you’ve accomplished by this?” Talon wanted to bash Daniel’s face until his brother looked as battered as Talon felt. He couldn’t believe a few short hours ago, he’d thought the two of them might someday be friends.
Besides, Kate’s undying faithfulness was nothing to scoff at. He wanted it for himself.
Daniel stood up, stretching. “I gave her something to think about. The dashing pirate Hawk. What woman could possibly resist?”
Talon shoved a hand through his rumpled hair in disgust. “It shouldn’t surprise me, but it’s obvious you don’t know a damned thing about women. If your goal was to get Kate into my bed, I’m afraid you’ve made a big mistake.”
“I don’t think so. But we’ll see, won’t we? You’re running out of time, you know. We’ll only be at sea another week or so. You have to do this soon.”
“We’ve had this conversation before,” Talon said, refusing to admit he’d already come to the same conclusion. “I’m not going to seduce her. There has to be another way.”
“Maybe our father isn’t so smart. Maybe you don’t care as much about those men of yours as he thought you did.”
“You can’t begin to know how I feel about those men.” Talon fisted his hands at his sides, concentrating on the pain of his split knuckles instead of the responsibility he felt for his crew. “You’ve never held another man’s life in the palm of your hand. You don’t know the meaning of the words honor or loyalty. I will save them. But I’ll do it without hurting Kate. She doesn’t deserve this fiasco you’ve made of her life.”
Daniel sat back down, his eyes widening in disbelief. “My God. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. You’re in love with her. Aren’t you?”
Talon flinched, feeling as though McGuire had punched him in the gut yet again. “Of course not.” He shook his head in denial even though he was terrified it might be true. “Don’t be a bloody ass.”
Daniel laughed again, but this time there was pity in the sound. “I’d hate to be you, my friend. What a decision to have to make.”
“Why don’t you just leave me the hell alone?” Talon lay back down and stared sullenly at the ceiling. He pretended to ignore Daniel, but his brother’s words would not give him any peace.
What a decision to have to make.
A decision. In the end, that was all it really came down to. Kate’s innocence, or the lives of seventy men. It shou
ld have been so easy.
Kate was strong. This would hurt her, but she would go on. She would lavish all that love and affection on the child he would give her.
The child he would never see, never hold. He imagined a son with Kate’s beautiful eyes and quick laughter. He pushed the thought away, determined not to torture himself that way. It was better if he didn’t think of the child.
Long after Daniel had blown out the light and climbed into the bunk above him, Talon continued to stare up into the darkness, both dreading and anticipating what tomorrow would bring.
After a long while, his brother’s soft snores filled the silence. Talon clenched his jaw against the sound and planned the seduction of his sister‐ in‐law.
* * * * *
Kate was getting ready for bed the next evening when someone knocked on her door. She’d already changed into her nightgown, but she shrugged, deciding it was probably just Daniel come to say goodnight.
She welcomed the thought of a little conversation. Her husband had been quiet today, lost in his own thoughts. And Talon had been up and gone long before sunrise. In fact, she hadn’t seen her brother‐in‐law all day, and it had been hard to contain her disappointment.
She’d hoped Talon had enjoyed spending the day with her and Daniel. She’d even thought she’d noticed a lessening in the tension usually so prevalent between the two brothers.
Her thoughts trailed off when the knock came again. When she opened the door, she was stunned to find Talon dressed in elegant, black evening clothes, the effect only slightly tarnished by his battered face. He looked as though he’d arrived to take her to the opera. He held one perfect red rose in his hands, which he must have gotten from the rose bushes he’d brought with them.
She flushed, stunned by his masculine beauty, but confused as well. She’d grown accustomed to seeing him dressed as a sailor, shoeless, shirtless, bronzed skin damp with sweat. She could think of only one reason for him to be here bearing a rose and dressed in his finest.