Hart's Passion (Pirates & Petticoats Book 2) (10 page)

“What in the—?” With an enraged oath, he stared at the lash marks running across her shoulders and back. “That bloody bastard!” At least four gashes were oozing blood. Raw anger roiled in his chest, and he tossed a murderous look at the still form of Crowe sprawled on the floor.
 

“I should have killed that maggot-ridden piece of filth.”

More gently this time, he drew her into his arms. A terrible ache gripped his chest. The bastard had abused her. He took a strangled gasp of air, and tried to speak, but his words came out choked, “He hurt you. Keelan, love, I’m so sorry.” She buried her face in his neck, hot tears dampening his skin. “I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again. I’m here. I’ll always be here. You’re safe with me. I have you. I have you.”
 

When the haze of pain and terror finally thinned, it was with tremendous relief that Keelan recognized Landon’s chiseled face. She prayed it wasn’t the lack of food and sleep causing her to hallucinate.

“Is it really you?”
 
This was a cruel trick for her body to play on her mind.
 

Landon ran his thumb gently along her jaw, frowning at the angry purple bruise near her chin. Concern was evident in his voice. “Aye, love, it’s me.” He tenderly stroked her cheek. “Keelan, how is it that you are here?”

She fought to control her quaking voice as she told Landon about the two strangers who had kidnapped her from Jared’s manse.
 

“Two men took me from the house and locked me in here. At first, I suspected it was Dr. Garrison. He visited earlier in the evening and asked me to elope with him, but I refused.” She shuddered, unable to control the shiver clamping around her spine. “They said something about keeping me here until my new master arrived.”
 

“You refused?” Landon eyed her cautiously.
 

It took her a second to process Landon’s question.
 

The kiss. Foolish man. How could he think she would ever choose any other man over him? A spark ignited somewhere inside her and she found the strength to poke him in the chest and glare at him through her tears. “If you think I would ever willingly kiss that awful man, then Landon Hart, you are a bigger fool than he was for attempting it.”

There was a slight relaxing of his face, but the muscles in his jaw still moved; his were eyes were still wary. How could she make him believe her? She threaded her fingers in his. “If I had gone with him, I’d not have been in my room when those men came for me.” She understood his reluctance to nurture another relationship of the heart. He needed to trust her love. They needed to trust each other, which wasn’t easy for either of them.

“What you saw today was Dr. Garrison kissing me, even though I did not desire it.”

He studied their entwined fingers. “I would not leave without you unless you wished it,” he admitted. “I planned to return to speak with you about your decision.” His voice caught, then dropped. “My ship sails in a few days and since the ball I have been tormented day and night by visions of you. Now, that I can actually talk to you, look at you, touch you, all I can think about is having you with me.” He raised his head and looked into her eyes. “I want you with me, Keelan.”

He dipped his head and kissed her lightly. Her lips burned with the impression, slight as it was, against her own. The sudden vision of Landon at her side, sailing on bright blue water made her catch her breath. She wanted to cling to him and tell him she was his. Would he still want her after she told him about her heritage? How should she broach the subject?

Landon gestured to Orvis and Crowe. “Do you have any idea who these men are?”

“That one is Crowe,” she pointed with a shudder. “The other is named Orvis.” There was something else they said that was familiar. What was it? Her mind was still fuzzy. Her head hurt. A name they mentioned…one she’d heard before.

Gampo.

She grabbed Landon’s arm. “They work for the pirate, whom you spoke about.” Her voice came out in a terrified whisper, “They work for Gampo.”

Landon froze. “Why would he come after you? Why would he be in the city of Charleston?”
 

“I’m not sure,” she said, bringing her hands to her pounding temples.
 

“It’s too big a risk for them. It makes no sense. He’s only ever attacked us on the water.”
 

“Perhaps you damaged his ship as badly a he damaged yours.”

Landon thought for a moment and then nodded. “It’s possible.”

“What brought you here?”

Landon smoothed a rebellious strand of hair from her face. “I was following stolen property. This is one of Jared’s warehouses.” He paused in thought. “A different portion of my cargo was stolen from another one of Jared’s properties. This is too big a coincidence. Especially now, with Gampo involved.”

What was he thinking? “Do you suspect
Jared
had me kidnapped?”
 

Landon’s face darkened dangerously. “Either it was Jared or someone who had knowledge of his business and access to his warehouse keys.” With a grim set to his jaw, he continued, “I wouldn’t eliminate Garrison as suspect yet.”
 

Neither would she. In fact, she was convinced he was at the center of everything, even if Jared didn’t believe it.

Landon stepped away from her and perused her shackles. After a quick search of Crowe’s pockets did not produce a key, he said apologetically, “I’m afraid the best I can do for now is to separate the chain from its moorings.” Landon studied the wall then grabbed the links, put his foot against the wooden planks and pulled, making cords in his neck and arms stand out under the strain. Soon, there was a mournful creak followed by a loud crack, and the wood splintered apart around the bolt, leaving Keelan with four feet of chain.

Landon pressed his lips together ruefully. “My apologies, my love, this is the best I can do for now.”

“It’s enough. Thank you,” she said. A shiver ran up her spine reminding her how badly her night dress was torn. Landon must have noticed as well, because he removed his coat, picked up the end of her chain, and dropped it down the left sleeve before helping her shrug into the garment.
 

The covering was welcome, but the touch of the fabric against her tender wounds felt like flames across her shoulders. Landon cupped her chin, turned her face up to his, and studied her intently. It was as if he searched for something lost. Her heart pounded in her chest as his touch warmed her skin. Would he still want her after she told him?

“I need to tell you what I learned the night Papa died,” she blurted. Somehow, getting this out and over with took precedence over everything else. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she plunged on before her courage failed her. “On his deathbed, he told me I am a bastard child—not one of his blood.” Keelan couldn’t look at him. Would she find scorn in his eyes? She fought to keep her voice firm. As shameful as her position was, she was determined to try to keep her pride from crumbling away entirely. She would not hide the truth, but neither would she live out the rest of her days in shame.
 

“The items he has charged me to find are documents which will tell me the identity of my father.” She lifted her shoulders and set her jaw. “Papa left Twin Pines to Jared and enough money for me to journey back to Wind Briar to retrieve documents proving who my father is.” Still, for all that, she could not meet his gaze.
 

He didn’t respond. Keelan’s heart shattered anew and fresh tears threatened to spill. What if this information made him change his mind and he decided he didn’t want her with him?

A warm finger gently touched her chin, raising her head. “Keelan.”

Tremulously, she focused on his face. His beautiful smile.

Landon was smiling. Smiling. “I don’t care.”

“You don’t?”

“I don’t care. That isn’t important to me.
You
are. I want you with me.” Landon’s crystal eyes bore into hers. He took her hands in his. “Since the storm, I have been driving myself mad thinking about you. Keelan Grey, for the first time in my life, I wished to be a titled lord or wealthy land owner instead of a seafaring man, so I could court you and be deemed more worthy of your hand.”

Landon kissed her fingers, one by one. Reaching up, he gently placed his palm on her cheek; his gaze held hers imprisoned within their azure depths, captured by those mesmerizing sapphire eyes.
 

“At the ball, you agreed to sail away with me,” Landon said. “Will you still?”

 
Keelan’s heart missed a beat. He still wanted her. Regardless of her station, he still wanted her with him.
 

But…what about tomorrow?
 

Next week?
 

Next month?
 

Unbidden, the image of Landon and Annette Camsby dancing at Doreen’s ball surfaced in her mind.
 

How could she possibly trust her heart to him?
 

How could she possibly avoid losing it to him?

Landon pulled her closer, and she gasped at the hard heat of his body against her lightly clad chest. He lowered his head and ensnared her trembling lips with his. Her body jolted at the unexpected kiss, but the soft plying of his lips calmed her. His tongue delved deep, soft, and warm in the cavity of her mouth. A heady sensation enveloped Keelan almost as if Landon was a dark, sweet wine, and she had sipped too much of him. Her free hand involuntarily slipped up to his waist and clutched his shirt.
 

A soft moan rumbled in Landon’s chest. His lips moved from her mouth to her throat. “Speak a lie and tell me you do not want to be with me, Keelan.” His voice was husky with emotion.

“I cannot," she breathed. “I cannot deny that I want to be with you.”

She closed her eyes and let her skin memorize the protective circle of his arms. She focused on his scent, his touch, his warmth, and willed the memory to bury itself into her mind and soul.

Lifting her chin, he brushed his knuckles gently against her face, wiping away the new tears streaming down her cheeks. “Will you still come with me?”
 

A floorboard creaked loudly and from the direction of the far doorway a voice rasped, “I’m afraid she has a previous obligation.”

Keelan’s breath hitched at the voice and Landon immediately pulled her behind him.
 

The small door in the far corner was open. Standing in the doorway was a tall man dressed in a black hat and cloak. In his hand, a saber glinted in the low flickering light.

“He sounds like one of the men who took me from my bedroom.” Terror-stricken, Keelan could barely whisper, shrinking into the dark shadows of the wall. Daniel had taught her how to defend herself with a dagger and a sword, but now she had neither. He hadn’t been able to teach her how to defend herself against the fear freezing her limbs.
 

Think
. What would Daniel tell her to do?
Use what you have on you and near you to defend and distract.

Landon’s sword was several feet away on the floor, where he had dropped it to grab the bloody buckle of Crowe’s belt.

“Seems I’ve lost my newly acquired warehouse full of goods,” the strange man croaked.
 

“They weren’t yours to begin with,” Landon replied, clenching his fists at his sides.

The man shifted his stance, and Keelan could now tell he had a dark cloth covering his face. His eyes glittered through jagged holes cut in the fabric.

The man tilted his head. “Regardless, I plan to take this small investment with me, as compensation of sorts for part of me losses.” He flicked his saber at Keelan. “You’ll be coming with me, little chick.”

“I’ll send you to hell first.” Landon eased a step forward.
 

Keelan lifted her chin, grasped the links dangling from her wrist, and tried to appear as if she wasn’t terrified, but the shiver quaking through her body had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. She could do this. She would fight this man with everything she had.
 

Starting with the chain around her wrist.

The edge of the kidnapper’s saber gleamed wickedly in the sallow glow of the lantern. He flicked it at the inert form on the floor. “Did you kill him?”

“Not yet.” Landon’s eyes hardened. His dagger made a soft hiss as he drew it from its sheath.

The man lifted the tip of his saber toward Landon. “Stand aside, man. Ye be at a fatal disadvantage.”
 

Undaunted, Landon stepped forward and over Crowe’s body, stopping inches short of the deadly saber’s reach. His own sword now lay only a few feet to his right. He spread his arms wide, and tossed his dagger from left hand to right hand.
 

“Then we have different assessments of the situation,” he responded.

Keelan disagreed. A dagger against the long, sharp deadly saber seemed to be quite a big disadvantage to her.
 

“Landon, be careful,” she whispered in terror.

The man’s head snapped up. “Landon? As in Landon Hart? Captain Landon Hart?”

Landon’s shoulders tensed, like a panther ready to spring. “Yes….and you are?”

“Me Christian name ain’t well bandied about, but I’m ‘Gampo' to my men. And you owe me a ship.” He lunged at Landon.

Landon beat the tip to the side and jumped back. “I owe you nothing!” he snarled. “Except a knife to your heart for killing my friend, Fynn Ahern.”

Gampo straightened a little. “So it’s true, then. Ahern’s dead. A pity.” He began to circle Landon. “My intention was to run that turncoat through with my saber at close range, so I could watch his life fade for what he did to my sister.”

Keelan frantically scanned the room for anything she could use as a weapon. She glanced at the lantern then snatched it from the spike in the wall. The shackles chinked with her movement.
 

Never taking his eyes from Gampo, Landon flipped his dagger in the air and caught it by the blade. He drew his hand back as if to throw it. Gampo ducked and jabbed his saber wildly at Landon’s head.