Pleasures of a Tempted Lady (38 page)

“You better not run about too much in that, or you’ll fall flat on your face,” Thomas said wisely.

“I expect you to be sleeping,” Meg said sternly. “Not running about.”

With a noisy yawn, Jake agreed and clambered up into the narrow bed. One thing about Jake—he was more likely to agree than to complain about bedtime when he truly was tired. A bit more hesitant, Thomas crawled in beside him.

She kissed each one of the boys on the forehead, pleased when Thomas accepted her kiss and smiled up at her. Though his features were lighter than his father’s, he reminded her so much of Will. Especially when he smiled.

“Good night, my darling boys,” she murmured.

“Meg?” Jake asked.

“Yes?”

“What if I get scared?”

Her heart clenched. “I shall be right next door, and—”

But Thomas had turned toward him. “But you can’t get scared, Jake!”

Jake frowned. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. Not anyone!”

Jake turned to Thomas. “Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

Jake let out a breath of relief and looked at Meg. “I won’t be afraid, then.”

She smiled at him. “I am glad.”

She kissed them again, lowered the lantern lashed to the wall but didn’t turn it completely off, and left the room. When she reentered the captain’s quarters, Will was seated where she’d left him, still holding his teacup in his hands. He rose, gazing at her as she entered the small cabin and shut the door behind her.

“Come sit down,” he said.

She sat, and he poured her more tea before he took his own seat again. The tea was still hot, and she cupped it gratefully in her hands and asked him the question she hadn’t wanted to ask in front of the boys. “What happened to Caversham?”

“He is gone,” Will said as she took a sip of tea.

She looked at him over the rim and carefully lowered the cup. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“He went down with the ship. His choice. He’d rather drown than face the legal repercussions of his crimes.”

Meg shuddered. That was a choice she’d never
understand. But then, there were so many things about Caversham she’d never understood, and never would.

So she was free. Jake was, too.

She’d expected to feel a rush of relief when Caversham was finally gone from her life, a sense of joyous liberty. Instead, she felt numb.

He reached out, and she closed her eyes as his finger stroked down her cheek, warm and soft, bringing the nerve endings on her skin back to life.

“He’s gone,” she whispered. “He’s truly gone.”

“Yes. He is.”

Another shudder racked her body. She’d never expected to be rid of him, not really. She’d expected she’d be running and hiding from him for the rest of her life.

Finally,
finally
, she was free. Body, spirit, and heart, she was no longer Caversham’s captive. She was free to love Will again.

She opened her eyes and stared at Will for a long moment. Then she blurted, “Marry me, Will.”

He didn’t move, didn’t change expression.

The words rushed out. “You once offered me your hand in marriage. My mother accepted on my sister’s behalf, and it all fell apart once the truth came out. You offered me marriage again, but I was too afraid of Caversham finding us and ruining what peace we’d found.

“But I’m here now. I’m free of the man who kept me from living my life for eight years. You’ve saved us, Will. Because of you, Jake and I can finally start to live.” She opened her hand, laying it palm up. “I know it might be far too late, but my hand is now free, and I am offering it to you.”

Slowly, he removed his hand from his teacup and laid it over hers, his fingers curling over her palm. “Meg…”

The doubt in his voice made her chest hurt.

“What is it?” she whispered.

His hand was warm and steady over hers as the
Endeavor
pitched gently in the nighttime sea, its rigging creaking as the sails adjusted to the wind.

“I love you,” he said softly, his voice achingly raw. “I always have loved you, and I always will. The eight years I spent without you—those were the darkest days of my life. The sheer knowledge that you’re alive has brought the light back into my life.”

He hesitated, then took a deep breath and continued. “But I told you this before. I cannot marry someone who merely feels gratitude toward me. Who is unable to open herself to me or share her darkest thoughts. Who is incapable of trust.”

Grief carved harsh lines in his face. He had spent the past few months fighting for her, only for her to refuse to give him the trust he deserved. And now he’d finally given up.

She set her cup down on the table and rose from her chair. He rose, too, watching her with unfathomable dark eyes as she walked around the table and stood before him.

“I’m so sorry.” She looked into his handsome face, her eyes stinging. “I was wrong.”

He just gazed at her with that flatness of expression she couldn’t interpret.

“But so are you,” she continued. “You imply I cannot love you in return.”

She reached up to cup his face in her hands, feeling the afternoon’s rasping growth under her palms. “Nothing could be further from the truth, Will. I never stopped loving you, but I allowed my own fear to get in the way.
To protect myself, I convinced myself that my love for you couldn’t be real.”

Pulling him forward, she pressed a soft kiss on his lips.

“It is real, though,” she whispered, tangling her fingers in the hair at his nape. “I have loved you since my first visit to London eight years ago. I’ll love you forever.”

Will’s eyelids sank shut, and he released a sighing breath. “I want to believe you.”

“Right now,” she went on softly, “I’m going to share my darkest thought with you. My darkest thought is that I spent too long resisting trusting you… and loving you. My biggest fear is that you have given up on me. That you’ve stopped loving me because I’ve been such a fool.”

She let her hands slip from his neck. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her cheek on his chest. “I’m so scared you’re going to mark me as the fool that I am and walk away. I’m so angry with myself for ever questioning you. I should have let you in, Will, but I waited too long. I made the worst choice in running away from Prescot. And now, I stand here pouring out everything to you, knowing I might be too late. Knowing that my own stupidity might have ruined my last chance for happiness.”

His breath ruffled her hair. “I’ll never not love you, Meg.”

She closed her eyes, reveling in the warmth and firmness of the chest beneath her cheek. “Today, I was able to smash the last of the wall I’d erected between us. I was finally able to trust you completely. I worried and fretted and prayed… but deep in my heart—in my soul—I knew you’d bring Jake back to me. That both of you would come back to me. A month ago, nothing could have kept
me still with Jake on a sinking ship. But when the sailor told me you’d gone after him, I waited. Because I knew… and I trusted—I
trust—
you.” She pulled back a little and looked up at him again. “Whenever I am afraid or in trouble or in danger, from now on, I shall turn to you before anyone else.”

His fingertips touched her cheek. “Is that a promise?” His voice was gruff.

“It is my promise to you. For now and forever.” She shook her head, a small smile forming on her face. “From my most recent experience, I doubt anyone would say that’s not a wise decision.”

“I don’t want to rule your life, Meg,” he said soberly. “I just want to be a part of it.”

“That’s what I want, too.”

He drew forward, into another kiss. This one deep and commanding. His breath clashed with hers, scorching hot, as his tongue explored her mouth. Invading and conquering. And that was exactly what Meg wanted. She invaded and conquered in return, but it wasn’t a competition, not a battle to see who was superior, which of them could conquer the other. It was a give-and-take, a sharing of power.

And that, Meg knew, would be how they would always be together. He wasn’t the kind of man who would take her life from her and make it secondary to his own. It would be a partnership; a joint effort. They would raise the two boys they both loved together.

Will pulled back, his breathing harsh, his eyes glowing in the light of the lantern.

She blinked hard at that look of desperate vulnerability in his eyes. He needed to hear the words one more time. “I love you, Will. I love you so much.”

He groaned, and his lips closed over hers once more. His hands moved over her, fumbling with the ties on her clothes. When only her stockings remained, he swung her up into his arms and took her to bed.

He was warm. Gentle. Soft, flowing pleasure. He touched her, kissed her, rousing every nerve ending over her skin and stoking the fire between her legs. She did the same to him, wanting to know every bit of this man, her man. Her hands skimmed the muscles of his arms and torso, the dips on the sides of his buttocks, the soft steel of his erection. He was a beautiful, honorable man. And he was hers.

Finally, he laid the hard length of his tall body over her, looking down into her face.

“Marry me, Meg,” he said quietly. “Be with me forever.”

She smiled at him. “I believe I asked you the same thing a little while ago.”

He nodded. “You did. And I asked you eight years ago when I wasn’t really in a position to ask and you weren’t in a position to accept. I asked again two years ago, via a letter you were never able to read. I asked you two weeks ago, when you were still fighting the power Caversham had over you. But now I am asking you one final time, when we are face to face, flesh to flesh, and with a greater understanding of what love is than I was in possession of eight years ago… and even two weeks ago.”

Those words sent a flush rippling through her, tingling and warm.

“I will marry you,” Meg said, wrapping her arms around his bare shoulders. “There’s nothing that I want more in the world than to be your wife.”

He lowered his head and gave her an exquisitely tender
kiss, so lovely she didn’t notice he was preparing to enter her until she felt his invasion into her body and the smooth glide of him inside her.

Oh, she thought as that honey-warm glow in her nerves spread and grew. It was beautiful and perfect. It was sweet and buzzing. It grew within her as he pressed over her, slowly at first, then more powerfully as their bodies moved in a synchronized motion of two people connected, not only by body but by mind and spirit as well.

By love.

The next day, they arrived in Penzance. Since the dock was currently unoccupied and the
Endeavor
needed prompt repairs, they were able to tie up rather than anchor in the small harbor. As they entered the harbor, though, Meg saw the
Freedom
anchored in the calm waters.

“Why on earth is the
Freedom
here?” she asked Will.

“I gave Briggs the order to search for more evidence against Caversham here,” Will said. “And I told him we’d meet him here.”

“I hope he found it.” Meg knew Caversham was guilty of even more than what she’d witnessed, and she wanted the world to know about it.

“So do I,” Will said quietly.

As the men hurried about, directing the docking process, Meg shaded her eyes and stared at the end of the dock. “My goodness,” she said, now completely bewildered. “That young woman rather looks like my sister Jessica.”

Will, who was standing beside her, frowned. “It certainly does.”

They looked at each other, then spoke no more of it
until the ship was securely tied to the dock and it was time to disembark. Will lifted the boys down; then he helped Meg down the steps. When she was on the dock, Meg looked up to see Jessica running toward them, her skirts gathered in her hands.

“Meg!” she cried, launching herself into Meg’s arms. “Thank God you’re all right.”

“Jessica, what on earth—?”

“Oh, there’s so much to tell you. I’m so happy to see you! I didn’t expect to see you here so quickly, but I’m so glad you’re here! What happened to the ship? It looks rather… well, half destroyed. Were you attacked by pirates?”

“Yes,” Thomas said, “a very horrible pirate, too. But we sank his pirate ship once and for all!”

But Jessica didn’t seem to hear him. She kept rattling on.

Meg couldn’t get a word in, so she just hugged her sister back, and when she finally paused for breath, Meg asked, “What are
you
doing here, Jessica?”

Jessica’s eyes widened. “You haven’t heard? Well, I suppose you haven’t. I’m in a heap of trouble, according to Serena. But—well, you see, I stowed away on the
Freedom—”

“You
what
?” Meg and Will asked in unison.

Jessica puffed out a breath, then glanced down at the boys and then around them. There was a small crowd milling about on the dock. “Perhaps we should talk in a more private location,” she suggested. “David is heading—”

“David?” Meg asked with a raised brow.

Jessica had the grace to blush. “Um, I mean Mr. Briggs. He’s heading to the inn, where Serena, Olivia, and Phoebe are staying with our brothers-in-law.”

Meg’s mouth dropped open. “All of our sisters are here?”

Jessica’s pretty lips twisted, and her blush deepened. “Well, they just arrived this morning, you see. It appears that they came in pursuit of me. Although I don’t know why, and having all three of them running across England after me seems a little silly, don’t you think?”

Meg studied her sister for a moment, then said in a low voice, “No, Jess. It doesn’t sound silly at all. They love you, you know.”

Jessica heaved a long-suffering sigh. “I know.”

Then she looked up at Meg, and her lips tilted into a beautiful smile. “They love you, too, Meg. And so do I.” She wrapped Meg’s arm in her own and pulled her down the dock. “They’re all going to be so very happy to see you.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “Captain Langley, of course you must come, too. After all that has happened, I have finally decided I can trust you. And”—she grinned at Meg—“David—I mean, Mr. Briggs—trusts you now, too, Meg. So come along, both of you.”