Page 47 of The Black Lion
She tried to smile, but winced as if it hurt her to do so. “You cannot blame yourself. We thought Will far behind us.”
“He will be, for certain this time. I can promise you that.”
“Then that is good enough for me. Now, I only need you to one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Take me home.”
Kissing her brow, he swiveled for the door, following her command so easily it was laughable. “Aye, my Bella. Without delay.”
The great Captain Reeves, The Black Lion himself, brought to his knees by nothing more than a slip of a woman. But then, there was no woman like Arabella Reeves. A man could certainly do worse.
Chapter Fifteen
Arabella sat up in bed, blinking the bleariness from her eyes. The darkness beyond the windows told her it was still night, and she couldn’t have slept more than a few hours. She, Drew, and the crews of all eight of his ships had arrived back on the island by sunset, putting the entire ordeal behind them. However, there was still the matter of Will to attend to. Drew had left her in the care of her maid with strict instructions for her care. Promising to return as soon as he could, he set off to ensure the matter of Will was put to rest once and for all.
In his absence Arabella enjoyed a luxurious bath, had the tangles combed from her hair, and took to their bed. She’d been served a dinner fit for a queen, with so many dishes she could hardly taste each one before she found herself unable to take another bite. Arabella had tried reading while waiting up for Drew, but exhaustion had won out and she’d drifted off to sleep.
Glancing to the foot of the bed, she found the thing that had drawn her to wakefulness. Her husband sat staring at her, his eyes dark shadows in the meager light of the moon filtering through the sheer curtains.
“Drew?” she murmured, tossing the blankets aside and throwing her legs over the side of the bed. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
The cedarwood and clove scent of him reached out to her as she drew near, and when she touched his bare chest, she found him still slightly damp. He had bathed before coming to bed and wore not a stitch of clothing. How long had he sat there watching her sleep?
Her hand slid down his side, encountering the wound Will had caused with his dagger. The damage had been superficial, and had bled like the very devil, but turned out not to require stitches. Drew didn’t so much as flinch when she ran her fingertip gingerly over the cut.
Instead, he moved to the edge of the bed, spreading his legs and pulling her between them, both hands braced on the curves of her waist. When he stared up at her, Arabella saw all the emotion he’d smothered during her rescue. She had been frightened at what she found in his eyes while he’d coldly and methodically urged Will away from her, then disarmed and battered him half to death. It had been unlike anything she’d ever seen, reminding her why her husband was one of the most feared pirates on the high seas. But all the cold fury had been on her behalf, and his vengeance had been righteous. Now that it was over she could see his pain, his fear, his anguish.
Arabella smoothed her fingers over his furrowed brow. “What is wrong, my lion?”
With a rough sigh, he lowered his head against her breasts and yanked her closer, his fingers digging into her back as if he were afraid she’d float away if he let go. “My wife was snatched away from me and abused while I was impotent to stop it, and you ask me what’s wrong?”
“I’m all right, Drew,” she crooned, stroking his hair. “He didn’t do anything to me that I cannot heal from.”
Surging to his feet, he held her by her upper arms, eyes blazing with barely contained fury and turmoil. “Iam not all right. Do you understand? You are home, and after I finished taking my rage out on him with my fists I strung him up as a warning to anyone who would dare touch you. But it wasn’t enough. I want to tear apart everything I set eyes on. I want to burn the world to ashes. I amnotall right!”
He trembled, his hold on her arms tight but not painful as he stared down at her, jaw tight, mouth turned down.
“I thought losing you once was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” he said with a shake of his head. “That was before I realized finding you again, only to have you taken away would end me. Do you hear me, Bella? If you are lost to me, I am nothing. I am no one. I would lay down and die without you.”
“Shh,” she crooned, reaching up to cradle his face in her hands. “Do you think I feel any differently? I was devastated when I thought Will might coerce you into a trap that would see you hanged. But, he failed. We are together and alive, and I have faith that nothing will separate us ever again. If anyone or anything should try it, we will fight them together.”
He swallowed, drawing in a deep breath through his nostrils as the tension began to slowly melt away from his muscles. “You have no need to fight. I’ll tear down anyone or anything that would harm you.”
Taking her hand, he propelled her to the window, pushing one curtain aside to reveal the expanse of the front lawn. Her breath hitched at the sight that greeted her—the silhouette of a man’s body hanging from the sturdy limb of a tree. It swayed in the breeze, lifeless and limp.
“I need you to see it, to know that he can never hurt you again,” Drew’s voice rumbled in her ear. “I watched the life drain from him, saw him struggle for his last breath. He’s gone, for good this time.”
Turning away from the window, she took hold of Drew’s shoulders and turned him so his back was to the grisly sight beyond the window. Pushing him to sit on the cushioned window seat, she stood back and raised her hands to the knot in the fabric tied about her chest. The loose sarong was more comfortable for sleeping in such a hot climate than the usual nightgown, and to her delight, easier to remove. With a flick of her wrist, the fabric slithered down her body, leaving Arabella bared to Drew’s hungry gaze.
He drew in a sharp breath, eyes roving over her nude form before clashing with hers. “Bella …”
Stepping back into the gap between his legs, she took one of his hands, pressing it to the plane of her belly. He frowned, gazing down at her stomach, then back up at her face.
“You’re going to be a father, Drew,” she whispered, laying a hand over his. “I realized it just before he took me, and my one regret would have been for you to never know it. I think looking forward to the birth of our first child is a good enough reason to put this behind us, don’t you?”
Drew lips parted as he stared up at her in wonder, his expression changing to one of pure elation. “You’re with child.”
