Page 19 of Devil of the High Seas
“Wonderful. You are ready for tomorrow morning.” Her mother kissed her cheek. “Vesper, come with me. I want you to help me with something.” Lucia gestured for the maid to follow her out of the room. Adrian stepped back, allowing the women to pass by before he joined Josephine in front of the mirror.
“Lieto me,” she begged in a shaky whisper. “Tell me this marriage will be the start of an adventure.”
Adrian smiled sadly, seeming to understand what she needed to hear. “This will be awonderfuljourney. You and Castleton shall sail around the world and visit the places you’ve always wanted to. You’ll find everything you’ve been searching for.”
She was almost able to believe him. “Thank you.”
Adrian embraced her, his arms tight around her. “Try to sleep.”
“You’ll stay with me tomorrow until we must part?” She couldn’t imagine surviving her wedding day without him close by. They’d always been there for each other, a quiet support when needed.
“For as long as I can,” he promised. Neither of them spoke of the day when he would have to leave to work on one of Dominic’s ships. Now that he was a second son and not the heir he’d been raised since the age of two to be after Dominic left, he had a duty to make his own fortune, just as she had a duty to be married off.
She and Adrian had been together their entire lives, and tomorrow she would be separated from him forever, seeing each other for brief visits from that point forward. He was her best friend. What would her life be like without him as her constant counsel on all matters?
She clung to Adrian a moment longer before she let go.
“Sleep well. Try not to worry,” he murmured before he quietly slipped out the door.
She stared around the room, wishing Vesper would return to help her out of the gown so she could try to forget about the wedding, at least until morning. She sat down at the vanity table by the large bay window in her bedchamber and fingered the string of pearls her mother had laid out for her to wear tomorrow. The perfect white pearls gleamed with a soft luminescence against the velvet box they were nestled in. She touched each pearl, one by one, as her mind replayed that kiss she’d shared with Gavin. Nothing else felt real now, except that single memory. Was this the only thing she would have left of what had once been her life? That single moment where she’d finally, truly felt alive?
Distant thunder rumbled, and the falling night made her shiver a little. The storm wouldn’t come this way, she could tell by the way the wind was moving, the sounds brought back such vivid memories of her first sight of Gavin’s portrait, and his sudden appearance in her bedchamber, and the way she’d spent the night asleep beside him, their hands clasped together. They’d been complete strangers, yet that night, she had felt like she could breathe for the first time in her life and all the other moments she had simply been holding her breath.
Had he left that little cave yet? What if he was still there when she returned as Griffin’s new bride? The memory of that exquisite, burning kiss was branded upon her soul, and she knew she would run to that chamber to seek him out, if only to say goodbye. She lifted the necklace from its velvet box, letting the soft pearls brush against her skin before she put the necklace around her neck.
Her eyes closed as she stroked her fingertips down the column of her throat as she imagined that it was Gavin’s hand that caressed her skin. The ache for him was so intense that her lips trembled and her eyes burned with tears at the deep, unfathomable longing for what she would never have. She wanted to feel like herself, feel the way she had when he’d kissed her. Anything had seemed possible at that moment when his mouth had touched hers,anything.For the first time, she’d felt as free as a falcon and not a caged songbird.
Josephine tilted her head back, still imagining Gavin’s lips on her cheek, her neck, and how his fingers would fist in her hair, pulling on the strands just enough to keep her prisoner for his mouth’s soft, heated exploration. He wouldn’t hurt her, nor would he be gentle in his desire to kiss her. She liked that, the feeling of being so desired that he didn’t treat her as a fragile, breakable creature, but rather as an equal. Her desire was just as strong as his.
The fantasy became so real that she could even imagine his scent, the smell of rain, forests and coastal shores. It enveloped her, adding to the daydream of Gavin’s lips and hands upon her. She could even hear him speak in that low, slightly gruff voice that made her belly quiver.
“You’re worth stealing,” this imaginary Gavin murmured to her before he flicked his tongue into the delicate shell of her ear. A sharp pang of need clenched her womb, and she gasped, her eyes flying open at the unexpected intensity. Her flushed face shone in the mirror upon the table.
Shewasn’talone. Another face above hers stared back at her in the mirror. Someone was standing behind Josephine.
Her lips parted, ready with a cry of shock, but a hand clamped down on her mouth as she gazed at the reflection of the tall figure who stood behind her. Gavin flashed her a wolfish smile.
This wasn’t a daydream any longer. He washere. Inherbedchamber. His hand was still clasped around her mouth to silence her. Her eyes widened as she saw a large jeweled cutlass tucked into his belt. In that moment, she really believed he was a fierce pirate and not the wounded man she’d cared for in the cave by the sea.
“I’ll take my hand away so long as you promise not to scream,” he whispered.
She wasn’t afraid, so she nodded in agreement.
“Good.” He let go of her mouth, and she turned around on the chair to face him.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in a frantic whisper. “Someone could see you!”
“Worried about me?” he teased.
“Of course I am! I didn’t stitch up your shoulder just to watch you hang, you bloody fool!” She said this a little more loudly than was wise, given that she was trying not to let anyone know her “pet pirate” had snuck into her bedchamber. He merely smirked.
“What?” she demanded, not liking his expression at all. It seemed as though she had been left out of some joke.
“You...You have such fire when you’re with me,” he said. The way he saidwith meheld a hint of possessiveness that sent a wild fluttering through her chest.
“Gavin, you must leave.”
He braced one arm on the back of her chair and leaned down to cup her chin. “Is that what you want? For me to leave you to your fate?” It was as though he could read her mind.
