Page 25 of Devil of the High Seas
Griffin would try to save his brother’s life, if it came to that, but he hoped these men would be in better spirits if Josie remained unharmed. If only it would be just an innocent adventure and Josephine would come home safe.
“We need a ship,” Camden said.
“Nicholas and Brianna are here. Brianna’s ship is in the bay. I imagine she would be happy to help us, given hers and Gavin’s history,” Dominic suggested.
“What history?” Griffin asked.
Dominic met his gaze reluctantly. “They are old friends... and occasionally they have been lovers.”
“Ah...” So, his brother hadn’t been a monk all these years. Griffin had been, though. Ever since Charity had died, he’d seen no other woman. Been tempted by no other. Until today...
He forced himself to shove aside his thoughts of the lady’s maid or how his world had tilted on its axis when he’d laid eyes on her. He had a betrothed to worry about and a pirate to chase down.
“Let’s make ready to leave at once,” Griffin said to the others. He still held the jeweled dagger, vowing he’d return it to his brother in exchange for Josephine’s freedom.
A prize for a prize indeed...
* * *
Josephine stretched,then groaned in discomfort. Heavy blankets covered her legs, and something tightened around her chest as she tried to breathe. She kicked fussily, trying to dislodge whatever kept her legs unbearably warm and trapped.
“Ow!” a deep voice grunted close to her ear. Her eyes flew open, and she found herself staring at a man’s jaw. A beautiful, chiseled jaw. Her eyes traced up the line of that jaw to the ear and nose and finally the eyes. Gavin was staring at her in amusement. As she got her bearings, she realized they were lying facing each other in a bed that rocked slightly.
Oh God...She hadn’t dreamt last night, then? Gavinhadkidnapped her on the eve of her wedding to Griffin and taken her out to sea? She glanced down the length of her body, seeing that she was still in the exquisite wedding gown she’d worn last night. It was her voluminous skirts tangled around her legs and her corset pulled tight around her chest that had caused her such discomfort. She raised her eyes back to Gavin’s face, still in disbelief that she washerewith him. She was supposed to be on the way to her wedding, not waking up in a pirate’s bed.
“Did you sleep here too?” she blurted out.
“Yes, and you, darling creature, stretch out like a starfish in your sleep... andkick too,” he said with a low chuckle. “I’ll have bruises on my shins from your violence.”
Josephine blushed in mortification. She knew she did stretch out a bit in her sleep, the evidence was in the state of her sheets each morning, but she’d never had anyone complain about it before because she’d always slept alone.
“Oh...” She inwardly cursed at the flood of heat in her face. She slowly sat up, and he rolled onto his back, folding his arms above his head, only to wince and put them back down. She glanced at his wound, but the stitched area looked clean.
She tried to comb her hands through her hair. “I see you’re feeling better.”
“Yes, I am.” His eyes tracked the movement of her hands. “I rather like it when you do that,” he mused softly.
“Do what?”
“Comb your hair with your fingers. It reminds me of a mermaid sunning upon the rocks.” He settled his uninjured arm behind his head as he lay back again on the bed. She tried and failed to avoid looking at his chest. His skin was a light gold, and his pectoral muscles were well developed. The ropes of muscle in his abdomen made her throat strangely dry.Lord...He was a specimen of a man, wasn’t he? Not that she’d seen many half-dressed men, but a woman knew deep in her womb what an attractive male looked like. Some things were too ingrained into the mind to be erased by the dictates of polite society.
“A mermaid?” she asked in an attempt to distract herself. “You’ve seen one?”
“Aye, of course. They are crafty creatures. They hide in the shallows at night and sing, but on fine sunny days when they expect no ships to come near them, they like to sun on the rocks within view of the beaches. I’ve hidden there and glimpsed them as they combed their hair.”
He was teasing her. Mermaids didn’t exist, nor did sea monsters. But she liked to imagine it all the same.
She climbed out of the bed and explored the cabin as he looked on in amusement. There was a chest full of fine gowns, as well as men’s clothing. A large copper tub was in a corner of the room with a discreet sheet draped within the inside, which meant a lady could bathe in the tub and retain some of her modesty.
“This isn’t your ship, is it?” she asked. He’d said he’d lost his ship, and she wondered if he’d managed to find it again. How did one lose a ship, anyway?
“It is now. I stole it,” he said with a chuckle.
“You stole it?” Josephine bent over the trunk again as she examined some of the gowns more closely, then she froze. Sheknewthese dresses. She’d seen them before... on her sister-in-law.
“What’s the name of this ship?” she asked quietly.
“TheCornish Pixie.”
