The Pirate and the Pagan (13 page)

Inside the large, airy stables Ruark led Ebony into a loose box so he would have freedom without being tethered. He unsaddled the Barbary and took the bridle and bit from him as well. “He’s a beautiful animal,” he said with admiration, running his eyes down the glossy flanks.

“I’m particularly partial to him,” she said in a throaty, provocative drawl.

The scent of hay and leather drifted in the air and Ruark’s arousal was instant and pronounced. He wanted to pull her down into the hay and romp and roll until they were both naked and he had her pinned between his thighs. His eyes licked over her like a candle flame and he realized the impossibility of such wanton behavior. Her primrose habit was spotless, her coiffure the very latest style known as ‘heartbreak.’ He must remember she was a lady … and an innocent one at that.

Reluctantly he summoned a groom. “Lady St. Catherine will be stabling her mount here for a few weeks. See that he receives the very best of care.”

As they walked from the stables, she said softly, “How can I ever repay you, Lord Helford? Each day I seem to be more and more in your debt.”

“Come and have a drink with me. Let me show off the hall to you,” It didn’t sound like a request.

She shook her head regretfully. “You know I cannot,” she said softly. “Show me the gardens.”

“It is dark,” he half protested.

“The moon is rising,” she assured him.

“Smuggler’s moon,” he murmured, and she shuddered involuntarily.

The intoxicating fragrance of the night-scented blooms stole to
them as they crossed the velvety lawn separating the house from the formal rose garden. They passed beneath an arch clustered with heavy, dew-drenched blooms and Ruark’s keen eyes searched the darkness until he found what he sought. He left her side for a moment and returned with an armful of cream blossoms. “I think I shall always give you cream-colored roses,” he promised. They moved on to the eerie yew walks in deep, black shadow. “You aren’t afraid?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Not with you beside me,” she answered him.

As they walked side by side he reached for her hand. Her fingers curled into his and he wished he could stay handclasped with her until dawn. “These yew walks are reputed to be haunted,” he said, then stopped and looked down at her. “You haunt me,” he said huskily. The moonlight hardly penetrated the tall yew walk where they stood. As she gazed up at him his face was all shadowed planes and stark cheekbones. His eyes were half closed and she saw the black smudge of thick lashes which concealed the desire she knew smoldered there. The slant of his jaw emphasized the arrogance of his mouth which could give a fierce curse or an unbelievably heartrending kiss.

He cupped her face in gentle hands and dipped his head to capture her mouth. The moment he tasted her, the kiss changed, becoming hot and sensual. His hands left her face to crush her against him. She could feel something hard as marble against her belly and dimly realized it must be his shaft.

He could feel the tremors flowing through her body and his strong brown hand came up to brush against her breast. She shuddered with pleasure. She could no longer deny the great attraction she felt for Ruark Helford. His sensual masculine appeal made her weak with yearning. Her defenses against him were crumbling and she realized her feelings for this man could undermine all her plans. She desperately wanted to believe that he was different from other men. She longed to trust him, hoping he would always be loving and generous toward her. She wished he would fall in love with her and ask her to marry him so that she would be safe with such a strong protector. She dared to hope that he was beginning to care deeply about her, for she realized she could begin to care for him. But she knew if she gave herself to him before he had made a definite commitment to her, he would not value her.

She tried to push his hand away and with a ragged moan cried, “Ruark, please.”

He lifted his head momentarily, but didn’t think he could stop.

“I will trust you implicitly. … I will let you set the pace, Ruark,” she said softly, knowing they were the only words to stop him.

He groaned. He knew she was virgin. The sweet trust in her voice made him curse. “Dammit, Summer, you shouldn’t trust me. You mustn’t trust me! I want to be alone with you … I want to make love to you. Go … go now, run before I take your maidenhead!”

She laughed prettily. “I won’t run from you, Ruark. I know you will protect me with your life,” she said simply.

“I’m going to seduce you, Summer,” he threatened, to give her fair warning.

“I don’t care, Ruark. If that is what you want, then seduce me.”

He groaned hoarsely and bit back a curse. He drew her to a bower and pulled her to the seat beside him. “Forgive me, love, for my rampant male behavior. I should be shot.”

His mind searched desperately for safe ground and he turned to the subject of his work. “It’s a good thing I’m going to be kept busy here. Tomorrow I have to visit the local militia and read them the riot act. They’ve been so slack, smuggling and even wrecking goes on under their noses. I intend to tear a strip off someone. I’ve got reinforcements coming down from the Bristol garrison. Then I’ll inspect the Marine Patrol and their ships and point out their shortcomings. I’m going to be a very popular man,” he said ruefully.

“Will you have to be away from home often?” she asked ingenuously.

“Yes, I’ll have a circuit of courts at Falmouth, Penzance, Newquay, St. Austell, Bodmin, Saltash, and Plymouth.”

“Plymouth is in Devon,” she ventured.

“Yes, but I have jurisdiction. You see, it’s too easy for Cornwall criminals to run across into Devon and think themselves safe from the long arm of the law.”

“You won’t really have to sentence people to death, will you?” she asked in a small voice.

He hesitated, then told her the truth. “I’m afraid so, Summer, but I will always be fair, impartial.”

“I trust you,” she said softly.

“That is unwise,” he murmured.

“I throw myself upon your mercy,” she said, laughing.

“I am known to be merciless,” he admitted.

Her heart beat thickly with fear, for she knew he spoke the truth. Surely Spider would be finished with the business by now. She arose to walk slowly back toward the hall and he followed, keeping his dangerous hands stuffed into his pockets so they would not reach out to crush the delicate primrose.

As they approached the house, Mr. Burke came to the door with a lantern in his hand.

“Thank you, Mr. Burke, I shall see the lady home.”

Panic rose in her throat. She gasped, “I’ll not scandalize your servants.”

“Mr. Burke would not tolerate such gossip among his staff,” Ruark asserted.

“Then Mr. Burke is a most upright man.” She smiled at the Irishman. “Would you do me the honor, sir, of lighting me home?”

Mr. Burke bowed formally and glanced at Ruark. “The lady knows what is correct even if the lord does not,” he said dryly.

A
s soon as Summer looked down from her window and saw a man leading two horses, she knew it was the fellow who had bought Ebony. She sent a silent prayer to St. Jude that she had acted promptly in removing her stallion to the Helford estate and shouted down to the kitchen where she could hear her brother boiling the kettle for breakfast. “Spider,” she called urgently, “go out the back way and get your pony out of the stables. Better clean up the horse droppings, too … spread it on the kitchen garden.”

She grabbed an old gown which had gone to the rag bag a year ago and tousled her hair untidily with both hands. Automatically she thrust her knife into her belt, then she ran lithely down to the kitchen, chopped a spring onion, and held it to her eyes until they watered with irritation, then went outside to face their visitor.

She looked at him with red-rimmed eyes. “Did you bring us food, sir?” she asked hopefully.

“No,” he answered, slightly annoyed. “I’m here on business. Is Lord St. Catherine here, girl?”

The tears spilled over onto her cheeks. “My father is dead, sir,” she whispered.

The horse man frowned. He eyed the raggy gown apprehensively.
“I have a receipt here for a black Barbary I purchased from St. Catherine a month back. I’ve come to collect him.”

“Sir, what is a black Barbary?”

“A horse, girl, a horse!”

“It has been a long time since we could afford to keep horses, sir,” she said with embarrassment.

“Who is in charge here? Show me to the stables,” he demanded.

“No one is in charge,” she said helplessly. He didn’t dismount, so she walked meekly beside his horse to the stables. He tied his horses to the hitching post, dismounted and fastened the reins of his own horse securely. Then he strode inside, saying, “I’ll take any livestock you’ve got if there’s no horse.”

He came to a full stop when he saw that the stables were empty. Just then Summer’s tummy gave a loud roll and he looked at her in disbelief. He knew now what he had only suspected; namely that he had been cheated. What made him livid was the knowledge that he had been a fool to pay money out before he’d received the merchandise. Greed had prompted him to do such a thing, of course. The price asked for the Barbary had been a fraction of what it was really worth.

“No horses, no livestock … then I demand my money back,” he said aggressively, and his voice echoed about the empty stables.

“Money?” she asked quietly as if she’d never seen such a commodity. “Sir, we don’t even have food.”

His eyes narrowed as he looked beyond the raggy gown. She might be a bit of trash, but she was magnificent trash! His eyes gleamed with speculation as he decided he would have something for his money. What better place than a deserted stable? He’d never coupled with a female this young and beautiful in his life. He was suddenly harder and randier than he had been in months. If his luck held, he’d keep her in the stables long enough to enjoy her tender flesh two or three times, If she resisted, he knew ways to force her to his bidding. Spirited fillies sometimes needed a taste of cruelty before they were ready for total obedience. If he hurt her, it was no more than she deserved for cheating him out of what was his. His eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a leer.

Before he took one step toward her, however, she had her knife in her hand.

“Cat,” came a voice from the stable door. He whirled about to see a male version of the girl, also with glinting drawn knife. “Spider,” she answered, and the two began to slowly close in on
him. The hair bristled on the nape of his neck as he realized the pair who used code names were primitive, uncivilized, savage. He took to his heels and ran. He mounted his horse with a filthy curse as he saw the lead rein had been cut and one of his horses was missing. He thought better, however, of inquiring after it.

Summer looked at her brother with admiration. “Where did you put your pony and the other horse?”

He winced. “Actually I put them in the back kitchen.” He took off at full speed to assess what havoc they might have wreaked.

“Spider, I’ll brain you! As if the place isn’t in enough shambles,” she cried, taking after him. They reached the back kitchen door together and collapsed upon each other mirthfully as they saw the big bay gelding and Spider’s pony had devoured every scrap of their food. Gone were the freshly baked loaves, a basket of apples, a bag of oats for their porridge, and the pan of cream to go on it.

Spider said, “I could nip next door and steal some eggs.”

“Don’t you dare,” cried Summer in great alarm, then she caught the teasing gleam in his eye.

“There’s a ham in the larder. Let’s hurry and eat before the wagons arrive for the brandy,” he urged.

“You mean they’re coming in broad daylight?”

“Don’t tell me you’re turning into an old woman,” he scorned. “Oh, Spider, you’ll give me a heart attack,” he mimicked in falsetto.

She glared at him and bared her teeth. “I don’t get heart attacks; I give them!”

Later in the day when they counted up their money and were about to lock it safely in their cash box, she said with pride, “We have almost three thousand pounds with what I brought back from London. Oh, Spider, I don’t know how you’ve done it.”

He grinned happily. “Only another seventeen thousand to go, don’t despair.” He filched a sovereign from the box before she locked it and tossed it into the air. “Don’t wait up for me, Cat,” he said, winking.

    The candles had burned themselves out when suddenly Summer came wide-awake. She sensed something was not as it should be and fumbled to light a fresh candle. She reached for her crimson velvet bedgown, took up the candlestick, and went downstairs. In the front hall Spider leaned back against the door, his face ashen.

“What’s wrong?” She ran to his side, her heart beating wildly in her throat.

“Militia,” he whispered, “took a shot at me.”

“My God, what were you doing?” she whispered furiously.

“Nothing … well, nothing much … stuffs still in the cave. Almost caught us red-handed … had to make a run for it,” he said breathlessly.

They nearly jumped out of their skins as a loud hammering came upon the door. Summer jerked her thumb toward the stairs and he silently disappeared up them.