I dozed, rousing again when Sam woke me at first light by kissing slowly down my body.
As the sky began to lighten, he proceeded to make love to me, with none of the frenzy of our previous session. I let him, content to hand my arousal over to him, and enjoyed the gentle, meandering journey toward orgasm and the tumble over the waterfall into ecstasy.
Afterward, I fell into a deep sleep, and I didn’t awake again until the sun was fully up.
I opened my eyes. Bars of sunlight were falling across my legs. The room was quiet and a little stuffy.
I turned onto my back and stretched out a hand, but found only the sheets. Sam had gone.
I looked up at the ceiling for a moment, my lips curving up as I remembered blissful moments from the night before. The memory of his tender touch and the fire his passion had lit inside me would remain with me always.
Then my eyes widened as I remembered our plan. I slid my hand from my hip up to my navel.
My jaw dropped, and I sat up hurriedly, looking down. The Sky Pearl had gone. The little silver bar that pierced the skin remained along with the tiny silver fitting that the pearl had rested in, but the jewel itself had vanished.
I turned onto my hands and knees and patted hastily around the bedclothes, but even as I did so, I knew it was pointless and I wouldn’t find it.
I sat on the edge of the bed, my heart thumping. How had he taken it? I vaguely recalled him circling his tongue around it when he’d kissed down my stomach, and the way he’d made me laugh as he’d taken it between his teeth and tugged it lightly. Had it come off then, or had he somehow managed to separate it from the fitting while I slept?
It was irrelevant—he’d stolen it, just as I’d asked him to.
Pushing myself up, I pulled on my chemise, then walked over to the window. Far out to sea, the Whydah’s sails were painted orange by the rising sun.
I rested my hand on my stomach. Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away. This was the outcome I’d expected, and I would not cry over him. He’d given me something much more precious than the Sky Pearl—a feeling of being loved and wanted, and that meant much more to me than a tiny gem.
I dressed, making sure it looked as if I’d done so in a rushed manner, left my hair tumbling around my shoulders, and ran down the stairs.
A few of the girls were up, including Liza, and they cheered as I entered the tavern room.
“About time,” Liza said, giving me a saucy wink. “Black Sam Bellamy strikes again.”
“Don’t even mention that rogue’s name,” I snapped. “The bastard’s stolen something precious from me.”
“He has a tendency to do that,” Liza said, and I realized she was referring to my heart.
I rolled my eyes. “What he’s taken is much more precious than that. I’m going to see Henry Cook.”
“Oh,” Liza said, glancing at the men I’d only just spotted standing to one side. “Bit late for that.”
I raised an eyebrow at them. “What is it, gentlemen?”
“It’s Mr. Cook, ma’am,” one of his men said. “I’m afraid he’s dead.”
*
Heart racing, I followed his men back to his house where the rest of the council had gathered to investigate the murder of the town gaoler. His house was small, and I’d previously thought it dark and dismal, but now the curtains had been thrown back and daylight spilled across the carpet and the body lying on it, coating them both in gold.
“Do you have any suspects?” My heart pounded as I looked at the inert body. He’d clearly been shot, the puddle of blood oozing from beneath him to soak the carpet.
“It was Captain Sam,” a voice said from behind me.
I turned. Beth Cook sat in a chair to one side of the room. Her face was white, but for the first time since I’d known her, there was a sign of life in her usually-dull eyes.
“What makes you say that?” I said hoarsely.
“I saw him.” She lifted her chin and looked straight at me. “The sky was just growing light. Something awoke me, and I heard voices. As I came down the stairs, I heard a shot, and I turned the corner to see Sam standing over him, his pistol still smoking. He ran before I could say anything, but it was too late—Henry was dead.” She lifted a white kerchief to her eyes and dabbed them, although there was no sign of tears.
I stared at her. Sam had been with me at first light, but the kerchief in her hands bore the initial S. Sam had been there.
Had he gone there after he’d left me and shot Henry? If so, why had Beth said he’d been there at first light?
I glanced at her cheek. It bore a fresh bruise. When I looked at where the sides of her dress parted, I saw what the men there clearly had not—a spatter of blood across her white petticoats that she covered with her dress when she saw me look. That spatter would only have occurred if she’d been near Henry when the shot passed through him.
She’d killed her husband, I was sure of it, and Sam was willing to take the blame, the same way he’d been willing to take the pearl and lure unwanted attention away from me. Had he happened upon her standing over the body by chance, or had he approached her and told her he’d support her if she pulled the trigger? I would probably never know.
I met Beth’s gaze. She swallowed, and her gaze turned pleading. Had he told her to say he’d murdered Henry at first light, thus putting her fate in my hands?
My lips twitched. The clever bastard.
I nodded and turned to the men. “Mr. Bellamy was with me in the dark hours but left before first light. When I arose this morning, I discovered he had stolen something very precious to me—the Sky Pearl.”
All the men there exclaimed as one, including Cook’s men whom he’d clearly informed about the gem.
“It’s gone?” one asked, distraught.
“Yes, and so has the Whydah. My guess is that Bellamy is on his way to Tortuga right now to sell it, or maybe even to Port Royal.” I tossed my hands in the air in disgust. “What a knave, what a rogue! I thought he loved me.”
I pressed my fingers to my lips, my sudden burst of emotion only half-faked.
“You are not the first to have fallen to his advances,” one of the men soothed. “He is a notorious scoundrel, and I am sorry a respectable woman such as yourself has had to discover the truth in such a manner.”
Keeping my gaze lowered, I let myself be led out into the sunshine. Behind me, I could hear them talking about organizing Cook’s burial. There would be no need for an investigation, one was saying—Bellamy was clearly to blame. Sam would receive a large bounty on his head for both the murder and the theft.
I stopped at the edge of the grass and looked down onto the beach, watching the wind whip the azure ocean into white-topped waves. The Whydah was a dot on the horizon, and would soon be gone.
I felt only lightness in my heart, though, and a sense of freedom. The absence of the Sky Pearl meant the Twisted Lime would remain mine. I had no need of fortunes, and I was happy in Nassau, running the tavern with my girls.
I rested my hand on my stomach again. Maybe Sam had fathered a child, maybe not. Time would tell. Until then, I’d treasure the memory of the way he’d loved me and keep it locked away in my heart where it could never be stolen.
One day I would see him again—of that I had no doubt. In spite of the bounty, he would find a way to come back to Nassau. He was a very resourceful man.
My lips curving, I walked down the bank and through the orchard to the tavern, breathing in the scent of the sea and the tang of oranges and limes, and humming the sea shanty, ‘Fire Down Below’.
*
The Prince’s Harem
Book 3: The Seductive Princess
Book 4: The Reluctant Princess
*
About the Author
Carly writes short, sweet, (and hot!) fantasy romances about sexy alpha princes and the princesses who love them. She also writes contemporary romances as Serenity Woods, and is a USA Today bestselling author.
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