Sea of Desire Read online

  Racing across the sand was fun. Merideth did it several times, chasing the seabirds, the black-headed gulls and puffin, who pranced along the shore. Out of breath, she bent forward, hands on knees. And that’s when she saw them.

  The caves.

  Dark and mysterious. Compelling.

  Merideth took a deep breath and walked toward the gaping mouth, drawn as she never was before to explore something beyond her narrow world.

  At first it was fun. Light from the outside flirted with the darkness, sending shivers down her spine and raising gooseflesh on her arms. But as she moved deeper into the cave something happened. The thrill turned to disquiet, then panic. The air smelled rank, and the ground beneath her slippers seemed slick. She slipped, a scream erupting from her slight body. The sound echoed off the walls and was followed by another sound. An eerie, scary sound like a thousand fans swishing the air. Then came the squeaks, louder and louder.

  Merideth crouched on the floor, covering her head. “No!”

  “No! No!”

  Jared twisted around when she screamed. What the hell...? Before he knew what she was doing, Lady Merideth grabbed hold of her mare’s mane and dug her heels into the animal’s ribs. Wild-eyed, the frightened horse whinnied, throwing its front legs into the air. The reins were yanked from his hand, and he nearly lost his seat grabbing for them.

  How she stayed in the saddle he didn’t know, for the horse bucked again, then took off down the beach, sending sand flying from beneath its hooves.

  With a flick of the reins Jared was in pursuit. The mare acted crazed... or was it the rider. “You’re going to kill yourself!” Jared yelled, a touch of panic in his voice. She was heading toward the rocks at the end of the crescent-shaped beach.

  Digging his heels into his horse’s side, Jared leaned forward, coaxing every bit of speed from the animal. Oh, to have one of his family’s thoroughbreds beneath him! But this was the constable’s horse, and though he appeared to have heart, the speed wasn’t there. Still, Jared was gaining on her. Given another ten rods, he’d overtake her.

  But he didn’t have another ten rods. The rocks loomed, grotesque and shadowed by the gathering twilight.

  His bay’s nose inched alongside the mare. “A little more,” Jared urged, his body low and straining. “Just a little more and we’ve got her.” But time had run out. With a lurch Jared threw himself forward and to the side. His arms outstretched, he grabbed hold of Merideth, knocking her from her horse. For one frantic moment they flew through the air, clutching each other, then with a thud they landed on surf-packed sand.

  The jolt knocked the air from Jared’s lungs and sent his ears ringing. He landed on his back, Lady Merideth on top of him, her hair covering his face. He lay still a moment, trying to decide if he was in one piece. His body ached, but he didn’t think anything was broken.

  Lady Merideth was alive. He could hear her breathing, feel the beat of her heart next to his.

  “Are you all right?” Jared ran his hands down her arms and back. She sucked in breath and raised her head. Her response was weak, but certain: “Yes... yes, I’m fine.”

  She was fine. She was fine? Anger flowed through Jared at her words. Anger stimulated by a crisis just ended. When he’d leaped from his horse, he wouldn’t have bet on either of them surviving. He had only done it because he’d thought the odds were better than smashing against the rocks. And now all she could say was she was fine?

  “What in the hell got into you? Are you crazy? You could have gotten yourself killed!” His hands cupped her shoulders and he gave them a shake. “You could have gotten us both killed.”

  She was trembling. Jared let out his breath on a frustrated sigh and studied her face. Her hair formed a curtain about them, blocking most of the light, but he could see her eyes. They were wide and crystal blue... and frightened.

  Jared had seen her reaction to her father’s death and to being abducted at knife point. Both had scared her, but there was never this uncontrolled fear in her eyes. The harsh edges of his anger blurred. “What is it? What’s the matter with you?”

  Merideth shook her head. Emotions rolled through her in undulating waves. She struggled to contain them. “I... I can’t go in there.”

  “Where? What the hell are you talking about?” Jared shifted to lift her off him.

  “No! No.” Her voice held a hint of its earlier panic. “I can’t. Please don’t make me.” Rolling over on her back, Merideth raised her arms to cover her head.

  “What the...?” He grabbed her wrists, pulling them away from her face, and positioned himself over her body. His voice softened. “What is it? Where don’t you want to go?”

  “The caves,” she whispered on a sob as tears rolled down the side of her face.

  Her reaction didn’t make sense, but then neither did his. She was his hostage, and his life depended upon getting out of England as quickly as possible. She was also a traitor, and he wasn’t completely convinced she didn’t have something to do with her own father’s death.

  But he couldn’t stop himself from comforting her.

  Jared touched her cheek, surprised when she turned her face into his palm. “Don’t cry.” He repeated the words tenderly as his fingers brushed sand-strewn hair from her forehead.

  Her weeping slowed and her eyes closed. Jared thought her asleep and started to pull away, but her voice stayed him. “Don’t let them get me.”

  “I won’t,” Jared promised, wondering what he was vowing to protect her from. But his arm curled around her shoulder as he added, “You’re safe with me.”

  She seemed to take him at his word, for Jared noticed a slight smile tilt the corners of her mouth, and she snuggled deeper into his embrace. He lay for long minutes holding her. Breathing in her flowery scent and feeling her soft body mold to his.

  Night was truly upon them when he stood, gathering her up in his arms, and headed for the caves. She was sound asleep, doing nothing more than sighing as he carried her.

  Jared’s mind raced with the things he had to do. Build a fire... a signal fire. And hope against hope that the Carolina was still around to see it. That she hadn’t been captured by the British frigates that cruised these waters. Or that the crew hadn’t given up on him and sailed back to France.

  Chances were good that one or the other had happened. He’d missed the rendezvous day by nearly a week, but he was going to try. Jared started into the cave with his sleeping bundle, but paused. Placing her out of sight was the logical thing to do while he gathered wood for a fire, and tried to find out what had happened to their horses.

  But, good Lord, she was frightened of the caves. In the end, Jared laid her in the sand near the entrance. Chiding himself for his foolishness, Jared wandered off toward the bramble-covered rocks.

  Merideth opened her eyes slowly. It was dark and she was outside... near the sea. Memory drifted over her, making her jerk to sitting.

  “Oh.” She covered her mouth to muffle the groan of pain. She felt battered and bruised all over. But there was no time to worry about that. Rustling noises to her right sounded and Merideth turned her head, searching through the darkness. He’d built a small fire. She could make out Jared Blackstone’s shadowy form standing over it.

  As stealthily as she could, Merideth pushed to her feet. Skirting the caves, she made her way to the steps carved into the cliff. She could still hear him, and he seemed to be closer than before.

  Merideth’s heart pounded, and she couldn’t believe her captor couldn’t hear it as she started up the steps. At first she moved slowly, conscious of every rustled leaf, of every broken twig. But when she heard his hearty curse, and realized he’d discovered her gone, she grabbed up her skirts and climbed as fast as she could.

  If she could only make it to the house and get inside before he caught her, she might have a chance. Thurston would be there, and though he could do little against Mr. Blackstone, there was her father’s pistol. In the library. If she could only get to it. If s
he could only...

  The worn-away step. She wasn’t concentrating and she’d forgotten about the worn-away step. The small cry that escaped her as she fell seemed to echo in Merideth’s ears, and she knew it was heard by the man pursuing her. Jagged rock cut into her knee and her breath caught on the pain. Hair fell across her face, and her hands clutched at the coarse marram grass woven into the side of the cliff.

  Sobbing, Merideth pulled herself up, yanking her sleeve free from a prickly blackthorn bush. Fabric tore as she scrambled to the next step... then the next.

  She could hear him behind her now, growing closer with each pounding footfall of his boots against the carved-rock stairs. Her raspy breathing sounded in her ears, her head pounded, as she fought her way up over the top.

  The terrain was flat now, easier to traverse, and with her last reserve of strength Merideth bounded toward Banistar Hall.

  But her pursuer was faster, and before she’d traveled five rods he was so close his mumbled curses singed her ears. Something grabbed her legs, and the next thing Merideth knew she was sprawled on the soft grass, a hard male body on top of her.

  “Let go of me!” Merideth tried to flail at his restricting weight, but he easily caught her wrists, pinioning them above her head.

  “Stop it! Just be still.” Jared tightened his grip when she tried to squirm free. “I’ve had enough of your lying and deceit.”

  “Lying and deceit?” Merideth spit hair from her mouth. His broad chest loomed above her, and her every breath skimmed her breasts against him.

  “Don’t put me in the caves,” he said, mimicking her earlier plea, his voice thick with disdain. “I should have remembered whom I was dealing with.”

  Merideth stopped struggling. The moon was out, casting an eerie glow on the bodies entwined on the top of the cliff. “What do you mean, whom you’re dealing with?”

  “Traitors are rarely to be trusted.”

  “Traitors! I’m no traitor!” Merideth jerked her knee upward with considerable force. His groan was satisfying; the added weight of his unsupported body was not. Merideth couldn’t move, could hardly breathe. He was going to kill her, squash her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

  “What... what are you going to do with me?” Her question was a breathy whisper.

  Jared shifted some of his weight to his elbows, but was careful to keep her hands and legs restrained. “Do? Well, unless you wish to tell me who the spy is, I plan to take you with me.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  “Oh, I think I can.” Jared certainly hoped he could... hoped he could get himself away at least. “But then the decision is yours. Tell me what I want to know and I’ll leave you here when I go. If not...” Jared left the rest to her imagination.

  “But I don’t know any spy.” Merideth squirmed. He no longer was cutting off her air, but she found the feel of him on her... unsettling.

  “Then I’m afraid you’re going with me.”

  “That’s kidnapping.”

  “Aye. But then for someone who would have hanged today for a murder he didn’t commit, that doesn’t seem such a dastardly crime. Besides, my great-grandfather was a pirate. He kidnapped beautiful women all the time.”

  “I’m sure your great-grandmother loved that.”

  “Actually she did. She was one of them.”

  Merideth could see the flash of his white teeth in the moonlight. She could only imagine the dimple. She lay very still, thinking of it and wondering why everything seemed different. She was still pinned to the ground. Her wrists were still held captive in one of his hands. But she could feel his eyes on her, and it made her skin tingle.

  His face moved nearer. Merideth could feel the whisper of his breath on her cheek. And then, before she knew what he was about, his lips pressed to hers.

  Resisting was her first reaction. She yanked at her hands and her body arched, trying to push him away. But it only made the contact more intimate.

  His mouth was firm, like the rest of him, hinting at something dark and erotically forbidden. She gasped and her lips parted. The touch of his tongue made Merideth jerk, but she couldn’t contain the moan that drifted off across the mist-shrouded cliff.

  She’d been kissed before. Lord Chadwell had maneuvered her alone into the gardens. His hands had fumbled with her hair, and his mouth had slobbered down her neck. And she’d been revolted.

  So why wasn’t she repulsed by Jared Blackstone? It wasn’t a civilized kiss. It was hard and forceful and wild.

  Like him.

  And he was the man who had killed her father.

  Reality slammed into her, blocking the sensual feel of his body against hers. He let loose her hands, and now she used them to shove at him. Unlike before, he rolled away when she pushed. But he did take hold of her arm.

  What had gotten into him? Jared stared down at the woman lying in the grass, only able to make out her shadowy form, and shook his head. She was a traitor, and certainly someone he couldn’t trust. He had absolutely no business kissing her. But it was almost as if he couldn’t resist.

  Damn, he was going to turn her over to Daniel as soon as he reached France. If he ever got to France. Jared shook his head again. And when he did, his gaze wandered out over the channel. What he saw made him jump to his feet, grabbing Lady Merideth up beside him.

  Chapter Four

  “What is it? Where are we going?”

  Ignoring Lady Merideth’s questions, Jared searched the darkness, a grin spreading across his face when he saw it again. “They’re still here.”

  “Who’s still where?” Merideth resisted, trying to yank away when he pulled her toward the steep steps. “I demand to—” Air whooshed out of Merideth as she was forced against his hard body.

  “Your demanding days are over... at least for a while. Now come along.”

  “I won’t. I—ah! Put me down!” Again Merideth found herself thrown over one of his broad shoulders. Her fists pummeled his back and she twisted about, trying to pull loose.

  “Be still unless you want to go tumbling down the cliff.”

  Merideth froze. “You wouldn’t throw me down.” Her voice, breathless because of her awkward position, quivered. “Would you?”

  “I won’t have to. If you aren’t careful, you’ll simply fall.”

  “Then put me down and let me walk—” Merideth grabbed his broad back, clutching the linen shirt as he moved down the carved stairs, ignoring her request.

  By the time they reached the beach, Merideth’s head pounded. She was plopped unceremoniously in the sand—thankfully not in the cave. The fire near the rocks still burned.

  After Merideth swiped curls from her face, she watched him run to the blaze. He was pulling his shirt over his head as he went.

  “What are you doing?”

  No response.

  Merideth was getting tired of being ignored, but she had no choice but to endure it. She could see him clearly now, silhouetted against the orange flames. His upper body was bare, the muscles bronzed by the fire. His dark hair, loosened from the queue, hung nearly to his shoulders, giving him a primitive, untamed appearance.

  Merideth sucked in her breath, remembering how close she’d come to weaving her fingers through that thick mane of hair. Thinking of how her fingers itched to do it even still.

  He was moving his shirt in front of the fire, then away. Signaling.

  Merideth pulled her gaze from him and searched out across the channel. At first she could see nothing but endless miles of blackness. Then, just as she was ready to turn away, she caught a glimpse of something.

  A faint light, flashing in the distance. It blinked three times, then there was nothing but the infinite darkness, the rolling splash of surf on the sand. If she hadn’t seen Jared Blackstone’s reaction, Merideth would be convinced the sighting was a hallucination.

  Her captor stood, staring out to sea, while Merideth sat huddled on the sand. Waiting. For what, she didn’t know.

  M
erideth considered running again. Jared’s attention was focused away from her; he seemed to have forgotten she was there. But the memory of what happened the last time she ran stayed her.

  She listened, but could hear nothing but the crashing waves, the crackle of the fire, and her own heart pounding in her ears. Then the colonial was wading into the surf, waving his white shirt. Her eyes narrowed, Merideth made out the dark shape of a small boat riding the waves toward shore.

  Again Merideth thought to run. She could hide in the caves. They were a twisting maze of tunnels. No one could find her in there. She would hide and he would leave. She’d be safe.

  But though she wanted to escape him with all her being, Merideth couldn’t... she just couldn’t make herself inch toward the caves.

  “There ye be, Cap’n.” The booming voice startled Merideth. She clutched her hands together to stop them from trembling. “We’d ‘bout given ye up fer sure.”

  “I came close to giving up on myself,” Jared admitted, reaching for the boat’s prow.

  Three men leaped from the longboat, wrestling it onto shore.

  “What happened to ye? We was supposed to meet a sennight ago. And where’s the other boat?”

  “Gone. No doubt the new property of a fisherman.” Finding it missing when he reached the desolate beach had given him a moment of panic. “As for what happened to me, ‘tis a long story, and one best told after we’ve distanced ourselves from Land’s End. Marcus, douse the fire. We won’t be needing that anymore.”

  As one of the men moved off to follow Captain Blackstone’s order, hope flickered in Merideth’s breast. Perhaps her captor had forgotten her. He hadn’t even glanced her way since dumping her on the beach. She tried to make herself as small as possible. Now that the fire was out, the only light came from a sliver of moon, newly risen in the sky. She was fairly certain none of the other men had noticed her.