“Your abilities in combat are excellent. The man was simply able to withstand a great deal of pain.” Percy caressed the back of her hand with the pad of his thumb as nerves prickled in hisstomach. “There is no harm in continuing to practise…together.” He cleared his throat. “Perhaps when we return home?”
“Of course, you must be right.” She nodded, a half-smile tugging at her lips. “Continuing our training is a lovely idea. I’m sure Juliana and Maria would benefit from further instruction as well.”
Hell’s tits. Just say it, man.
“Y-yes, of course. That is t-to say,” he stammered, the prickling of nerves growing into a full assault on his abdomen. “I…want more than that.”
A gentle frown puckered her brow, and she stepped sideways, smoothly avoiding a fighting duo. “More? I’m not sure I understand.”
Words failed him. He wantedher. All of her. He wanted a home and a marriage, devotion and trust. He wanted to be her family.
But the words wouldn’t come. They were stuck in his chest as though readying to burst forth. So instead, he slid his fingertips along her jaw and swept forward to capture her lips with his. It was swift and sweet, but it sent heat through his body just the same.
Boom! Boom-Boom!
He pulled back to press his forehead to hers. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Heather.”
“Have you?” Heather’s cheeks flushed as she stared at him through wide eyes.
“I have.”
She beamed, her face veritably lighting from within. “I love you as well, Percy.”
Pleasure—and no small amount of relief—warmed his chest, and he returned her smile. “Then we have much to discuss. But first, shall we end this battle and begin the journey home?”
Her smile still in place, Heather nodded. “Indeed. I’m given to understand that the items we purchased are safely stored in the hull.”
Christ, but that was fortunate. He’d thought they would have to briefly return to San Luis.
With another grin, he swept forward to buss her lips, then stepped back and turned to the belfry. He tugged the rope.
Bong…bong…bong…bong…
Three weekslater
Heart thundering,Heather dismounted from Percy’s lap to sidle up against him upon the gently swaying bed in thePandora’s captain’s cabin. Her rapid breaths ruffled the smattering of tight curls upon his chest, and she dazedly traced a finger along the anchor there.
Percy hugged her closer. “I’ll never tire of that, love.”
She huffed a laugh. “Neither shall I.”
Percy had come to know her body so well that he knew just where to touch to elicit a response.
And the delights of her evenings alone with Percy had been a necessary reprieve from the flurry of activity these past weeks. Those crewmen who had agreed to their scheme and remained aboard had spent much of the time repairing and disguising the ship in preparation for the journey to London.
After the battle, they’d left the earl and the crew aboard theAmericato their own repairs, but Heather knew not of their intentions. Hanley hadn’t an affianced with him to satisfy his cousin’s whims, but he no doubt knew that if he returned to England, he would be apprehended and tried for high treason. Itdidn’t feel right to simply let him flee, to allow him to create a life for himself in the Americas, but she would leave the chase to the Royal Navy.
She just wished she knew to which royal the earl had made his alliance, for she would do all in her power to take them down as well.
Percy sighed, patting her hand with his callused one. She looked up at his dear face, her pulse picking up speed once more.
“What of when we reach London?” she asked. “We are naught more than a sennight away now, surely. Will you live with me at the Bow Street offices?”
“Mmm,” he hummed. “I’d thought to purchase a home for us in town, somewhere close enough to the offices that it will not be inconvenient to reach them every day.”
“Forus? Truly?”
He jerked his chin in a nod. “Truly. So long as you will have me.” He hesitated briefly. “And I’d rather hoped that you would accept my hand and become my wife. But I understand if you are diffident toward marriage, so I would be glad to have you any way that I can, whether as a wife, a companion, or a paramour.”
