About
Only You
by Elizabeth St. Michel
Award winning author Elizabeth St. Michelmasterfully creates a remarkable heroine, and an unforgettablepassion, in this powerfully moving love story,Only You.
The series centers on the Duke of Rutland, awidower, and his four strong-willed offspring. The Duke hasformidable enemies determined to destroy his family.
The third installment involves Nicholas,heir to the Duke of Rutland, kidnapped and imprisoned aboard aPortuguese slaver. Nicholas learns that his family members havebeen either captured or slain—but a mysterious woman allays hisdespair.
Fellow prisoner, Alexandra has overheardthat his family is safe. But can he believe her? She claims to be awoman of status, but as she cannot prove her story, Nicholasassumes she is a thief. They are in the same predicament, however,and he and Alexandra form a friendship.
When a hurricane destroys the ship andAlexandra rescues Nicholas from certain death, he must discover thetruth about her. They wash up on a deserted island, where hersurvival skills come to the fore. As an aristocrat, Nicholas feelsunequipped to handle the situation, but he watches Alexandra withgrowing admiration—and hears her account of how she, the daughterof a baron, came to be so resourceful.
Nicholas yearns to leave the island and seekrevenge on his captors, yet he can no longer deny his growingpassion for Alexandra. Of noble birth herself, she is anappropriate match for Nicholas. Yet Alexandra has more secrets—andone of them could doom their love.
Only You
Copyright 2017R by Elizabeth St. Michel.
All rights presently reserved by the author.Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book maybe used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without writtenpermission except in the case of brief quotations embodied incritical articles or reviews.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names,characters, places and incidents are either products of theauthor’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance toactual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirelycoincidental. No part of this publication can be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,without permission in writing from Elizabeth St. Michel.
LCCN: 2017917475
ISBN: 099748246X
ISBN: 9780997482461
EBOOK: 978-0-9974824-7-8
Dedication
For J.
You make me smile.
PART ONE
Chapter One
Atlantic Ocean 1777
Nicholas Rutland, heir apparent of thefourth Duke of Rutland shook his head to erase a thick fog thatcrowded his brain. Where was he? He eased his aching body into aseated position where rough wood, greased with muck, slicked hisfingers.
He groaned, the same sludge saturated hisbackside. If only the damn swaying would stop. Doused with water,he sputtered and choked. He squinted at the bright sun comingthrough the grate above. A man pressed his pock-marked face againstrusty iron, his ferret-like eyes, dancing with gleeful malevolence,the obvious sponsor of the bucket of water thrown on him.
“His Lordship’s awake, Capitan,” Pockmarksaid, sneering at Nicholas. “How’s that knock on your head?”
Nicholas raised an unsteady hand, sweatedwith the effort. His fingers touched a lump at the back of hishead. White starbursts of light popped. His arm went limp anddropped against the wall of his prison. A five-by-six cube, heguessed. Barely enough room for a man to lie down. “Why don’t youcome down here and we’ll find out?”
“Got some fight in you, eh? You’re shaking.Wet your breeches?” Pockmark laughed.
Nicholas clenched his hands, his bloodrushing with the urge to slam his fist into the man’s pittedface.
“Move aside, Damiano.” Overhead, sailssnapped and shadowed a groomed man of forty. “Move aside, Damiano,”the man repeated, his high thin voice squealed in heavily accentedEnglish. Not Dutch like the droll Van Dyke beard he bore.Spanish?
