Caleb shoved the man backward as the second villain charged him, but instead of meeting his blade, Caleb ducked, then slammed the man’s sword from his hand with the hilt of his own.The brute’s blade clanged to the dirty floor.Desperate, he dashed to retrieve it, but Caleb barreled into him, sending him tumbling back into a table, toppling mugs and flinging ale.
The man holding Desi cursed.Most of the words she’d never heard before, but she could guess their meaning by the way he tightened his grip on her arm and spit to the side.Pain shot across her shoulders, and she let out a yelp that was lost in the clamor.But it was the terror squeezing her heart that hurt the most when she realized that should Caleb be defeated, she’d be at the mercy of these creeps.
Geoffrey let out a growl that would wake the dead.Charging, he thrust his blade once again at Caleb.Metal on metal screeched through the tavern as the men parried.Caleb drove his assailant backward with each slash.Finally, in a quick move, Caleb ducked and grazed the man’s pants.Blood oozed from the wound as he kicked the man to the floor.The second man had recovered and once again, faced Caleb, knife in hand.
Desi’s captor started hauling her back through the mob.Desperate, she seized a passing mug.Come on, Desi, you can do this!She’d never hit anyone before, hated violence of any kind, but it was either that or be taken captive by this jerk.
Swinging her arm back with all her strength, she crashed it on his head.He howled, releasing her just as the tip of Caleb’s sword kissed his throat.
Silence fell like an odd specter on the room…before the mob roared their approval.
The last villain dropped to the floor, beside the other two, sprawled and beaten at Caleb’s feet.
Desi’s hand shook, the mug still clenched in her fist.
Grinning, Caleb slowly unwound her fingers and retrieved it, setting it on a table.“Thanks for the help.”
Blood pounded through her veins.She could hardly think.Yet, as she took in the three brutes on the tavern floor, astonishment overtook those feelings.Caleb was more than a pirate, more than a missionary, more than a captain.He seemed…unstoppable.
And for the first time, she wondered if she wasn’t safer by his side than anywhere in the world.
Chapter 13: A Hero of Old
Caleb shook his head, baffled.He’d saved a lady from sure defilement, defended his honor and most likely his life from three miscreants, and now provided her with a meal and clean lodgings for the night.One would think she’d swooning at his feet.At least that’s what most women had done in the past with far less effort.
But this lady seemed anything but grateful as the tavern owner’s wife led them upstairs to the room he’d just paid for.
The landlady—as tall as she was wide with a thick French accent—opened the door, allowed them to enter, then set the candle atop a table.She muttered something about water for a bath being extra and mutton to break their fast served at six before she gave them both an incriminating stare and left.
“It isn’t much, but the sheets should be clean, and”—he moved to the basin on top of a chest of drawers and sniffed—“the water fresh.”
Desi stared at the bed, which was no more than a straw mattress on a wobbly cot.Yet she didn’t complain.She didn’t turn up her nose.She merely faced him and smiled.“It’s fine.”
He didn’t know about fine but it would suffice.
A breeze fluttered the gauze curtains, bringing in the scent of the sea and clamor of the town as the final rays of a setting sun set dust ablaze in the air.
“You’ll be safe here.”Caleb gripped the hilt of his blade, his fingers sore from his fight.“There’s a latch on the door.”He turned to show her, but she wasn’t looking.
“How did you do that?”She lowered to sit on the bed.
“To what do you refer?”
“Defeat those men so easily.”
“Not by myself.I had your help, remember?”He winked.The lady had proven she was no wilting flower.She had strength, quick thinking, and even though she had been clearly terrified, she’d acted with bravery against overwhelming odds.
She laughed.“Me?Help?No.Three against one.Not only did you defeat them, you made it look easy.”
“My father taught me.He and my grandfather are expert swordsmen.”
She nodded, running her hands over the coverlet.“So, I reallyamhere.”
Words escaped Caleb.If she had come from the future, he couldn’t imagine what she was enduring, her terror and confusion.She released a shuddering breath, and he found himself longing to ease her pain, to wipe the sorrow creasing her lovely face.
But he held back.He had a weakness for the fairer sex, the softness of their skin, silkiness of their hair, the melodic lilt of their voices.Their sumptuous curves.He yearned to protect them, loved their company, and enjoyed the way they normally adored him.Aye, he knew he was handsome.Many women had told him so.Some had groveled at his feet for his affections.Others had swooned at his skill in swordplay and battle.
Not this lady.She had yet to even thank him.
