“I see,” he said.“Then I shall leave you to your sleep.”He headed for the door.
Leave?Did he say leave?
She sucked in a breath.He’d mentioned leaving her before, but now that he was going, her stomach contracted into a tight ball.Sunlight had vacated the room, replaced by evening shadows and a breeze that stirred the single candle’s flame.Singing and the clank of tankards and curses of drunken men below rose to remind her of where she was.
And when.
“Please don’t,” she blurted out before she realized what she asked.
Halting, he faced her, a dangerous quirk to one brow.
She had to think of something quick.She was no frightened damsel in distress.For goodness sakes, she was a modern, independent woman who ran her own company, managed employees, went on dangerous dives, and had faced sharks in the deep.“Aren’t you afraid I’ll run away?Until now, you’ve had me under lock and key.”
“If you truly hail from the future as you claim,”—a playful spark glimmered in his eyes—“then I doubt you’ll want to venture about in a place and time with which you are unfamiliar.I don’t know about your time, Miss, but a woman alone in this time is an invitation to disaster, especially in a town such as Marigot.”
The man had a point, one she hated to admit, particularly because he seemed rather pleased with himself.
He released a sigh, his features softening.“You are afraid to be alone in this place.”
She nodded, unwilling to admit it out loud.
“Then I’ll stay.”He drew his sword and laid it on the dresser.“And I’ll sleep on the floor, but on one condition.”
Her relief was short-lived as renewed fear took root.Did the man expect favors?Of the sexual kind?“What do you want?”
“You remain in your gown and on the bed.”A serious warning burned in his gaze.
And because of that, all fear fled her.Yet, she could not help but tease him.“Now, who’s attracted to who?”
Desi couldn’t sleep.It had nothing to do with the annoying clamor from below or the pistol shots echoing through the night outside her window.Nor to do with the painful stays that bit into her skin.No, the blame lay with the man stretched out on the dirty floor in front of the door, snoring peacefully, his blade and pistol beside him.
Most of the guys she’d known couldn’t sleep without their high-end mattress, complete with heating and cooling, their white noise machines, and eye masks.And none of them would have been willing to sleep on the hard floor just to calm her fears.
If they did, they would expect something in return.
Though he claimed to be a missionary, he played the part of a pirate better.He could take advantage of her, and no one would care or come to her rescue.And why not?Her appearance in this time had caused him nothing but confusion and trouble.Yet, there he slept, ready to leap upon any intruders who dared enter the room.
Despite herself, she couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of being cared for, protected.An unfamiliar sensation for a girl whose parents died before she’d reached her teens and who had to fend for herself and care for her sister alone in a dangerous world.Pops had been a wonderful grandfather, but his eccentricities often consumed his time, and he wasn’t always good at protecting them or even providing life’s necessities.So Desi had learned early on how to take care of herself and that she couldn’t rely on anyone.
But this man was turning her world upside down.In more ways than one.
After the clamor from below settled into a low hum, the dash of waves against the rocks outside her window lulled her to sleep.She dreamed she was swimming through the sea, warm water washing over her in a lover’s caress.A colorful reef blossomed beneath her, ripe with life.She wore no wetsuit, no fins, or tank.Yet, she could breathe just fine.Such freedom!As if she were one with the sea and its creatures.As if she belonged there.She swam deeper.Just over a ledge, a shape took form.The hull of a ship, fully intact, its mighty masts spearing toward the surface.She swam closer, the fore and quarterdecks formed before her, the whipstaff, binnacle, capstan, everything was in perfect shape.
Then she saw him.
Captain Caleb Hyde, standing upon the main deck, hands on his hips, gazing at her, a smile on his face.He extended his hand, and she swam closer and gripped it.So much love filled his penetrating eyes, it warmed every inch of her.He drew her close and swallowed her up in his arms.“I’ve been waiting a lifetime for you,” he said.
Desi jerked to sit, gripping the edges of the flimsy cot to keep from falling.Blinking, she spotted Caleb still asleep on the floor.The faint glow of dawn drifted into the room, scattering dust and shadows alike.
Tossing off her covers, she crept toward the window and peered outside.The first crest of the sun peeked over the horizon, flinging golden ribbons of light over the sea, turning foamy waves into glittering diamonds.She’d always loved watching the sun rise.How many times had she risen before dawn and walked to the beach to enjoy the sight?Mornings brought new beginnings, a fresh start, the events of the past shoved aside by the light of a new day.The ocean was always so calm at dawn, like liquid glass caressing the Florida shores.As if even the sea realized something new, something fresh had begun.
“What will you bring me today?”she whispered to the blue waters.“What mysteries will you reveal?Any surprises that will lead me home?”She waited, listening to the siren song of the sea, comforted by the fact that it was the same ocean she’d been conversing with back in her day.The one link, besides the Ring, that tied her two worlds together.
Or was it?The man sleeping behind her also held a clue.He’d known her, seen her before.But how?A person could go crazy thinking about all this.“Take me home, deep waters, take me home.”
Chapter 14:Marquis de Montverre
Caleb lingered somewhere between sleep and wakefulness when he heard a lady’s whispers.It took a moment to remember where he was, but only a second to recognize Miss Starr’s pleasing voice.He opened one eye and found her standing at the window.Morning sunlight formed a halo around her, glittering in her light hair and shimmering across her skin.She looked ethereal, not from this place.Like a heavenly being lost in a world not her own.
