“No.He just locked me in a room.”The strength of his hand spread through her like a balm, soothing every frayed nerve.
“You must be faint with hunger.I’ll call one of my men to bring something.”He rose and started toward the door.
“Caleb.”
He faced her.
“Why did you come for me?”The words spilled hot with unshed tears.Rising, she did her best to force them back.She’d always hated weak women who cried at the drop of a hat.But this man’s gallant rescue touched her in a way nothing ever had.
He looked shocked.“Do you not know?”
She shook her head, not wanting to go there…to think this man loved her.So, she allowed anger to fume.“You could have been killed.You had no way to know if he’d fall for the fake ring.”
One side of his lips quirked into a grin.“I had to try.”He studied her, shifting his boots over the deck.
“It was a fool’s errand, and you know it,” she snapped, wondering at her anger and yet realizing it came from her fear—fear that harm would come to this man.“If that rain cloud hadn’t appeared when it did, we’d both be dead.”
He smiled, and in that smile, she saw a trust, a confidence, and a hope she’d sought her entire life.
But it only angered her further.
“Why are you smiling?I don’t understand.”She rubbed her temples where a headache rose.“The ring was fake, but the rain came anyway.”
“’Twas the power of Almighty God.”He gripped the cross around his neck and winked.
“God?”She shook her head, unwilling to believe, yet hard pressed for another explanation.“Even if that is true, you couldn’t have known that would happen.”
“That’s where faith comes in, my lady.”
Taking a step back, she lowered her chin, “You should have left me there.You had the Ring.It was far too risky.”
He moved closer and slid a finger beneath her chin, raising her gaze to his.“I would never have left you.Never.”
The truth in his eyes—deep as the ocean, fierce as the tide—undid her.What was happening?This man, this pirate preacher, had captured her heart.When she’d sworn she’d never succumb to such a frivolous, transitory thing like romantic love.She’d seen far too many of her friends hurt, far too many broken relationships.The kind of love between a man and woman never lasted, rarely went beyond fleeting attraction.
She couldn’t allow this.She was in the wrong time.The wrong place.She had a business to run.A sister to care for.
Retreating, she turned her back to him.“Geneviève told me you were a couple again.That you and she had hooked up.”Even as she said it, the agonizing emotions returned.
“Hooked up?”he asked, amusement in his tone.“Your speech ever baffles me.”
She moved to the desk and ran a finger over the oak wood.“It means you and she… well, never mind.”Breathing out a sigh, she slipped a curl behind her ear.“So, when the marquis told me that he intended to exchange me for the Ring, I assumed you wouldn’t show.I mean Geneviève is beautiful, cultured, charming.Andfrom your time.You have much in common.”
She felt rather than heard him slip behind her.His scent of salted leather and bay rum flooded her nose and did strange things to her belly.
“I perceive you are jealous, Miss Starr,” he teased.
Desperate to put distance between them, she tried to move away but found herself pinned between him and his desk.“Don’t be ridiculous.I’m merely pointing out that you and she make a wonderful couple.”
He swept her hair back from her neck, his breath coming hot upon her skin.“She means nothing to me, Desi.Less than nothing.”Then grabbing her shoulders, he gently turned her to face him, drew her close, and enveloped her in his arms.
Despite her better judgment, she fell against him, leaning her head on his shoulder.And despite all vows of strength, tears came, trickling down her cheeks, evidence of her weakness, her need for him.
His arms caged her in warmth and iron.“You are safe now, Desi.I will never allow harm to come to you.”
In all her years, no one had ever said that to her.There had been no one to count on.Not fully.It had only been her.She was the one everyone leaned on, relied on.Her sister, her friends, her employees.Even the men she’d dated had been weak, seeking the physical alone, seeking a woman to take care of them, to please them.
Yet now she clung to this man, this hero, her champion.And the one person in the world who had saved her at the risk of his own life.His warmth and strength encased her in impenetrable steel.It felt right in his arms, like she’d always been there, somehow.
