And worse. She would go back to the house and arouse Lord Cameron and then Roc would come riding for her. She swallowed as the wind lashed against her face. It was going to be dark along the road.
She couldn’t fear the darkness, for there were worse dangers in the offering that night. Roc Cameron might well come for her, determined to kill the Silver Hawk. And if he did, it might well be her own fault—because she had told her husband that she was no innocent bride and that the Hawk had behaved in a foul and abusive way and seized her innocence away.…
She couldn’t think about it. Robert would take her to the Hawk, and when she reached him, she would explain that they had to run, and quickly. He was a fool for being in Virginia anyway. Governor Eden of North Carolina might suffer pirates, but Lieutenant Alexander Spotswood of Virginia did not. The Hawk had to flee Virginia, and since he did, he might as well seek out Lord Theo Kinsdale and reap the benefits of the gold that Skye would so gladly pay.
The gold only! she thought with vehemence.
Gold…and nothing of herself.
She shivered, remembering the day not so long ago when she had lain in the pirate’s arms beneath the sun. When she had felt his dark beard brush her naked flesh along with the searing rays of the sun. It was so easy to remember.
Easy to remember the first night, the very first night. He had warned her.…
And she had walked into his arms anyway, of her own free will.
That was before! she vowed to herself. Before she had come to know Petroc Cameron. Before she had discovered that she could love him. Before this very night, even, when she had come to him knowing that she would leave him, and determined to love him first. It was before the soaring splendor of his passion.
She trembled suddenly, and it was not the darkness of the night that brought her fear. Robert rode behind her, and though the lamps of the city were fading behind them, the moon was very high. There was light.
And she was learning not to fear the darkness, to fight the panic of it. Roc Cameron had done that for her, she thought. He had drawn the venom of the past from her soul. She had spoken about it to him, and she wasn’t afraid. Roc had taken the words from her, while the Silver Hawk had taught her that there could always be a beacon against the darkness of the night.
The Silver Hawk…
She loved her husband.
She had fallen in love with the pirate king first, and though his memory had faded away only to combine with that of the man she had legally wed, she was both dreading and anticipating her meeting with the pirate. What would his memories be?
What would his demands be?
Could she sell her soul to come to him again, if that should be his price?
“Are you cold?” Robert whispered behind her.
She shook her head. “No. I am—I am anxious to see the Hawk. Are you certain you know where he is?”
“Yes.”
She hesitated, thinking how kind Robert had always been to her. He was here in Virginia, and she had to be glad. But she dreaded the future for him. “Robert, you shouldn’t be here!”
“The Hawk dares anything.”
“The Hawk is not in Williamsburg.”
Robert chuckled softly. “Sometimes it is necessary to come close to the flame of the fire, lady. Surely, you know that.”
“You came to Williamsburg to spy,” she accused him.
“Aye, milady, I did.”
“If they catch you, they’ll hang you.”
“They’ll never catch the Silver Hawk.”
“But—”
“I am Robert Arrowsmith here, milady, good citizen of His Majesty’s colony of Virginia. I am safe.” He hesitated. “Are you all right? We are almost there, another twenty minutes.”
They no longer galloped, but Robert moved the horse along at a quick trot. The moon beat strongly upon the road, but she was touched. Even Robert considered her fear of the darkness.
