“Oh my. Can we sail out of the bayou?” Grace asked.
“Not quite yet. However, if we float far enough before the water level drops, we should be able to set some sail. I may retain some of my spectral abilities, but I’m still just one man. You’ll have to help me.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
Luc’s grin broadened. “We’d better go check on the cat and dogs. I locked them in the hold to keep them from wandering off.”
“Any other preparations we need to make before we can weigh anchor?” she asked.
“A few, but I think I can take care of them myself.”
“What shall we do while we wait?”
Heart turning over, he stared at the woman he’d come to love and bussed her cheek. “Get out of this rain for a start. Then I think we’ll need to dry off.”
“Oh. We’ll have to take our clothes off.” Grace’s pretty green eyes were wide, and she batted her lashes in false innocence.
“Minx. You’re just as bad as me. Come. I took time to light the braziers, so the cabin will be warm.”
She flashed a smile and squeezed his hand.
They went below. The cat and dogs ambled into the cabin after them.
“Lay down,” Grace told Mars and Mercury. “Stay here.”
They whined a bit when the cat marched right past them and through the curtain.
Luc went after her, emerging into the main cabin holding the dark puffball by the scruff in one hand a pillow in the other. “You’re not welcome, either. You can stay here with the dogs or go out in the hold.”
“Mrrow!” She swatted at him, but he held onto her.
“Fine. Here it is then.”
He set the pillow down on his desk chair and the cat atop the pillow. She turned her tail to him, kneaded the cushion then settled.
Grace giggled and hung her rain gear on the knob of the door. Their animals would be fine. She moved into the alcove, with Luc close behind. She unbuttoned her shirt, one by one, in a slow tease.
“Allow me.” He brushed her hands away. “Please.”
She smiled that breath-stealing smile, and he caught a faint echo of Grainne. His heart stuttered with fear, and his hands stilled.
“Luc, what’s wrong?” Instantly, concern tightened her dark red eyebrows.
“I don’t know what will happen next,” he whispered.
“We’re together. What else do we need to know?” she asked.
“What if I vanish? What if you do? Both of you, Grace and Grainne.”
“Oh, my love. My dear, sweet love.” Grace stroked his cheek. “I expect that one of us—Grace or Grainne—will vanish. It won’t matter, though. I will still be here.”
“You have no idea how much I pray that will be true.”
“As do I,” she agreed.
“However, we can’t know, not for certain. Especially given the requirement for a heartless woman to hold my heart. Whoever that woman might be, she never will, because I’ve given my heart to you.
“But you gave yours to Grainne long ago.” Sorrow crept into Grace’s expression.
