The Rogue’s Prize (51 page)
avenge Celeste’s mistreatment, certain
he would find finality in Burton’s
confession.
“I solicited an inn,” Burton
continued, “and a private room where I
took her again and again, hoping to
vanquish the ache in my throbbing cock.
Days later, after having my fill, I left her.
Thankfully, I never saw the sobbing
mass of fluff again.”
“How could you? You’re not
human,” Constance screeched, then
winced as Frink squeezed her back
against his chest, choking off her breath.
Burton frowned and approached
Constance, intent on doing her foul. She
squirmed beneath Frink’s grasp and
brought her heel down upon his instep.
Caught
off-guard,
Frink
toppled
backward. Burton pulled a pistol from
his back and aimed.
“Don’t move!” Burton yelled. “If I
cannot have you, no one can.”
Constance froze. Burton’s trigger
finger flinched. Percy wrenched free of
one of Frink’s henchman and advanced,
prepared to cut down Burton before he
fired the gun. But he didn’t make it in
time. Burton pulled the trigger, a sinister
smile stretching his lips. Guffald moved
with lightning speed.
“Constance!” Percy shouted.
The gunshot split the air and a
plume of sulphuric smoke filled the
cabin. Constance and Guffald collapsed
together to the floor. Percy moved
straight for Burton, murderous thoughts
filling every pore. He knocked the gun
out of Burton’s hand and then, in
despair, snapped the lord’s neck. Out of
the corner of his eye, he caught Frink
slipping out of the room. Blinded by
rage he took chase, catching up with
Frink
on
the
Stockton
’s foredeck,
knowing they would never be safe until
he made sure the captain could never
hurt them again.
“Figure on ending what you started,
boy?” Frink goaded, whirling around to
face him.
Percy grinned. “Yes. I’m going to
enjoy this.”
“Ye’ve tried to kill me once and
failed.”
“That was then,” he admitted with a
flourish of his sword. Clanging steel
snipped the air followed by the blunt
force of metal stabbing wood and
shattering glass as the two of them
battled each other across the deck. “This
is now.”
“A braggart, eh?”
“No,” Percy admitted. “A realist.”
“Perhaps you’d like to know why I
know so much about your sister,” Frink
spat.
He caught Percy off guard, knocked
him off his feet and forced him down
upon the focsle. While Percy struggled
to regain his balance, Frink’s blade
sliced his shoulder and, sensing his
inability to defend himself, the captain
threw all his weight into the wound.
“He passed her off to us — one by
one,” he admitted.
Mind reeling, sickened by thoughts
of Celeste’s obvious torture, Percy
could not bear to hear any more.
“You served on the same ship as
the men who defiled her. You’re a fool,
Sexton! Just as much a fool as that whore
of a sister you’ve sought to avenge.”
Percy kicked Frink’s feet upward,
knocking him off balance. Then, anger
providing him newfound strength, he
thrust his sword between Frink’s ribs.
Frink gasped and lifted his blade weakly
to fend off another blow. Prepared to
block Frink’s thrust, Percy spun and then
gutted Frink with an upward lance.
“Vengeance is mine.”
Frink’s unseeing eyes bulged and
he slumped to the deck. Percy kicked the
man to be certain he was dead, and then
hurried down the steps to the captain’s
cabin. Burton’s body lay unmoving in the
middle of the floor. One of Frink’s men,
the one who’d held him in check during
Burton’s rant, slunk against the wall of
the cabin, his eyes peering blankly into
space.
Constance knelt against the western
side of the room, her ear pressed against
Guffald’s heart. Percy moved forward
slowly and scanned the length of
Guffald’s body. The captain had been
shot in the thigh, a horrible wound he’d
seen countless times that, without a
doctor’s urgent care, meant certain
amputation.
For
a
moment,
he
entertained the idea of letting the
scoundrel die, but he caught sight of a
tourniquet wrapped around his leg. The
fabric was the color of his wife’s gown.
Guffald spoke. “Forgive me.” He
gulped. “Simon knows.”
“Don’t
speak,
Captain.
No
explanations are needed,” Constance
said.
Guffald gasped. “I didn’t know … I
would never have — ”
“Oh, Henry!” Constance cried,
smoothing
the
now
unconscious
captain’s blond hair away from his face.
Percy did not miss the fact that she’d
used Guffald’s given name. Sobbing, she
pulled the man close and held his head
to her chest. Percy watched silently,
jealousy coursing through his veins.
He was too late. He’d failed to win
his wife when he had the chance. She
hated him. Believed him incapable of
telling the truth.
Constance looked up at him then,
and froze. Her eyes glistened with
unshed tears. “He jumped in front of me.
He saved my life,” she cried.
Stunned, Percy felt a mix of disgust
for himself and compassion for his old
friend. Though Guffald had betrayed
him, he’d put his life on the line to
protect his wife and child. He owed the
man everything. Everything!
“What will become of him?” she
asked, holding her hand out to him.
Percy moved forward to touch her hand,
noting the blood stained creases in her
knuckles. “Henry’s blood, not mine,” she
assured.
He glanced quizzically into her
green eyes. “Your quick thinking has
surely saved his life, my gel,” he said,
with a nod to the tourniquet.
Constance gazed up at him with
red-rimmed eyes. His heart sank. He
knew she would never forgive his lies.
How could he blame her? It was too
much to ask.
“What am I to do, Your Grace?”
she asked. “I’m in love.”
His heart plummeted into his
abdomen. “Listen to your heart,” he said.
“I’m in love with
two
men.”
Two? Thinking she spoke of
Guffald, his gaze fell to the man at their
feet. He hated Henry all the more.
“Whatever shall you do?” he inquired,
certain he would rather see her happy
than forced to live a life she despised.
“Come closer, Your Grace,” she
said.
He took a knee. She raised her hand
to gently rub the stubble on his face.
With one touch she had the power to
disarm him. He closed his eyes, putting
her touch to memory. He inhaled her
scent — roses and a hint of despair. The
moment cut him as deeply as Frink’s
intended blade.
“I shall love them both,” she
admitted.
“Both?” Had the woman gone daft?
Perhaps the situation in the cabin had
sent her over the edge. Did she propose
to entertain Guffald and him, together?
By all that was holy, what was she
suggesting? She was a married woman.
He’d be damned if he was going to share
her — with anyone. He’d spent too much
time sharing her with a pirate as it was.
The look on his face must have put
sense into her. “Silly man!” she said.
“What shall I call you? Thomas or
Percy?”
Understanding dawned. What she
proposed was scandalous — enticing.
“Percy,” he said, “but only in public.”
“And what shall I call you in
private?”
“Thomas.” He winked. “But only
when we make love.”
“Are you suggesting that I love a
duke by day and a rogue by night?” She
giggled.
“I only ask that you love two men
who share one heart.”
Her eyes searched his. “And what
is in your heart?” she asked.
He reached for her and drew her
close. “I love you, Constance. Both of us
are most definitively yours, my gel.”
She put his hand over her slightly
swelling stomach. “His as well?”
“His too.”
Consumed with an urge to kiss his
beautiful wife, Percy’s lips sought
Constance’s most urgently. It no longer
mattered where they had been, where
they were or what they’d been through.
He no longer needed vengeance as a
means to live. His heart now belonged to
his wife, his child. And offering
Constance a rogue by night for the rest of
his life was bound to be his greatest
pleasure.
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Katherine Bone has been passionate
about all things historical since she was
an Army brat traveling all over the
world. Initially, she dreamed of being an
artist, but when she met and fell in love
with Prince Charming, her own dashing
Lieutenant vowing duty, honor, and
country, she found herself saying “I do.”
Not long afterward, she was whisked
away
to
Army
bases,
castles,
battlegrounds and cathedrals, where
tales of swashbuckling characters and
unforgettable adventure filled the lonely
gaps when the Army called Charming
away. No longer nomadic, Katherine set
down roots in the south where she and
Charming have raised four children and
live with their fluffy Maine Coon.
Katherine Bone can be found at her
website:
www.katherinebone.com
or on Twitter at:
@katherinelbone
.
In the mood for more Crimson
Romance?
Check out
Once a Duchess
by Elizabeth Boyce
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT PAGE
- DEDICATION
- CONTENTS
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- CHAPTER ONE
- CHAPTER TWO
- CHAPTER THREE
- CHAPTER FOUR
- CHAPTER FIVE
- CHAPTER SIX
- CHAPTER SEVEN
- CHAPTER EIGHT
- CHAPTER NINE
- CHAPTER TEN
- CHAPTER ELEVEN
- CHAPTER TWELVE
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN
- CHAPTER SIXTEEN
- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
- CHAPTER NINETEEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY
- CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- ALSO AVAILABLE