Her Passionate Pirate by Neesa Hart

Author:Neesa Hart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

She knocked the breath out of me. That’s all there is to it. I never would have believed that such a slip of a woman—I swear she wouldn’t last through the first gust of a summer gale—could have brought me so readily to my knees. But I didn’t know she had the power to take me to paradise, either.

Juan Rodriguez del Flores

Captain’s Log, 16 June 1860

Over the next several days, they fell into a pattern that left Rafael feeling simultaneously energized and frustrated. Most days Cora would go to the college for her classes and her research. He had learned that she rarely worked with the diaries out of her house. In order to preserve the fragile paper and keep the volumes as intact as possible, she scrupulously adhered to the laboratory environment. The few pages she had at home were copies, meticulously and painstakingly duplicated by an advanced photoreproductive system. That way, Cora could study every nuance of the works, from Abigail’s handwriting and the pressure of her pen to the paper type and source, without risking any damage to the original copies. Early on, the project had run low on funds, and additional duplications had become cost prohibitive. She’d taken to studying the books in the lab and making research notes on her computer.

As a scientist, Rafael’s respect for her methods grew exponentially as he began to delve into her research notes. She was punctilious and thorough. Her attention to detail astounded him. She identified patterns and subtleties in Abigail’s writing that a less-exacting person would have easily missed.

Every evening she brought him her report for that day. He would spend the next several hours in his third-floor room poring over Cora’s notes. He discovered, much to his surprise, that Abigail’s writing was actually quite erotic. That gave almost incontrovertible proof that the well-bred daughter of a Southern gentleman had sustained a relationship that went well beyond a simple seduction by her lover. The affair had been extended and, evidently, quite torrid. To his growing frustration, however, any proof that her lover had been Juan Rodriguez del Flores remained stubbornly elusive.

His determination to find the remaining diaries heightened. Fortunately his association with the project had netted the rewards he’s hoped. Money was flowing, and he was close to reaching the three-million-dollar goal he’d set. His contacts in Chapel Hill kept him apprised of the situation. They also seemed to have a handle on the media. His public-relations rep was doing her usual spectacular job keeping the press off his back. Except for the occasional nuisance call and the constant prodding of his sister Elena, he’d been blessedly free to peruse his research.

He systematically examined Cora’s house for any possible place Abigail may have stashed her diaries, working his way steadily from attic to cellar. In this, he’d found unexpected allies in Kaitlin, Molly and Liza. They seemed endlessly fascinated by the twists and turns of the old house, and loved exploring it with him. Though he made

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