The Rogue Pirate's Bride by Shana Galen

Author:Shana Galen [Galen, Shana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781402265556
Amazon: 1402265557
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Published: 2012-02-06T23:00:00+00:00

“Julien and I would play pirate, but Armand

never wanted to cross swords—fallen tree limbs, in

actuality—with us. He’d rather read about pirates than

play like one.”

“And now you no longer play pirate. Tell me your

play pirate name wasn’t Captain Cutlass.”

He gave her a quick grin, and she groaned and

rolled her eyes. But when she looked back at him, his

eyes were unfocused, and she could tell he was far, far

away. “When I was a child, sleeping in a hammock

on the gun deck and feeling homesick—more home-

sick than I can express because I had no home to

go back to—I used to pretend they were still alive.

I used to dream they’d escaped and were waiting

for me.”

She felt her throat close up and hot tears sting her

eyes. She would not let them fall. He would not want

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The Rogue Pirate’s Bride

253

her tears, but she stood and went to him, put her arms

around him. He pulled her onto his lap and cradled

her as though she were the homesick child.

“Maybe they did escape, Bastien. Gaston thinks

there’s a chance.”

Bastien shook his head. “I saw the chateau burn.”

His voice rumbled in his chest where her ear pressed

against his heart. “No one could have survived that.”

“Did you see your father pulled out? You know he

did not burn. Did you see him carted away to Paris?”

“No.” And she could hear the sliver of hope in

his voice.

“What if others escaped without you seeing?

Perhaps your brother Julien, or Armand…”

She felt him stiffen and prepared for him to set her

aside, but he continued to hold her. She looked up

at him.

“I’ll go back and make inquiries, and I’ll put this to

rest,” he said, his gaze meeting hers. “The only ques-

tion is what to do with you.”

She twined her arms around his neck. “I’m going

with you, of course.” She said it as though it were

fact, but she knew it was nothing of the sort. And to

her horror, she felt fear well up inside. Fear of losing

him. What was wrong with her? Was she turning into

a lovesick ninny?

She drew her arms down, but he pulled them back.

“I’d like that, Raeven, but what about your father?”

Yes, what about her father? Was she leaving the

admiral to take up with Captain Cutlass? And if she

was, could she live with herself if her decision resulted

in the destruction of the Shadow and its captain?

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Shana Galen

“He’ll come after us—you, I mean. He’ll try to

destroy you.”

“I can outrun him. The question is, do you want

me to?”

He was looking into her eyes, and she could feel her

heart pound at the intensity of his gaze. “What are you

saying?” she asked.

“Raeven, don’t play games.” He spoke in English

now, his voice chiding and his accent surprisingly light.

“I need you to say it,” she whispered.

He traced a finger down her cheek, kissed her

nose. “I want you to stay with me. I want you to be

my wife.”

She hadn’t anticipated the last, and a tremor of

shock tore through her. He laughed. “You didn’t

expect that.”

“No. I—why? Because I can fire a cannon?”

He laughed again, and she wished he would stop,

because she suspected he was laughing at her.

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