Rogue of the Borders by Cynthia Breeding

Author:Cynthia Breeding
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2014-05-27T04:00:00+00:00

Unlike the favorable weather conditions in which Shane had sailed southward, the passage back was rough. Shifting winds, confused seas and continuous tacking had made the journey twice as long as it usually took. Pelting rain had not helped the mood of his crew either. Twice he’d had to intervene to prevent a fight from breaking out—and that was before the cook took ill and they’d had to resort to cold rations again. For most of the last two days, his men had maintained a surly silence.

With the boat closing in on the home dock, Shane breathed a sigh of relief. ’Twas good to be home. He’d given some thought to his conversation with Sherrington regarding his lengthy absences. Two months had already passed. Surely Shane could hang on to his sanity—and his urges—for another few weeks.

The blunt truth, though, was he wasn’t sure he wanted to. He wasn’t even sure he wanted the annulment either. Knowing Abigail was here, waiting for him, was surprisingly comforting, especially after dealing with fractious, disgruntled sailors for days on end.

Not that Sherrington had given any indication of being willing to change the terms of their agreement. In fact, he’d mentioned it would be good to have Abigail home again, supervising his staff as she had done before. Shane thought the household quite well run as it was, but he knew the earl had become overly protective of Abigail after her mother’s infamous demise. Shane also had a sneaking suspicion the man missed his daughter as well.

Still, Shane was looking forward to an intellectually stimulating conversation with Abigail later, maybe in front of a warm fire in the library—after he’d had one of Janet’s good, hot meals.

“Cleat the line properly,” Donald bellowed at one of the sailors who had sloppily secured it with one loop. “And ye two,” he said, pointing at crew members about to scurry down the gangplank. “I see the sheets have nae been coiled!”

Shane sighed. Perhaps he needed to focus on the task at hand.

Thirty minutes later, when all had been properly secured on deck and the near-mutinous men had gone off to the nearest tavern, he picked up the paperwork and headed toward his office.

“Was the trip as profitable as you expected?” Richard asked as he entered.

“Aye,” Shane answered, thinking at least the business end had gone well. “I wondered about the London client, Avery. What do ye ken of him?”

Richard’s eyes shifted slightly and he shrugged. “I know nothing of him. Mr. Padget simply said he had a client needing cognac delivered.” He studied the papers Shane had given him. “I see you received another order for kelp. Do you have any idea how long it will take to have ready?”

“I will need to check with the fishermen,” Shane replied and looked around. “Is my wife nae here?”

“She left early.”

“Unless ye need to go over some things, I will be heading that way myself.”

“No, sir. Everything is under control. I will see you in the morning.”

As Shane walked

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