Icy, clawing darkness. Choking, suffocating blackness. No air.Charles couldn't breathe. Ropes cut into his wrists and his ankles, immobilizing him. Struggling, the burn of his lungs as air couldn't get to him. He was going to die in the river, drowned, swallowed by eternal darkness"Help!" The hoarse shout ripped from his throat. "Help me! Please!" It died in a frantic whimper as water filled his lungs.Suddenly a hand touched his face. "It's all right, my lord. You are safe. Wake up," a voice soothed in a whisper close to his ear. Charles's body spasmed and sweat beaded on his forehead and drenched his clothes."Take a deep breath, my lord. It is only a dream. You must wake now."He drew in another breath and then let it out in a slow exhale. Air, not water, filled his lungs. The nightmare evaporated into the darkness.He was safe."Thank you," he said to whoever had been there. His body went limp as exhaustion claimed him again.He drifted in and out of sleep for a few hours
Two hours had passed by the time Charles had drunk himself beneath a card table."Looks like you need a hand, Lonsdale." James Fordyce, the Earl of Pembroke reached under the table and offered a hand to him. Charles gripped the hand and allowed himself to be hauled up on his feet. His vision cart-wheeled and he blinked rapidly, trying to get a steady fix on the man's face."Ready to go home, Lonsdale?" Pembroke asked."Suppose I ought to. Bloody hell, what a night."Pembroke slid one arm around Charles's waist, supporting him outside to hail a hackney to get him home. Linley emerged from the shadows of a nearby mew and joined Pembroke in supporting Charles by ducking under Charles's left arm."There you are, lad," Charles greeted the boy.Linley's disapproving scowl cut across him as the boy spoke to Pembroke. "How deep into his cups did he get tonight?"Charles's friend laughed. "Enough to swim to France, I imagine, but he'll be fine on the morrow.""You know, Pembroke, you're
Godric cradled Emily in his arms, kissing her always delectable lips."What about dinner?" she managed to ask."To hell with dinner, I have what I want, darling." He pinned her against the settee in their drawing room, one hand coasting up her leg as he slid her skirts up to her waist. In the low candlelight she was lovely, so lovely.Her face flushed as she panted, and those violet eyes he adored sparkled. Emily was so beautiful it sometimes hurt to look at her. His chest ached and yet turned soft and warm around his heart."I love you, Godric," she breathed against his lips. Each time she said those words, it undid him. He groaned and slid his hand toward the apex of her thighs.An anxious rap of knuckles on the door made them both jerk up, glancing toward the entrance of the drawing room."My apologies." A footman stood there, unable to hide his blush. "This was just delivered. It's from Mr. St. Laurent. The boy who left it was told to say it was urgent."Godric pulled Emily'
A black stallion rushed at Anne from the side as she crossed the road. The horse reared and Anne screamed, stumbling to the ground.The horse calmed and the rider, a handsome, olive-skinned man with dark hair and darker eyes slid from the saddle to help her to her feet."A thousand pardons. You crossed so quickly in front of me, I did not see you." His gaze ran the length of her body. "You're not injured, I trust?"Flustered and smarting from her fall, Anne hastily shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine. Thank you." She tried to tug free of his hold on her waist. "Please, sir, let me go."For a moment she feared that he had no such intention. But her fall had attracted the attention of a number of people who were also coming to check and see if she had been injured.His hands dropped. "Again, my apologies. It has been some time since I've been in the presence of a lovely woman. It has made my manners lax." The gleam in his eyes now made her uncomfortable."Excuse me." She darted aroun
"Well, that wasn't a complete disaster, was it?" Cedric chuckled as he climbed into his coach across from Anne.Anne grinned. "No, it wasn't. You did wonderfully." She held something in her arms, something Cedric could not see. It was a surprise for him, one she and Lady Pickering were quite excited about. They had managed to smuggle it all the way to the coach without Cedric suspecting anything."Why don't you come sit by me, lady wife?" he suggested with a brow raised in that rakish way of his.It took all her self-control not to giggle. It had been a long while since she'd given something to someone she cared about. Her heart beat faster as she finally spoke."All right." She joined him on his side of the enclosed coach and let him pull her against his side. When he leaned in closer, he froze, nostrils flaring. His eyes widened, then narrowed."I smell" He paused, sniffed, then his hands moved from her waist to her arms. When he encountered the bundle she cradled to her bosom,
Darkness. Damn the everlasting black.Cedric hung from a rafter in the belly of a ship. At least, that was his best guess. The ropes around his wrists chaffed him where they stretched straight above his head. Whoever had strung him up had given him enough slack to have a sure footing on the floor, which was a good thing because the ship kept pitching and rolling.The briny smell of seawater and aged wood filled his nose. He tried to think clearly. The last thing he remembered was being attacked in his own ballroom by Samir Al Zahrani, whose voice he would recognize anywhere. Then he'd been ganged up on by a number of his men. Then he'd lost consciousness.Where was Anne? He called out her name, his voice hoarse and his throat dry."Ah. Finally awake, Lord Sheridan?" Samir's cool voice taunted from somewhere in front of him.Cedric jerked on the ropes binding him. "Where is my wife?"Samir chuckled, the sound a little closer. "She is entertaining my men. Fair-skinned ladies fetch
Cedric leaned against a large wooden barrel bound by copper hoops. His nose picked up the fine acrid aroma of black powdersulfur, saltpeter and finely ground charcoal. A deadly combination when stuffed into a ship's cannon."Jonathan, I have an idea.""What?""This barrel is full of black powder." Cedric rapped his knuckles on the wood."Is this plan of yours going to get us killed?"Cedric hesitated before answering. "There's always a chance."Jonathan snorted. "Let us try to find the route off this ship that leaves us all breathing. Now, what's your plan?""There should be a light room close by. We prepare a charge, set it alight at the right moment and escape." Cedric knew the plan was risky, but escape was not enough. They had to destroy this ship. But first they needed to find Anne."Let us be clear, you want to set fire to the powder room?" Jonathan moved closer, his booted steps echoing on the floor. Above them the sailors were scrambling to their battle stations."Yes.
Painexcruciating darkness starsblueCedric's head throbbed as he fought to get away from whatever was dragging him deeper and deeper into the sea's vast depths. His strength was rapidly fading and his lungs would explode unless he could get to the surface. His shirt tore and the binding that had trapped him to the wreckage was gone. He fought as though nothing in his life had mattered until now.All he could see was Anne's face, and his desire to live. His desire to see her looking up at him with love and endless wonder. New strength flooded his limbs. The water stung his eyes, burned them like hot pokers, but he kept swimming toward that brightening point of light that he knew had to be the surface.When his head burst above the water, he sucked in a loud, agonizing breath. A shocking white glared into his eyes, and he blinked, raised one hand as he treaded water, and looked aboutlookedas gray shapes appeared in the fog."What in God's name?" Pieces of wood bumped into his shoulde