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He rose from the table and pulled her along. “Let us take a stroll out back, where we can be more private and you can draw less attention.”
She rose and a thrill swept over her as he slipped his arm around her waist. He gave her a squeeze as he led her out the tavern’s back door to a small stone bench.
He saw her seated and sat beside her. “That is better, as I am certain you would not have wanted the luncheon crowd to take note of your presence.”
“Oh, no…is it that time already?” she said, momentarily distressed. She would have to hurry.
He lifted her chin and their eyes met as desire flared at his touch. She hadn’t been stirred like this in a long time. It had been months and months and then she had only a few stolen moments with one of the sturdy stable hands, which had proven inadequate to her needs.
She had come to the town of Penzance with only business in mind, but this good-looking rogue had reminded her that she was a desirable woman, and she liked the sensation it aroused.
Colin led her out the back door and through an ill-kept garden to a dirt path before he said, “Now, my lady, tell me what troubles you and how I may alleviate that trouble.”
She felt his dark eyes penetrate hers and then travel over her body. She liked him, indeed, she liked everything about him.
“Do you have men you can trust?” she asked.
“I do, my sweet, I do,” he answered.
“I shall require your services and those of your crew,” she said carefully. “You will need to work both on land and at sea.” How fitting, she thought, that Colin should have introduced himself to her. How convenient. It was as though the fates smiled on her grand plan.
“On land and sea? You intrigue me, beauty,” he answered, and pulled her in close.
Ardor flooded through her, and she swallowed before she asked, “You said you have your own vessel?”
“Aye, I most certainly do and she is a fine vessel, most capable of taking on the mysterious sea, sweetheart,” he said, and his hand moved to her breast, cupping the silk covered fullness and teasing her nipple already pert and hard beneath the material. “And a Captain’s quarters that can accommodate us should you like to…have additional privacy.”
She kissed him and he dove into that kiss. She took his tongue and felt a glorious wave of fever fill her sex as her thighs clenched.
As she pulled away, he attempted to have another kiss. She put up a finger. “First…you must hear what I require of you.”
Sara began slowly, and painstakingly telling him what she needed him and his crew to do for her and why. When she had finished, Colin Falwell stood and frowned as he studied her.
“Not our line of work, my lady,” Colin said.
That worried her and she frowned as she asked, “Have I come to the wrong man?”
“Here is the thing, my lady. My men are a good sort. Aye, we cross the sea into France and buy very fine brandy and smuggle it back to England for sale. ‘Tis, in a sense, honest work, clean and simple. A bit of rum running is our trade and proud of the fact that we do it well. No one has ever gotten hurt. But this…well, this…?” he said, and rubbed his chin.
“She deserves it. She purposely took my husband from me and then that wasn’t enough. She talked him into divorcing me.”
“Aye, I don’t hold with that. The tart should keep her place, but what you are asking?”
“Colin, if I don’t divorce him, he will have the marriage annulled and make his own blood son a bastard. What kind of man does that?”
Colin frowned. “No, I don’t hold with that either. If I agree…it will cost you.”
She smiled. “How much?”
“How much have you got to give?” he answered quietly.
“One hundred pounds and no quibbling,” she said sharply. “It is all I can get…without his lordship noticing.”
“No. I won’t take a sou below two hundred,” he replied, and reached for a lock of her golden hair. “I told you, I’m good at what I do, and that includes bargaining. If you want my men to go against the grain, there has to be enough in it for them.”
She moved in close to him. “You will take one hundred…‘tis all I have. Remember, you’ll be making a pretty guinea on the other side.” She looked up at his face and watched him as he considered this. “‘Tis all I have to give,” she said in the most seductive voice she could muster.
His hand was moved to her bodice, tearing it as he went for her breast and pulled it out of her gown. He bent and suckled and when he came up, he found her eyes closed and her face drawn in pleasure.
