A Safe Haven Read online

  There was no logical reason for Sarah to do as she did next, but logic was farthest from her mind in those confused moments when panic seemed to be going on all around her. In some extraordinary way, it seemed to her as if only she and the pirate existed. She thrust her left fist up and shook it at him.

  ‘You’re speaking to a married lady, sir, not an innocent.’ She hoped her frigid tone would have some effect. What it did was make him throw back his head and laugh.

  ‘And do you think such a statement would protect you if I wanted you?’ His words were soft and insulting and something more. Sarah was furious to discover the shaft of excitement they sent running through her veins. To be wanted by such a man… but she dismissed the thought angrily.

  By now, more candles had been lit, and Sarah became seethingly aware of the pirate’s interested scrutiny, and knew to her shame that she was still assessing him too. His eyes were an amazing color, like the amber eyes of a cat. His jawline was strong and masculine, his mouth wide and sensual, and in his left ear a golden circlet caught the light.

  ‘What do you want of us, pirate?’ Lord Endor pushed himself between Black Robbie and his ward.

  The man threw back his head and laughed again. The action had the effect of making him seem head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the room, but his presence alone would have made him dominate everyone around him. Behind him, his unkempt band of pirates sniggered.

  ‘You hear that, laddies? What do we want wi’ these fine and dandy folks? Do we show them what we want?’

  His companions roared in assent, and Sarah looked on in horror as they ordered the guests to hand over their jewelry and gold. Pistols and daggers held at terrified throats soon had the guests doing exactly as they were bidden.

  ‘I’ll have the law on you for this!’ Lord Endor roared, his face red as a turkey cock’s.

  ‘Save your breath, old man,’ Black Robbie said sharply. ‘Do you think we don’t know our business? This house has been watched for days. Your servants will be going nowhere!’

  ‘My son will have raised the alarm—’

  Even as he spoke, Sarah saw Jonas being led into the Great Hall, goaded forward at the point of a cutlass. Jonas was white with humiliation and badly disguised fear as he watched the pirates trailing necklaces and timepieces from their grimy hands, and stuffing jeweled snuffboxes and valuable rings and bracelets into voluminous pockets.

  Sarah pushed past her uncle to confront Black Robbie. Even while she despised herself for it, she admitted that the sexual awareness that had flashed between her and the pirate had a strange way of diminishing her fear of him. If she had been a gauche seventeen, it might have been different. As it was, she recalled his own words: She was a match for him.

  ‘Why don’t you get out and leave us alone? You’ve got what you wanted, so get back to the sea where you belong!’

  ‘And where do you belong, my lovely? Not here with these milksops,’ he said softly, so that only she could hear.

  ‘How dare you! You insult my family and friends!’

  ‘And your husband? I don’t see the brave man coming to your rescue! Is he cowering behind the furniture, perhaps?’ He mocked her.

  ‘My husband is dead.’

  She hadn’t meant to say it. The words were out before she could stop them, and she saw the gleam of renewed interest in his amber eyes. As if it mattered. Black Robbie would take what he wanted, no matter who it belonged to, and that went for women as well as possessions.

  ‘So. We have a lovely widow in our midst. And much too lovely to remain without a man. How long has it been, I wonder?’

  There was no doubt what he meant. Sarah’s face flamed with color, and he laughed carelessly. His slow insolent gaze wandered over her body, and then he turned to the cowering musicians in the gallery.

  ‘Play something lively!’ he ordered. ‘My men would enjoy a dance with these fine ladies before we leave!’

  The ladies screamed again, but persuaded by the sharpness of the daggers and the threat of the pistols, they were obliged to swing recklessly about the room, to the frantic accompaniment of the music. The rest of the pirate band kept the angry gentlemen from rushing in to save the dignity of their ladies.

  ‘Now it’s our turn,’ Sarah heard Black Robbie say, and before she could move away, she was caught in those powerful arms and held close to his chest. The other pirates jigged their partners about, but this man held her sensuously, closer than was fitting in the dance, so close that Sarah felt as though she could feel every part of him pressed tight to her. She could feel his heartbeat, and more. It was an insult, and, undeniably, wickedly exciting… she pushed back the feeling at once.

  ‘Stop this – please—’ she said in a low voice. ‘You humiliate me. Take my necklace if you must, but leave me alone—’

  ‘Do my embraces bother you? ’Tis not only your necklace that charms me, lassie. But mebbe this will please you—’

  She half expected him to force a kiss on her then, but to her astonishment he performed an elegant and perfect dance couplet with her, holding her fingers as gently as if they were made of porcelain. Sarah was reminded instantly that some thought he was a nobleman, or certainly the son of a gentleman. Whoever Black Robbie was, he had certainly learned more than the rudiments of the dance at some time in his life. So far he hadn’t taken her necklace, but she was quite certain that he would do so eventually. She spoke defiantly.

  ‘All right. You’ve had your funning. Now take what you want from me and go. My uncle is not well. I fear for him.’

  ‘I don’t want your jewels. What my men have taken tonight will suffice. I’m more intrigued by you. You seem out of place in this humdrum company. And what of your husband? It was an arranged marriage, I suspect.’

  Was he clairvoyant? Sarah thought in annoyance. But while he held her so close and waited impatiently for her reply, she felt that she may as well give it to him.

  ‘My husband was a good deal older than me. He died soon after our wedding.’

  ‘I’m not surprised,’ Robbie laughed against her body, a rich sound that she felt rather than heard. ‘Any old fool would expire once he lost himself in such luscious surroundings.’

  She ignored the provocative remark.

  ‘You’re insulting,’ she snapped.

  ‘It’s no insult to tell a woman she’s beautiful,’ Robbie grinned down at her. ‘Nor to feel her response, no matter what her voice says.’

  She was outraged. What made it worse was that all he said was true. She did respond to him, in a way that she had never known before. This devil in pirate’s clothing aroused some wild free spirit in her, and she couldn’t deny it to herself, even if she would die before admitting it to him. She kept her mouth purposefully closed, her eyes distant and stormy, though she knew very well he watched her face as they danced.

  ‘I’ve never felt challenged by a woman before,’ he said softly. ‘It would be my pleasure to tame you, my lovely. I shall leave you your necklace, but I’ll take this – for now.’

  Before she could stop him, he had crushed her to him. He was too strong for her to escape as his mouth fastened over hers in a long, seductive kiss. She wouldn’t respond… but an unbidden thrill ran through her veins at his touch, like a thread of fire. His skin was rough against her own, but this only added to the wanton pleasure of the contact.

  She pushed him away, rubbing her hand against her mouth, furious that she felt pleasure at this ruffian’s touch, even for a second. Black Robbie looked deep into her eyes and then at the heaving of her breasts against the cream silk of her gown. They betrayed her emotion, and a small smile lifted his lips before he turned away.

  ‘We shall meet again, I promise you,’ he said, his voice rich with meaning. ‘I never balk at a challenge.’

  He snapped his fingers at the musicians in the gallery. They stopped immediately, as if fearful to prolong their playing for a second longer than required. Just as suddenly the pirates relinquished their dancing partners and moved backward toward the open windows.

  Sarah could see her uncle and Jonas glance toward one another, and several of the gentlemen begin to look bolder. Once the pirates were out of here, the alarm would be raised, and they would be captured before they reached their ship.

  At the last moment, Black Robbie seized a young man who stood near the window, and held the captive tightly in front of his chest, the point of a dagger at the boy’s throat.

  ‘At the first sign of pursuit, the boy dies.’ He spoke quietly and calmly, and no one doubted that he meant every word.

  The terror in the boy’s eyes was deterrent enough, and his mother began a noisy wailing.

  ‘All right, you have my word on it,’ Lord Endor snapped. ‘’Tis the word of a gentleman, which I doubt you can understand!’

  Sarah saw the sudden gleam in Black Robbie’s eyes, and sensed instinctively that he understood very well. He had certainly danced like a gentleman well used to being in such company, which was hardly the way one would expect a blackguard to act.

  The immediate fear for the household was over, except for the fate of poor Walter Sands, and Sarah knew she was becoming more intrigued by the minute by the mien of the pirate leader.

  Walter’s mother shrieked at Black Robbie, begging him to show some mercy.

  ‘Don’t hurt my boy! He’s no more than a babe! Don’t harm him!’

  As Walter squirmed, Black Robbie spoke with cool arrogance.

  ‘He’ll come to no harm. He’ll be set free as soon as we’re safely away from here. You have my word on that.’

  No one dared to dispute it, with the dagger still held at Walter Sands’s throat.

  Then Sarah’s heart leapt as the pirate leader spoke directly to her.

  ‘Until the next time, my lovely. There is unfinished business between us.’

  Seconds later he was gone, with the captured boy and the rest of his pirates, as silently and efficiently as they had come. In Endor House there was a sudden hubbub as the tension was released. There was anger and shouting and weeping.

  Without thinking, Sarah touched her fingers to the cold topaz stones of her birthday necklace. She remembered how the gaze of the pirate had lingered on it. Somehow she knew with certainty that he had spoken the truth. When – if – they met again, it would be something far more than the necklace he would want.

  She shivered, but not from fear or cold. It was as though all her senses were awakening, unbelievably because of Black Robbie’s eyes and mouth and the sensuous touch of his hands. She tingled in a way she had never known, certainly in a way that marriage to an elderly husband had never aroused in her.

  Angus had never made her feel like a woman the way this outrageous man did. It was as much unnerving as it was exhilarating, and something she had better keep strictly to herself if she didn’t want to give everyone here heart failure.

  Chapter 2

  Between them, Sarah and Jonas, with her aunt and uncle, tried to calm the agitated guests. There was no question of alerting the constables or the excisemen until Walter Sands was safely back with them again.

  ‘I don’t have your trust in the pirate to keep his word,’ Jonas snapped to his father. ‘Where’s the sense in sending for the authorities at that late stage? The scum will be many miles away by then, either at sea or hidden under false colors in some secluded cove. We may as well say goodbye to our valuables.’

  ‘I care nothing for that, so long as Walter returns safely! And I don’t like your callous tone, Jonas, begging your pardon, Lord Endor!’ Mrs. Sands burst out crying once more. ‘Are none of you here brave enough to follow those evil men?’

  ‘Sarah, please fetch the smelling salts for Mrs. Sands,’ Lord Endor said crisply. ‘And Jonas, see what’s happening in the servants’ quarters. Instruct them to give everyone brandy and hot drinks.’

  ‘Very well,’ Jonas said with a bad grace, clearly furious at Mrs. Sands’s remark. He marched out of the hall, while Sarah went to her bedroom for the smelling salts. She was still searching for the elusive bottle when she heard the click of a door-knob behind her. She spun round, her heart in her mouth, to see Jonas glowering at her.

  It was almost a relief to see his familiar figure, in rich plum-colored brocade jacket and well-fitting trousers, the silk cravat at his neck as immaculate as ever. Everyone else had looked limp after the evening’s ordeal. His mouth tightened as he saw her hand go involuntarily to her throat, until she realized who her visitor was.

  ‘You thought it was him, I suppose? I didn’t miss the way you looked at each other, Sarah, as if there were no one else in the room!’

  ‘What on earth are you talking about?’ she snapped, furious at his perception.

  He crossed the room to her in angry strides. Suddenly he frightened her. This was Jonas, her cousin! She reminded herself just as quickly that he was not.

  He pulled her into his arms with unusual force. She could smell drink on his breath. He had never acted this way before. But perhaps he’d never seen such a look of desire between Sarah and another man, and realized that he had tarried too long in making her his own. He’d been obliged to stand by while she was married off to that amiable old man, Huxley. His father had thought him far too feckless four years ago to marry anyone, least of all entrust his ward to Jonas, but now…

  He kissed her, brutally. It was very different from the pirate’s kiss. If anything, Jonas shocked her more than the pirate. She could only think of Jonas as a cousin, and that made this the most distasteful embrace of her life. She pushed him away from her.

  ‘That was unforgivable, Jonas!’ She rubbed at her mouth furiously. ‘You’re like a brother to me!’

  ‘I am not!’ He was hoarse, his voice shaking. ‘It’s time you saw me as a man, with a man’s needs. There’s no blood relationship between us, Sarah—’

  ‘Nor will there ever be any other kind!’ She snapped. ‘You’re mad if you think otherwise, and abuse your father’s trust in behaving like an immature pup. Now let me go. I’m needed downstairs.’

  He breathed harshly. He had felt searingly jealous when Black Robbie had held Sarah so passionately, and he’d guessed immediately that there were depths of sensuality in Sarah that he’d never suspected. Just as suddenly, he knew he wanted her for himself. But he could see now that this was not the best way to go about it. He put a beguiling note into his voice.

  ‘All right. But I’ve always loved you, Sarah. Perhaps at first it seemed to you like the love of a relative, but we’re adults now, and fate sent you to this house a long while ago. There’s no reason for either of us to hold back. Father was wrong to marry you off to Angus Huxley. You and I were meant for one another. Remember that.’

  He left her standing in the middle of the room. She couldn’t believe what she had heard. Jonas was being ridiculous. Or was it merely that he couldn’t bear to see another man attracted to her? He’d always guarded the things he owned with a possessiveness that had frightened her as a child.

  Temperamentally, she was stronger that he, but all the same, he had shaken her. Somewhere in the house a door banged and she jumped. She went downstairs quickly, meaning to lock her door every night from now on, which she had never felt the need to do before. She shivered, knowing that suddenly everything had changed. Not least was the fact that she had been kissed by two men that night, each of them very different, and her senses still reeled from the shock.

  Sarah forced her thoughts away from Jonas, only to find them completely taken up by Black Robbie again. She refused to think of him by that ridiculous and colorful name. From now on, he would be Robbie, and immediately she caught her breath as his image swam into her mind.

  She admitted that he had a magnetism about him to make a woman forget everything else while she was held in his arms. And despite the fact that he had a price on his head, she would also admit that he came nearer to being her elusive dream lover than anyone else she had met in her lifetime.

  * * *

  Downstairs the guests were beginning to revive, with the liberal glasses of brandy and steaming hot drinks, and only Mrs. Sands continued to wail, convinced that Walter would never survive at the pirates’ hands. Sarah guessed that he would probably enjoy his brief fame when he did return. Walter was fifteen years old, and adept at telling a good tale. He would certainly embellish this one.

  Lord Endor gave Sarah a glass of brandy.

  ‘Drink this, my love. You look as taut as a violin string. Don’t be too distressed. I’m sure the boy will be returned to us very soon.’

  Sarah forced herself to think of Walter Sands.

  ‘Do you think the pirate will keep his word?’ Sarah asked. She realized how much she wanted it to be so, to be able to believe there was something good about the charismatic Robbie.

  ‘I’d say so,’ Lord Endor said briefly. ‘All the rogue wants is to get away.’

  ‘I hope you’re right.’

  ‘I wonder what drives such a fellow to piracy. I listened carefully to him, and compared him with his men. It was like seeing the cream above the milk. His voice was educated for all its northern accent, and he turned a pretty shoe in the dancing.’ He spoke rapidly to Sarah. ‘Ask the music fellows to play some lively tunes, love. ’Twill take our minds off the troubles, if nothing else.’

  Sarah was relieved that her uncle didn’t pursue the image of Robbie and herself on the dance floor. His comments conjured it up in her own mind, though. The close contact between them, the elegant couplet, the passionate kiss.

  Now that she had time to relive the moment, she recalled the freshness of the man. Most men wore scent of some sort, but what Sarah recalled was not the strong perfume of some of the dandies of her acquaintance, nor the rankness of Robbie’s own men. Robbie himself had worn a scent that was delicate and manly, and it seemed to fill her nostrils now with the memory.

  She must be going mad, but no one had ever made such an impression on her before. The very thought of him brought him instantly to her side, instantly back in her arms.