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A Captain and a Rogue
Liz Tyner
Between the devil and the deep blue sea.Captain Benjamin Forrester’s mission is clear:To Do: travel to the Greek island of Melos and recover a mysterious statue.Not To Do: evoke the wrath of pirates by sailing away in the dead of night without the statue but with a tempting and yet completely forbidden stowaway!Thessa Cherroll desperately needs Ben’s help, so with the wind at their backs they set sail for the horizon. But at such close quarters can either resist the temptations that surface during those long, hot days – and nights – at sea?
Without his will, his hand cupped Thessa’s cheek, pulling her to face him.
‘I am baiting the trap,’ he said, and knew the words were merely appeasement for what he was going to do.
The feel of her cheek against his palm took him from being a captain to being a man looking into the eyes of his beloved. Every time he gazed into her face he saw something that made him forget how a man was supposed to act and start thinking of those treacle-laden words that made a woman smile.
Touching her, he realised he’d completely erred in thinking Thessa had any resemblance to the stone statue. She was far more appealing.
She watched him just as intently as he looked at her.
His lips closed over hers, tasting, letting her femininity caress every part of him. The kiss fired up his spirit. Erased the memory of what she’d forgotten to tell him. The touch of her lips cloaked him in armour and told him such beautiful things.
AUTHOR NOTE (#ulink_5162bb6a-80f4-53d3-8355-7c5f47f15aa4)
Captain Benjamin Forrester first appeared in my novel SAFE IN THE EARL’S ARMS, and almost instantly I knew I wanted to tell his story. I saw him as a man without a care in the world except for a love of the sea and a deep fascination with mermaid lore. For months I looked forward to writing the first scene in this book.
But Captain Forrester’s personal story didn’t unfold in the way I expected.
During my research I read about some of the hard-ships a Regency sea captain would have experienced. Voyagers could take several years before returning to their home port, and every day at sea was much the same—except for when something happened to make things worse. If tempers flared no one could immediately leave or be let go.
To live in such conditions, and to be able to return to them, would take a very strong man—particularly if he had a privileged life that would have welcomed him back.
The day after I’d finished the story of this captain I missed writing about him—much in the same way you’d miss a good friend who’d moved out of your life.
I hope you see Benjamin Forrester the same way I do.
A Captain and a Rogue
Liz Tyner
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
LIZ TYNER began creating her own stories even before she decided on the lofty goal of reading every fiction book in her high school library. When the school gave her a career assessment they came up blank—they double-checked and still came up blank. Liz took it in her stride, because she knew that on the questionnaire she’d ticked an interest in everything but scuba diving. She believed the assessment proved she was perfect for becoming a novelist.
Now she and her husband live on a small acreage, where she enjoys strolling her walking trails and wishes the animals she shares the trails with wouldn’t visit her garden and fruit trees. She imagines the wooded areas as similar to the ones in the children’s book Where the Wild Things Are. Her lifestyle is a blend of old and new, and in some ways comparable to how people lived long ago.
Liz is a member of various writing groups, and has worn down the edges of a few keys on her keyboard while working on manuscripts—none of which feature scuba divers.
A CAPTAIN AND A ROGUE
features characters you will have met in Liz Tyner’s debut novel for Mills & Boon
Historical Romance SAFE IN THE EARL’S ARMS
DEDICATION (#ulink_406447f6-4702-585c-8172-107805af7948)
To my mother, who is making heaven an even better place for the angels to be.
Contents
Cover (#uf22db363-35b9-51fb-bb72-ddf422af1a52)
Introduction (#ud12322e6-03d0-5676-846f-153ba29cf7aa)
Author Note (#u60f52f02-15e9-502b-99f6-905761608c47)
Title Page (#ud79d52fe-7017-5d85-b002-940d529b6a2e)
About the Author (#u2eb74f8e-9ecf-5076-8948-d73ebc38cbe3)
Dedication (#u7ce9ad14-ca14-5641-8abf-11bef12b1341)
Contents (#uc100f003-5d7b-56cf-847a-fef07b4b49df)
Chapter One (#u7c37bb1c-5c26-5104-a857-93c2ac2b72de)
Chapter Two (#uc593eac5-e244-5fdf-acfc-6f0fab73568d)
Chapter Three (#u6dc37ce3-1288-5209-9f60-dd9d93d61c39)
Chapter Four (#u6d51685b-72c0-559c-a43c-cb1dcbee45fb)
Chapter Five (#u7cd0fb25-372f-5289-af65-da7824a018aa)
Chapter Six (#u9d38916f-7c52-592a-8932-b633d66e81c6)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_c75cda1c-8be0-5240-a2db-61e52c9537b2)
‘Capt’n. There’s yer mermaid.’
At his first mate’s words, Benjamin’s head snapped around and his eyes locked on the form slicing through the Aegean Sea.
Benjamin took two steps closer to the edge of the craggy rocks overlooking the water. The sea air took some of the rotted-egg smell of the island from his lungs and the shape reaching the shoreline took all thoughts from his head.
He reached to his side and took the spyglass from the hanging sheath, and peered. His movements must have caught her attention, because as soon as her head appeared in his eyepiece—she treaded water. Her eyes locked on his, capturing him.
Then she turned, long arms finishing the swim quickly. Everything else in the world disappeared but the vision in his spyglass. His breath caught. He’d truly found a mermaid.
‘Ah, she saw us,’ Gidley grumbled. ‘Now she’ll go and turn into a reg’lar woman. Blast the luck. Once a mermaid sees a man, she sprouts legs. Happens every time.’
The woman stepped on to the sand. Benjamin grunted in disappointment, realising he’d been lost in a fantasy.
He tipped the end of the glass downward to ascertain she did have legs. She wore a chemise, but the thin, wet garment viewed through a strong imagination left little covered. He braced himself, keeping his knees from giving way, while he leaned forward, trapped in his thoughts.
Gidley nudged Benjamin. ‘Lend me that glass, Capt’n. Want to see if she be sportin’ a tail.’
Ben pulled air into his lungs, giving himself time to relearn to speak. ‘No,’ he said. And then he murmured. ‘No fins.’ Breasts, yes.
‘Bet she’s the one we’re looking for,’ Gidley said.
‘I hope so,’ Benjamin spoke softly. ‘She’s...’
‘Mermaid like or reg’lar woman like?’
Benjamin paused. He’d not really studied her face. He raised the view of the glass, taking in the sculpted lines of her jaw and moving up to the graceful cheekbones. ‘I would say—better than either.’
Then he saw her pulling clothing on and he lowered the spyglass. He turned and slapped Gidley on the arm. ‘Turn your back. We’re gentlemen.’
Gidley grimaced, shuffling around until he faced the opposite direction. ‘Speak for yourself. I be an able-bodied seaman. And that’s a mermaid. Had to look and so did yer. Would be wrong not to appreciate, like spittin’ out good ale. Don’t let her get close enough to spit at yer, though. They’ve venom in their mouths.’
Benjamin shook his head. ‘She’s not a mermaid. She’s a woman. And if she’s Melina’s sister, then she’s not someone to dally with.’
‘Then I need to find the little treasure that I left behind last time. Bouboulina or Alenakous or something like that. Would ’uv remembered if I’d known we was returning. I brought more coin this time—so I’m expectin’ true love.’ He dropped the canvas bag of gifts they’d brought to give Melina’s sisters. Gidley tugged up his trouser waistband, puffed out his chest and straightened the rag of a cap that stuck to his head even in the roughest squalls.
The island breeze blew across them and Benjamin waited on the woman to scramble upwards through the rocks.
‘This ol’ island’s not a bad place, if yer don’t mind breathing in the whiffs of an old volcano demon’s breath.’ Gidley peered around the area. ‘But we need us a real voyage under our legs—not bouncin’ around to make yer brother happy. Just seems wasteful.’
‘Not if I make good on the deal,’ Benjamin muttered half to himself. He wanted to leave as badly as Gidley. Sailing was his life—not running errands for his brother, the earl, who just happened to share ownership in Ascalon with Benjamin.
But the earl had made a solemn promise. If Benjamin returned with Melina’s treasure—some artefact that neither of the men truly gave a whistle about—Benjamin could own the Ascalon from port to stern.
Marriage. His brother was so besotted with his wife that he was willing to trade away half a ship just to make a woman happy.
‘Yer snarlin’.’ Gidley’s words broke Benjamin’s reverie, while the first mate scratched his head and made his hat wiggle. ‘Thought seeing a real live mermaid would put a smile on yer face.’
‘I’m thinking of my brother losing his mind.’
‘Some women are worth losing a mind for. Just never seen one myself, ’cept that mermaid climbin’ this way.’
‘Don’t be daft, Gid. She’s just another island lightskirt.’
And at that moment, Benjamin heard her scrambling footsteps bounding up the rocks beside him, turned to her and lost his grip on the spyglass.
Even Gidley didn’t comment on the glass dropping, tumbling to rocks far below them.
Ben saw the resemblance to his brother’s wife—but this woman caught his eyes in a way no one ever had before. She might not be a mermaid, but Benjamin wouldn’t rule out her being descended from Aphrodite.
* * *
Thessa pushed back the dripping tendril of hair she’d not managed to capture in her bun and let her eyes linger over the agklikos who’d had that looking piece trained on her.
She waited for him to speak. She’d heard his last words. He was English. Like her father, a man who believed lies would feed his family.
‘I’m Benjamin, the captain of the Ascalon. I took your sister to England.’ This from the one who had weak fingers and too-strong eyes.
So many questions pounded into her mind at once that she couldn’t speak. She couldn’t put the words into the English she’d learned at her father’s knee. She couldn’t ask what she wanted to know most—her sister’s fate. If the ship had returned and her sister wasn’t with them, then she must be dead. Thessa shoved the thoughts from her mind and stared at the man in front of her. He had taken Melina to her death.
He lifted the bag at his feet and moved towards her. She didn’t take the offering. She knew not to accept anything from one of the sailors. Gifts were not without cost. And never would she take something from a man who’d caused hurt to Melina. She’d die first.
‘Captain. Vessel. Melina. Away.’ He spoke carefully, snaking his other hand up and down in a bobbing motion to indicate a ship sailing.
‘We.’ He touched his friend’s arm and then his own chest. ‘Are here.’ He pointed to the ground. ‘Searching.’ She thought he mimicked digging. ‘Melina sent...for treasure.’ He touched the gold ring and she noticed both his smallest fingers had rings.
She shook her head. But he’d mentioned her sister. And he spoke as if she were still alive. The thoughts darkening her vision vanished. The world around her reappeared and she stared at the two men.
‘Try French, Capt’n,’ the straggly one said. ‘’Cause of all the French ships that dock here, whores has to learn it early.’
‘Whores?’ Thessa snapped out the word.
