Zoe Read online

  She rolled over looked up at him. His wet hair was tucked behind his ears and his blue eyes were full of love and sadness.

  “Insane? ”

  “Remember the story I told you at the burnt cottage? ”

  Zoé nodded.

  “That was my father and his mistress. It was the ghost of their ill-fated love story that haunted me, and the fear that controlled me.”

  Zoé reached up and touched his face. “I am so sorry.”

  “I want you to be my wife. I want you to make babies and take care of me. And I want to do the same for you. I discovered that my insanity wasn’t from giving into you. It was from the thought of losing you.”

  Tears of joy slipped from her eyes. He leaned over and kissed her. The touch of his lips sent currents through her veins. His kiss became more impassioned and she reveled in the feeling of him pressed against her. He began to kiss her neck, and soon she was desperate to have him explore all the intimate parts of her. She couldn’t believe she was with him again. She’d thought he didn’t want her, and that he’d paid Sheridan to take her away. Instead, he had risked his life to save her. She felt his hard body roll on top of her, but felt him hesitate. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. His strong forehead was furrowed in a worried frown.

  “If you aren’t ready,” he said, “we can…”

  “He didn’t,” she whispered. “I am… still… yours. Really, I am.”

  His face relaxed with relief and he began seeking the sweet satisfaction that could only be found in the deep pleasure points of her body. She felt his urgency, his need to possess her. She felt overwhelmed by a sense of safety and comfort as he slid into her.

  As he drove himself in and out of her, she cried. Her dreams were about to come true. She imagined that her parents were together in heaven, smiling down on her, that they had sent La Roque to find her and save her. Her life would be so different from now on. She would finally have the family she’d always wanted, the family that her maman always wanted.

  The tempo of their love reached a climatic crescendo. He exploded inside of her with a cry of surrender and she clawed his back, giving in to the joy of having her lover in her arms again. After he withdrew himself from her, she rolled on top of him. Closing her eyes, she rested her face against his chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat, and allowed it to lull her to the kind of peaceful sleep she hadn’t had since before that first day at Château La Roque.

  9

  La Roque leaned on the ship’s railing at the bow, talking to Ferdinand and looking out to sea. After the fight, they’d discovered that the Aventine held some passengers headed for the Americas. Ferdinand wanted to leave them adrift. He felt no obligation to anyone left alive aboard that ship. La Roque wouldn’t hear of it, and forced an alliance that would allow the survivors to sail back in their tailwind, into France. Douglas had asked to remain onboard with Ferdinand and his band of misfits as their new cook.

  “Aye, have you seen me pet? ” Ferdinand said, grinning and pointing up to the flagstaff with Delaflote’s head stuck on it.

  La Roque shook his head. “You can’t sail into France with his head posted like that.”

  Ferdinand shrugged. “We are in the open sea now. I wants it up dere, so up dere it stays.”

  “Did it help? Killing him I mean? ”

  Ferdinand shook his head. “No.”

  La Roque thought about killing Sheridan. It couldn’t erase what had happened to Jean-Claude and Zoé. The only satisfaction he had was in knowing that Sheridan could hurt no one else. “I feel the same way.”

  “Sorry about the boy, didn’t know he left the ship.”

  La Roque stared out to sea. Jean-Claude’s death would forever haunt him.

  Sheba walked over to them, her long black locks blowing around her face. She wore a pale yellow corseted Victorian gown. La Roque knew that it was a gift from Zoé. Sheba looked refreshed, even though she was barefoot.

  “Excuse me, kind sir,” she said to Ferdinand.

  He smiled appreciatively, his gold tooth sparkling in the morning sun. La Roque saw the instant attraction between these two and smiled as well. Sheba blushed at the blatant attention focused on her by the pirate. She turned to La Roque.

  “I would like to see Missus, now.”

  La Roque studied her face. Apparently, she had bonded with Zoé and was very protective of her. “Your name is Sheba, right?”

  “Yes, that’s what they call me.”

  Ferdinand laughed. “Ye seem like a lioness to me.”

  Her blush deepened.

  “Where are you from? ” La Roque asked her.

  “I was born on land but spent most of my life at sea. So I guess I’m from nowhere.”

  “You’re welcome to come to France with us,” La Roque said.

  “Or ye can stay aboard the Veuve Noire with me,” Ferdinand said.

  “But I don’t know you.”

  Ferdinand offered her his hand. “We fix that right now, me lady.”

  Sheba accepted his hand and he slipped it under his arm. As he led her away, she glanced back at La Roque.

  “Please tell Missus I want to see her.”

  La Roque nodded and waved at them as he led her away.

  EF Some minutes earlier, Zoé had opened her eyes to find Gianelli gone. She’d looked around the tiny cabin with a sense of profound relief. It wasn’t a dream. He’d made love to her all night and described what their life would be like when they made it home. She was now completely nude and her hair disheveled, with long thick strands in deep curves around her shoulders. She wanted to know where he was. She got up and got dressed quickly. She would go up on deck to find him.

  Zoé reached topside just as Ferdinand was leading Sheba away. She saw Gianelli and walked over to him, holding onto the rail as the ship coasted through the open sea. He lifted his uninjured arm to her and she went to him.

  “Why didn’t you wake me? ” she asked. He kissed the top of her head. “Because you had a rough night and deserved some peace.”

  “All I deserve is you.”

  “Such sweetness. I feel unworthy.”

  “You are worthy, we are worthy. But I do have a question.”

  “Yes? ” He tensed, wondering if she was going to ask him how many men he’d killed.

  “The name Gianelli, why am I the only one to call you by it? ”

  She felt him pull back, so she turned with him to keep him close. He looked past her in an act of avoidance she didn’t expect after all they’d shared. The meaning must be closer to his heart than she’d originally thought.

  “It was my maman’s name for me.” He paused, clearly affected by his memories of her. “It reminds me of the side of her that wasn’t lost to bitterness. I don’t know why I shared it with you.” His head dropped and his eyes clung to hers, trying to say what his heart stumbled on. Then he spoke with a softness new to them both. “I dare say no woman has affected me as you. So when you shared yourself so fully, part of me wanted to do the same.”

  Zoé rested her head against the corded muscles of his chest. La Roque held her tightly. He looked out to the ocean.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you, my Zoé.”

  The lull of the ship caused them to sway in their embrace, and he breeze caressed them gently. He pulled back to look down at her. “We will need to deal with your family when we return.”

  She slipped her arm around his waist and turned to his side to look out to the sea with him. “I want Marianne to come live with us. We can find her a suitor. She needs to be away from Madame and her poison. I also want Marguerite to come as well.”

  La Roque nodded. “It is done. By the way, who is this Sheba? ”

  “Oh, I forgot about the girls!” Letting go of him, she turned and looked across the deck. “Have you seen them? ”

  “Most of them have paired off with different suitors. The men have taken a liking to them.”

  “What? ” Zoé cried in worry.

/>   “Not like that. The men are just making sure the women are being cared for.”

  “Finally, they are being shown kindness.” Zoé moved her hair from her face as it blew in the wind. “What shall we do with them?”

  “It’s up to them. They can have new lives in France.”

  “Will you let me help them? ”

  “Listen to me. I don’t own you. Even as your husband, I will never own you. If helping them makes you happy, then so be it.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his deep blue eyes. “Let’s go back belowdecks. I want to show you how much more I love you today.”

  La Roque laughed and kissed her forehead. “You have a wonderful way of putting things,” he said and allowed her to lead him away.

  EF Now she was being summoned downstairs and she had no idea why. She dressed quickly, pulling on a gray gown with long sleeves. Her hair was pulled away from her face into a bun. She didn’t care for beauty or frivolities anymore. Not when her sister was somewhere being destroyed. She left her room without even checking her reflection in the mirror.

  Lifting her gown with both hands she took the steps one at a time, barely looking where she stepped.

  “Marianne, sweetie? ”

  Marianne looked up to see her maman standing in their foyer next to Claude Chafer. He wore a coffee-colored topcoat with a ruffled shirt the color of cream, and pants tucked into his riding boots. His black hair was tied into a neat queue with distinctive rolled curls above both ears. She looked into his soft blue eyes and, for the first time, noticed how very kind they were.

  Marianne walked down the hall, her dress dragging at her feet. Since she’d lost Zoé she barely ate, spending most of her nights in Marguerite’s quarters, crying herself to sleep. She couldn’t stand the sight of her mother and made every effort to avoid her. The pain of losing her sister and father so close together had left her empty inside.

  “Mademoiselle,” he said, “it’s a pleasure to see you again.”

  She looked from him to her mother. “What is he doing here? ”

  Madame laid a firm hand on Marianne’s forearm and said in a low voice. “He’s come to sit with you.”

  Marianne recoiled. “Again? Again you do this? I’m no piece of meat to be sold off so you can sit fat and rich in this dungeon. You won’t do to me what you did to Zoé!” With that, the girl bolted out of the foyer.

  “Marianne! Come back here this instant!”

  Ignoring her mother’s cries, Marianne dashed down the hallway. Nearly blinded by tears, she turned down the short branch of the corridor to her left and stumbled to one of the large windows overlooking their garden. She leaned against it, pressing her face against the glass, her thin form racked by sobs. To think that Maman was so greedy that she’d sold off Zoé and now wanted to sell her off, too. If only Papa were there. If only—

  “Marianne.”

  She spun around, startled to see Chafer approaching her. “Go away!” she cried, edging to one side, ready to bolt again.

  “Wait, please. I just want to talk.”

  “You came to buy me, just like my sister. I won’t let you do it! I won’t let you!”

  “Marianne, it’s me, Claude! I would never do that to you. You know me.”

  She stared at him. She’d always known him to be a kind man. “She’s gone, Claude.”

  “I know.”

  “Maman… she gave her to that cruel man.”

  “I know and I am so very sorry.”

  She began to weep again. When he put his arms around her, she let him and cried into his chest.

  “I want my sister. I need her.”

  “Maybe we can look for her.”

  She looked up at him from her red, puffy eyes. “Do you think so? Can we go to America and look for her? ”

  Claude touched her face. “We can do whatever is necessary to make you smile again.”

  She rested her head on his chest. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Of course, sweet Marianne. Of course.”

  She felt him gently stroking her hair. It surprised her how comforting it was to lean on him. He was strong and sturdy. Not even Marguerite had been able to reassure her as well as he was somehow able to.

  After a while, they sat on the window seat together and he took her hand. It crossed Marianne’s mind that, normally, young women of her station would not have been allowed unsupervised visits. But nothing was normal anymore, was it? And perhaps her mother understood that her presence would be damaging to any suitor’s effort. The events of the past few days had forced Marianne to mature and now she heard herself speaking with the directness that she’d always loved and admired in Zoé. “If you aren’t here to buy me, then why are you here? ”

  “I’ve come to ask for your hand,” he said. “I’ve known you and Zoé since you were children, and I’ve loved you both since forever.”

  “But it was Zoé you wanted to marry,” she said. “Not me. Now, that Zoé is gone, you want me as a close second? ”

  “I want you because you’re you–you’re second to no one and nothing.”

  To her surprise, he slid down on one knee and took her hand.

  “Marianne, I don’t have much but I’m willing to give up all I have, even my land, in order to keep you safe. It would be my privilege.”

  Her hand went to her chest. Did she dare believe him? After she had seen how Zoé suffered because of her love for the count, Marianne had sworn to never trust another man. She had known that she must marry–someday. But after the fiasco with La Roque, she’d shoved that day to some point in the far distant future.

  She looked down at Claude’s clean, handsome face and saw herself reflected in his eyes, warm eyes that were honest and true. Wouldn’t it be better to stay with him, safe, protected and loved, than to remain vulnerable to Maman, whom she no longer trusted?

  EF

  Zoé sat down in the galley, smiling at Douglas. “I am so happy to be going home.”

  He glanced up from his cooking and smiled back. “I knew you were special. The day you came into my galley, I knew.”

  “Thank you for what you did that night.”

  He stopped stirring. His expression saddened. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize. You got there in time. And, please, don’t tell Comte La Roque about it. He carries a lot of anger over that situation. I’ve told him nothing happened and I will keep it that way.”

  “Agreed.”

  Sheba stepped down off the stair into the galley. “Missus?”

  Zoé turned. “Ah, Sheba,” she said, rising from the stool “I’ve been looking for you.”

  Sheba blushed. “Captain Ferdinand was giving me a tour.”

  Zoé raised an eyebrow. The boat wasn’t big enough for that long of a tour. “Are you all right? ”

  Sheba grinned and ran to her arms, hugging her. Zoé was shocked by the intensity of the hug. It felt as if she had Marianne in her arms again. As she returned Sheba’s hug, Zoé’s thoughts dwelled on Marianne. It would be so good to see her again.

  Sheba let her go. “The Captain and I, we have fallen in love.”

  Douglas coughed, half-choking, and Zoé was so stunned that she could utter only one word: “What? ”

  Sheba was all smiles. “I am staying on the ship with him. Some of the others have chosen men, too.”

  “Sheba, I…” Zoé’s voice trailed away. She didn’t know what to say.

  Sheba was exuberant. “Isn’t it wonderful, Douglas? Isn’t it just the best thing ever? ”

  Douglas winked at her. “Sure an’ it is, me lass.”

  Zoé saw how happy she was and smiled. “Well, I was thinking that maybe you could come to Toulouse with us.”

  “Thank you,” Sheba said, “but the Captain has a place in Narbonne. I will be staying there and also here on the Veuve Noire.”

  Zoé sighed. She wanted the girls to be independent, but was that a real possibility? They could find work in Na
rbonne, but it would be nothing more than indentured servitude. If they found strong men like these on this ship, why not allow them to follow their hearts?

  “What about Marie? ” Zoé asked of the little twelve-yearold.

  A momentary sadness flickered over Sheba’s face, a sadness brought upon by memories. “Marie,” she said softly, “is my daughter.”

  So many thoughts ran through Zoé’s mind at the same time. She remembered the screams of the women she’d heard rising through the floorboards that night. It was bad enough to think that a child had been made to suffer such evil. Now, she thought of the horror of being forced to witness your own daughter’s defilement. And it hit her that Sheba might have been the victim of such brutality at an early age herself.

  “How old are you, Sheba? ”

  Sheba raised her chin. “Twenty-five, missus. I had Marie when I was thirteen. She is Captain Delaflote’s daughter. He first took me when I was nine.”

  Zoé felt sick to her stomach at the realization that Sheba had endured that kind of life. “Mon Dieu,” she said. “I hope the very best for you.”

  Sheba gave her a brave smile. “I know my heart, and I also want to give my Marie a chance. I endured a lot to keep her safe. Captain Ferdinand will give us a home and a life outside of slavery, so I will take him.”

  Zoé kissed her on both cheeks. “Bien, but I want you to come to Toulouse and visit me. Bring as many of the girls as you like.”

  Sheba gave Zoé another hug and promised. Douglas grinned at the both of them. “Let me fix my girls something to eat, before the rest of these lads raid the galley.”

  They laughed and let him prepare their food.

  She had given great thought to her return trip to Château Bouchard. She would make that journey only when she was ready, and that meant only after her new husband had given her the wedding gift he’d promised. To make their English marriage legal in France, Gianelli had settled lands and title upon Zoé, solidifying her position as his wife. She would need the strength his gift gave her in order to face Madame and leave with her sweet sister.

  EF

  As soon as they arrived in Narbonne, La Roque whisked Zoé off to England to marry her. France still had laws against miscegenation.