Hart's Passion (Pirates & Petticoats Book 2)
Read Hart's Passion (Pirates & Petticoats Book 2) Online
Authors: Chloe Flowers
Tags: #Historical Romance, #Pirate Romance, #Romance and Adventure, #Keelan Hart, #Landon Hart, #Charleston, #Keelan Grey
Pirates & Petticoats Novel Two
by Chloe Flowers
Copyright © 2016 Chloe Flowers
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, translate or transmit in any form through any medium by any means.
Published By: Flowers & Fullerton LLC
www.flowersandfullerton.com
Edited by:
The Editing Hall
Cover Design by Earthly Charms
ISBN-10:1-63303-981-1
ISBN-13:978-1-63303-981-0
I wish to thank my friends and peers in the
Romance Writers of America,
the NorthEast Ohio Romance Association,
the Sunshine Critique group:
Miranda Liasson, Sheridan Jeane, Kate Pembroke, Wendy Larkin, Victoria Sheridan
for their encouragement and support.
I’m grateful for Indie pioneers such as
Barbara Freethy, Bella Andre, Courtney Milan and Tina Folsom
Who continue to forge the path for new writers.
Without their efforts, I would not be a published author.
Special thanks to my family and handsome husband
for overlooking the dust bunnies, cold stove and empty pantry,
so that I could follow my dream.
I love you.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for purchasing my book! I’ve included some bonus material from the next two books in the series, as well as some recipes from Marcel, the ship’s cook on the
Seeker
. You’ll find them at the end of this book. I had fun making them, I hope you do too! I always enjoy reading your comments. Your opinion means a lot to me, and I appreciate any feedback you would like to share.
You can contact me personally at
[email protected]
, or via snail mail (and if you’d like a print book signed, send it here, along with your return address):
Flowers & Fullerton Publishing
3593 Medina Road
Suite 165
Medina, Ohio 44256
If you have enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review and loaning it to your friends!
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading!
Fondly,
Chloe Flowers
Other Books on Amazon by Chloe Flowers:
Author Page on Amazon:
http://
author.to/ChloeFlowers
Pirates & Petticoats Novels:
Hart’s Desire
http://mybook.to/HartsDesire
Harts Passion
http://myBook.to/HartsPassion
Hart’s Reward
http://myBook.to/HartsReward
Pirate Heiress (July 2016)
Pirate King (September 2016)
Coming Fall 2016!
The Bridal Veil Falls Series
A contemporary romance set in a small town in upstate New York that boasts it’s “The Town of Happily Ever Afters.”
This book is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, (living or dead) events or places is entirely coincidental.
Bonus material
: Please enjoy the first few pages of the next book in the Pirates and Petticoats novels,
Hart’s Reward
, and
Pirate Heiress
inserted at the end of
Hart’s Passion
!
I’ve also included some recipes prepared by Marcel, ship’s cook, one of the characters in
Hart’s
Passion
. The dishes Marcel served were inspired by recipes from the day. Keelan’s recipes for Bannocks and Scones were inspired by an
An Antebellum Household Journal Including the South Carolina Receipts and Remedies of Emily Warton Sinkler,
by Anne Sinkler Whaley LeClercq. I purchased it in Charleston when touring a plantation home; it’s filled with wonderful information about life in the Low Country.
Charleston, South Carolina
June 1811
If they were going to steal it, tonight would be the perfect time.
The moon was nothing more than a sliver in the sky, leaving the night almost as dark as pitch. A single sentry strolled along the street in front of the warehouse. He passed the main doors and continued until he reached the far corner. He yawned, stretching his arms out wide. Removing his floppy hat, he scratched his head vigorously and then jammed the hat back on. After a lazy glance up and down the street he pulled a bottle from his pocket and took a swig before he leaned against the wall and yawned again.
A dog barked in the distance, provoking a shouted curse from one of the city’s sleepy residents. The sentry sank to his haunches, tipped the bottle to his mouth and then rested his head against the bricks behind him. Once more he looked around. Finally, with a bored sigh, he sat on the ground and placed his bottle within reach before resting his arms on his knees. Within minutes, his head slumped to his forearms. The gentle sea swayed against the pilings with the easy rhythm of a rocking chair. The street was quiet except for the gently breaking waves and the soft snoring of the sentry.
Drago Viteri Gamponetti, Gampo to his men, leaned around the corner and gestured to a pair of wagons waiting behind him. A few men slipped down to lead the teams forward. A loud ‘clop’ on the cobblestones made everyone freeze in stunned silence.
“One of the mufflings has fallen off,” whispered a driver.
“Crowe, you’d best check them all before we head on,” he hissed. “And check all the wheels!”
“Aye, Cap’n Gampo, sir.” Crowe muttered, as he scampered hastily about doing as he was told. All metal parts should still be wrapped in strips of dark cloth to keep them from jingling with the horses’ movements. He ran his hands over the strips of oiled leather covering each wheel. As soon as everything was secure, Crowe motioned for all to move out. The caravan stopped near the warehouse doors.
With the stealth of a shadow, Gampo descended from the lead wagon. Producing a key, he placed it in the lock and turned it until it gave a dull ‘click.’ After a quick glance toward the end of the building and the sleeping sentry, he pulled a glass bottle from his pocket and squatted by the door hinges and removed the cork with his teeth. After the hinges had been fully doused with the oil, the man stepped back and gently pulled one of the doors open a bit and then closed it again, testing. He repeated this procedure several more times. Satisfied he’d eliminated any squeaks, he opened both doors wide.
One of the men gestured toward the snoring sentry near the corner. Gampo studied the man, noted the whiskey bottle next to him and gave a slight shake of his head. The other shrugged, stepped down and grabbed the halter of one of the horses then led it inside. Gampo followed and slid the doors shut.
Once inside the warehouse, the men remained motionless, barely breathing. Gampo struck a match to the candle wedged between the boards of the wagon seats.
“Take the blankets and cover the windows facing the street," he directed in a harsh whisper. “Once they’re secure, light your lanterns and get to work.”
“Aye, Cap’n.”
The men went about doing what he’d ordered done. They all were well aware there was no room for error. Failing to execute even one small detail could get them caught. Getting caught would get them hanged. It gave the men strong impetus to do the job correctly.
An hour later the wagons were loaded with casks of brandy and whiskey, rolls of silk fabric, boxes of spices, ammunition and countless other treasures from across the sea. They snuffed out the lanterns and removed the blankets from the windows. Gampo was the last to exit. The sentry hadn’t moved. He chucked to himself. The poor tar would have a great deal of explaining to do when his employer arrived in the morning. Still smiling, he reached into his pocket, pulled out the key and locked the warehouse.
That ought give ‘im something to think about.
The sentry shifted slightly. Steel blue eyes glinted from under the rim of his hat, as he watched the wagons pull away. After giving a slight nod to the roof of the boarding house across the street, an oil lamp flared in answer. Landon Hart rose and headed in the direction taken by the wagons seconds before.
“They turned east down the next street,” Landon whispered to Conal O’Brien, as they followed the path of the thieves, staying near the darker shadows. “They’re heading in the direction of those warehouses we scouted earlier.”
Conal, who was half a head taller than Landon and two stones heavier, nodded. “Hopefully to the same one containing the rest of our cargo. It’ll be harder to find the first half if they put this load in a different place.”
A couple weeks earlier, several wagonloads of goods from the hold of one of their damaged ships was stolen en route to a warehouse he’d rented. The worst part, was that thieves had severely injured a young galley boy in the process.
It was a risky venture but the only way to find out where their goods were taken, was to leave the rest vulnerable. Conal had bragged at the pub near the docks they had rented the most secure warehouse in the city, and had complete confidence in the quality of the locks. They were so convinced, he’d boasted, only one man was needed to guard the lot.
The thieves swallowed the bait and now Landon had his hook embedded deeply.
An ugly image of Keelan in the brutal arms of a pirate or leering privateer nudged its way to the forefront of Landon’s daydreams. He couldn’t get the fiery-haired vixen out of his mind. This was no time to be preoccupied with thoughts of a woman, but this wasn’t just any woman, it was his heart, his love. It was difficult to avoid thinking about how sweet her mouth tasted or how she smelled of jasmine and sunshine, or how passionately her body curved into his…
Stop it.
It hadn’t been his intention to become entangled with her when they made port in Charleston. He and Conal O’Brien had suffered a major loss, Conal’s Uncle Fynn, at the hands of Gampo. Damned ruthless pirate.
They’d intentionally planned a trade route to include a stopover in Charleston so Fynn could meet with a Commodore George Grey, Keelan’s father. Fynn had been very secretive about his reasons why he wanted to meet with the commodore. So, following the run-in with Gampo, they tucked their ships in dry dock for repairs. Landon and Conal decided to keep Fynn’s mysterious meeting out of curiosity more than anything.
At Twin Pines plantation, he met Keelan, masquerading as a boy and dueling with swords with her father’s valet in a small meadow a short distance from the main house. It was only after he’d had given her a brief lesson in knife throwing he the learned the boy was actually a young lady. Conal had found it highly amusing and had retold the story several times at the Whistling Pig Tavern, where they’d rented rooms.
What Conal hadn’t seen, occurred later the same morning. Landon had caught Keelan eavesdropping from the depths of the garden bushes. At the time, he didn’t know she was the commodore’s daughter. He saw her as a curiosity. Up close she was more than that. She was smooth and lithe with the quickness of a boy and the curves of a woman.