Wherever You Are (33 page)

Above him men furled sails, calling out to each other in excited voices, happy to be back to their families and loved ones. Morgan crossed his arms and planted his feet wide to accommodate the shuddering of the ship as the anchor lowered.

He swept a keen eye over the port, noting the other ships and their names. Recalling which company owned which ship. Some he didn’t know at all, but he wasn’t surprised. London shipping was growing by leaps and bounds and entrepreneurs were eager to jump on the bandwagon. Morgan studied the newest ships, taking pride in the fact that none compared to the modern
Juliana
. He’d done well designing this new vessel and made a mental note to talk to Reed about commissioning a few more.

The boom in the shipping industry was a windfall to Parker and Parker, lining the pockets of Isabelle and Reed and Morgan, who was now a full partner, and making them all very rich indeed. Currently they were looking to expand into India and China. Isabelle even asked Morgan to captain the first voyage to China, and he was seriously considering it. But only if he could take his family with him.

Just like Juliana promised, their son’s birth had been a piece of cake. Or at least that’s what she said. At the time Morgan hadn’t been sure he would survive, let alone Juliana. Months before the birth she’d assuaged Morgan’s fears by interviewing damn near every doctor and midwife in all of London, settling on the one with the most modern beliefs and practices. Of course, when the time came, she still shocked the doctor by insisting Morgan be present throughout the entire labor and birth. And so in wonder and fear, he watched his wife deliver their son into his hands.

Zachary Morgan Langtree inherited his mother’s hair but his father’s eyes and lust for adventure.

When Isabelle approached Morgan about taking this run to Spain, Juliana informed them all that no way was she being left behind in London. She packed up their clothes, closed the house and boarded the ship with Zachary riding on her hip. Morgan put up token resistance, wanting his family with him as much as they wanted to be with him.

And he’d proudly watched Zachary take his first steps on the
Juliana
, convinced the boy took to sailing like a fish to water.

As if conjured from his thoughts, his wife appeared at his side, holding a sleeping Zachary to her shoulder.

“Patrick wore him out,” she whispered.

Morgan gently took the active two-year-old and cradled him against his chest. The boy’s lids fluttered, he sighed and his body went limp. The slight breeze ruffled his blond curls.

Morgan put his arm around Juliana, pulling her close to his side. His family. For so long he wouldn’t even allow himself to think of such a concept and now he couldn’t imagine living without them.

“Are you glad to be home?” he asked.

Juliana leaned against him, placing her hand over his heart. “London isn’t home,” she said. “Home is wherever you are.”

About the Author

At the age of ten, when I read
Black Beauty
, I knew I wanted to be a writer. But life got in the way. I discovered boys, went to college, got married, had kids, all the usual things people do. Yet during it all, the dream simmered until one day my two oldest were in school and my youngest was taking a nap and I said to myself, “Sharon, if you’re going to do it, now’s the time.”

My brother sold me his out-of-date Gateway computer for $200. I had dial-up connection and an Internet package that allowed me twenty hours per month of web surfing. Somehow I managed to write my first story in between pre-school playdates, naps and diapers.

Now, ten years later, the kids are nearly grown and I’m extremely proud and still a little awed by the fact that I have ten books published with many, many more to come God willing.

If you enjoyed reading
Wherever You Are
or any of my other books, please shoot me an email and let me know. I love hearing from readers and respond to every email I receive. You can find me at
www.SharonCullen.net
. I’m also an avid (okay, obsessed) Facebooker. Friend me at Sharon Cullen - Author where you’ll be the first to learn of new releases or just find out what I’m up to.

I also have a newsletter where I announce new releases and contests. Please join us at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sharon_Cullen/

Look for these titles by Sharon Cullen

Now Available:

Night Song

Deception

Love on the Edge

Deception

Redemption

Obsession

Love takes no prisoners.

Tiger Eyes

© 2010 Kimberly Nee

Captain Gabriella Markham is accustomed to standing on the deck of her ship, wind in her face. Not rotting in a dank hold on an enemy’s ship. There’s only one thing on her mind: revenge on the pirate responsible. Until she realizes the seriously injured man sharing the darkness is Captain Diego Cruz, the man she almost married.

When Diego opens his eyes, he finds himself twice cursed. Not only was he attacked and taken, he’s marooned on an island with the woman who betrayed him five years earlier. Even worse, the fire between them still burns. And the faster he heals, the harder she is to resist.

Desperation cracks their resolve. Passion consumes them, but it only reopens the wounds of the past. Survival is only the first step in a quest to find out who hired another pirate to see them dead—and why. Only then will they learn if their hearts will survive on the fragile strand of trust that still hangs between them…

Warning: This book may lead to fantasies involving deserted islands, passionate affairs, and a belief in true love.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Tiger Eyes:

It was a calm night, with a gentle wind blowing in from the east. The warm air wrapped about Gabby like a tender embrace, and she sighed as she leaned against the quarterdeck railing. The island was still visible, though about the size of her fist, and as twilight stretched across the sky, it wouldn’t be long before it was merely a darker mass in a sea of darkness.

After they came aboard the
Serena
, Gabby was shown to a small cabin, and the order was given for water to be heated. She soaked until the water grew too cool for comfort, and took an oddly great delight in scrubbing both her hair and her body.

Since they were very nearly the same height, with the same rather deceptively slender build, Fiona offered Gabby a gown, though she didn’t seem particularly pleased about it. Still, Gabby thanked her anyway, and when she finished her bath, slipped into the clean garment, wanting to cry from the sleek softness of it, and the delicious perfume of clean fabric wafting down over her head. Though she normally shied away from such feminine garments, she reveled in this one now.

Footfalls sounded behind her and she turned to see Diego coming toward her. Gone were the straggly beard and unkempt moustache. Though he was clean-shaven, he radiated the same feral air as he did on the island, and her heart quickened at the sight of him. He still limped, but his black breeches were neither stained nor torn, and his white shirt was almost blinding in its cleanliness.

His sleeve brushed her bare arm, reminding her of her ladylike apparel. She was most unaccustomed to gauzy gowns, as she lived in breeches and tunics like her men. Her hair, free of tangles and snarls, had been tamed into a fall of loose dark curls that brushed her shoulders and danced on the breeze.

“Did Farruco pronounce you healed?” she murmured as he brought one booted foot up onto the bottom rung of the railing and leaned his forearms against the top.

“Not quite healed, but well on my way. And he commended you on your care. Apparently you’ve the makings of a fine ship’s surgeon.”

“No, thank you. I’d rather stay at the helm, if it’s all the same. I nearly retched each time I cleaned your wounds.” An unfamiliar, giddy sort of laugh teased her lips. Why did she feel so dizzy, as if she might swoon? It was uncomfortable and yet, a bit amusing at the same time. Her belly fluttered as if alive with a million butterflies all trying to break free, and as she cast a sidelong gaze up at him, those wings intensified their beating. It was like seeing him for the first time all over again.

He sighed softly, looking out at the silver trail caused by the
Serena
’s
wake. “Not exactly my most preferred way to pass several weeks, but nonetheless, not the worst, either.”

As he spoke, he turned to give her a slow smile and her heart tripled its beat. The sudden rush of blood to her head made her giddier still, and her instinct was to tighten her grip on the railing, lest her knees betray her and crumple right out from beneath her.

“No, I don’t suppose it was the worst,” she said as he turned completely sideways to rest on one elbow as he gazed down at her. His eyes glittered like black opals, though she knew they weren’t black at all. They were like topaz, a beautiful warm mix of gold and brown. “Tiger eyes,” she murmured without thinking.

“What was that?”

His voice cut through her fog and she cleared her throat. “I…uh…that is… It is lovely out here. I’ve missed being at sea.”

“We are heading to St. Phillippe. If you like, I can take you to Port Royal.”

A tempting offer, the thought of being at sea with him for at least another three weeks. But no. It wouldn’t be wise. Her feelings twisted and fought with her head far too much. Regretfully, she shook her head. “No. I thank you for the offer, but I will find my own passage to Jamaica. Or perhaps I will simply go home.”

“Where is home these days?”

“London. My brother and I own Markham now. Well, my half-brother, that is.”

“Half-brother?”

She nodded. “Did I never mention him? His name is William. His mother was my father’s wife, but my mother was his great love.” She offered him a wistful smile. “Perhaps I should be ashamed of that, but I’m not. Theirs was a tragic love, but wildly romantic as well.”

His eyes softened. “You never struck me as the starry-eyed romantic, Gabby.”

“Because I’m not. Their story did not end happily, though I was fortunate my father claimed me as his right from the beginning. It is also fortunate that I shared his love for the seas, while William saw it as dirty work.”
 

She shrugged, her smile fading. “I became the son William was not, but unfortunately, my father could leave me only my financial interest in Markham. I own the
Galatea
outright, and receive a stipend of Markham’s profits, but William owns controlling interest. I’m not at all certain how he managed to do this, but my father was quite the miracle worker, you know, and I don’t think he trusted William overmuch.” Another shrug. “Not that it matters to me. I prefer not having to deal with all of the rubbish that comes with property ownership and running the company. I am quite happy to sail my ship and watch my bank account fatten. William can’t sack me. He can’t even touch my ship. Although, since I haven’t a clue where the
Galatea
is right now, that is moot, I suppose.”

Her eyes stung with unexpected tears. Her ship. She hadn’t realized how much she missed it until that moment. But miss it she did. Much as she loved being at sea on
any
ship, it couldn’t compare to being aboard
her
ship.

“Perhaps Carmichael has it. He might have returned to Jamaica to file a claim.”

“Perhaps. I wouldn’t put it past him to claim salvage on it. I only hope he isn’t fool enough to sail near Eleuthera. He’d be no match for the wreckers.” She pressed her lips together as fresh anger flared in her belly at the thought of her precious
Galatea
destroyed because Carmichael fell prey to those who made their living from the ships they lured to their shores and then stripped. “If that happened… When I find him, he
will
be sorry.”
 

Diego reached out his free arm to cup his hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps you’d best concentrate on finding a new ship, first. It’ll be difficult to chase Carmichael down without one.”

She groaned at that. “Never mind a ship. I’d need a crew as well. And there aren’t many willing to serve a woman. I can only imagine where mine has scattered. Surely they’ve found other crews to join, I’ve been gone so long.”

“Fools, all of them. No loyalty at all.”

Gabby looked up to find him gazing down at her, a teasing smile pulling on his lips. “Diego, no…”

“What? I’ve done nothing.”

“I know what you’re thinking.” She wanted to step back, to put some distance between her. “And trust me, you don’t want to do it. It’s simply the full moon, and the water, and the—”

“And the beautiful woman standing before me.”

She almost shivered at his low growl. “No. Didn’t we agree that what happened on the island was a mistake?”

“True. It was a mistake, but it was a rather pleasant mistake as well.”

He brought his hand to her cheek and his fingertips swept over it with feather lightness. A flutter of desire rippled through her, despite her best efforts to ignore it. “Diego…”

He caught her face in both hands, tilted her head back as his fingers reached into her hair. Panic rose up as the tension thickened between them, and she wanted to pull away as strongly as she wanted to melt into him.

“Gabriella,” he whispered, and her eyes drooped at the promise laced through that one almost breathless word.

Nice girls love a sailor. Naughty girls are quite partial too.

The Wicked Lady

© 2010 Julia Knight

When a man she thought she loved offered Lady Catherine Harcourt a life wrapped in a velvet bow, she took it. That life wrapped her velvet chains. Now her status as a respectable widow allows her virginal alter ego, Cecily, to relieve milksop-for-blood dandies of their riches and go back where she belongs. The sea—aboard her pirate ship.

The one knot in her sail is Paul Ambury. Daring, irresistible, and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Yet the temptation to indulge in his gorgeous body—all in the name of the plan, of course—is too much to resist.