Free Enter The Brethren (The Brethren of the Coast) by Barbara Devlin Page B

him.  “And you were only five, just a babe.”
    “I was sent away shortly thereafter to distance me from the humiliation and disgrace.”  Trevor quirked one corner of his mouth.  “As for my sire, he drowned his sorrows in a bottle.  I was at sea when he died.  I hardly knew the man.”
    She placed her hand on his arm.  “I am so sorry.”
    “Do not pity me.”
    His thoughts mirrored her own.
    “I do not.”  Caroline cupped his cheek.
    So much anger.
    So much pain.
    Now she understood the gruff exterior, and why Trevor reminded her of someone very familiar.  “Are we not a pair?”
    “So it would seem, sweet lady.”
    Their eyes met, held.
    And there it was, the promise of passion, igniting in a flash and burning in a steady blaze of heat and hunger in her belly.  Trevor kissed her palm, and she was certain her knees would buckle at any moment.  Lips parted, his tongue teased her flesh, his teeth nipped ever so gently.  And through the hazy fog of lust, a reminder echoed in her brain.
    “Trevor, there is something I would tell you.”
    “Now?”
    “Yes.  You need to know--”
    Boarders!  All hands on deck!
    Boarders off the starboard bow!
    Outside, cries of alarm from the crew resonated.
    “Bloody hell.”  With a calm she found unnerving, Trevor released her, strode to his locker, and swung the door wide.  He retrieved a sheathed sword and a large oak box with brass hinges, then walked to the desk and set them on the blotter.  After rummaging through the top drawer, he produced a small key, which he promptly used to unlock the box.  Inside, on a bed of blue velvet, rested two perfectly matched flintlock dueling pistols.
    “Do you know how to use a firearm?” he asked, as he lifted one and held it for her inspection.
    Caroline did not hesitate.  “Yes.”  Reaching out, hand shaking, she took what she considered an instrument of war.
    Lethal weapon in his grasp, Trevor placed a finger under her chin and brought her gaze to his.  “I will send Billy to stay with you.  He is too young and small to fight.  Lock the door behind him and permit entry to no one but me.  Do you understand?”
    She managed to nod despite her ever-increasing fear.
    In a move that did not inspire confidence, he bent his head and set his lips to hers in a bruising kiss--as if he expected never to see her again.
    And then he was gone.
    For a few seconds Caroline was dumbfounded.  Above, pounding footfalls evidenced a furious clash on deck.
    “Excuse me, ma’am.”  Billy shuffled into the cabin, wearing a scowl that she found quite amusing.  “Cap’n ordered me to wait here with you.”
    “Yes, and we will do as he commands.”  She locked the door just as a hiss rent the air.
    From the locker, Billy claimed another sword.  “Oh, I say, I could skewer a few bloody pirates with this.”
    “Now, just a minute, the Capt--”
    “Hell’s bells, but I’m a man not a boy.”
    “Billy, please, you must stay with me.”  Caroline raised her hands, palms facing outward, when the lad pointed the unsheathed, polished steel straight at her.
    “You can sit here, if you want, but I’m going to fight.”  With that, he unlocked the door, flung it wide, and charged into the hall.
    “Billy, come back.”  She just stopped herself from giving chase.  Quickly, she tucked the pistol in the waistband of her breeches and marched forth as a soldier heading into battle.
    For all her brother Blake had told her of combat at sea, nothing could have prepared Caroline for the scene she confronted.  Crouched in the opening that led below decks, she surveyed the skirmish and was not sure what to do.
    “Oh, God, I should never have come up here.”
    The grating sound of metal striking metal reverberated as the fight reached a fevered pitch.  Bursts of silver flashed in random patterns as lamplight flickered off the flat of the blades.  The boarders had thick, overgrown beards disguising the lower half of their