Free Lynna's Rogue by Kitty Margo Page B

”
                  “Yes, I guessed as much,” he said, eyeing her with disdain. “ However, you did not plan on enlightening me, did you?”
                  “Quite honestly, non . You do not deserve the truth. A lthough, I must give credit where credit is due. You have taught me a great deal these past few weeks. I have acquired more knowledge while onboard your ship than I learned in the last seventeen years at the Chateau. For that m uch, I am grateful. I feel certain I can now face my new life and any obstacles or hardships that happen my way after this journey with you. ” She paused to gaze across the ocean toward her homeland. “ But I do no t believe I will ever forgive my father, or Gertrude, for keeping so much vital information from me. If I had been better informed , none of this would have happened. I would have known to steer clear of a rogue like you, Captain Jordan.”
                  She moved to stand before him, her cerulean eyes locked with his, her moist lips inches from his own. Before she knew what was happening, Joshua had her in his arms and his soft lips found hers. Lynna wanted desperately to respond to his embrace, give free rein to her rising passion and enjoy the ecstasy she remembered so well. But she could not. She would never grant him forgiveness or risk living through the hell of the last few weeks again. She slapped him soundly across the face. A slap that was woefully late in coming.
                  “ Don’t ever do that again, Lynna,” Joshua gritted as he rubbed his reddening cheek. “Yes, you have been through a trying ordeal. But so have I. I cannot remember when I last slept for more than an hour at a time or ate a meal without worrying if you were also eating. But do not vex your pretty little head. If I ever touch you again it will be because you begged me to!”
                  “Hah!” She laughed, harshly. “Beg you? I pray that I never lay eyes on you again!”
                  “It seems you will get your wish. We will be docking in Charleston within the hour.” He stopped, turned at the door, and whispered, “Au revoir, Lynna.”
                  Then, he walked out of her life.
     

Chapter Five
    Three Years Later
     
                  J oshua leaned over the rail, gazing into the swirling fluorescent water as it lapped against the hull of the Windjammer . It was a lazy, slapping sound and one that had lulled him to sleep many restless nights, especially when his head had been filled with thoughts of a golden-haired French beauty. Now the sound was bittersweet. For after today there would be no more salty sea breezes, n o more moon swept nights listening to the wind fill the billowing sails, and no more late night walks on deck where he would spent countless hours gazing into the constellations and wondering what if. What if Lynna had carried his child? What if he had wed her? Would he now be settled on his family’s plantation bouncing a baby on each knee? What if? Would he have Lynna in his arms each night instead of only imagining her there? What if he hadn ’t been such a completely selfish jackass and had wed her years ago?
                  Enough of rehashing the past. H e had done enough in the last three years to last a lifetime. He was going home. Home. Where instead of being surrounded by a brilliant, sparkling sea and sailing to exciting destinations, his feet would be firmly and permanently anchored on dry land. Realizing that it might be years before he felt the deck rolling with the easy swells again, he had left the job of sailing the ship to his first mate.
                  Now he stood on deck , gazing out across the ocean that he loved so dearly and feeling that the best years of his life were behind him, a part of his carefree, sorely to be missed, past. But his parents needed him, and that was where he belonged. Joshua