Free Hart's Passion (Pirates & Petticoats Book 2) by Chloe Flowers

woman from his consciousness, but the memory of their time together in the abandoned cabin cellar during a fierce storm last month haunted him in both sleep and wakefulness. Keelan’s soft curves and passionate kisses left him hungry, wanting more. Many nights he lay awake wondering what it would be like to make love to that fiery tigress.
    When they’d reached the plantation after the storm, her father and uncle were understandably furious he and Keelan had been together without a chaperone.  
    He’d offered to marry her that day, to appease her father.  
    On the surface, he supposed it looked as if he did so to save her reputation. Truth was, he spoke without contemplating the consequences of his words. It was as if his mortal mind shrugged off its duties and allowed his foolish heart to take the helm. He’d thought he’d never tie himself to another woman in marriage, but the idea of waking every morning to Keelan pressed against him had pushed out any trepidations he would normally have had with regard to the bonds of matrimony. Something about her drew him to her like a parched man to water. She was impetuous and reminded him a bit of Conal, who acted first and asked questions second. She was compassionate. She’d not hesitated to rescue Simon’s boy from a rabid dog, even at her own peril.  
    In the end, she’d saved him by choosing the physician, Garrison. Or so he’d told himself.  
    Over and over and over.
    He’d been bound only to the sea, then. The freedom of the open ocean and the thrill of finding exotic treasures to trade and sell along the shores of the Americas had nourished him as well as any plate of food. Perhaps even better.
    Never would he permanently weigh anchor and retire to a landlocked life. Keelan seemed to sense that from their first meeting. She’d made it very clear his “type” would never make her happy, and she’d not marry a man who would sail off for months at a time, leaving her behind, lonely and alone. He knew too well what lonely women did when their husband’s left them alone for too long.  
    Her decision to accept Garrison’s proposal was a relief. His freedom had been preserved. He’d decided that as soon as they recovered his cargo, and brought to justice the band of thieves who took it, he’d set sail north along the coast to trade the rest of his goods.  
    However, a month had passed, and the desire to be with her again had nearly driven him mad. Her decision grated against his piece of mind. She came to him in his dreams, floating naked on the water, sparkling drops of sunlight dancing all around her. Light pink nipples topped her supple, round breasts and her hair flamed all around her like rays of a burnished sun. He could still feel the velvety warmth of her lips on his neck, and the touch of her slender fingers twined in his hair.  
    He had indeed goaded her into a final kiss. He’d found her in the garden, away from the dancing and the guests. She didn’t… couldn’t love Garrison, and he’d intended to prove it to her. A person doesn’t agree to kiss one person when they are in love with another. If they do kiss another, they couldn’t possibly do so with passion and heat. But, that kiss…even the memory of it made his pulse quicken. Perhaps, he’d also needed to prove to himself that she’d really, truly captured his heart?  
    No woman could have kissed him with that kind of fire and been in love with another. It wasn’t possible. Was it?
    Her lips, soft and eager, stirred a heady passion from deep inside him, leaving him hungrier rather than sated. It was at that moment, he couldn’t imagine sailing for the open sea without her.  
    He’d asked her to join him and she had accepted, promising to come to him by today. Yet she’d not arrived, nor had she sent word to him. He had sought her out.
    The image of Keelan and Garrison locked in a long, passionate kiss burned in his gut. He clenched his hands into fists. Why had she changed her