Read Online Dawson Bride (Wolf Brides Book 3) by T. S. Joyce - Free Book Online Page B

intricate patterns of his beard had been shaved into smoothness and he’d powdered his eyebrows into a grayish and dull color. He’d found a fine silk suit somewhere, but under that pompous powdered wig was the dark hair of Captain Kelley. I would’ve laughed if my situation weren’t so dire. His accent had been lost somewhere along the way and he now held an impressive English one, if I did say so myself. He carried an air of authority right down to his pointed leather shoes.
    “Luc,” Gable whispered from the window.
    “What are you—”
    “Shhh. I’m getting you out of here. This is going to make some noise. Look bored.”
    I draped my arms across the bars of my iron cage and kept my eyes carefully forward on the argument Captain Kelley had started between the officers. He stood there with dancing eyes that said he was thoroughly enjoying himself.
    At the sound of metal on brick, the officers turned as one. They couldn’t see the window from their vantage point but the scraping of my escape was noisy enough. I shifted my weight and scuffed the toe of my boot soundly against the bar. “Are you going to let me out sometime tonight or do my lawyer and I really have to listen to you figure out how many laws you’re breaking?”
    “I’m not leaving without my client, gentlemen!” Captain Kelley yelled, and as the officers turned back to argue with him I slipped to the window and Gable pulled me out like he was lifting a hat box. His strength and speed were stunning, but there was no time to overanalyze it.
    “Hurry,” he urged me.
    My hair was loose and flowing down my back in gnarled tendrils and he clapped a wide brimmed hat over my head in an instant. My cane was probably still in a mud puddle in the ally I’d been arrested, but apparently I didn’t need it. Gable scooped me up and ran like I was weightless.
    Down narrow side streets and lanternless ally’s he ran. All I could do was clutch my hat and cover my face from the surprised passersby who jumped out of our way. We ran for hours, or what seemed like, and when the brine filled every inch of the air once again, I peeked out. We weren’t at the port like I’d thought but at a small pebbled beach. Two ratty row boats and three men talking quietly were the only things to grace the edge of the lapping waves. A large wooden crate sat beside the far boat and without stopping, Gable set me in the first skiff.
    Despite the run that would’ve brought other men to their knees, his breathing was barely even accelerated. “Over there is the Anna Gale.”
    Two of the men pulled out oars and began to push off.
    “Wait, don’t I need to sign a roster or something?”
    The moonlight shimmered off the shock in his expression. “Yes, if you want Bastrop to know exactly where you’ve gone. Besides, this ain’t one of those big merchant ships. This one is better at staying out of sight.”
    “Sounds illegal.”
    Captain Kelley came crashing through the brush with the biggest grin plastered on his gasping mouth. He hunched over and sucked air like a landed fish and laughed. His wig and clothes had disappeared along with his English accent. “We sure got those pot gutted land lubbers, didn’t we?”
    Gable clapped him on the back and smirked despite the worry on his face. “They’ll be searching every inch of port and sea for her. You’d better push off soon.”
    “Boys, take her to the Anna Gale. I’ll follow shortly with our final cargo.”
    “Aye, Captain,” the one in the front of my oar boat said.
    Gable knelt beside me and searched my eyes for a moment before his lips crashed down against mine. I was shocked into stillness. His hand found my jaw and his thumb rubbed a lazy circle against my cheek as I softened against him. His mouth turned to silk and he sucked gently on my bottom lip, as if he were drinking a fine wine. My chest heaved against his and as the seconds stretched on, I prayed he’d never leave my lips to the chill of night air.