The Infamous Rogue (27 page)

“You’ve got what?” corrected her mother.
Squirt screwed up her face. “I don’t have anything.”
Mirabelle rolled her eyes.
Quincy chuckled and ruffled the chit’s curly locks. “I have the paper.” He cleared his throat. “The headline reads:
Black Hawk Is Dead
!” He wagged his brows. “Memorable, eh?”
“Well?” said Edmund, frowning. “How does the rest of it read?”
Quincy rustled the pages.
“The infamous pirate leader Black Hawk is dead, the crew drowned! The notorious villain tempted fate with his heinous conduct, kidnapping the wealthy Miss Sophia Dawson for ransom. The young lady’s fiancé, the valiant Captain James Hawkins, hunted the surly devil at sea, and in a dance with death, defeated the wretched pirate lord, rescuing the damsel and sending the cutthroats to the bottom of the sea. The water is free at last from the wicked corsair and his motley crew of scalawags.”
Quincy twisted his lips. “Scalawags?” He sniffed.
“The sea is once more the domain of our nation’s great navy. Rejoice, good reader! Rule Britannia!”
“Hurrah!” Squirt danced on her toes. “I hate pirates.”
The room erupted in guffaws, for Alice wasn’t privy to her uncles’ notorious reputations. James wondered what the squirt would think to learn she was standing in the same room with the infamous villains.
James moved off and settled beside a window, the sunset casting the crisp, autumn landscape in a fiery glow of brilliant russet reds and bright golden yellows.
Black Hawk was dead. James had “killed” the brigand at sea, and as a result, he didn’t have to chase after the impostors anymore. The knave Hagley and his cheeky crew could pillage the waters all they liked…under another pseudonym. No one would ever take the legendary title away from James again, and that meant the brothers needn’t seek a pardon for their wicked ways, their pasts secured. William, Edmund, and Quincy had enlisted under the Royal Navy’s African Squadron as privateers without censure, scandal, or legal delicacies.
“Good evening…valiant Captain James Hawkins.”
He quirked a wry smile at her smoky drawl and showmanship.
“Good evening, sweetheart.”
She slipped her arms around his waist and rested her warm cheek against his breast, making him shudder. He closed his eyes and embraced her, his soul quiet as she snuggled against him, chasing away the last remaining shadows in his heart.
“I received a letter from Imogen today.”
“Oh?” He bussed the top of her head, the sweet scent of bay rum shampoo filling his nose, his lungs. “How is she?”
“
Mrs
. Lewis is doing very well. She and her husband are coming to the wedding.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
James was pleased to know the girl was fit and in good spirits, that her beau had proved honorable and faithful, whisking her away from scandal and wedding her proper.
“Lady Lucas will attend our wedding, as well.”
James’s good mood soured.
“I think you’ll find her much more agreeable, James.”
He frowned.
“You are the valiant Captain James Hawkins, after all.”
He sighed at that, Sophia chuckling.
“Alice, put that down!”
James and Sophia glanced across the room—and witnessed Squirt inspecting a dainty dish.
“I was just looking at it, Mama,” she said peevishly.
“You might break it, Alice. Put it down!”
The spiteful chit glanced at the dish…then at her mother…then dropped the porcelain.
“Alice!”
She scurried into her uncle Quincy’s protective arms. “It was an accident, Mama!”
Sophia groaned in sympathy with the duchess. “I think it’s time Belle hired a governess.”
“I think you’re right,” he said grimly.
She offered him a sassy smile. “Are you sure you won’t regret not having offspring of your own?”
“Bite your tongue, woman.”
She chuckled and rested her chin against his breastbone. “I have something for you.”
He looked down into her bewitching, cocoa brown eyes and shuddered at the smoldering expression in the deep, dark pools. “You do?”
Slowly she gathered her slender brows in a seductive, nay, mischievous fashion.
James watched as her thin fingers sensuously slipped into her bodice and stirred in the pocket between her breasts. With a wicked grin, she removed a small, black velvet pouch with golden cords from her corset.
“No knife?” he asked.
“No knife.” She handed him the mysterious parcel. “I thought you might like a new one…to replace the old.”
He furrowed his brow at the enigmatic clue before he took the weighty gift from her fingers and stretched the threaded cords. He turned the satchel upside-down.
A fob watch slipped out of the bag.
James took in a sharp breath. His heart thumped hard as he fingered the timepiece, rubbed his thumb across the smooth glass surface and solid gold underside.
“Read the inscription,” she said softly.
He gazed into her lovely eyes, so mesmerizing, before he lifted the watch toward the window, the bauble shimmering in the splayed light, and read:

May you rot in everlasting matrimony.

Fingers quivered, then his lips. He whispered, “Witch.”
“Aye, I am.” She kissed his breast, stirring his blood, his bones, his heart to pulsing life. “But it’s no worse than you deserve, you infamous rogue.”
About the Author
ALEXANDRA BENEDICT
is a storyteller at heart. A graduate of the University of Toronto, she works part-time in a museum while penning passionate tales of historical romance. An archaeology buff, she loves to travel and explore ancient ruins. Her hobbies include collecting art and reading classic British literature.
Alexandra invites readers to visit her at
www.alexandrabenedict.ca
and
www.thehawkinsbrothers.ca
for trivia, excerpts, and more!
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Romances by
Alexandra Benedict

MISTRESS OF PARADISE

THE INFAMOUS ROGUE

TOO DANGEROUS TO DESIRE

TOO SCANDALOUS TO WED

TOO GREAT A TEMPTATION

A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE INFAMOUS ROGUE. Copyright © 2009 by Alexandra Benedikt. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition June 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-189302-5
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