To Tame the Wind (Agents of the Crown Book 0) (27 page)

“The demoiselle will come,” said Elijah. “When the first
mate led her to her father, I’d never seen a woman so miserable.”

Simon hoped the wizened old bos’n was right. She’d be
leaving her country and her beloved Papa to take up with a bastard English
privateer. But he was encouraged when he remembered her words that she did not
want to leave him. If she came he would spend his life making sure she never
regretted her choice.

At Elijah’s signal, Giles brought the rope, while Simon
looked up to where curtains covered the windows and glass doors.

He ran to the tree nearest the tall structure and began to
climb. One branch took him to another and to another until finally, he could
jump to a balcony and climb over the railing. Flattening his body against the
side of the townhouse, he peered cautiously through the glass into the
bedchamber, detecting no light. He tried the handle of one of the tall, paned
glass doors. It opened. Beyond the heavy curtains, the chamber was dark. He
paid it no mind, but strode through it to the corridor and began cautiously
opening doors. Behind each of the doors was a darkened room. As he made his way
down the corridor, from below the stairs, he heard music and the sound of many
voices in conversation.

Time was short, but only one door remained. He tried the
handle, relieved when it gave way. With barely a sound, he stepped over the
threshold and into a room bathed in candlelight. Carefully, he closed the door
behind him.

In the middle of the room, in front of a four-poster bed,
stood the woman who haunted his dreams. She was dressed in a gown of ivory
satin, embroidered with red roses. It was lavish and hugged her small waist
like a second skin. Even with her back to him, he could see it was trimmed in a
good deal of fancy lace.
Her wedding gown
. He shuddered to think how
close he’d come to losing her.

His heart pounding in his chest, he spoke the name that had
been in his mind every waking moment since he’d left her in Calais, “Claire.”

Lost in her thoughts, at first Claire thought she was
imagining his voice. But it sounded too real, too close. She whirled. “Simon!”

She ran into his welcoming arms, hugging him with fierce
determination, inhaling his scent of salt and the sea. His warmth encircled her
as she tipped her head back to welcome his urgent kiss, tears streaming from
her eyes in glorious happiness.

Their hungry mouths seemed starved for each other. Too soon,
he broke off the kiss.

“You’re here,” she said. “Why?”

“It seems I cannot live without you,” he said, a faint tone
of amusement in his voice. “And I could not allow your father to give you to so
unworthy a man.”

“Oh, Simon. It matters not to me if he is worthy; he is not
you
.
I was just gathering my courage to tell Papa I could not go through with it,
not even for him.”

He held her away, his expression serious. “I want you by my
side Claire, for always. But if you come with me, your home will never again be
in France.”

Tears filled her eyes as she spoke the truth that was in her
heart. “My home is with you.”

His smile was brilliant and his amber eyes glistening as he
asked, “Will you marry me?”

Her heart soared. Her most fervent prayer had been answered.
“Yes. Oh, yes.”

A knock at the door made her jump. He looked down at her
wedding gown. “There is no time to change,” he whispered. “We must go.”

“
Une minute
,” she shouted to the door, hoping to buy
them time.

Taking her hand he pulled a letter from his waistcoat, laid
it on the pillow of her bed and hurried her toward the balcony. At his wave, a
coil of rope flew up from the courtyard below. He caught the end, looped it
around her hips and swiftly tied some kind of seaman’s knot, forming a loop for
her to sit in. Leaning over the balcony, he tossed the other end over the stout
branch of the nearby tree and waved to his men waiting below in the gathering
darkness. They grabbed the rope and braced themselves while Simon gathered her
into his arms and lifted her over the edge of the balcony.

She looked at him in rising panic.

“Don’t look down,” he whispered. “Hold on tight. I’ll lower
you. Elijah and Giles are just below.”

She nodded but could not hide the fear in her eyes.

Gradually he let the rope take her weight as his men below
lowered her down. By the time she shed the rope from around her hips, Simon had
scrambled down the tree with easy agility and stood beside her.

Shouts from the balcony above followed them as Claire
gathered up her long skirts and they ran from the courtyard. On the street, a
carriage awaited. It was not unlike the night he’d taken her from Saint-Denis,
except she was running beside him and wore no blindfold. Could she be that same
girl?

Jean looked down at the note he held in his hand, shaking
with anger, and leaned toward the candle to read.

M’sieur Donet,

I love your daughter and I believe she loves me.

Having learned the man you have chosen to be her husband is
not worthy of her, I have claimed Claire as my own. Know that she went with me
most willingly this time or I would not have taken her.

I have sought a special license from the Archbishop for us
to wed, but as she is not yet one and twenty, we must have your consent if we
are to marry under England’s laws. I will give you a week to come to Rye where
my ship is anchored. If you do not come, we will sail for Scotland where I will
assure we are legally wed.

Come with your blessing, sir. Attend the wedding. It is what
Claire would want above all. If you do, I promise our firstborn son will bear your
name.

Yours most sincerely,

S. Powell

So, the chess game had ended. The queen had been captured,
this time with her willing consent. Jean let out a deep, resigned sigh.

The sound of footfalls made him turn. His quartermaster
stood in the open doorway.

“
Capitaine
?”

Jean ran his fingers over his slight mustache, still trying
to take in all that had happened. Looking into the deep-set eyes of the man who
had been his friend for the last many years, unable to hide his pain from one
who knew him so well, he said, “François
de Dordogne hides a secret,
Émile. Under threat of death, if necessary, learn the truth of it. And then
send a message to the crew to change
la Reine Noire
into her British
costume. We are bound for Rye Harbor.”

“Aye,
Capitaine
.”

Jean looked down at the note in his hand, once more reading
the words. “Émile?”

The quartermaster paused at the door. “
Oui
?”

“Have the messenger see me before he leaves. I have a
thought about the name I would have the ship bear.”

At last Claire was finally alone with the man she loved.
Simon had asked his men to ride on top of the carriage that would take them
from Paris to Dieppe. She hoped it was the last long carriage trip she would
have to endure for some time. While they did not have to contend with rain,
traveling on the road north was still rough as the driver urged the horses to a
fast run. Curled next to Simon as she was, the bumps and jolts she experienced
were soon forgotten for the joy of being with him again.

He pulled her into his arms, a fierce passion burning in his
eyes. “You are mine now, Claire.”

“Kiss me Simon.”

His mouth descended on hers. It was a deep, searing kiss,
more passionate than his others, and it left her heart racing and every part of
her body sensitive to his touch. She kissed him back, mating her tongue with
his in rampant pleasure. Leaving her mouth, his lips sought the tender skin
where her neck met her shoulder as he pulled her tightly into the curve of his
body.

“I love you, Claire.”

She responded with moans she could not hold back as he
kissed the pulse at her throat. “And I you. I feared never to see you again.”

He ran his fingers through her hair, sending pins flying
around the velvet seat, freeing heavy, black curls to fall around her
shoulders. Her palms smoothed over his chest and his shoulder, unable to resist
touching him. He was hers, this golden man she had dreamed of for so long.

His hand stroked her breast, his fingers lingering over her
nipple, causing her to experience pleasure she had not known before. She pulled
him closer, wanting more.

With a deep sigh, he pulled back and looked at her. “You’re
even more beautiful tousled in the moonlight. It requires all my will not to
take you here in this carriage. But I’d rather our first joining not be in a
bumping box on the road to Dieppe. I want to make slow love to you on my ship.
In my bed. I want you to remember it all of your life. For this night I intend
to possess you, Claire, body and soul. Unless you insist I wait, I’d prefer not
leave your innocence unclaimed. There is still the possibility your father
might yet try to rip you from me.”

“I am yours now, no longer under my papa’s control. I will
not ask you to wait.”

He kissed her again and, for a moment, she was lost in the
feel of him. His masculine scent surrounded her. How she had missed him!

When he raised his lips from hers, she asked, “What did you
say in the note you left my papa?”

“I invited him to our wedding and asked for his blessing,
for without it, we must sail to Scotland to be wed.”

“Oh my. I wonder if he will come. He will be very angry, I
think.”

“Perhaps, but I am hoping he will not want to miss the
chance to see you wed. But then again, he may yet try and take you from me.
Even if he agreed Dordogne is not right for you, he may want you to marry
another Frenchman.”

He kissed her forehead and pressed her head to his chest. “I
could not allow that.”

She nestled her head under his chin, content just to be with
him. She could feel his heart pounding a fast rhythm beneath her palm where it
rested on his chest.

“Sleep, sweetheart, for I will not give you the chance to do
so once we reach the
Fairwinds
.”

Excited for the future that lay ahead of her, she did not
think she could sleep. But she must have drifted off, because the next thing
she knew she was being carried in his arms, her head in the crook of his neck.
She opened her eyes to a predawn light that outlined his chin. Ahead of her
were the dark cliffs of Dieppe and the waters of the Channel lapping on the
shore. She kissed the warm skin of his neck. “We’re in Dieppe?”

“We are. And you had best stop kissing me if we are to make
it to my cabin.”

“Over here, Captain,” shouted the sailmaker, Mr. Berube,
gesturing to a skiff pulled up on the sand. Simon lowered her onto one of the
wooden bench seats and leapt in behind her. Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Berube and two
others, who must have been waiting with the skiff, took the remaining seats.

Soon, they were gliding over the water toward the schooner
anchored off shore.

Once onboard, Simon hurried Claire toward the aft hatch,
shouting over his shoulder to Jordan, “Ship’s yours.” His crew, bearing huge
grins, headed for their stations, preparing to sail.

Nate stood to one side of the hatch, on his face a satisfied
smile. “I left a tray for you and the mistress, Cap’n.”

Simon acknowledged the lad’s thoughtfulness with a nod and
drew Claire closer, about to descend the ladder. Nate’s words made him pause.

“We’re all glad ye’re back, mistress,” said his cabin boy.

“Thank you, Nate,” said Claire. “I am very happy to be
here.”

Simon urged her through the hatch and down the companionway.

Once inside his cabin, he turned to face his prize. “Ah,
sweetheart.”

She was a vision, more seductive than she could possibly
know. Her blue eyes glowed with happiness from a face that was sun-kissed from
her time on his ship. Her long, raven hair, slightly tousled from their
carriage ride, fell to her shoulders in wild abandon. The bodice of the ivory
satin gown she wore drew his eyes to the tempting mounds of her breasts.

Like a man long starved for his lover, he reached for her,
unable to leave any distance between them. She came into his arms, smiling. His
kiss was frantic at first, his longing suddenly a reality. His tongue explored
the depths of her sweet mouth, as his groin swelled at the press of her soft
breasts against his chest, his body ready for the woman he had wanted for so
long.

She returned his kiss, threading her fingers through his
hair and holding his head to her.

Each vied for the other’s mouth.

He felt the ship lurch and held her steady. “You are still
certain you want this, and now, before we marry?”

She smiled and reached her fingers to touch his face. “I
told you my home is with you, Simon. I have agreed to become your wife. I do
not want to wait.”