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Category: Erotica/Paranormal Erotica
Description: "Treasure:" Katie O'Brien came to the Bluebird Inn hoping for a long, relaxing vacation. But when a pirate named Jack shows up in her room, seduces her, then confesses that he's a ghost, her plans change drastically. Jack has spent four hundred years feeling guilty for the deceitful actions that resulted in the death of his true love, but he never thought he'd really be able to end his curse by finding true love again. But when Katie walks into the Inn, looking as though she just stepped down from the portrait of his lost love, he starts to hope again. Their sexual chemistry is undeniable, and Jack hopes he can convince Katie to give them both the chance to find something even greater--the true love that could save them both. "Black Angel:" Isobel Carter finds herself in an unlikely position, captive upon a Spanish galleon and bed wench to a pirate. Alejandro Garcia Ramirez, son of a Spanish nobleman captured the lovely Isobel. He's shown her incredible pleasure, but desires her complete submission, only then can she be his entirely. Can she resist the will of the Black Angel or will she be consumed?
eBook Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press, 2007
eBookwise Release Date: November 2007

4 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [68 KB]
Words: 14430
Reading time: 41-57 min.

The ship rocked and the lamps swung upon their chains. The silence in the dim wardroom was nearly deafening.

"I will send word to Barbados and you will write letters proving your identity," Alejandro said at last.

"If I refuse?"

"If you refuse, I will take your lovely daughter and tie her to the mast where she will be available to any sailor who passes." Noting the governor's horrified look, he continued, "She will not last very long. Should you continue to refuse, I will take your other, younger daughter."

"You are a vile bastard," the governor sputtered.

"Give me your answer."

"I will write the letters." His voice was low, defeated.

Alejandro had the governor escorted back to his family and opened the door to his bedroom where Isobel awaited him.

She was seated upon his bed and he knew she'd overheard his conversation.

"Would you really do that?" she asked bluntly.

Alejandro removed his coat and laid it carefully over the chair, then sat.

"Probably not, but if he thinks it so, then half of my work is already done."

She regarded him carefully. "Probably?"

"All right, querida, I would not take his daughters." He smiled.

"You frightened him; I could hear it in his voice. Are you that cruel?"

Alejandro straightened in his chair, incensed at her questioning.

"Isobel, it is not your place to question me." He could see the flinty look in her eyes and wondered how long it would be before she would finally stop defying him.

She stood near the door, motionless, waiting.

He sighed.

"I took the pinnace because it was English, small and unguarded. I have a particular dislike for the English, as you well know. The ship was rich, the ransom for the new governor of Barbados and his family will be richer."

"He is right. You are a vile bastard," Isobel said.

"And you are a slave who acts above her station," Alejandro said angrily. "Now go to the galley and see to our supper."

He sat and looked at her until she finally dropped her gaze and turned, closing the door hard behind her. She stalked down the long corridor to the galley and slammed the door open, startling a cook.

"The captain wants his supper," she said through gritted teeth.

Once more he'd reminded her of her status here aboard his ship. She was a slave to a Spanish pirate, taken in a raid. Once, she had been a stock trader in Manhattan, now she was his bed wench and personal slave. A time traveler, she'd awakened from her vacation in Jamaica, not in the sumptuous hotel in which she'd fallen asleep, but in the middle of a gun battle between his ship and the city's defenses.

Before she'd known exactly what was happening, she'd been taken.

Isobel had been tossed in with a dozen other captives and seated upon the deck of his ship waiting for him to decide what was to be done with them. Some were sent to be sold as slaves, others were simply tossed overboard.

When his eyes stopped upon her, a slow smile spread across his features, softening his handsome face.

"Send that one to my quarters."

That night nearly three weeks ago had been the beginning of an intensely physical relationship between them, and to be entirely honest, he hadn't had to force her very much. He was an incredible lover. The danger and mystery of him thrilled her like nothing she'd ever experienced.

"If you please me, perhaps I shall free you," he'd said that night. The thought alternately filled her with elation and dread. Freedom was what she should dream of, and she did, but at the same time, what did freedom mean for her here? Perhaps if she pleased him, he would keep her, was her silent prayer.

Isobel did not know exactly what, if anything, he felt for her. She had tried her best to please him that much was certain, but whenever she thought he might have feelings for her he would dash those hopes to dust.

Alejandro Garcia Ramirez was the son of a Spanish nobleman who'd been killed in a raid by the English.

He now exacted his revenge by plundering any English ships unlucky enough to encounter his Black Angel presumably with the blessings of the Spanish crown.

"Have it sent to his wardroom," she said and left the galley.

Isobel Carter was his slave, but she was not confined belowdecks any longer. She was free to move about the ship, but only if she told him where she would be. Tonight she decided to defy him. She was still angry and knew they would fight if she returned. She could not adjust to this world where she must be submissive at all times, and he could not understand her willfulness and independence.

She had tried to make him understand who she was, what she was. She had tried to explain, but had not gotten very far before he was kissing her and making love to her and all thoughts of explanation were gone.

Abovedeck Isobel watched the crew making repairs to the ship. The skirmish with the governor's pinnace had been short but damaging. The workmen labored to patch holes left in the bulkhead. One man would hold the boards, hammering them into place, and another would slop hot tar over them to seal the raw wood. It was hot, dirty, smelly work, and she was glad it wasn't her job.

She sat upon a crate and watched the sea and the birds until the sun was long set and the lanterns were lit.

Let him spend the night alone. Her feelings for Alejandro ran hot and cold and she rarely understood why. By rights, she should hate him and constantly search for ways to kill him and free herself, or perhaps she ought to kill herself.

She shook her head at that thought.

She'd been raised as a good Catholic, but in her heart she had always questioned her faith. She couldn't see the sense in taking her own life, especially over something like sex. She supposed part of her enjoyed this bondage, in some inexplicable way. Certainly her life was much different now.

As though she'd conjured him, she turned her head toward the hatchway and watched him emerge. Tall, with dark hair and eyes, he moved with the grace of a man who'd spent his entire life upon the sea. He crossed the deck, observing the sailors and settling his gaze upon her.

"Go belowdecks."

"No."

"Isobel..." A warning tone entered his voice.

"You can't just tell me..."

With barely any movement, he took her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "Get belowdecks before I raise your skirt and beat you here before everyone," he growled.

"Jerk," she muttered but moved as he'd told her.

Alejandro was close upon her heels as she descended the stairs to the walkway below, still she managed to slam the door of his wardroom on him and turned smirking at the door.

Her smug look vanished as the door opened and crashed against the wall behind it. He advanced upon her and she turned fleeing to his bedroom where she slammed that door and threw the bolt.

She stepped back and let out a long sigh of relief. "I'll just let him cool off for a while, then I'll..."

The door crashed open, splintering the frame. Isobel shrieked and backed up, falling onto the bed, then scrambling back as far as she could.

"Alejandro..." she said.