Addicted to the Duke (Imperfect Lords #1)(33)

Her eyes filled with fear at the word pirates. He could not bring himself to tell her Murad’s palace was on Kos. If Alex had not rescued her all those years ago, she too would have ended up in a prison made of marble.

“I will leave you with friends in Corfu,” he offered. “You’ll be safe there.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m safer with you.”

He could not argue with that. What worried him was that if Murad was still alive and he learned the earl was on Kos, Hestia’s father would become Murad’s number-one target. Murad would want his revenge against the earl for helping Alex escape. The earl must know the danger Murad poses, so why was he risking capture?

“Once we reach the Mediterranean it would be safer if you stayed below deck. You can come up to stretch your legs and get fresh air once night has fallen.”

He watched a shiver dance over her slender frame. “You will get no argument from me. I am very aware of the dangers, to you, the ship and crew, and myself.”

Hestia had always been a logical female.

“David informs me we shall be taking on provisions in Mallorca. Will I be able to disembark there?”

Alex only just stopped himself from flinching at the use of his friend’s first name. This is what he wanted. He wanted Hestia to at least like David so that if the need was there, she would not oppose the idea of matrimony with David, so he could keep her safe.

“Jacob does not believe we are being followed, but we will have to be careful. Fredrick trades in this region and I’m sure the men he has on his payroll are not pleasant fellows. If he has learned of our deception he may well have men looking for us. You may go ashore as long as you take Jacob and his men with you, and you dress as a man.”

She did not even try to argue. “David has said he’d escort me. I want to buy more cloth to make more shirts. The old shirts in my trunk are a tad too tight across my…”

He tried not to look, but as a vigorous man his gaze dropped to her pert and bountiful breasts. Over the years he had not been blind to the way she had grown into a voluptuous young woman. When she nervously wet her lips he almost groaned. Instead, he was pleased he was seated at the table.

“I meant to thank you for keeping my old clothes.”

Damn, the adoration was back in her eyes. He still to this day did not understand why he had kept the trunk. Probably because Hestia’s presence on that dreadful trip home from the Mediterranean was the only thing that stopped his disappointment at letting Murad slip through his fingers eat him to the bone.

So he did what any man would do, he lied. “Thank Jacob. He organized it all.”

“Jacob? I must thank him. The trunk has been most useful. I wonder why he kept my things? Perhaps he thought to give them to a new cabin boy?” At her raised eyebrow he knew it sounded a lame excuse. Why would Jacob wash and keep her clothes? Why would he? Why did Alex?

He wanted to remember a happy time. It was that simple, but he could not tell her that. He hated how even now she affected him when no other woman did. Why did it have to be her? Was it because she too had, for a short time, been a victim of Murad?

Four years ago, days after she had disembarked after their journey home from Greece, Hestia’s enthralling scent had lingered, soothing his anger at his failure. He had lost his one opportunity to kill Murad and get his revenge. His mood became so atrocious Jacob threatened to throw him overboard.

What bothered him more was that Hestia filled his thoughts and made his failure easier to bear. Rescuing her was the one good thing he’d done when in the Mediterranean. He would still hear her sweet voice echoing through the ship. He had envied how quickly she could put her kidnapping and what happened at Murad’s hands behind her. Still, she had only been a captive for a few days, and in Murad’s presence for but moments. He on the other hand had endured almost two years…

This trip threw his emotions askew. One moment he wanted to thank Jacob and David for keeping her company and out of his way, but then his darker side emerged and he wanted to slice off their tongues as they regaled him with daily updates on her activities. She had the two of them wrapped around her little finger. They adored her.

But the nights were the worst torture. The only thing that kept the nightmares at bay was if he dreamed of her. Her lush body beneath his, or over him, in front of him…every which way a man can make love to a woman, until his groin throbbed with need.

“I’ll go and find Jacob to thank him, if there is nothing else.” Her words broke through his reminiscing and grounded him back in the present.

“I’m sure Jacob would be embarrassed by your thanks.”

“Just like you would be. I know what you are sacrificing for me.” She paused. “I know you never wanted to return to Greece.”

His chest clenched at the look of pity in her eyes. Hestia thought he was doing this for her and her father. In a way he was, but he’d jumped at rescuing her father for his own selfish reasons. Revenge drove him.

“Don’t look at me like that, Hestia. You definitely do not need to thank me.” Her mouth twisted up on one side and he knew she did not believe him, but there was no way in hell he was going to reveal his plan to go after Murad.

Anger spurred him to say something when he should have bitten his tongue. “You think I’m some kind of hero because I rescued you all those years ago. You have no idea who I really am. I’m just a man.”