Addicted to the Duke (Imperfect Lords #1)(62)

He smiled at her as the fortress around his heart crumbled. Damn, she would pick him and his world would change. He would marry her on Corfu, and find it almost impossible to leave her and seek his vengeance. But he owed Tulay. He had not protected her when she needed him to, so now he had to put her ghost to rest or he would remain haunted for the rest of his days.

What did give him peace was the thought that even if Murad killed him, a small part of Alex would remain buried in Hestia’s heart and soul. She would remember him.

His stomach clenched. If he had Hestia waiting for him, he wanted to survive. That’s what he dreaded. Would he be too focused on surviving to keep his edge, too scared to give everything to destroy his enemy?

Tulay’s battered and bloodied body swam into vision, and he clung to that image. His oath to avenge her was all he had left to hold on to.

“I must say that I’m really looking forward to stepping onto dry land. I hope your friends have a bath I may use. How did you meet Costa and his family?”

Hestia’s question interrupted his morbid thoughts. He tried to smile at her. She sat in her oversized sailors’ clothes, but they could not disguise her innate femininity. Her hands were too clean and soft. She did not smell like a man. That orange blossom scent still clung to her, and her lips looked as soft as rose petals. His groin tightened at the idea of licking the drops of wine off them.

If their enemy took this ship, Hestia was in grave danger, for any man would recognize her curves.

The fuzzy image from his opiate-induced night of her lying naked beside him played in his head as he tried to concentrate on his answer. “I met Costa and his father just after I escaped Murad’s clutches. They found me drifting in a small rowboat in the middle of the Mediterranean.”

Her forehead wrinkled as she frowned. “I thought my father rescued you.”

“He did. He found out where Murad was keeping me and alerted Jacob and David.” He looked at David before quickly continuing. “They managed to get me out of Murad’s fortress, but…we became separated. I spied an unattended rowboat and launched it into the sea, only to find I was so weak I must have passed out. The little craft slipped from the harbor. I awoke on board Costa’s fishing boat a few days later.”

As he lay recuperating, he’d managed to ask Costa to find Jacob, and Costa had. It saved his life because it brought him David too.

What he did not tell Hestia was the weeks of agony he endured as the poison from the opium ravaging him left his body. He thought he’d die from the cravings, and it was only David that pulled him through.

He looked across at his friend and felt the heavy burden of guilt. He owed David his life, and he’d talked him into looking at a marriage with Hestia and now…now he’d ruined that.

“How long will we be on Corfu?” David asked.

It was a leading question and Alex knew it. “That will depend on what information Costa has for me.”

“Regarding the whereabouts of my father,” Hestia asked.

“Exactly.”

“No more than two days,” Jacob added. “News of a ship the size of the Angelica will travel. It’s hard to hide in in these waters. We have to keep moving and be prepared.”

Jacob was not only worried about Fredrick. They had learned he was on another sloop. Murad would soon learn they were here and he would come after them. Alex inclined his head in agreement. “We need to find your father and get him and Hestia back to England as soon as possible.”

The table fell silent.

He watched David pat Hestia’s hand. “Don’t worry, my lady. I’m sure Costa will have good news for us when we reach Corfu tomorrow.”

Hestia looked at Alex and he wished he could wipe the worry from her beautiful face, but he knew it was him she was worried for. She knew no matter what they learned on Corfu, Alex would insist on sailing after Murad.

Still holding his gaze, she slowly stood. “It’s late, gentlemen. If you’ll excuse me.”

Alex watched her leave the stateroom, and every voice in his head screamed to go after her, until he noticed David watching her with the exact same look on his face. He should do the honorable thing and leave her be. Give her time to make her choice.

Choose me.

Then again, he’d learned over the years that you shouldn’t give up on what you want. If he were a quitter he would have died in Murad’s prison. His problem was he did want her, but he didn’t want to want her.

—

As with the rest of his life, Alex discovered that willpower was sadly lacking when, just after one in the morning, he found himself in front of Hestia’s cabin door.

Torn by indecision, he leaned his forehead on the door and warred with himself.

There was a high probability that he would die in the coming days, so God, and David, could damn his soul to hell, but he wanted one night with Hestia, in his bed, where he was not in dreamland. He wanted a clear head to perfectly remember her touch. Her taste. Her scent. Her loving…

To remember that for one magical night she was his.

Selfishness, thy name is Alexander.

He quietly slipped inside, closing the door behind him. He leaned back against the hard wood, warmth spreading through his chest because Hestia was standing beside the porthole, her thin linen nightgown completely transparent. It took his breath away.

She turned to him. “Some prayers do get answered. I prayed you’d come.”