Captured by Love (Michigan Brides #3)(83)

“It is you.” The joy inside clogged in her throat, making her want to weep.

“Of course it is.” He took several giant steps toward the shore, and the movement forced her to wrap her arms around his neck.

She lifted her hand to his smooth freshly shaven cheek, needing to feel him and make sure he was real.

“Angelique,” he whispered, lowering his head, his eyes taking her in like a starving man. “I missed you.” Then before she could say anything more, his lips crashed against hers, and he took possession of her with the force of his kiss.

She could do nothing less than respond with the same fervor. The mingling of their lips contained all the desperation that had built during the weeks they’d been apart, the uncertainty, the longing, and the relief of being alive and together again.

With each swirling second she grew weaker until she was as soft and helpless as a wilted flower. She didn’t want to break away from him, but the cheering and hooting coming from the men on the shore finally penetrated her consciousness.

And out of the corner of her eyes she could see the brave staring at them stoically from the canoe.

With a gasping breath she dragged her lips away from Pierre’s. “You’re alive,” she said, still unable to comprehend his presence.

“I couldn’t die,” he said with another grin that sent her heartbeat into a wild tumble, “not without one more kiss from you.”

She couldn’t contain her smile. “Oh, Pierre, I thought you were dead.”

“And leave you, ma cherie?” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Never.”

She let her fingers skim his cheeks and his chin. “How did you possibly survive the Black Hole? And how did you get here?”

He nodded at the young Indian, who’d jumped from the canoe and was lugging it onto the shore with Yellow Beaver still inside. “My brother Red Fox came after me.”

Angelique glanced at the proud stiff back of the brave. “Your brother?”

“He isn’t called ‘fox’ without a reason.”

For the first time, the brave smiled at her.

“Red Fox climbed over the stone wall section of the fort, broke the lock on the Black Hole, and pulled me out.”

“All without alerting the guards on duty?” She looked again at the Indian she’d sat behind in the canoe for the past several days. She was more than a little relieved she didn’t have to marry him, but a new respect bloomed inside her. He’d saved Pierre’s life.

“Most of the soldiers were too busy celebrating their defeat of the American blockade. Lieutenant Steele had come earlier to taunt me, had seen how weak I’d become, and knew I couldn’t escape. So he hadn’t left a guard at the Hole.”

Pierre looked again at Red Fox. “But little did he know that my brother was back on the island and that he was determined to save my life, the same way I once saved his.”

Angelique’s chest swelled with uncontainable relief.

“It was the perfect night for an escape.” Pierre sloshed to the shore, carrying her as if he never planned to let her go. “I couldn’t have planned it better myself.”

“So you sent Red Fox to rescue me too?”

He nodded, his eyes flashing with anger. “I heard Ebenezer had put out a bride price for you. So I sent Red Fox back for you with my profit from the furs.”

“Then you’re the one who paid for me?”

“Of course, Ebenezer has no idea it was me. But oui, I was the one who bought you.”

She wiped a damp strand of his hair off his forehead. “Thank you.”

“I couldn’t let anyone else have you. You’re mine.” He nuzzled his nose against the tangles of her hair and then pressed a kiss on her head.

She ignored the tiny warning that whispered in the back of her mind that she wasn’t Pierre’s, that she still belonged to Jean. “You’re my hero.”

“That I am.” He swaggered forward.

She laughed, overflowing with thankfulness that God had spared his life and had given her another opportunity to be with him. She wanted to savor the moment, and for just a little while forget about everything else except them.

He climbed out of the water and onto the stretch of rocky shoreline. She wiggled to free herself from his hold, but his grip on her didn’t budge.

“I’m not letting you go,” he said, his breath warm against her temple. “I’m holding you forever.”

She laughed again. “I won’t protest.” His arms, his smile, his strength surrounded her like the warmest sunshine on a summer day. She wanted to bask in it.

He laid a tender kiss on her forehead, lingering against her skin, making her wish he’d move his lips down to hers and give her another one of his passionate kisses.

“The bourgeois needs time alone with his girl,” one of the voyageurs nearby called with a laugh. “I think we should pack up and head out and give the bourgeois some privacy.”

The guffaws and suggestive calls of the other voyageurs burned Angelique’s ears. This time she broke free of Pierre’s grasp and forced him to release her. When her feet touched the ground, she ducked her face with the pretense of smoothing down her skirt.

Pierre spun to face his friends, falling into an easy banter with them, cajoling them with the same measure they gave him.