Kisses and Scandal (A Survivors Series Anthology ) - Shana Galen Page 0,97

like me, and I felt the sting of the lash often when I didn’t work quickly enough to suit him. One evening the overseer couldn’t account for all of the knives we used to harvest the tobacco. At harvest time, we were given knives sharpened almost daily to cut the tobacco between the bottom leaves and the ground. He accused me of stealing and had me whipped publicly as an example.”

A tear ran down her cheek. “Did they ever find the knife?”

“Oh, yes. It turned out the overseer had miscounted. It was there all along.”

“I could kill him!”

He smiled. “I planned a thousand heinous deaths for him while I lay on my stomach in the hot cabin, my back burning with pain. But if not for those lashes, I might not be here. When I was up again, I was not strong enough to go back to the field right away and was given the job of pruning and planting the flowers near the big house. I overheard the master and his friends on the porch, talking of a ship sailing to England in two nights. Lakemouth was only five miles from the harbor. The next night I swam across the lake and escaped through the woods. At the harbor I pretended my master had business with the captain of the ship and asked which it was. Then I mixed in with the slaves bringing the goods aboard, slipped down to the hold, and hid. I was found after a week at sea, but the sailor who found me kept quiet. He brought me a little food and water, and I slipped off the ship with the cargo in Wapping.”

“And now look at you. You have more businesses than I can count on one hand.”

He shook his head. “I was lucky. I heard the right people talking, and I knew how to swim, which made it hard for my master to track me. The sailor on the ship didn’t bring me to his captain, who would have most likely thrown me overboard rather than being accused of aiding a runaway slave.”

“There was luck,” she conceded, “but also courage.”

“I had no more courage than you. You too escaped.”

She moved away from him, and he felt the loss of her touch keenly. “It did not take as much courage on my part. My father would not hang me if I was caught escaping. He might have beaten me, but I never feared death. And the ship I escaped on was the one my brothers sailed on. They took care of me. They hid me in their cabin and fed me and made certain I was safe in London before they left for the school in the country. At least I thought I was safe. What did I know about living in a city like London? I was an easy mark, I’m sure.”

“You’re safe now.”

She turned to look at him, her eyes searching his. He reached for her and pulled her close. “I will keep you safe.”

“You can’t promise that,” she whispered.

“I just did.”

She looked up at him. “Thomas?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think you will ever kiss me again?”

“I think that can be arranged.” He lowered his mouth to hers, a little startled when her arms came around him and pulled him closer. They were alone in his house, and he did not want to take advantage of her, but she did not seem concerned. Her lips were eager and hungry. He felt his own desire for her mirrored in her reaction to him.

His control slipped, and the need to taste more of her, to touch her soft skin, was all he could think of. He lowered her to the couch beside the book shelves, coming down on top of her, his weight braced on his elbows. She looked up at him, ran her fingers through the tight curls of his hair. “I’ve dreamed of this,” she said. “Dreamed of you holding me like this. Your mouth on me. Everywhere.”

“Raeni.” Her name was almost a prayer on his lips. She arched her neck, and he brushed his lips along the exposed skin. The scent of the lemon soap she’d used teased his nose and the taste of her made his head spin with need. Her hands slid down his shoulders and over his back, her fingers pressing into his flesh as her breath came in ever shorter gasps. His lips dipped lower, skating across the curve of her breast where the cut of the bodice