The Red Drifter of the Sea (Pirates of the Isles #3) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,108

head. He shifted his gaze to send a warning glare at his brother.

“She’s the only one who can tell us apart,” Keith said by way of explanation.

“Why were you testing me?” Moira asked, turning her head toward Keith, but not moving from Kyle’s body. “Did you think I would just go with either of you without caring who it was?”

“Because I love my brother as much as you do. I wanted to be sure you really choose him and aren’t just using him to leave your family behind,” Keith explained.

“It wasn’t your place,” Kyle snarled.

“The bluidy hell it wasn’t,” Keith snapped. “If she’s joining our family, then I want to be sure she’d doing it for the right reasons.”

“Family?” Moira whispered. She turned to look at Keith with Kyle’s arms still wrapped around her middle. “I hadn’t thought of that. You’re to be my brother. A brother I like and want.”

Keith chortled. “We shall see if you still sing the same tune in a few months or years, lass. But you’re a sister I’d like to have, too. I heard once that you already claimed we’re related.”

Moira sucked in her lips and looked back sheepishly at Kyle, who shrugged.

“How did you know he was Keith and not me?” Kyle asked.

“Because you’re nothing alike,” Moira stated. Both brothers looked at her as if she weren’t right in the head. Even their parents hadn’t been able to tell them apart. They doubted Ruairí and Rowan could, barring when they were on their respective ships. Everything about them was identical. Moira shrugged. “You don’t walk or stand the same way. Your voices are different.”

“Moira, that can’t be true, or other people could tell us apart,” Kyle corrected.

“Maybe they don’t know you like I do,” Moira pointed out with a cocked eyebrow. Kyle leaned over and kissed her cheek before whispering in her ear.

“There are things about you I’m certain no one else knows. I would like to enjoy those things right now,” Kyle said as he pinched her backside. Moira giggled, but Keith snorted.

“You can do that in just a moment. I really want to know how you can tell us apart,” Keith insisted. Moira inhaled deeply, then blew out a dramatic sigh.

“You don’t walk the same. Kyle tends to keep his right arm bent as though he’s about to draw his sword. Keith, you do that with your left, but I think you intend to draw your knife first. Kyle puts more weight on his heels when he stands, as though he’s prepared to fight in place. Keith leans forward on the balls of his feet as though he’ll lunge. And your voices…well, you just talk to me differently. I admit I thought you were Kyle as you approached, but then you stopped. I was pretty sure you weren’t Kyle. Then you called me ‘sweet one,’ and I knew you were Keith. It didn’t sound right.”

Kyle kissed Moira’s temple and sent Keith a feigned glower. He eased Moira back to face him and kissed her. It was slow and soft until they broke apart, and Moira leaned her head against Kyle’s chest, against the thudding, soothing rhythm of his heart. Her sigh was genuine.

“Sweet one, we can return to the Lady Charity now, if you wish. Or we can go to a tavern and have a hot meal before we leave,” Kyle offered.

“Not The Mother Hen,” Moira blurted.

“That’s not a tavern,” Kyle corrected with a chuckle. “I don’t plan on returning there. If Keith and the others wish to, then they will. I prefer a particular fae-like woman who I think prefers me.”

“I do,” Moira murmured as she got lost in the intense draw Kyle’s gaze held. “But I meant what—”

“Finish that thought, and I will turn you over my knee here and now, Moira,” Kyle threatened. She gulped and nodded, chagrined but secretly ecstatic. “You brother is gone, and we’ve been given a reprieve. We can have a proper meal and sleep in a proper bed, or we can return to the ship.”

“I am famished. I don’t remember the last time I ate properly,” Moira admitted. She glanced back at Keith, then gestured for Kyle to bend over. “Then back to our cabin. The implements and hook are there.”

Kyle straightened and blinked several times before tugging Moira against him. His kiss was savage and consuming, and Moira returned it in equal measure. He lifted her off her feet and with one hand pressed against her back pinned her to him, while