The Red Drifter of the Sea (Pirates of the Isles #3) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,45

prey than a docile barn cat.

“Will you teach me? I don’t even know what there is to learn,” Moira admitted.

“If you stay aboard the Lady Charity, your life is in danger. The English navy, the Irish, other pirates. Any could attack at any time,” Kyle warned.

“And you will attack any of them when you have the chance. I understand that. I don’t welcome it, but I expect it.” Moira raised up on her elbow, her breasts pressed together. Kyle brushed the backs of his fingers over her nipples and trailed his finger down her deep cleavage as he listened. “I know you will keep me safe as best you can, but you’re giving me the choice. And I’m telling you my answer. I want to stay with you.”

“I am giving you a choice. But there is an option that you haven’t told me, Moira. Where were you headed?” Kyle paused and waited for her answer. He held his breath to see if she trusted him with more than her body.

“Kyle,” Moira sighed as she closed her eyes.

“Not ready to trust me,” Kyle stated flatly.

“You’re asking a lot of me, Kyle. I want to be here. Can that not be enough for right now? I’m already trusting you not to kill me, rape me, or abuse me. I’ve trusted you when you left me bound in here or kneeling for hours on end, no idea when you’re coming back or the mood you’ll be in. I’ve trusted you to spank me without trying to escape or fight you. Hell, I stripped naked and laid over your table, prepared for you to spank me without you even telling me to. You felt the need to warn me with a safe word because you knew you might push me too far, and I trusted you not to hurt me. I do trust you, Kyle. More than I should, given who you are, what you are, and how little I really know about you. I’m a fool to do so. But I do.”

Moira laid down, unsure how Kyle would react. When he eased her back into his embrace and peppered soft kisses on her forehead and crown, she felt more confused than ever, but she also felt safe. Something that she’d only ever felt with Kyle. She’d never felt it at Dunluce, not even when she thought she loved Aidan.

“Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?” Moira asked before a yawn escaped. She placed her hand over his heart as her eyes drifted closed. “I need a nap.” Kyle covered her hand with his and before drawing the covers over them. He considered resting his eyes, but he didn’t want to miss a moment of Moira being nestled against him. Reality was outside the cabin door, and he would have to face it again soon enough. Outside their love nest was the ever-present chance that something would pull them apart. Kyle was in no rush to return to that, so he watched Moira sleep instead.

Fourteen

“Where do you think she was going?” Keith asked as he rocked on the rear two legs of his chair, his booted feet resting on the footboard of his bunk. Kyle had slipped out of bed with a peck on the cheek as Moira stirred, but didn’t wake. He’d crossed over to the Lady Grace at twilight and now sat with his brother as they sorted through the unexpected events of finding Moira aboard a ship Kyle ransacked.

“She says south. She admitted that Dónal has betrothed her to Dermot O’Malley, so I know she wasn’t headed there. That’s why she ran—or rather sailed—away from Dunluce. According to Moira, her clan council doesn’t agree with Dónal’s choice of bedfellows, so they helped her escape. She hasn’t told me where she was going, but I suspect to the O’Driscolls. Fionn wasn’t pleased when Senga suspected that Dónal mistreats Moira, and I imagine Senga would expect Fionn to take her in. He respects Senga enough to oblige any request from one of her acquaintances. For all Fionn’s sins, after what happened to Aisling, he doesn’t ignore wounded women. It wouldn’t surprise me if the O’Driscolls would take Moira to Senga and Caragh.”

“You mean Rowan and Ruairí,” Keith chuckled, and the brothers clinked their mugs together. While Rowan and Ruairí MacNeil had once been the most terrifying duo of pirates sailing the British Isles, any who knew the men now that they were married with a child each knew it was their