“It’s so good to see you,” Jenny gasped, still wrapped in Kyle’s embrace. “We couldn’t believe it when your letter came. That you were still with the pirates!” She pulled out of the embrace and squeezed his hand. “I’d give my condolences regarding your father, but I know better.”
Kyle smiled and kissed her brow. “Thank you.” She had been his most trusted confidant these last few years and was one of the few who knew what it had been like for him to suffer his father’s displeasure. “I’m very glad to see you, too, but … what are you doing here?”
“Hiding.” She stooped to pick up her dropped brush and set it on the easel. “I’ve been staying here for a couple weeks now. Bloody suitors, crawling all over the place, won’t give me a blasted moment’s peace at home.”
Kyle blinked at the angry, coarse language coming from her. “Suitors?”
“Papa finally agreed to let me stay here. He’s been telling everyone that I’m in Italy.” Then she bit her lip and gave him a shy smile. “I hope you don’t mind me using the house.”
Kyle shook his head. “Of course I don’t mind. You can stay here as long as you like.”
She smiled brightly, then reached up to tug at a lock of hair. “Look at you! You’ve let your hair grow wild. And you’re so tanned!” Her hand fell to is shoulder, then down the side of his arm, her fingers following the contour of his muscles. “And you’re …” She snatched her hand back, blushing. “Well, being on a ship has made you quite fit.”
Kyle was surprised at how her touch had affected him, sending a shiver through him and heat to his face. “I’m … uh … yes.”
“I manage to keep him busy,” Hal said, stepping forward. He had an amused grin on his face.
Jenny turned to him and held out her hand. “You must be Captain Jordan.”
“You can call me Mr. Smith while I’m here. Or simply Hal.” Hal took her hand and kissed it. “And you must be Miss Scott. I’ve heard much about you. And your beauty is greater than I imagined.”
Jenny giggled, blushing again. “Thank you, Captain, you are most kind.” Then she smiled at Kyle. “Now I understand why you’ve become a pirate. He’s quite a charmer. And handsome to boot. Nothing like the stories I’ve heard.”
Kyle laughed. “He’s just on his best behavior today. Get some rum in him, and he’ll be swaggering and ravishing like the worst of them.”
“Sounds exciting,” Jenny said with a wink. “Might liven it up around here.”
Hal gave her his charming, cocky grin, and Jenny blushed. Kyle could feel the tension in the air between them, but just as jealousy started to creep in, Jenny turned her radiant smile on him. “Has our Kyle been doing any swaggering and ravishing?”
“He’s still working on his swagger,” Hal said. He laid his hand on the small of Kyle’s back and gave him a seductive smile. “He’s quite good at the ravishing, though.”
“Hal!” Kyle looked at Jenny, expecting to apologize to a mortified lady, but she was giggling behind her hand.
“Oh, Kyle, don’t be such a prude.” Jenny leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek. “We’re just having a bit of fun.” Then she looked over Kyle’s shoulder. “Oh. Who is this?”
Surprised by finding Jenny here, Kyle had forgotten that Sodam was with them. The boy was currently leaning against a chair with a bored expression. At least Kyle didn’t have to worry about exposing him to the innuendo. Sodam had heard and seen much worse in the brothel he’d grown up in. “This is Sodam Yat. He’s an orphan we found in Tortuga. We’ve … sort of adopted him.”
Jenny seemed unfazed that he’d come home with a child. She just smiled and walked over to Sodam. “I’m glad to meet you, Sodam. My name is Jenny.”
She held out her hand, and Sodam, after staring at it for a moment and then glancing towards Hal, took it in his small hand and gave her fingers a quick, embarrassed kiss. Jenny smiled at Kyle, then turned her attention back to the boy. “You’ve traveled quite a distance. How do you like England?”
“It’s all right,” the boy said with a shrug. “I wanted to see snow, but Captain Hal said it’s gone away already. And I just don’t like that you have to wear shoes here.”
“We will have snow again at the end of the year,” Jenny said. “Perhaps you will be able to see it then.” Then she leaned down close to his ear. “And I’ll tell you a secret. I don’t like to wear shoes, either.” She lifted the edge of her dress to reveal her own bare toes.
A big grin broke out on Sodam’s face. He turned to Kyle. “Can I take the shoes off?” Jenny glanced at Kyle and mouthed an apologetic ‘sorry’.
He shrugged. It wasn’t worth arguing over, especially since Jenny was in her bare feet, and the boy had suffered enough anyway. “Yes, you may remove your shoes.”
Sodam kicked off the shoes and wiggled his toes. “That’s better!” He looked up at Jenny as if she was his savior.
“I suppose you gentlemen are hungry after your trip,” Jenny said. She held out her hand to Sodam again. “How about we go see what the cooks have for supper?”
Sodam took her hand and happily trotted off with Jenny. Hal watched the girl leave, then looked at Kyle with a big grin on his face. “I like her.” He wagged his eyebrows.
Kyle rolled his eyes and followed Jenny and Sodam out of the parlor and down the hall to the dining room.
“Five settings tonight, Marie,” Jenny directed to the woman laying the table for supper. Kyle knew her as a longtime employee of the house. “Our new Lord Rayner has returned.”
The woman looked up at him with wide-eyes. “Oh, sir! We didn’t realize!” She gave a curtsey. “We’d only planned for Miss Jenny and—”
“Don’t trouble yourself, Marie,” Kyle said, smiling at her. “Whatever you have will be fine.”
They sat at the table, and Kyle’s eyes fell upon the fifth setting. “Who else is joining us?”
His question was answered when a slight, golden-haired girl trotted into the dining room. “Miss Jenny, I apologize that I am late, I—!” She stopped and stared at the strangers at the table.
Jenny motioned for the girl to take her seat. “This is Lord Rayner, Mister Smith and Sodam,” Jenny said to the girl.
“Welcome, Monsieurs,” the girl said with a curtsey before she took her seat.
“This is Arisia,” Jenny said. “Her mother was one of my maids, but she was taken by a fever last autumn. Arisia’s only remaining relative is an elderly aunt in Normandy who could not take her in, so she is now my charge.” She smiled at Kyle. “It seems we’ve both collected an orphan.”
“You were stabbed?” Jenny asked, eyes wide.
“Twice,” Sodam put in helpfully between mouthfuls of roast beef.
“It wasn’t serious,” Kyle said with a wave of his hand. Actually, the first time he’d nearly died, but she didn’t need to know that. First, because he didn’t want her to worry, and second, he’d only survived because of a magic ring that was a secret known only to the crew of The Emerald Dawn. They all had their own rings, powered by an ancient, magical lantern. The lantern chose who could know their secret.
“Can we go now?” Sodam asked, pushing back his empty plate. “Arisia said she’d take me to see the horses.”
“You can go,” Kyle said, and both children took off, Arisia taking Sodam’s hand to lead the way. He was glad Sodam would have a playmate while they were here.
“You certainly have changed, Kyle Rayner,” Jenny said with a shake of her head. “You were always so lonely and shy, and now you’re off having grand adventures.” She sighed. “It must be nice to be on a ship. No one to pester you about etiquette, no social obligations, no men chasing after you like you’re a prize to be won.” She smiled, a big grin on his face. “I don’t suppose I could join your ship, too?”
Kyle chuckled. “The sea is really no place for a lady—”
She smacked her hand on the table and glared at him. “What to you mean by that? You said your surgeon is a woman!”
Kyle was surprised by her outburst. He hadn’t thought she was serious. “Yes, but Soranik—” He caught Hal shaking his head at him across the table, out of Jenny’s line of sight. “Well … that’s true…” His thoughts whirled, trying to think of an appropriate reason other than that anyone who accused Soranik of being the ‘weaker’ sex would get themselves a punch in the face. Now he wondered if Jenny would react the same, and he made sure to lean back out of arm’s reach. “But I don’t think your father would be happy with us if we let you join a pirate ship.”
“Let me! It’s always ‘am I allowed’ or ‘could I please’! Maybe I’d like to make my own decisions for once!” She slumped back in her chair and rubbed her hand over her eyes. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be cross with you. It’s just …” She sighed again. “I think my father may be tiring of making excuses, and he’s going to make me choose one of the proposals, or else choose for me.”
Kyle frowned. “Surely your father wouldn’t do that? I thought he would want you to do whatever made you happy.”
“I’m not so sure anymore.” She waved her hand dismissively and stood up to start gathering the plates. “But you have more important things to worry about than my problems. Have you decided what you are going to do? Will you stay here or will you go back to the ship?”
“I want to go back to the ship,” he said. “I’d gladly give everything to your father, but I’m sure the other lords will be after me to maintain the noble line. As if there’s anything ‘noble’ about the Rayners anymore. The Elder stabbed to death outside a brothel and the Younger a sodomite.”
“Don’t ever think you’re not worthy of them, Kyle,” Jenny said. “You helped free those poor slaves, and you took in Sodam when most of them would have passed him on the street without a glance.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Hal said, raising his glass of wine to Kyle.
Kyle felt the nudge of Hal’s boot against his ankle under the table, and he smiled back. But he knew that his good deeds wouldn’t matter to the other lords, especially as he had been in the company of ‘criminals’. “What has your father told them, about where I’ve been?”
“Italy. It’s actually you I’m supposed to be visiting, consoling a dear friend on the loss of his father while he wraps up his business to come home. You’ve been looking at shipping companies to invest in.”
Well, at least he knew about ships. “Italy? I’ve never been to Italy. What if they ask me something.”
“Just claim you were too busy to take in the sights and now you’re too distraught over your father’s death to talk about such things. I’ll take care of the rest. I was there with Todd and his wife last winter.”
“Wife?” Kyle raised his eyebrows. Todd had been his first lover, but he had been abandoned when Todd preferred a string of (often anonymous) lovers in London to his boring, country friend.
“Yes. Though lucky for us she despises the countryside and they live in London. She’s a horrible snob. But she only married for the title, and she doesn’t ask Todd what he does with his free time.” She frowned. “He’s changed since you and he—” She glanced from Hal to Kyle, then shrugged. “Well, he’s not the same person he once was. He’s become very distant and cold. I think he only invited me to Italy so I could keep his wife distracted while he was out dallying.”
“I’m sorry,” Kyle said. The three of them had been very close as children, and while he had no desire to see Todd again after their falling out, he was saddened that he’d cut off his sister as well.
She shrugged. “After how he treated you, I can’t say I’m sorry about it. You deserve much better than him.” She smiled over at Hal. “And it seems you have found someone who makes you happy.”
Kyle smiled broadly. “Very happy.”
She smiled back, then impulsively and threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “I’m so happy you’re here. I missed you!”
“I missed you, too.”
Night came quickly, something Kyle was still getting used to after the long days near the equator. And while he would have loved to sit up longer catching up with Jenny in what used to be his mother’s parlor—one of the few rooms in this cold house that held warm memories for him—Arisia was already asleep, curled up on the rug in front of the fire, Sodam was nodding off on Hal’s lap, struggling to keep his eyes open, and Kyle felt much the same. He was exhausted from their journey, from the anticipation of returning to this place, and he knew that the days to come—sorting out his father’s will and just being in this house again—was going to exhaust him more.
“I’ve had your rooms made up for you,” Jenny said after yet another yawn from Kyle. “I’ve put Sodam in your old room, and you will have the Lord’s chamber. Unless you’d rather to sleep elsewhere.”
“No, Jenny. Thank you. That will be fine.” He didn’t even want to go into the room, but he was done running away from his father. Kyle refused to let the man continue to torment him even after death. And what better way to stand up to the memory of his father but to take over his rooms as the new Lord?
“The maids put Hal’s bag in the butler’s chamber next to your room.” She smiled and winked at him. “I’ll leave it up to you to sort out the specific sleeping arrangements.”
Kyle felt his face flush, but Hal only chuckled. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”
They woke the children to take them up to bed, Hal carrying Sodam and Kyle carrying Arisia, while Jenny lit their way with a candle. The light threw eerie shadows in the massive entry hall at the base of the stairs, and Kyle shivered, not only from the ever present draught, but from the memories of this place, of Lord Scott’s servants carrying his trunk down these very stairs, moving quickly to get him out of the house before his father returned home. He’d truly believed his father would kill him in a drunken rage, and he again felt the fear he felt that day as he raced to escape to whatever fate Lord Scott had arranged for him. It was only the girl in his arms that reminded him that this was the present, that his father was gone and he no longer had anything to fear.
“Are you all right?” Hal asked him, brow furrowed with concern.
Kyle nodded. “Yes. Just … memories.” Memories of flight, of the rough journey on the merchant ship taking him to the unknown wilderness of the American colonies, and then kneeling in fear as a pirate captain kidnapped him. He smiled, considering that his uncertainty and fear had been worth it in the end. “But they led me to you, so perhaps they aren’t so bad after all.”
He followed Jenny to his mother’s old room. He had mixed emotions as he entered the room. He had watched his mother die here, wasting away from a disease brought home by her whoring husband. But it was also a room that had been a refuge, the same as her parlor, and the walls were still hung with the landscapes of Ireland that she had treasured. She had told Kyle stories about Ireland, about the sidhe and other wild things that his father would most certainly have disapproved of if he’d known. Sometimes Jenny and Todd had joined them, huddled together in a pile as they heard stories of pixies and ancient kings. Maura Rayner had been like a mother to them, as their own mother had died shortly after their birth.
He laid Arisia down on the bed where Jenny had turned back the blankets, then pulled them up over her small form.
“I hope you don’t mind us using your mother’s room,” Jenny said. “But Arisia is afraid to be alone, so she can’t stay in her own room, and this room is …” Jenny looked around at the walls and smiled. “There are a lot of happy memories in here.”
Kyle smiled at her. “I know my mother would be happy it was being put to such good use.”
“She would be proud of you,” Jenny said. “Going off and having adventures, taking in orphans, finding your true love. You could have stepped out of one of her heroic ballads.”
Kyle laughed softly, so as to not awake Arisia. “I’m not one of her Irish heroes, but I do believe she would have been happy for me.”
He bid Jenny good night, then went down the hall to the room that had once been his own. He wasn’t at all surprised that it was now unrecognizable. Any trace of its former occupant — his favorite paintings, his own artwork, his books — were all gone, replaced by some portraits of unknown people and only a pile of linens on the bookcase. He guessed that the only objects of his that survived his father’s wrath were the things that had been in his mother’s rooms, like his easel.
Hal was just finishing getting Sodam tucked into bed. The boy was sound asleep now, looking very small in the large bed. This room would seem like a palace to him, larger than many of the houses in Tortuga.
“He wanted to explore the wardrobe,” Hal said as they left the room. “I told him he could do so tomorrow, as he could barely keep his eyes open.” He smiled as he closed the door behind them. “I was right.”
Kyle chuckled and took Hal’s hand. “Jenny, Todd, and I used to play in that wardrobe when we were very small. We’d pretend it was a pirate cave full of treasure. My mother would put things in there—jewelry or an old letter opener—so we’d have treasure to find. I never realized it was her until I was twelve. We thought the ghosts were putting it there.” Kyle stopped in front of the door to the Lord’s rooms. “I overheard my father yelling at her for putting silly notions in our heads.”
He could count on one hand the number of times he’d entered this room. He had been strictly forbidden from his father’s rooms, only admitted to the study when he required a scolding. His boyhood curiosity had led him to sneak inside to explore those mysterious places when his father was away, but beyond the stashes of liquor there was nothing of interest, only stacks of papers. The rooms were as cold and stern as his father was.
“Do you suppose he’s returned here to haunt the place?” Kyle asked. He looked around at the walls, full of uninspiring portraits of dour Rayner ancestors. They all seemed to be watching him, staring accusingly at this disgrace to their family name, but at least none of them were of his father. He’d see about having them moved as soon as possible.
Strong arms slipped around his waist and a warm kiss was pressed to his neck. “If he is, I hope he enjoys the show,” Hal mumbled against Kyle’s neck. He pushed his erection against Kyle’s arse as his hand slid down to pull at the buttons of Kyle’s trousers. “I’m in no mood to be chaste tonight.”
Kyle laughed. “If he wasn’t dead already, it would surely kill him.” He turned to face Hal and kissed him deeply, his fingers caressing the beard Hal had grown to disguise himself. Then he took Hal’s hands and led him back to the massive oak bed. It had been far too long since they’d been able to sleep together or show any intimacy for that matter, having almost no privacy on the merchant ship from the Canaries or in the inns on the journey to Rayner Hall.
Clothing came off with practiced hands, and then they were pressed skin to skin, falling back on the fine linen with a slight bounce that made them laugh before they became a tangle of limbs. Kyle rolled Hal onto his back, meeting only the slightest resistance, then sat up as he straddled his thighs. “This is a nice change, being the one in charge.” He ran a finger over Hal’s belly, brushing around his navel in lazy circles, close to but not quite touching Hal’s insistent cock. “I wonder what I should order you to do?”
“I am at your beck and call, m’lord,” Hal said, trying and failing to hide his grin. “Anything at all you desire, I shall do my best to serve you.”
“Hmmm…” Kyle slid off the bed and went over to their bags to retrieve the small bottle of olive oil carefully wrapped in a handkerchief, then returned to kneel between Hal’s thighs. Kyle popped the cork from the bottle. “I believe I shall fuck you into the mattress, Mister Jordan.”
Hal gave a deferential nod, the smile still tugging at his mouth, and lifted his knees to reveal his lovely arse. “As you wish, m’lord.”
Kyle splashed a bit of oil on his hand and prepared them both, shivering with anticipation. He leaned over to set the bottle on the small table next to the bed, then ran his hands up Hal’s legs, fingers brushing lightly through the coarse hair. He pushed Hal’s knees back even further and guided himself to enter his lover in one thrust. They moaned together as Kyle sank into Hal, and Kyle had to stop and catch his breath.
“Is my arse to your liking, m’lord?” Hal asked, his face as serious as if he was asking about the temperature of the afternoon tea.
Kyle snorted. “Yes, Jordan, it is very fine indeed.” Very fine indeed, and there was no other place he’d rather have his cock. He rolled is hips, sliding slowly in and out of Hal, and reached down to wrap his hand around Hal’s erection. He matched the rhythm of his hand to his thrusts, gradually increasing the tempo until they were both grunting and panting, on the verge of climax.
Hal’s hand took over stroking his cock, and Kyle leaned forward to kiss him, to swallow the moans and shouts from Hal’s release. His writhing lover sent Kyle over the edge. The climax was intense, and Kyle was seeing stars by the time he collapsed in a sticky, sweaty heap on top of Hal.
Kyle didn’t want to move. His limbs had turned to jelly and his heart was beating a cadence in his ears to match the rapid beat of Hal’s against his chest. But he was sure Hal would want to breathe at again. He rolled off Hal, keeping an arm and a leg slung possessively over the man he loved.
“Was my service satisfactory, m’lord?” Hal sighed sleepily into Kyle’s hair.
Kyle chuckled and turned his face up to kiss Hal. “Very much so, Mister Jordan.”