Lynna's Beau (Tropical Paradise Series Book 2) Page 8

  “That won’t be necessary.” Suzanne closed her eyes. “As I told you, Lynna is extremely ill and I doubt she will be causing problems for anyone much longer.”

  “I understand, but death is such an… easy way out. No more pain and suffering.” Now was the time to hammer his point home. Sean ran his tongue around her nipple without touching it, making her squirm. “Some people should be made to suffer every single day for the remainder of their natural lives for the pain they have caused us.”

  Even through her haze of lust his words penetrated the fog of Suzanne’s mind. She turned them over and over in her head and nodded agreeably. He had a good point. Death was too easy for Lynna. Just the thought of her at the hands of some madman caused Suzanne to shiver with pleasure.

  “And just how would you suggest these odious people should be made to suffer?” She wondered aloud, momentarily forgetting the desire racing through her.

  “The man I was speaking of prides himself on making women… hurt.” Sean could tell by her bright smile that he had her immediate and undivided attention with his words.

  “Tell me about this man.” Suzanne smiled, lost in thought. “Is he a handsome and virile young stud or some old depraved soul with liver spots covering his face and hands?”

  He knew exactly what she wanted to hear. “The latter, my dear, he is a rather sad looking creature with unsightly warts in the most inconvenient places. All but a few of his teeth have rotted out and he suffers from a rather nauseating body odor. One of his legs is shorter than the other causing him to walk with a painful limp, but he has a great deal of money and is, therefore, willing to pay an exorbitant amount for a companion.”

  “And would he treat Lynna like a princess, as she is accustomed to being treated? Or would he recognize her for the tramp she is and deal with her accordingly?”

  Sean played along with her cruel fantasy. “Have no doubt, she would be well abused in the bedroom.”

  Suzanne tossed the idea around in her head only a second before making her decision. “If I agree to this, will you promise to take me to her one year from now so I can feast on her misery with my own eyes?”

  “Of course, but I will return for you long before a year has passed. I could not possibly stay away from you that long.” Looking out the window, Sean was amazed that lightening didn’t strike him on the spot for uttering such an outrageous fabrication.

  “Then I think we should introduce the two of them posthaste.” Suzanne clapped her hands joyfully.

  “I would be happy to introduce Lynna to my acquaintance on the island and put a tidy sum in my own pocket in the meantime.” Then a thought struck him. “But what of the babe?”

  Suzanne waved a dismissive hand in the air, as if the child were of little or no concern whatsoever. “Let Joshua’s parents and his spinster sister raise the brat.”

  “Then we have a deal.” Sean breathed a sigh of relief. “I will make all the necessary arrangements. All you need do is return to Cedar Hill and be patient. I will send a message when I have worked out the details. Promise me, Suzanne, that you will do exactly as I say. Can you do that?”

  “To be rid of Lynna once and for all? And to know that she is with a man who gets his enjoyment from her pain. I will carry out your instructions to the letter, with immense pleasure.”

  Suzanne received a missive two days later at Cedar Hill. Tearing open the letter, she read,

  Give the enclosed message to the courier. He has been instructed to carry it to one of the slaves who will then forward it to Lynna personally. You must visit her later in the day and ascertain if she has set up an alarm. If she does not, and I don’t believe she will, then all will go as planned. If, on the other hand, she is suspicious and speaks of the letter to anyone you must get word to me immediately. If all goes well, after I deliver Captain Jordan’s widow to her future home I will return for you, my lovely Suzanne. I will be counting the days until I find myself in your delicious arms once again.

  The enclosed message to Lynna read:

  I have your husband. If you desire to see him alive again come to the Charleston Harbor tomorrow morning at daybreak. Come alone! If you bring anyone with you he will die before you have even boarded the ship.

  Suzanne waited the required two hours before rushing to Sea Grove, anxious to see how much closer Lynna had come to drawing her final breath. Everyone thought she suffered from childbed fever, only Suzanne knew the truth. Well, her and Amari.

  She gently pushed open the door to Lynna’s dark bedroom, a room that smelled of camphor and… death. Lynna was staring at the ceiling, perfectly still. Was she breathing?

  Lynna was so lost in thought Suzanne had called her name twice before she responded. “I’m sorry… Suzanne. I didn’t… hear you come… in.”

  It was obvious that the effort required to say the words totally exhausted Lynna. Why, she looked like the walking dead. One of the zombies Amari had tried to convince her actually existed. Suzanne couldn’t wait to learn how to cast that spell. If it was possible to bring someone back to life Joshua Jordan would be first on the list!

  “I have missed… you.” Lynna had dark circles under her sunken eyes and looked as fragile as a newborn babe, yet she smiled wanly at Suzanne.

  “Is that a smile I see on your face, Lynna?” Suzanne teased. “Why, I haven’t seen your lips turned upward in ages. Tell me. What has made you so happy all of a sudden?”

  “I need…” It took Lynna several tries to get the words out. “To run an…” Suzanne drummed her fingers on the bedside table impatiently. For the love of God spit it out! “errand. Will… you help… me?”

  “Well, of course I will darling. Why, you know all you need do is ask.” But, please! I beg of you! Do not spend the next two hours trying to get one sentence out! I simply cannot tolerate it!

  “Thank… you.”

  “You know you are more than welcome, honey. I am always here for you. But, pray tell, what is this errand that is so urgent and why can’t one of the servants run it for you?” So that was how she planned to get away. When Lynna didn’t respond she continued, “Lynna, darling, it appears you would have some difficulty getting out of bed, let alone out of the house to cavort about running errands. Just tell me what it is and I promise you it will be done.”

  “No!” Lynna roused herself trying desperately to focus on what Suzanne was saying. “I must… do it… myself.”

  “Very well.” There was simply no point in trying to prolong a conversation with the girl. It was irritating beyond reason. “I will arrive in the morning with a carriage and we will run this very secretive errand of yours.” Good Lord, if I didn’t detest the girl so much watching her struggle to talk would almost be painful.

  “No… tonight… midnight.”

  “You want to run this errand tonight at midnight?” Suzanne cried, pretending to be shocked. “Lynna, have you taken complete leave of your senses? What could possibly be so important?”

  “Will you help… me… please?”

  “Well, of course I will help you, Lynna.” Help you into an early grave. “But please tell me what this is all about. Why, your father and Jeremiah would have my head if they got wind of such shenanigans.”

  “I cannot. Please… trust me.”

  Appearing entirely put upon, Suzanne sighed a dramatic sigh. “I will do as you ask, Lynna. Of course, I have always gone out of my way to help you in any way I could. And, being the friend that I am, I will even risk being banned from Sea Grove forever if that’s what it takes to make you happy.” Suzanne glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “Will it be possible for you to sneak out of the house tonight if I have the buggy waiting?”

  “Yes… I will… be ready.”

  “I honestly don’t know how you propose to even make it down the stairs in your frail condition.” Suzanne’s eyes swept over her skeletal frame contemptuously.

  “I… have to.” Gazing at Suzanne from bruised eyes, Lynna was too exha
usted to utter another word so she held her finger to her lips praying that Suzanne would understand.

  “I will take your secret to my grave.” Suzanne assured the girl whom she had little doubt was dying. But now wasn’t the time or place for rejoicing. “Trust me, Lynna.”

  Lynna reached for Suzanne’s hand and gave it a final squeeze before exhaustion overwhelmed her and she slept.

  Chapter 8

  New Years Day, 1854

  Joshua slowly and painfully opened eyes that felt as if they had been stitched shut. The excruciatingly bright sunlight streaming through the frosty window caused him to quickly shut them as severe pain bounced from behind one eye to the other. Waiting a few minutes to get his bearings, he opened his eyes to slits hoping they would adjust to the bright light. Several more minutes and he was able to open them all the way, although the effort sent another volley of sharp pain throbbing through his head.

  In an aborted attempt to lift his hand and rub his eyes, he stopped short when the effort caused a raging inferno to blast throughout his entire ribcage. He hurt. His chest throbbed with an intense, searing, all consuming pain. His muscles ached. Everywhere. With pain that he had, until this very second, never known existed. And where was he?

  Peering around the room, he could find no answers to his questions. He was in a one room rough hewn cabin of some sort, furnished with the bare necessities. Something that smelled delicious boiled in a pot suspended over the fire in the fireplace causing his mouth to water. Although he was desperately trying to figure out why he was in this strange room, Joshua couldn’t hold on to the thought and drifted back into a dream laced sleep.

  Chapter 9

  Lynna rubbed her throbbing head as déjà vu spread over her like a well worn blanket. Where was she? She recalled slipping out of her room after the others had gone to bed and then the slow draining walk down the stairs to reach the front door. In all her life she had never been half so tired as she was walking down that long flight of stairs. Walking down a step and then sitting down to rest, walking and sitting down. Her legs trembled violently as she repeated the process over and over for what seemed like hours until she finally reached the bottom. And she was so cold.

  Even though her head was spinning, nausea was boiling in her throat, and her vision was so blurry she expected to tumble head over heels, she had stubbornly refused to give in to defeat. With thoughts of seeing Joshua again urging her on, she had pulled herself up by the banister and somehow made it out the door with her heart pounding and sweat pooling in the small of her back from exertion. When she stood on the verandah the night air had swirled under her night rail chilling her to the bone.

  Suzanne was hiding behind a bush and had leapt out to grab Lynna’s hand, practically dragging her down the steps before she could get caught sneaking her out of the house. How would she ever explain such subterfuge to Jeremiah and Nathan? “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Lynna,” she snapped, unable to hide her annoyance. “You could have at least changed out of your night rail.”

  Gasping for breath, Lynna murmured, “Forgive me, but… I simply did not… have the… strength.”

  Towing Lynna behind her, Suzanne had forced her to hurry down the small incline and then climb up onto the seat of a buggy where she had collapsed. Lynna laid her head in Suzanne’s lap, then tugged a blanket up to her chin as a bone numbing fatigue had overwhelmed her.

  As the buggy raced along the heavily rutted road, causing Lynna’s hip to bounce painfully on the hard wooden seat, the ache in her bones was so intense she lost consciousness for a short time. Her mind drifted to another time and place. A time when she was but a young girl and her father had hired a devilishly handsome sea captain to sail her away to a new land, a new home. A place where she again felt her rogue’s lips on her neck, her breast, and lips.

  Lynna moaned in her sleep when he moved atop her and filled her, moving with her until her body reached the sweet release that it craved. With a satisfied sigh, she wadded the blanket under her hip and was able to find relief from the throbbing ache. She was freezing now, but at least she could stand the pain. For Joshua there was no pain she couldn’t withstand.

  Her next memory was hours later when Suzanne pulled the horses to a halt at the Charleston Harbor and had shaken her roughly awake. With the glow from a few streetlights she could see the tall masts of several ships at anchor in the swirling mist rising from the water.

  “Wake up, Lynna,” Suzanne snapped. “We have arrived. For goodness sakes, you have been asleep for hours. You can’t still be tired.”

  “I must… go to… Joshua,” Lynna had mumbled, somehow finding the strength to lift her weary body and stumble to the ground.

  She remembered stepping down and taking a few weak steps toward the docks and then everything going blank. Evidently she had passed out cold from sheer exhaustion.

  Shaking her head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs and bring her mind back to the present, Lynna opened her eyes and added a throbbing headache to her growing list of ailments. Nothing looked familiar. It was too bright in this room, and the bed wasn’t as soft as her bed at Sea Grove, but it was soft enough to sleep on and that’s just what she intended to do. From the corner of her eye she noticed movement, then a figure sitting in a chair across from her bed. How nice, but she really wasn’t up to visitors just yet. She would chat with whoever it was later, after a long nap. Wait. She wasn’t at Sea Grove. She had come to the docks to find Joshua. Forcing her eyes open she stared into the face of…

  No.

  It could not be!

  But it was, for she would never forget the face that had haunted her dreams for the past year. Sean Devereux. “You are… dead,” she cried hoarsely. Only she and Rob had survived the sinking ship. “I must be hallucinating.”

  “Not hardly, my dear.” Sean grinned lazily. “I am very much alive. Believe me, I had the same reaction when I first learned that you were still among the living as well, albeit barely at the moment it would seem.” Lighting a cheroot, he leaned forward and watched her intently from hooded eyes. “It seems we were both under the mistaken impression that the other had perished.” He inhaled deeply and tilted his head back to blow smoke into the air. “You see, Lynna, for all these many months I have thought you were dead. I never dreamed you would survive the sinking ship, swim to shore, and somehow endure living on a deserted island alone. Some day you must tell me exactly how you managed such a challenging feat alone.”

  “But why…” She paled, consumed with dread for what was to come. Then even though her brain was foggy and she was too weak to lift her own hand to cover her face, it suddenly dawned on her why she was on the pirate ship. The promise. But she was too tired to focus on what he was saying or hold her eyes open for another second and drifted off to a place of dreams where Beau and Joshua waited.

  Two days later, Sean entered his cabin determined to keep the girl awake and alert at least long enough to hold a decent conversation with her. They had quite a bit of catching up to do. But she was in far worse condition than he had expected. It was clear Suzanne had meant to see the girl go slowly and painfully to her grave.

  Lynna’s dull, lifeless eyes were glazed and fixed on the open balcony door as he took the chair beside her bed and leaned back crossing his feet at the ankles. “Do you remember the promise you made to me, Lynna?”

  Lynna knew exactly what promise he was referring to. She had vowed to give her body to the pirate captain to save Rob from feeling the wrath of the cat o nine tails just before Sean’s ship had sank. It had been over a year and the pirate captain still meant to hold her to her word. Even though she was married?

  “You cannot… expect me to… follow through with that promise. I am a married… woman.”

  Sean’s robust laughter filled the cabin. “You were married when you made the promise,” he was wont to remind her. “To my brother if I recall correctly.”

  “But, I have recently… remarried.”

  “You were remarrie
d.” He had no desire to cause her more pain than she was already experiencing, but she needed to release the hope that her husband was coming home and move on with her life. She was already in his bed, she just had to get well enough to do something besides sleep in it. “From what I hear both your husbands are dead.”

  “Joshua is… still alive!”

  “No, I can inform you with utmost certainty that he is not.”

  Lynna’s heart plummeted to her feet. “How can you be so sure?”

  He opened his mouth to tell her the truth, but felt that now was not the time. “Just trust me, Lynna. It’s for your own good. There is no point in continuing to fool yourself. Your husband will not be coming home.”

  He seemed so certain. “How do you know this?” Sean had sent her the message, of course. She had been a fool to come to the docks without telling anyone at Sea Grove her destination. Then a mind numbing thought struck her. “Did you kill Joshua?”

  Sean shook his head. “No, I did not.”

  For some reason she believed him. On the other hand, he was entirely too sure of himself. He knew something about Joshua’s death, more than he was willing to admit. “But… you… know who did?”

  “Yes, Lynna. I do.” Sean stood and sauntered to a table across the room, obviously having said all he was going to on the matter.

  It crossed Lynna’s mind to sit up, but it was a useless and wasted effort. Her arms were dead weight. “Please tell me,” she cried, as a sob caught in her throat.

  “Perhaps in time.” Sean turned to look at her and his voice softened when he saw the pain in the glistening blue depths of her eyes. “I’m telling you the truth for you own piece of mind. So you can begin to build a new life.” He sat down in the chair with a steaming bowl in his hands. “Now, you must try to eat this broth, Lynna. I would wager you haven’t eaten more than a few bites in weeks.”