Only With Your Love by Lisa Kleypas Read Free Book Online Page B

wall.”
    As they emerged from a seldom-used entrance to the fort, more of a hole in the wall than an actual door, Griffin lowered Celia to the ground. Carefully he drew her to the corner of the building. The air was filled with merrymaking, fist-fights, drunken quarrels, and the sounds of prostitutes entertaining their customers on the beach. There were pools of light shed by the torches, and a sea of shadows. Pushing aside a swath of Celia’s hair, Griffin murmured into her ear.
    “Do you see the row of three warehouses over there? A pirogue is waiting on the other side. If I tell you to run, move quickly and don’t look back. All right?”
    “All right,” she echoed, her eyes fastened on the dark outline of the buildings.
    He took her elbow firmly. “Come.”
    Celia was too anxious to notice the pain in her feet. Stealthily Griffin pulled her along the moss-covered wall of the fort and across a short stretch of sand to a group of worn boulders. Celia stopped with a gasp as she saw a scrawny figure propped up against one of the rocks. The man stirred and gave a contented snore, loosening his grip on the small jug of whiskey in his lap. Griffin sank to his haunches before the sleeping figure. Celia held her breath as she watched Griffin ease the jug away from the man’s lax grip. Bewildered, she took the whiskey as Griffin stood and handed it to her.
    Griffin’s eyes swept the terrain. Seeing that the area was clear, he took Celia’s free arm and propelled her toward the warehouses. Valiantly she tried to keep up with his long strides. As they rounded the corner of a building, a rough voice broke from the darkness.
    “ Qui est-ce? ” The stalwart form of a man confronted them, one of Legare’s men assigned to guard the warehouse. After one glance, he bellowed for help and rushed toward them with an upraised sword.
    Celia froze like a frightened rabbit.
    “Go!” Even the biting sound of Griffin’s voice failed to jolt her from the paralysis. She started as she felt the stinging slap of his hand on her buttocks. Without thinking she began to run toward the open water.
    Griffin hit the ground and rolled to the side, while the cutlass slashed into the sand. Before the attacker could extract the buried blade, Griffin pounced on him with a snarl, making short work of him with a deft thrust of his sword. Just as the man underneath him shuddered in a death throe, Griffin heard sand-muffled footsteps. Whirling around, he saw another of Legare’s men, alerted to the emergency.
    This time Griffin had no chance to avoid the swing of the blade. He swerved, feeling the bite of the sword on the side of his shoulder. Ignoring the searing pain, he reached up and caught hold of the pirate’s arm, pulling the man down to the sand. Rolling over and over, they fought like dogs, snarling and gouging, until Griffin used a downward blow of his arm to break the man’s neck.
    Breathing heavily, he rose to his feet.
    Celia stumbled across the beach, her lungs aching from her tortured gasps. There was a blurred shape before her eyes, a small craft on the water. She stopped as she saw the group of men gathered in and around the pirogue. Should she approach them? Was this the pirogue Griffin had intended her to reach, and if so, would the men help her or prove to be another set of cruel captors?
    A large man with gleaming black skin strode toward her purposefully. A colored kerchief was wrapped around his head, and loose cotton garments covered his muscled body. His features were hawklike and expressionless. Celia’s eyes widened at the sight of the brace of pistols hanging at his waist. Dropping the whiskey jug, she began to back away, then turned and ran in panic.Her only thought was to find a place to hide. Darkness and danger whirled around her, and she no longer felt human, only a frightened animal hunted by a pack of wolves.

Chapter 3
    S wift footsteps sounded behind Celia. Suddenly she was hauled off her feet and held in a pair