Her Pirate to Love: A Sam Steele Romance (27 page)

At the mention of stab wound Nate’s grin shriveled and his eyes saddened. “You were lucky, then.”

“I was, yes,” Grace agreed.

“She was on Roche Santiago’s ship,” Cale added.

Nate’s gaze whipped to Cale. “You took on Santiago and lived to tell the tale? And you were on the man’s ship?” he asked Grace.

“Sure and it wasn’t by choice. He’d taken me captive a few months before.”

“Holy hell,” Nate muttered. “You better hope the man is dead or he’ll be coming after you. Both of you,” he added, looking at her then Cale. “Santiago isn’t known for his forgiveness. He’s gone after people for less.”

“Roche is no threat,” Cale stated with a hard stare at Nate. “We sank his ship after we unloaded it. It would take him hours to get to shore and pilfer another. Even if he has one by now, he has no way of knowing where I was heading.”

“Perhaps, but—”

“Grace needs a place to stay and some work. I thought Claire could use her help at Vincent’s House. Even if Roche is looking for me, he would have no reason to look for Grace here, therefore she’d be safe.”

Nate didn’t blink as Cale continued to glare at him. Silence, much as there could be with two rambunctious boys scrambling nearby, filled the room until Grace was sure the walls throbbed under the pressure. Finally Nate nodded in agreement.

“I’m sure Claire will find a place for her and, yes, she’ll be safe.”

“Who’ll be safe?”

The same red-haired woman and tot Grace had witnessed racing across the upstairs hallway strode into the room, though the child now wore his nightclothes. The woman could only be Claire.

Her gaze found Cale and she smiled. “Welcome back.”

“Papa!” The lad pushed away from his mother, who set him down on his bare feet. He raced on short, plump legs to his father.

Grace watched Nate’s face completely change. Hard lines smoothed out, his grin bloomed as he opened his arms. The little boy—no more than a year and half—ran full speed and didn’t stop until he was scooped off the floor and set onto his father’s lap.

My child will never have this
. Grace looked upon the tender scene. Regret rose up the back of her throat. Her child would never know a father’s kiss on his brow, would never feel a man’s gentle hand ruffling his hair.

Claire came to stand beside Nate, set her hand on her husband’s shoulder. There were damp patches on the bodice and skirt of her day dress yet there was no mistaking the happiness glowing within her eyes. But it was the look Nate gave his wife when he looked up at her and placed his hand over hers that had Grace turning green with envy.

“Mama, Mama!” The slap of bare feet was heard a scant moment before a lad raced into the parlor. “Vincent won’t give my toy horse back to me.”

“He’s lying,” another boy—Vincent, she assumed—said as he, too, sped into the room and came to a sudden stop at his mother’s side. The boys were identical in height and appearance. “I told Adam he could have it.”

“Liar!” Adam shouted, his face flushed in outrage.

“You’re the liar.” Vincent tossed back, sticking his tongue out for good measure.

“Here, take Will.” Nate reached over the low table and handed his youngest to an unsuspecting Cale.

From the corner of her eye, Grace saw Nate pick up one of his twins while the other continued to hold Claire’s skirt. Nate’s firm tone put an end to the bickering. Then, with the patience of Job, he let first one boy then the other tell his tale. But her attention was riveted on Cale.

Will had his plump little hands on Cale’s face and he was petting him like he would a dog. The lad’s eyes were round as buttons and his mouth pursed as he rubbed Cale’s beard. Cale held the boy steady, his large hands nearly encompassing Will’s torso. Grace’s heart gave a sharp tug. It suited him. She’d thought it once, on the
Revenge
, how the idea of Cale being a family man fit him so much better than being a pirate. But the idea paled in comparison to what was before her eyes.

Cale held Will so the lad stood on his thighs. He said nothing as the boy rubbed his little hands over the beard.

“Fur,” Will stated, patting Cale’s cheeks.

Cale smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Not quite,” he answered.

“Me, too?” Will asked, placing his little hands on his smooth cheeks.

“Maybe one day,” Cale agreed.

“Me, too!” Will squealed, bouncing on Cale’s lap.

Lord, it was easy to imagine it wasn’t Will in Cale’s grasp but her own child. Hers and Cale’s.

“Not tonight, young man,” Nate said, jarring Grace back to reality as he took his son from Cale.

Will smacked his father’s cheeks, hairless except for a shadow of whiskers. “No fur.”

“No, no fur,” he agreed, digging his face into Will’s neck and making the lad shriek.

“We’re supposed to be putting them to bed, Nate.” Claire chided. The other two boys stood quietly at her side though they shuffled from foot to foot as though itching to be part of their father’s games.

Nate drew back, not looking the least sorry. “All right, you heard your mother. Time for bed.”

“Well, perhaps before we do that, we should make some introductions,” Claire said, turning to Grace. “I apologize for this to-do. Trying to put these three down for the night is like trying to herd flies. I’m Claire.” She placed a hand on the red-haired boy to her left. “This is Vincent, and this one…” She repeated the gesture on her right. “Is Adam. Nate is holding Will.”

“I’m Grace. I’m with Cale.”

“Cale now, is it?” Claire smiled as she looked to the man in question.

Realizing how her words had been interpreted, Grace hastened to add. “I meant I came on Cale’s ship. He thought, and I hope, perhaps I could work for you, in the orphanage. ’Twouldn’t be forever, only until I’ve enough money for passage back to Ireland.”

“The orphanage?”

Claire’s eyes darted from Grace to Cale. Grace didn’t miss Cale’s nearly imperceptible shake of his head, or the warning look he shot Claire.

“Oh, well, certainly we can use another pair of hands.” Claire added cheerfully. “And we can talk more about it in a moment.” She turned to the doorway. “You can have them now, Mrs. Davis.”

The maid Grace had seen upstairs earlier stepped quietly into the room. Her cheeks were plump and bright as ripe apples and her smile equally as sweet. She nodded to Grace, welcomed Cale back and then turned her attention to the boys. “Come, lads, I’ve a wonderful story for you tonight.”

“Your father and I will up in a few minutes to kiss you goodnight. Now, what do you say to our guests?”

They muttered goodbye then raced up the stairs ahead of Mrs. Davis. From upstairs came the sound of the nursery door closing and Nate sighed. “Ah, blessed quiet.”

Claire nudged him with her elbow. “You wouldn’t have it any other way.” They shared an intimate smile before she turned to Cale. “You don’t always manage to get here when the others do, I’m glad it fit into your schedule this time.”

Beside her Cale tensed. “The others are coming?”

“I’m expecting them tomorrow. Did you forget it’s Luke’s birthday?”

Cale’s head fell forward. “Damnation,” he muttered.

Nate laughed. “Too late to run now.”

“We always meet on our birthdays.” Claire explained. “Because Samantha and Luke live in St. Kitts and Blake and Alicia in Port Royal, we meet here as it’s in the middle. Cale,” she said, grinning, “manages to get here at least once or twice a year, but not as often as we’d all like. Aidan didn’t remind you?”

“It must have slipped his mind,” Cale grumbled.

“But you will stay, won’t you? I know it would mean the world to Samantha and Aidan.”

Of course, he would, Grace thought, feeling both the relief of having Cale one more day and the dread of knowing it would only make saying goodbye worse. Yet she knew he’d do it for Aidan. Despite his hurry to get back to sea, and, she suspected, his pain at seeing the couples with their children, he wouldn’t take away this chance for Aidan to see his family. He wasn’t that kind of man.

“I’ll stay,” he said, looking at Grace when he answered.

She saw it then, what her pride hadn’t allowed her to see the other day when he’d asked her to stay with him. This wasn’t easy on him either. Lines of worry creased from his eyes and across his brow. The eyes she’d once thought cold now tumbled hot with emotion. He may not be able to profess his undying love, may not be able to move past Catherine and the love they’d shared, but he did care for Grace. In fact, she’d wager he cared for her in a way he hadn’t cared about another since losing his family. He’d offered her the only thing he could and while it wasn’t enough for her, she could see now he, too, wished it could be different.

*

“Do not look
at me that way, Claire.”

“Shh. Come here.” Claire grabbed Nate’s hand and pulled him across the hall into their bedroom. She closed the door, lit a lamp. “You cannot possibly tell me you didn’t see the way he looked at our sons.”

Nate sighed. “I saw, Claire. But we’ve noticed it before. Even the way he looks at Aidan sometimes.”

“Yes, but this was different. He’s never held them before.”

“I hardly gave him a choice. What was he to do, drop Will?”

“That was clever. Vincent would be proud of you.”

Nate leaned against the door, crossed his arms. He smiled at the memory of his friend. Vincent had been gone long enough now for Nate to think back on his friend, and Cale’s deceased brother, with fondness. “I may not be the meddler he was, but I could see a change in him. You’re right, he’s not usually so…cordial.”

“And he’s never brought a woman along before.” Mischief danced in her blue-green eyes. “And Grace called him Cale. We haven’t been allowed to call him by his real name since he took on Steele.”

“Claire…”

“It wasn’t only the look he gave our sons that gave me pause. Did you see how he looked at Grace? Clearly, there is something between them.”

“Then it’s between them.”

Claire laughed. “Have you forgotten where we’d be if it hadn’t been for Vincent and Blake meddling? They brought us together.”

Nate pushed from the door, crossed to his wife. He wrapped his arms around her waist. She tipped her head to meet his eyes, and the love he saw there never failed to astound him.

“I’d like to think I’d have been wise enough to realize the only treasure I ever needed was you, with or without their prodding.”

She pushed onto her toes, opened her mouth for his kiss. He gladly obliged, pulling her tight against his chest. He loved his house, had built it with Claire in mind, but anywhere was home as long as she was in his arms. He closed his lips over hers and lost himself in her kiss. Sweeping his tongue across her upper lip, his fingers crept around to her bodice. They’d made love earlier, while the boys had napped, but Nate couldn’t get enough of Claire. He prayed he never would.

“Nate.” Claire gasped as his fingers deftly found an aroused nipple.

“I want you, Claire. I want you naked beneath me. I want my—”

“Cale and Grace are downstairs waiting!”

“Damn.” He leaned his forehead against hers, caught his breath. “It’s your fault. You dragged me into the bedroom.”

She tossed her red hair, which had come mostly undone from its pins as she’d bathed Will. Nate reached in, gladly pulled out the remaining ones until her silky hair spilled over his fingers.

“Nate! What will they think?” Claire leapt back, her hands flying to her hair.

Her face was flushed. Her eyes were stormy and a little accusatory. Lord, he loved her.

“They’ll think we love each other and can’t keep our hands to ourselves. Maybe it will plant a few ideas in their heads.”

Claire’s eyes widened. “Maybe they’ve already…been together. It wasn’t as though we waited for marriage.”

“We may have, if you hadn’t thrown yourself at me.” He teased, reminding her of their first time. They’d been on Isla de Hueso, looking for treasure. They’d found so much more.

Her chin tipped up. “I don’t recall you protesting.”

“Do I look like a fool?”

Claire sighed. “I’ve hated seeing Cale sad and alone.”

“It was his choice to be Steele and it needs to be his choice to be with Grace. You can’t make him do anything.”

“I know.” She acknowledged with a grin that had him feeling sorry for Cale. “But we can nudge him in the right direction, can we not?”

He held his palms up. “I’m not taking part in this.”

“I wasn’t talking about you. Have you forgotten who’s arriving tomorrow?”

Samantha and Alicia. Knowing they, too, had had a part in his and Claire’s getting together, Nate sighed, shook his head.

Cale didn’t stand a chance.

“A
re you certain
tea is enough? I can ask Mrs. Wingate to prepare something more substantial.”

“No, ’tis perfect.” And the cup and spoon allowed something to occupy Grace’s hands.

Nate and Cale had gone to unload the ship. The house was quiet other than the occasional creak and groan as it, too, settled down for the night. Candles burned in wall sconces on either side of the doorway. A small lamp flickered next to the tray the maid had set onto the side table. The soft lighting gave the room a cozy feel yet despite the soothing room and Claire’s graciousness, Grace remained anxious.