Chapter 18
Eighteen
For a gaol, the jailers were not very attentive, nor were there many prisoners.
A meal of what could only be described as tasteless gruel had been delivered with a pint of ale and he had only eaten it because starving made for weakness and that he could not afford. Strength was needed to escape when the time came.
Rhys then settled back on his cot and watched, listened and waited, noting weaknesses he could use, and how he might go about obtaining the key to his cell, then overpower the two men left to watch the five prisoners.
He also had to get back to Tempest and her sisters.
What if the soldiers had gone back and searched again?
What if he had not been believed?
What if they were being marched through the forest and to Fort-de-France right now?
There was no reason for the soldiers to return. They had found nothing. If they had been suspicious, then they would not have left, Rhys reminded himself.
What if when he got out of here and returned, he found them gone?
What if they were rescued in his absence?
While they would be safe, he would miss Tempest.
Except, he would call on her the first chance he had. If he managed to get out of here.
At the very least, when the English invaded, they might find him and set him free. Or so he hoped.
Yet, despite how he tried to think of an escape plan, and part of his mind was always watching and waiting, Rhys could not set thoughts of Tempest aside.
He had never worried about anyone so much in his life.
And it wasn’t just because she and her sisters were vulnerable and alone at the house, but because…
Because he loved her and did not know what he would do if something happened to her.
When had he fallen in love with Tempest?
Was it love?
He had never experienced that emotion before.
How did someone even know if it was love?
Blast!
He needed to get out of here and back to her. He needed her. He wanted her and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was waiting to claim a kiss. He wanted to claim her for life.
Bloody hell!
He pushed his fingers through his hair, alarmed that he was sitting in a gaol, and she was waiting for rescue and he was just now realizing that he was in love with her.
He had to get out of here and soon.
“Hey there, who are you?”
“I am here to see my husband.”
Rhys sat up.
The woman sounded like Tempest, but she would not be so foolish.
“No visitors this late at night.”
He didn’t even know what time it was, but he did not care either.
“But I must see him.” She sniffed. “I must.”
Rhys rose from his cot and walked to the bars to look out so he could see who the woman was.
The other men in the row of cells did the same.
Just at the edge of the room the jailer sat at a desk, the other one stood by a door.
He then looked to see who the woman was and his heart nearly seized.
Tempest was leaning on the desk, her golden hair falling over a shoulder and she was wearing…was that a gold corset? Her shoulders were bare and her skirt was a reddish color.
Blood rushed through his veins and in a particular direction, but now was not the time to be aroused by the sight of her.
She traced a finger along the edge of her corset, bringing attention to her breasts.
His mouth watered. How had he not noticed that they were so perfect before now, and ready to spill from her top.
“I really must see him.”
“Which one?” the guard asked.
“Mr. Rhys McNaught.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “I will only be a moment.” She learned further. “You see, I cannot go to sleep without a kiss.”
The other guard pulled away from the wall.
“If it is because you are lonely…”
“For my husband,” she said before he could make an inappropriate suggestion. “It will be difficult enough to sleep without him beside me.”
“This way.” The guard behind the desk stood. “But I am not letting you in there. You will have to stay out here.”
“Then how will I kiss him goodnight?”
She was pouting. Rhys fell further in love and he wanted to shake her for putting herself in danger.
While the guard who was standing studied her bottom, lust in his eyes, Tempest walked by the desk and swept up the keys. He would not have even noticed if he had not been studying her and trying to determine how she thought to get him out of here.
The guard stopped in front of his cell as Tempest approached.
“You should not have come.”
“I missed you.” She then looked at the guard who was standing beside her. “May I have a private word with my husband?”
He rolled his eyes and walked away. That was when she reached forward and fitted the key into the lock while her full skirts hid what she was about.
“When will you be home?”
“I do not know. I have to stand before the magistrate.”
“When will that be?”
“A day or two.” He was guessing. Nobody had told him and he had no idea. What they needed was to keep the conversation going to cover what she was doing.
When she was about to turn the key, he started coughing to cover the click.
“I knew you should not be in here. You will get ill then leave me a widow. I shall not have that.”
“If I had her waiting at home, I would keep myself out of trouble just so I could be sleeping there instead of here,” one of the men said.
“Aye, but if they hang you, I will be certain to take care of your widow.” The guard who had been standing winked at her.
“Hanged?” Tempest cried. “But they cannot do that. I need you. Please say that they will not.”
He nodded to her to step back. “I promise that I will be home before you can truly miss me.”
* * *
Tempest moved quickly and as soon as Rhys had the door open, he rushed the first guard, taking him down with a fist to his jaw. The second did not fall so easily and the two were soon engaged in fisticuffs while the first one started to pull himself up.
She feared that Rhys would be overpowered and thus rushed to open the other cells and hoped that the men were not so dangerous as to kill her.
Instead, they attacked the two jailers until they were unconscious then fled the gaol with Rhys and Tempest following.
He grabbed her hand then pulled her into the shadows as he made his way out of Fort-de-France, quickly and quietly without being seen and only speaking once they had reached the outskirts and neared the forest.
“Can you run in that skirt?”
She hiked it revealing his trousers and her boots. “Yes.”
“Follow me and stay close.”
Tempest did not lose sight of him but feared that she would hear soldiers yell for them to stop at any moment.
How soon would it be noted that Rhys and the others had escaped.
They could have been quieter about it. Her plan had been to slip out so that his missing would not have been noticed until the morning to give them time, but he had needed the help of the others, and they might be the reason they were caught.
“Do you know where you are going?” she asked, her breaths coming short.
“Yes. I know this way well.”
“I cannot see.”
“You do not need to. You have me.” He reached back and grasped her hand.
The stitch began in her side and she tried to ignore it.
“Can we slow down for a moment?” His legs were longer than hers and it was becoming difficult to catch up.
“I am sorry,” Rhys apologized as he slowed his steps until they were walking. “We are far enough that had they come after us, we would already know.”
Oh, she hoped that was the case.
“I cannot believe you dressed like that, flirted with a guard and lifted his keys.” At least he was laughing and not chastising.
“I could not very well leave you to rot in the gaol, could I?”
“Thank you, but we must still hurry and we can discuss if maybe you shouldn’t be the spy.”
Instead of running all out as he had, he kept an easier pace, and Tempest could keep up much easier, and then they heard shouts.
“Blast!”
She glanced back and in the light of the moon, she saw a glimpse of a white coat.
“Hurry,” she hissed and Rhys ran faster and she followed.
It didn’t matter how badly her side began to hurt, she refused to get caught.
They were able to put more distance between them and the soldiers but she knew that they would follow them to the hut, where her sisters were. They just needed to arrive there first.
“I will get the boat. You get your sisters,” Rhys ordered when the house came into view.”
Tempest rushed inside and yelled for them to run for the boat. “Hurry! Run!”
For once her sisters did not pause to ask questions, not even Margaret but obeyed instantly.
When they reached the small inlet, Rhys already had the boat in the water and waiting. He helped them in the boat, one at a time and ordered them where to sit. She was the last and took one of the center seats and then he climbed in, took hold of the oars and started rowing.
Shouts of the soldiers soon reached them and he rowed even more quickly.
Then the shots rang out.
“Duck!” he yelled.
Tempest and her sisters bent over, their heads practically between their knees as Rhys rowed further into the sea, exposed and risking his life for them.
He cursed once, but when the boat did not slow, she did not look up. Only when the gunfire grew distant with the voices did she sit up and notice the blood on his arm.
“You were shot.”
“I promise to let you be the one to pour rum in it and stitch it for me.”
“It is only fair,” she smiled. “But you left all your rum on the island.”
“I knew we left too quickly.” He then leaned forward and placed a hand behind her head and kissed her. It wasn’t the thorough kiss he had promised but it was unforgettable.
When he pulled away, she narrowed her eyes on him. “Have you forgotten that my sisters are here.”
“No, and why there will be more later,” he whispered.
“How do you know that I will allow you to kiss me again?”
“Because you are going to marry me.”
Tempest straightened, shocked and thrilled at his words.
“I am?”
“Yes, because I love you and you love me.”
“You are so certain, are you?”
He grinned. “Very.”
“Well, then, I suppose I would say yes, if you were to ask.”
Rhys only chuckled and rowed them further out to sea.
“I hope we do not get run over by the Royal Navy before we repeat the vows,” she said after a moment. It was a new moon with very little reflective light.
“No worries. We have this.” Margaret lifted a torch. “I put it in the boat after we turned it over and tested it for not sinking.”
“You were not to leave the hut,” Tempest chastised.
“We wanted to be prepared,” Nicoll explained.
“And I am glad that you were,” Rhys said. “Did you happen to also bring a flint?”
Margaret only grinned then lit the torch.
“Well, if there are any ships out here, they will at least see us.”
“And then you can propose to me properly.” Her words may have been a reprimand, but Tempest could not stop smiling.
He loved her. She loved him.
“I promise that will be the first thing that I do.” He picked up her hand and kissed the back. “Or the second. I did promise you one thing once we were off that island.”
She leaned forward to whisper. “You already kissed me.”
“That is not even close to what I intend to do with you.”
Her face heated as her body warmed from the heat in his green eyes.
Oh, she could not wait until they were wed and alone.