Miss Minerva's Pirate Mishap by Maggie Dallen (to read list .TXT) 📗

She laughed, though the sound was slightly sad. “It is stolen goods, Marcus.”

He nodded. “Indeed it is. But there is no telling who it belonged to or where it came from.”

She pursed her lips. “So you think I ought to keep it?”

He squeezed her tight. “That is entirely up to you.”

She smiled. There were so many reasons to adore her husband, but one of the traits she loved most was how he trusted her to make her own decisions. And in this case, she knew he was right. She’d have to decide on her own, and with the help of her sisters, how they would proceed.

And her father? Her father had so many questions to answer. But for now? She glanced back over her shoulder—at her husband and the new home they were building in their own little corner of the world.

For now, she had a future to start. With a deep breath and a nod, she made her decision. “I shall set aside equal portions for my sisters and I...” She glanced down at the obscene wealth before her. “Not all. That would only raise questions and I don’t even know how to spend it. But I will set aside enough so that you and I might build our home and our shipping endeavor, enough so that my sisters will never have to worry.”

He kissed her shoulder. “And the rest?”

She gave her head a little shake as a laugh bubbled up inside her. Thanks to Marcus, she was learning to find the humor in life. Even in moments such as these when her world was filled with mystery. “Perhaps we should bury the rest.” She grinned up at him. “For future generations who need it more than we do.” She dropped her head back against his shoulder. “We’ll rely on fate and fortune and God’s will to ensure that this treasure is put to good use.”

“Future generations, eh?” His voice was laced with laughter as his hands roamed over her belly. “Is there something you wish to tell me?”

She bit her lip and tucked her chin. She wasn’t quite certain. Not just yet. But she still knew it in her heart. “It’s not certain...”

She didn’t need to say more. He was already whirling her about in his arms and showering her with kisses, words of love tumbling out of him so fast and fierce that she could only smile and laugh and tilt her chin up so that his lips might find hers in a kiss that marked a new beginning.

A new family.

Thank you for reading! If you missed Marcus’s brother’s story, you can read it for free in the full-length, standalone romance A Lady’s Luck.

Up next, Abigail falls for the not-so-obvious charms of the gruff and burly Caleb in Miss Abigail’s Beastly Beau. Turn the page for a free sample of Abigail’s story and be sure to join Maggie’s newsletter to snag a free, exclusive regency romance novella.

Miss Abigail has the heart of an angel and the patience of a saint. But what if what she wants is the love of a pirate?

Of course Abigail is grateful. It's not every day a pirate saves her life and gets himself injured in the process. Why, it's only right that she takes care of him just as she would one of the children in their small seaside town.

Except, there's nothing innocent about the way Caleb looks at her. And though he might be pushing her away with his growls and his glares, she's beginning to think the big, burly brute isn't nearly as terrifying as he seems.

In fact, it's alarmingly clear that the only danger he poses...is to her heart.

Miss Abigail’s Beastly Beau

Caleb Calhoun wasn’t afraid of anything.

Well, he wasn’t afraid of much.

He glanced out the window of his new run-down seaside cottage and took in the sweeping sight of the unrelenting waves crashing to his right and the large expanse of green grass that lay to the left.

After a childhood spent in poverty, then as an indentured servant, and finally as a pirate turned privateer—there was truly not much that the oversized warrior feared these days.

But he was man enough to admit that he was terrified of her.

Caleb’s new landlord, Arnold Laslow, moved behind him in the small confines of the cottage. “Is everything to your satisfaction, Mr. Calhoun?”

He kept his gaze out the window. No sign of her. The blonde beauty with the minions of little ones who chased after her like she was some sort of beatific pied piper. “Fine, fine,” he muttered to the other man. “And it’s Caleb.”

Mr. Calhoun wasn’t even his father’s name. It was a fictional name that his friend Marcus had given him when they’d first started sailing together on the Night Raider. Of course, that was a lifetime ago. Everything was different now. For one, he was no longer a pirate. Truth be told, he hadn’t officially been one ever since Marcus had received a letter of marque from the crown a couple years back. He’d become a privateer, along with the rest of the crew. But now he wasn’t that anymore either.

So what was he then?

He hardly knew.

These days Caleb couldn’t even call himself a sailor. He’d sent Marcus off with the crew and his new bride, and now he was stuck here in this tiny seaside village. Alone for the first time in decades.

As if the little witch could read his mind, she chose that moment to appear, rising up over the yonder hill as if she were some sea sprite come to earth.

To plague him, no doubt.

Perhaps she had been sent by the gods of the sea—his own personal form of penance for a life spent straddling the line between good and bad, lawful and treasonous.

But he still had no regrets.

He caught sight of her beaming smile, as if she knew he was staring at her. He jerked back from the window’s ledge.

He had