“Feeling guilty about Alaina?” Storm asked.
Cullen smiled. “You are blunt like my Sara.”
“I know how you feel for I felt the guilt myself when I fell in love with your brother. I felt as if I was betraying my deceased husband, Daniel. It took a while to understand that I would always love Daniel, but that I also was allowed to love again, that my new love in no way diminished my love for Daniel.”
“It is good to hear another speak of what I’m feeling. It took me by surprise. I never expected to love again, especially so soon.”
“We have no control over love,” Burke said. “And personally, I think that’s for the best. I never expected to fall in love with a pint-sized Scottish outlaw, and damned if I’m not glad I did.”
“I must get Sara back and I must…” He hugged his son. “…make sure the earl never hurts anyone again.”
“The earl wants you, and Sara will be the bait,” Storm said. “He will want to make sure you can get to her easily, though his guards will be in wait.”
“I must go after her as soon as possible or Sara will suffer his wrath,” Cullen said, knowing the earl all too well from his time in the earl’s dungeon. “The man likes to inflict pain, and knowing my Sara, she will not keep her mouth shut, which leaves us little time.”
Burke began to lay out a plan. “We need to find out where she was taken,” he said, “then scout the area, hire men to help—”
“That will take too long,” Cullen interrupted.
“I’ll have it all done when you wake,” Burke insisted. “By morning we’ll be ready to go and rescue your wife, and we’ll be sailing to America by nightfall.”
“It’s good to have a brother like you,” Cullen said. “I wish I could help you with the plan, but it wouldn’t be wise to take a chance and be seen before we attempt the rescue.”
“Soldiers will return to the harbor soon enough. I will show you where to hide if they should decide to board ship again, though I doubt they will. They searched extensively when we first arrived and found nothing, not even Storm and me.”
“How will you roam the harbor safely?” Cullen asked.
“As one of my sailors. The soldiers can’t remember every one of them, and as long as I act the part, there’ll be no reason for them to bother me. We’ll also have to come up with a way to get you and Storm off the ship and then all of us back on. Busy yourself with that if you want but make certain to get rest. You’ll need it.”
“What of Alexander when we’re gone?”
“The captain will see to his care and safety,” Burke said. “And worry not, he’ll not let any harm befall him.”
Burke took off to set their plan in motion, while Storm kept Alexander busy playing with his wooden animals and whatever else she could find to occupy him.
Cullen roamed the innards of the ship, needing time alone. He couldn’t get the image of Sara’s good-bye out of his mind. She all but told him she was doing this for him and Alexander so they would be safe. She sacrificed herself for them, and all because she loved them.
What hurt him the most was that he’d never told her how much he loved her, and he wanted her to know, needed her to know, for then she wouldn’t doubt that he would come and rescue her.
Now, at this moment, she could be thinking her fate sealed, he thought, that no one would come for her. She’d be alone, and perhaps think to face death alone.
The thought chilled and infuriated him, and he punched an overhead beam then slouched down on an overturned barrel. It killed him to sit there and do nothing, and yet he knew it was the best course of action for the moment.
He raised his head with a frustrated growl and threw his shoulders back and his chest out. “Hear me, Sara, I love you. Know it in your heart and soul. Know that I love you and I’m coming for you.”
Chapter 35
Sara tasted the blood in her mouth. Her lip had been split open again, her arms and ribs were bruised, and the rest of her was scuffed up, the soldiers having dragged and tormented her with kicks and punches when they discovered that she had duped them.
But while the blood left a bitter taste in her mouth, her victory hadn’t. She had succeeded in drawing the soldiers’ attentions and securing her husband and son’s safety. It had all been worth it, and while she would like to believe Cullen would rescue her, she knew better.
She was on her own, and if she gave it careful consideration, she might just find a way out of her predicament. Where she would go afterward was another matter, since returning home and possibly placing her family in danger was not an option.