Hart's Passion (Pirates & Petticoats Book 2) by Chloe Flowers Page B

unsure if she’d recognized him. He tried to keep his voice soft and calm, “Keelan? It’s me, Landon.”
    There was still no recognition in her wide-eyed gaze.  
    “Keelan. Look at me, love. Can you see me?” Please recognize me.  
    She lifted her head and locked on to his face. Her body shook violently. Landon’s heart wrenched in his chest at the sight of her tear-stained cheeks and pale lips. This was not the proud, defiant woman he knew and loved. He stepped close, but was careful not to touch her.  
    “Keelan, I can take you out of here. Will you let me?”  
    At last, recognition washed over her features and with a strangled sob, she sank back to the floor. He moved closer and pulled her to her feet before wrapping his arms around her. She winced and gave a pained gasp, and he released her. She’d been injured. His arms were blotted with blood.  
    “What in the—?” With an enraged oath, he stared at the lash marks running across her shoulders and back. “That bloody bastard!” At least four gashes were oozing blood. Raw anger roiled in his chest, and he tossed a murderous look at the still form of Crowe sprawled on the floor.  
    “I should have killed that maggot-ridden piece of filth.”
    More gently this time, he drew her into his arms. A terrible ache gripped his chest. The bastard had abused her. He took a strangled gasp of air, and tried to speak, but his words came out choked, “He hurt you. Keelan, love, I’m so sorry.” She buried her face in his neck, hot tears dampening his skin. “I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again. I’m here. I’ll always be here. You’re safe with me. I have you. I have you.”  

    When the haze of pain and terror finally thinned, it was with tremendous relief that Keelan recognized Landon’s chiseled face. She prayed it wasn’t the lack of food and sleep causing her to hallucinate.
    “Is it really you?”   This was a cruel trick for her body to play on her mind.  
    Landon ran his thumb gently along her jaw, frowning at the angry purple bruise near her chin. Concern was evident in his voice. “Aye, love, it’s me.” He tenderly stroked her cheek. “Keelan, how is it that you are here?”
    She fought to control her quaking voice as she told Landon about the two strangers who had kidnapped her from Jared’s manse.  
    “Two men took me from the house and locked me in here. At first, I suspected it was Dr. Garrison. He visited earlier in the evening and asked me to elope with him, but I refused.” She shuddered, unable to control the shiver clamping around her spine. “They said something about keeping me here until my new master arrived.”  
    “You refused?” Landon eyed her cautiously.  
    It took her a second to process Landon’s question.  
    The kiss. Foolish man. How could he think she would ever choose any other man over him? A spark ignited somewhere inside her and she found the strength to poke him in the chest and glare at him through her tears. “If you think I would ever willingly kiss that awful man, then Landon Hart, you are a bigger fool than he was for attempting it.”
    There was a slight relaxing of his face, but the muscles in his jaw still moved; his were eyes were still wary. How could she make him believe her? She threaded her fingers in his. “If I had gone with him, I’d not have been in my room when those men came for me.” She understood his reluctance to nurture another relationship of the heart. He needed to trust her love. They needed to trust each other, which wasn’t easy for either of them.
    “What you saw today was Dr. Garrison kissing me, even though I did not desire it.”
    He studied their entwined fingers. “I would not leave without you unless you wished it,” he admitted. “I planned to return to speak with you about your decision.” His voice caught, then dropped. “My ship sails in a few days and since the ball I have been tormented day and night by visions of you. Now, that I can actually