When Two Hearts Meet (Brightmore #2)

Chapter Twenty

Chapter 20

Extract from Oriana Harmony Brightmore's Journal

Oriana Harmony Brightmore's Inventory of Favourable Qualities One Should Expect in One's Husband

Taken from the section noted as Amendments & Additions:

Thirteen: romance, certainly and simply, should never dwindle.

Oriana was sceptical, but of its own accord her hand snaked out and their fingers linked together. His skin was warm, calloused, and firm as he pulled her from the bed. A moment ago she had felt the disturbing controlled fury emanating from him, but now he was silent and unreadable. Was she unwittingly being lead overboard? Perhaps he had simply had enough of her tomfoolery and was simply about to toss her overboard, food for whatever creatures survived under the dark mass of salt water.

So easily he seemed to read her, for he said, "You are safe with me, Oriana."

And she believed him. It was never a question of whether she was safe with him, it was more a question of whether she should expect a sound thrashing for her misdemeanours. Although he had made the threat of punishment pertaining to her misbehaviour in the past, it had been implied as something wantonly pleasant. She wondered briefly if perhaps that was now to meted out and a shiver of anticipation ran under her skin at the thought.

If he had wicked intentions with her, and despite the edges of seasickness still lingering on the parameters of her being that was making her limbs heavy and lethargic as he pulled her out of the cabin and onto the deck, Cole was not being very forefront about them. "Where are we going?" she asked, and he moved swiftly through the narrow corridors, assisting her up several steps, until they were on the ship's deck. Illuminated by nothing but the night sky, Oriana craned her neck to get a better look at the looming shadows of the ship's masts. There were three altogether and though she had never credited much ability to learning about maritime vessels and commanders, she rather thought that this particular vessel was immense.

When she had first boarded, she hadn't paid attention to her surroundings in fear of being recognised. Her intention had simply been to hunker down in her cabin as soon as possible, wait until nightfall, and then sneak out to locate Cole Stanley in private. After then, she hadn't thought to plan ahead further. Some half-formed idea lay in her mind that perhaps she would accompany him as an onboard passenger, but in all likelihood that was simply a ridiculous notion. But she was here now and whatever the repercussions were, she would endure them without much protest. She had, she thought, come this far after all.

At first, everything was impenetrably black as Cole lead her across the ship, and she followed with blind trust, a stiff icy breeze gusting by and swirling through her skirts. She braced against it, shivering slightly, and he drew her closer. Stopping, he braced against a low railing and brought her against his solid length where she nestled, comforted by the warmth emanating from him.

Other than the breeze, everything was still, implacably quiet except for an intermittent wave slapping against the hull of the ship. They weren't churning anymore, rather a gentle sway that didn't worry her uneasy stomach thankfully, and Oriana took in what she could make of her surrounds. The ocean was dark around them, where its end met the horizon of the earth undistinguishable, but above them the threateningly heavy clouds parted as if Moses himself compelled them to do so, and she gasped.

Stars, brilliantly and boldly, littered the sky, but not only stars. Misty shimmers of colour sifted across the heavens, breathtakingly beautiful and vast. She had never witnessed such splendour before, and then the clouds dispersed and parted some more, the arc of celestial bodies glittered until they touched the earth's horizon. It was then that a dazzling streak flew across the sky, so fast she thought she had imagined it entirely, but Cole murmured softly, "Make a wish."