Mutiny of the Heart Read online

  Mutiny of the Heart

  By Jennifer Bray-Weber

  Navigating the high seas as the female captain of a pirate ship means always being on your guard—especially when one takes a temptingly handsome slave on board.

  Captain Joelle Quint believes the slave claiming to be a cartographer can help her decipher the map her father left her when she was a child. She’s spent years trying to unlock its truths, hoping that it holds the answers to a dark family secret.

  Sloan Ricker has no intention of remaining captive. When the fiery, red-headed captain offers him his freedom in exchange for solving her map, what begins as an opportunity to escape becomes a struggle to make the beautiful, intriguing Joelle his mistress in more ways than one.

  Amidst a battle with the Royal Navy and a first mate’s jealousy, Joelle also fights her growing lust. And as much as he’d like to deny it, Ricker’s desire for Joelle has overcome his initial disdain. To get the answers, independence and love that they both long for, Joelle and Ricker must relinquish control to each other...or die trying.

  75,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  June seems to be a time of both magical beginnings and wishful thinking, as we combine the wedding season with the last month of school. Here at Carina, our jobs are filled with a combination of both magical beginnings and wishful thinking, as we work in the land of fiction and allow ourselves to drift through fantastic worlds, happily ever afters and action-filled stories. Okay, maybe our jobs are a lot more rooted in reality than that, but the books we publish do allow us a brief escape and I hope they’ll do the same for you this month.

  Powerhouse erotic romance author Lynda Aicher is back with Bonds of Courage, in which an alpha professional hockey player finds himself the one bound and at her mercy. Joining Lynda in the erotic category is Samantha Ann King with another fantastic ménage, Tempting Meredith. One man is risky, but two might teach her to trust and love again.

  June brings quite a lineup of male/male romances. Ava March always stands out for me because not only does she write a fantastic male/male erotic romance, but she sets it in historical times, when it was even harder for two men to be in love, lending even more delicious romantic tension. Don’t miss Sharp Love, followed by The Viscount’s Wager releasing in December 2014.

  And speaking of magical beginnings, we have two debut authors in the male/male category. This month we’re pleased to introduce Tyler Flynn and Chasing the Rebel. One man is fleeing the French Revolution, the other sympathizes with the Revolution. How can they fall for each other when they can’t even trust each other?

  Also debuting with Carina Press this month is G.B. Lindsey, who leads off a three-part anthology, Secrets of Neverwood, which includes novellas from returning Carina Press authors Diana Copland and Libby Drew. As three foster brothers renovate a stately mansion to reopen it as a home for troubled gay youth, their love lives are complicated by the whimsical ghost of their foster mother in One Door Closes; The Growing Season; and The Lost Year.

  Rounding out our male/male selections for the month is returning author L.B. Gregg with her popular Men of Smithfield series. In Men of Smithfield: Sam and Aaron, Sam’s in a rut and looking to break out of it, so he’s thrilled when a newcomer to town introduces more than an edge of naughty nights and risky days into his life.

  There are so many more incredible books coming in June, it’s hard to know which world to lead you to next. How about some angels and demons in The Fire Within by Dana Marie Bell? Or why not take a trip on the high seas on a pirate ship—only this one captained by a woman in Mutiny of the Heart by Jennifer Bray-Weber. Danube Adele isn’t shy about taking new adult to a whole new level in her paranormal romance Dark Summer Dreams, in which Shandria is forced to rescue a sworn enemy of her people, only to find herself kidnapped by that same rugged warrior who promises retribution of his own. And who wouldn’t want to spend time with an outlaw witch, a society ice queen, and illicit magic that light up the night in the tense futuristic world of the Magic Born in Sonya Clark’s Witchlight.

  In another twist on the new adult genre, Anne Tibbets joins Carina Press and introduces The Line Book One: Carrier and her dystopian world. In a futuristic society, sex slave Naya is released and given a choice—find someone willing to take her place, or fight against the ruling corporation to save her unborn children.

  Amylynn Bright also joins Carina Press, bringing contemporary romance Cooking Up Love to our virtual shelves. When anonymous food critic and lousy chef Holly signed up for cooking classes, she didn’t realize that she and her yummy instructor would be whipping up more than dinner in the kitchen—or that he’d blame her bad review for closing his restaurant and killing his career.

  We have two additional debut authors to introduce this month, both writing contemporary new adult romance, but in two freshly original and very different stories. In Hate to Love You by Elise Alden, hatred and guilt battle love and desire as Paisley and James confront the past, each other, and the unwanted attraction that sparked between them the night she ruined his wedding. This is one book that will have people firmly on either side of a line: hate Paisley, or love her?

  And we welcome Sybil Bartel and her new adult romance, No Apologies. No heart, questionable morals, one hundred percent attitude, Graham Allen is the perfect rocker; nothing can break him—except her.

  Last, this month we introduce a new trilogy, Shore Secrets, from Carina Press author Christi Barth. A hard-nosed businessman with contempt for small-town America is forever changed by the love of a sexy hotel owner and a quirky but tight-knit community famous for its anonymous journal by the lakeshore. Don’t miss Up to Me, the first of this trilogy featuring three strong heroes, fighting for the love and trust of three even stronger heroines on the shores of Seneca Lake.

  I hope your month of June is as wonderful as ours, spending it among our reader friends at different conventions and getting to gab about the books we love. Maybe we’ll see you at one of them! And if you do, we hope you’ll stop us and tell us your favorite Carina Press book. There just might be some Carina swag in it for you if we have any on us!

  Coming in July: Falling for Max by Shannon Stacey; a debut author, Caroline Kimberly, brings us a historical romance pitched as “Regency Romancing the Stone”; and Jeffe Kennedy offers up a hot new BDSM novel.

  Here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  Acknowledgments

  A captain cannot sail a ship alone. A crew is needed. The same could be said of an author and publishing her book. I couldn’t navigate my course without the help of some amazing supporters.

  To my treasured friends Stacey Purcell and Eliza Knight for their help and encouragement; to the entire Carina Press team—I couldn’t ask for a better publisher; and to my incredibly talented, funny, no holds barred editor, Mallory Braus, my deepest gratitude and sincere thanks.

  As always, a special thank you to my family for their enduring love and patience.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  About the Author

 
Copyright

  Chapter One

  Tortola Island, 1727

  “Do I hear six pounds for this fine slave? Lookit ’im. Strong arms, this one. He’ll do very well in the cane fields.”

  Captain Joelle Quint, weaving through the large crowd gathered at the wharf, cast a passing glance to the slave trader on the platform. Sweat glistened on the squat man’s balding forehead from the midday sun. The stifling heat didn’t diminish his noticeable excitement. And why not? The handler had several sturdy white slaves for sale. Men who would surely laden his pockets double, maybe triple, what a black slave would fetch.

  Slave trading was a lucrative business—that Joelle understood perfectly. She preferred not to witness the dealings of such a debased form of business. This but made her a hypocrite. Pirates thrived on debase forms of business and she was known far and wide as a pirate. A hell of a good pirate, at that. Still, it broke her heart to see families torn apart, children ripped from their mother’s breasts, to live out their lives as the property of another.

  “Wonder what the poor bastards did to get themselves on the auction block?” Valeryn, Joelle’s first mate, plucked a public notice off a lamp post, pretending to read the announcement of the slave trade.

  “Likely for less than what crimes you’ve committed, V.”

  Valeryn chuckled. “Best not to get caught, then, eh?”

  He crumpled up the paper he couldn’t read and tossed it over his shoulder. A sheen of sweat coated his arms. With the coastal winds hardly a breath this morn, the first mate chose to come ashore wearing only his vest, no tunic or waistcoat to hide his pistol tied into the blue sash slung at his waist. Wet strands of his long tawny hair fallen loose from the bind stuck to his neck and face. Despite his desperate need of a bath, he garnered appreciative glances from the local women. Sometimes the attention rankled her. Damned if she didn’t hate that it did. But not today. Today she remained focused on the business at hand.

  Joelle swiped at a trickle on her temple, wishing for a breeze to cool her clammy skin and blow away the stench of body odor and rotting fishing nets. She was in a bad need for her own good scrubbing. After this meeting with Smithy, she was sure to arrange for a soak at the tavern. The sooner the better.

  “Sold! Ten pounds,” the slave monger shouted.

  Pity to waste such fine stock on the fields. Men like those shackled and displayed on the dais were always in demand on her crew. Strong and healthy.

  “Come on,” Joelle said. “Let’s get to The Paladin’s Inn. I’m ready for a cup of sweet water.” Her dry throat was coated with a month’s worth of rum, wine and grog. She’d been so thirsty for fresh water, she craved it.

  “You sure Smithy will be there?” Valeryn asked. “Quite a bit of action here at the docks.” Valeryn smiled at a young woman crossing their path. She giggled and hurriedly folded into the crowd.

  “Move along, charmer.” Joelle shoved him forward. “The time for action is later.”

  “Is that an offer, Captain?” Valeryn beamed and waggled his eyebrows.

  He knew well and good how much he tempted her. In his arms, she forgot her burdens, if only for a while. She couldn’t, no, wouldn’t allow him to distract her from her commission. Never again. She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. However, once this mission was over, well, she had needs, too. Mercy, Valeryn was a bad habit to break. Not that she wanted to break any bad habits.

  She shook her head. “Just keep moving, V.”

  They’d almost made it through the throng of the crowd, until a commotion on the platform drew her attention. One of the prisoners refused to come forward for show. Two men dragged the unwilling fellow to the front.

  “Don’t let the lad’s insolence thwart ya none. A round with the whip will soften ’im up and keep ’im in line,” the slave trader announced.

  Joelle disagreed. The only thing keeping that fellow in line were the shackles. His stance alone—feet planted apart, arms rigid, back straight—warned he’d comply with no master. For God’s sake, the man wore an iron collar, the chain running through his manacles to the shackles at his ankles, to ensure the safety of those standing too close.

  “Only a fool would believe he’d break under a whip,” she said to Valeryn.

  Valeryn nodded. “He looks mean, don’t he?”

  “Not mean. Angry.”

  The slave kept his gaze dead ahead, above the heads of the crowd, as the barker pointed out his attributes. Fine attributes, indeed. She didn’t need the handler’s assessments to see that. ’twas no doubt he was the most well-defined, hardy man on display. Dusky hair flipping at his shoulders and the days-old whiskers on his mug made him easy to look at too.

  The dealer grabbed the captive’s face. The slave jerked his head away as far as his collar would allow. That didn’t keep the trader from turning his face this way and that, and pinching his mouth open.

  “Fine teeth.” The trader clearly indulged in showing off the fettered man. “Very good health.”

  Degradation of slaves disgusted Joelle—treating them no better than livestock, prodding, pawing and poking. Strip away dignity and there was nothing left but obedience. With the Caribbean along the triangular slave trade, she laid witness to this sad and entirely true fact time and again. ’twas when the shame was solely for the entertainment of the buyers that seethed Joelle.

  The moment the monger let go, the slave spat. Spittle spattered across the trader’s face. Immediately, the prisoner was met with a switch across his bare back from a lackey. He flinched, but made no noise from the pain. Instead, he curled his lip in rage.

  Impressive.

  Red splotches of anger mottled the barker’s face as he wiped away the spit with his handkerchief and continued his arguments of persuasion. “This one’s not likely to catch fever. Been out to sea, a sailor visiting many ports.”

  “I’m a map reader, you fool.” The slave’s sneer could cut through the trader like a scythe.

  A map reader?

  The sweet water could wait.

  Joelle moved to the platform, jostling people aside to get closer. Must be a good map reader to call it his profession. But how good?

  “Makes no difference to me, boy. Ya ain’t nuthin’ but a penny in me pocket.”

  The slave took a menacing step forward and was stopped short as the trader grabbed his crotch. Beside Joelle, Valeryn visibly cringed—as did most men in the crowd.

  “Large bollocks,” the barker announced mirthfully to buyers, “should you require...more than just a field hand.”

  Quick as the snap of a windlass rope, the slave slammed his forehead into the monger’s head, dropping the audacious man to the ground. Joelle could hear the thwacks against the mapmaker’s back over the gasps, laughter and riotous shouts. Christ! He’s going to get himself killed for his brazenness.

  The trader swayed as he tried to regain his footing. “Get that bastard outta here! Have him whipped until there’s no more flesh to ’im.”

  “Twenty pounds!”

  “What the devil are you doing, Jo?” Valeryn asked.

  She must have the slave, she must! He could help her. “Twenty pounds for the man.”

  “What’s this?” The slave monger bent over with his hands on his knees to steady himself. “A woman?”

  “Are you out of your bloody mind?” Valeryn ground out.

  Perhaps. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing. Yet she couldn’t let this man slip away. Not with knowing he was a map reader. Joelle waved off Valeryn and pushed through to the edge of the platform.

  The barker looked to Valeryn joining her. “Yer puss here is loose with yer money, lad.”

  Valeryn slowly shook his head, a warning to the trader. He knew better than to speak his mind now. Baring his teeth as he bit down on his bottom lip, there was no doubt he had much to say. But, he would stand behind his captain.

  Joelle raised an eyebrow. “You insult me, sir. My coin spends as well as a man’s.”

 
The trader smirked. “What would ya be doin’ with a slave, miss?”

  She slid her gaze to the man in question. His glare boring down upon her could make a grown man buckle. Fortunately, she wasn’t a grown man.

  “What I do with him is of my business.” She let her stare linger a moment longer. Hmm. Blue eyes. “I dare say twenty pounds is more than fair, wouldn’t you agree?” Reluctantly, she tore her gaze away and turned her attention back to the trader. “Do you think anyone else here will spend more for a troublesome slave?”

  Joelle didn’t give him time for consideration. Men generally found it a tough lump to swallow doing business with a woman. No one offered to top Joelle’s steep bid.

  “What say you? Don’t dally. I’m short on time and could just as easily spend my money elsewhere.”

  “Ain’t no one else going to take that fellow off your hands, mate.” Valeryn had a begrudging edge to his voice.

  “Very well, then,” the monger conceded. “Sold for twenty pounds to the lady.”

  An odd sense of relief washed over her. She hoped the map reader was money well spent. If so, she may finally have the answers she’d sought for a lifetime.

  “I’ll send someone for him straightaway,” she said. “Pay the man, Valeryn, and send Sam to retrieve him.”

  Valeryn growled. He turned his back to the trader and bent to mutter in her ear. “Whatever you think it is you’re doing, I don’t like it.”

  She cut her eyes to him and gave him his order. “When you’re done, meet me at The Paladin.” She threw one last look at her newly acquired purchase, who glared his unbridled hate at her, then turned on her heel and left. With any luck, her investment would forever change her life. Joelle would unlock the mystery of her map and perhaps learn more about her father and why he’d deserted her.

  * * *

  Had Sloan Ricker’s hands not been shackled, he’d smash his fist into the stone wall of his cell. Instead, he stewed in the refuge of being on display like an animal in the damp shadows. A dusty web, long abandoned by the spider that had spun it, swayed with the musty air slipping through the crevices of the small shuttered window. His deep breath reopened the lacerations across his back. The sting renewed his anger.