193356377X-Savage-Shores-Wildes by sirenpublishing.com Page A

transporting provisions such as food and some skins with
    water from the pool. He had also strapped to his back several
    sleeping mats, since they had no idea how long the storm might
    rock their little island.
    Because it was coming.
    For one thing, the wind was rising, and by the time they left the
    beach, the surf had been wild and foamy, licking the shore like a
    hungry animal, washing away sand and crawling ever higher. The
    hut would not survive this onslaught, and Jonathan felt a pang of
    regret for all the times he had made love to Jenna there, and the
    hours when they had lain and slept together.
    By the time they reached the other side of the island, the sky
    had turned a lurid color and the tallest trees groaned and thrashed
    in the increasing gale. Anthony and Charles checked the cave first,
    having a hard time lighting the torch, their faces grim and set. The
    first spit of rain came as Jonathan stood outside, Jenna still nestled
    against his chest, her face a little pale.
    “Will we be here long?” she asked, obviously reluctant to go
    inside, even when Charles whistled to let him know it was safe.
    “I can’t tell you that, love,” he said with patent reassurance, the
    protective feeling over his precious burden so intense he didn’t
    know it was possible. His arms tightened a little around her slender
    body, feeling her fragile bones, her soft vulnerability. “We’ll be
    safe, that’s the important thing. Are you ready? We need to go in, I
    think. Hear that roar? The storm is coming, much, I would guess,

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    like the one that sank our ship.”
    Her face lost even more color. “Yes, let’s go in.”
    Ducking inside, he saw that Charles had already unrolled a
    mat, and he set her on it gently. The torch flickered, shoved into a
    crack in the wall and he knew it wouldn’t last long, though some
    time before he and Anthony had made a journey and gathered
    wood that they had piled in the corner against such an emergency.
    However, the space was not ventilated as far as he knew, and
    building an actual fire inside was a bad idea. If they needed light,
    they had torches, but otherwise, it was going to just be the darkness
    and the raging fury outside.
    Anthony said in awe, “Listen to it. This morning the sun was
    shining.”
    “It’s coming like an avalanche,” Charles remarked, wiping
    sweat from his forehead with his hand, his eyes narrowed on the
    doorway. “Do you remember, my lord, that time in the Alps? We
    could hear something similar and realized that the mountainside
    was loosening its load of snow. An entire village was wept away
    before our eyes.”
    “I remember,” Jonathan said, sitting down next to Jenna. “It
    was incredible and horrifying at the same time.”
    “This sound reminds me of the siege at Badajoz,” Anthony
    offered, his face grave with memory. “We battered the fortress for
    days and it began to rain, making it all the more miserable.
    Wellington sent in more and more men, until we finally breached
    the walls and took the town. I can still hear the constant roar of the
    cannon. It went on forever.”
    Always cheerful, Charles gave Jenna a bright smile. “So you
    see, this is nothing. No wounded, no casualties or missing villages,
    only a passing typhoon. These rock walls have been here for
    thousands of years. We’ll be completely safe.”
    “Only because you all planned ahead.” Her smile was wan. “I
    cannot think but that I am very lucky to have three such far-sighted

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    Emma Wildes
    men taking care of me. Unfortunately, this sound reminds me of
    the night our ship went down. My father didn’t want me to come
    see him in India in the first place, but I insisted. I hope he hasn’t
    racked himself with guilt, thinking he should have stood firm. I
    have felt guilty myself more than once, when I felt happiness and
    joy here, knowing he was grieving.”
    Outside a tree cracked suddenly, the crash audible even inside
    the thick walls. She