Once Upon a Pirate: Sixteen Swashbuckling Historical Romances Read online

  Copyright

  All sixteen books within this anthology are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. With the exception of well-known historical figures and places, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, now known or hereafter invented, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the applicable author, except for the use of brief quotations in a critical article or book review.

  The license granted herein is to read this ebook for entertainment or literary criticism purposes only. Without limiting the generality of the forgoing, any use of this work for machine learning or artificial intelligence training purposes is not included under the license and is expressly prohibited.

  Copyright © 2019 - applicable to all authors listed within this boxed set.

  Full copyright remains with each author.

  Stock Photography by Period Images

  Cover Design by Victoria Cooper

  The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, or distribution of this book without explicit written permission is theft of intellectual property. Thank you for your support of our authorial rights.

  Our authors, hailing from all over the world, are thrilled to have come together to create this dazzling set of historical romances.

  Being an international collection, you’ll find both American and British conventions for spelling and punctuation in this edition. No error is intended. Each author has written according to their preferred (and usual) style.

  This copyright applies to the following authors’ stories.

  Merry Farmer, Amy Rose Bennett, Ellie St. Clair, Linda Rae Sande, Anna Markland, Caroline Lee, Mariah Stone, Celeste Barclay, Mia Pride, Alyssa Drake, Sky Purington, Ashe Barker, Harmony Williams, S. Cinders, Simone Leigh, and Emmanuelle de Maupassant

  Contents

  Title Page

  Your Invitation

  Foreword

  Sixteen Gorgeous Novellas

  The Captive Vixen

  The Lady and the Privateer

  The Stormswept Stowaway

  The Bruce’s Angel

  Marooned

  The Pleasure of a Pirate

  The Lady’s Guide to Escaping Cannibals

  Falcon

  The Dark Heart of the Sea

  Jilted and Kilted

  Runaway Duke

  Rescued by Passion

  An Imperfect Scoundrel

  The Spinster's Guide to Piracy and Plunder

  Pirate’s Treasure

  Shieldmaiden

  More Pirate Shenanigans

  Reviews

  Your Invitation

  Your Invitation

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  Dear Reader

  Welcome to our swashbuckling anthology. Here, you'll find masterful pirate lords and courageous heroines, adventure and grand passion—spanning many centuries on the wild, windswept seas.

  Once the scourge of the oceans, pirates plundered more than two thousand vessels on the Atlantic trade routes between 1718 and 1722 alone; yet, one look at Errol Flynn's Captain Blood (1935), Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) or the cast of the marvellous mini-series Black Sails is proof enough that we have a secret admiration for their rebellious lifestyle.

  In fact, captains held their position more through respect than fear, and along surprisingly democratic lines. Their mini-kingdoms on the High Seas tended to be more egalitarian (and multi-cultural) than anywhere on terra firma.

  They may represent cut-throated ruthlessness, but also some romantic notion of freedom, self-determination, and escape.

  Pirates make their own rules.

  We hope these romances provide welcome entertainment, that they inspire you and transport you.

  Our characters battle many of the same challenges we do today—striving for independence, while yearning for true love.

  While you’re cheering for our heroes and heroines, we want you to cheer for yourself. Like the women and men in these tales, you’re stronger than you may realize, more resourceful and more determined.

  You too can defy convention and break the rules.

  You too can embrace adventure.

  As for happy endings, we all need to believe in those...

  Set sail to the lush heat of the Tropics, the storm-tossed Northern realms, the wild Barbary Coast, and the hazardous waters of the South Seas, for tales of scandalous adventure and smouldering desire.

  As perilous battles, treachery and revenge give way to sinful kisses, no heart is safe.

  You’ll find at least one smoulderingly steamy scene in every story, because we believe our desire for physical connection goes hand in hand with our desire for love, and deserves to be explored on the page.

  Browse the teasers below, to choose where to begin.

  THE CAPTIVE VIXEN

  by Merry Farmer

  Just as Lady Lettuce Marlowe has resigned herself to her miserable fate as the wife of a cruel man, the ship she is traveling on is attacked by pirates. Captain Martin Neville is days away from retiring from a life of piracy when he accidentally rescues Letty. But can they band together to fight Martin’s mutinous crewman, or will the passion between them be their downfall?

  THE LADY AND THE PRIVATEER

  by Amy Rose Bennett

  Hapless spinster, Lady Calliope Banks, is on a hunting expedition for dodo bones on the Isle of Mauritius. Roguish privateer, Captain Jonathon Townsend, is on the hunt for a notorious pirate. Even though they’ve both charted entirely different courses in life, it seems Fate might have other ideas… Thrown together unexpectedly, neither Lady Calliope nor Captain Townsend can resist the irresistible pull of a growing magnetic attraction. But can this unlikely pair find love?

  THE STORMSWEPT STOWAWAY

  by Ellie St.Clair

  Desperate to escape, Penelope Carstairs stows away on what she believes to be a merchant ship… only to be discovered by the feared pirate Captain Ramsay. Afraid of losing her life on their journey across the ocean, she soon finds its her heart that’s at risk.

  THE BRUCE’S ANGEL

  by Caroline Lee

  Charlotte MacLeod is desperate for the Scottish crown to acknowledge her betrothed's treason, as it'll save her from a marriage made in hell. Out of ideas, she turns pirate to kidnap the queen…little realizing the queen’s bodyguard is the warrior who broke her heart! Liam Bruce has to convince his wee warrior he’s still worthy of her love, and save her from a charge of royal treason!

  MAROONED

  by Anna Markland

  An intrepid Caribbean pirate hunted by international navies is marooned on a deserted island with the resentful Danish widow he has taken captive.

/>   Maximiliano and Heidi seemingly have nothing in common, except the long-held desire to start life afresh. Is their fate a blessing in disguise?

  THE PLEASURE OF A PIRATE

  by Linda Rae Sande

  When the dastardly Baron Dorchester kidnaps Little Bo Peep from a costume ball and carries her onto a ship bound for France, the captain of the Molly, Blake Russell, must take on the guise of a pirate to rescue his booty, in this delightful tale of a chase on the Channel. Can a tumble on the Thames be far behind?

  THE LADY’S GUIDE TO ESCAPING CANNIBALS

  by Emmanuelle de Maupassant

  Under the protection of darkly handsome Captain Jorge de Silva, Lady Bathsheba Asquith lands on the mysterious island of Vanuaka with only three days to find her missing brother.

  The trials of the jungle strip away any pretense of propriety and passion flares, but de Silva is not all he seems, and Bathsheba is in more danger than she can imagine.

  Vanuaka’s volcano is awakening—and only a human sacrifice can appease its fire.

  FALCON

  by Ashe Barker

  Betrayed by her abusive husband, sold as a slave, battered and beaten senseless, Elisabeth Chirac is destined for a life of unimaginable horror. Rescued from her fate by a ferocious pirate captain, will she fare any better in his care?

  Wil Falconer is a ruthless buccaneer with an aversion to slavery. He attacks the slave vessel intending to seize and free the unfortunate souls imprisoned within its bowels. He does not expect to find the near lifeless body of a beautiful Southern lady, especially not one who cannot even remember her own name.

  THE DARK HEART OF THE SEA

  by Celeste Barclay

  What happens when a ruthless pirate meets the woman who warms his dark heart?

  Rauirí MacNeill is one of the most feared pirates sailing the British Isles, but when he rescues a woman from attack, can he resist when she matches wits without fear?

  Senga MacLeod Sorley didn’t expect a chance encounter to lead to a kiss and an adventure on the high seas.

  JILTED AND KILTED

  by Mia Pride

  Descended from a long line of English privateers, the need for adventure flows through Ruby Berry’s veins. Betrothed to a stodgy Vice-Admiral of the Queen’s Navy, Ruby is desperate to escape, and Callum Campbell could be the answer to her prayers.

  Laird of his clan by day and devilish pirate by night, he’s never short of schemes, but will Captain Campbell be able to give Ruby her freedom once their adventure ends?

  RUNAWAY DUKE

  By S. Cinders

  Known as the American Duke, Oliver and his five equally as devastatingly handsome younger brothers, have taken the ton by storm. As the unmarried ladies of society, and even a few married ones, have thrown in their caps for the Stanford brothers.

  There is none more sought after than the Duke of Bilkshore himself. However, there has only been one to quicken his pulse and capture his heart. So when she flees to America aboard one of his family's ships. Oliver has no choice but to runaway with her.

  RESCUED BY PASSION

  by Sky Purington

  Captured by pirates and auctioned off by Blackbeard, Rose is rescued by the man who abandoned her. Aware she possesses a priceless family heirloom, privateer turned pirate, Thomas saves the woman who betrayed him. Will they be able to navigate their turbulent past and stay one step ahead of the enemy? Find out on their high-seas, passionate adventure.

  AN IMPERFECT SCOUNDREL

  by Alyssa Drake

  When marauders ambush her ship, a widow dons her dead husband’s clothing, giving his name as hers, but her treachery places her in unforeseen peril. Abducted and assigned to the captain’s quarters as a manservant, Alana carries out her duties under the guise of Sebastian Dubois, discovering the man behind the pirate captain’s cold façade is quite opposite from his ruthless moniker.

  THE SPINSTER’S GUIDE TO PIRACY AND PLUNDER

  by Harmony Williams

  Lady Jeanne Quickblade will marry the man who can best her in a sword fight—and claim the ship of any man who cannot.

  After amassing a fleet, a reputation for a tongue that cuts as deep as her sword, and a fortune from plundering Napoleon's ships, Jeanne finally meets her match...in the betrothed she fled to the high seas to avoid.

  PIRATE’S TREASURE

  by Mariah Stone

  An 18th century pirate desperate to lead an honest life. An executive who falls through time. If she helps him find the hidden treasure, he’ll allow her to put on the jade necklace to go back to the twenty-first century. But with the enemy in pursuit and time running out, both could very well lose the thing they desire most: each other.

  SHIELDMAIDEN

  by Simone Leigh

  Is Freedom What You Think?

  You were free.

  You were taken and enslaved.

  If you earn back your freedom, is that enough?

  A Viking Romance

  The Captive Vixen

  by Merry Farmer

  Chapter 1

  The Atlantic Ocean, near the Leeward Islands

  Autumn, 1816

  Lady Lettuce Marlowe—or Mrs. Pigge, as she preferred not to be called—was awakened suddenly, not by the incessant rocking of the ship that had been her home for most of the miserable five weeks of her married life thus far, but by the boom of cannon-fire and the bloodthirsty shouts of unfamiliar male voices.

  She rolled over on the thin pallet on the floor and pushed herself groggily to a sitting position. Countless bruises all over her body ached with the effort—some of them new, but most of them inflicted by the hands of her new husband—and misery hung heavily on her shoulders and penetrated into her bones. She blinked, unable to fully steady herself with the constant motion of the ship and the pervasive sense of the surreal that her life had descended into. Had she truly heard cannon-fire? Were the shouts that seemed to be growing closer merely a manifestation of the nightmares that plagued her? They couldn’t be any worse than her waking hours.

  As if to underscore the point, Pigge shifted in the relatively large and cozy bed their small cabin contained, grumbled something indistinguishable, and snorted. A moment later, another blast of cannon-fire sounded.

  “Wha—?” Pigge exclaimed, pushing aside layers of warm blankets and soft pillows as he sat in the bed. “What’s going on?” He twisted, straightening his nightcap, which had gone askew, and squinted into the darkness of the cabin. “Where are you, you worthless whore?” he growled.

  Letty sucked in a breath that sounded like a sob and scrambled into the corner, pressing herself as far into the shadows as she could. If the past few weeks had taught her anything, it was that nothing good came of her husband waking up in the middle of the night. At best, she’d been treated to bitter blows and insults. At worst…she didn’t want to think about the worst. All she knew was that she’d wept with joy when her monthly courses had started just under a week ago. Miracles happened after all.

  Another blast sounded, illuminating the tiny cabin long enough for Pigge to spot her, cowering in the corner.

  “Get over here, whore,” he snapped. “This is all your doing, and I know just how to make you pay.” His voice took on the lascivious tone it did whenever he was about to force himself on her.

  But instead of the inevitable pain and humiliation she’d come to expect from him, the ship pitched suddenly with a sickening thump. The snarling cries and shouts grew louder as the thunder of dozens of pairs of boots drumming across the deck above them sounded.

  “Pirates,” someone shouted from the hallway outside of the cabin. “We’ve been boarded by pirates! Arm yourselves and beware.”

  A shiver shot down Letty’s spine, but it wasn’t the sort of fear she would have expected while under attack. Instead of terror and dread, hope throbbed through her.

  “Don’t just stand there, bitch,” Pigge shouted, throwing his legs over the raised side of the bed. “Light a lantern. Find me a w
eapon. Make yourself useful.”

  Letty jumped into action, not because Pigge had ordered her, but because lighting a lantern and searching for a weapon was the wise thing to do. Her hands shook as she felt her way to the table where the lantern had been left the night before, and when she struck a match to light it. The cannons had stopped firing, but a new, softer light of dawn peeked through the cabin’s single porthole.

  By the time she lit the lantern, Pigge was out of bed, scrambling through his trunk to find clothes. Letty rushed to the trunk as well to find something more suitable than her thin shift to wear, but Pigge pushed her aside, sending her sprawling to her backside. Bitter resignation twisted her stomach, but she ignored it as she crawled to her feet once more. The contents of the trunk weren’t much better than what she had on anyhow. Pigge had sold most of the fine gowns she’d brought into the marriage with her, claiming that she wouldn’t need clothes for the role he had in mind for her. There was only one thing she’d managed to smuggle aboard that she cared about.