Stealing a Lady's Heart: A Regency Fairytale (Fairfield Fairytales Book 1) by Tammy Andresen Page A

of them in less than a minute.
    Tom got out his tinderbox and an oil rag. He lit the rag almost instantly and handed it to Will, who wrapped the flaming rag around a gigantic arrow.
    “Hit the main mast,” Nick yelled over the surf.
    “Easy for you to say. I’ve only got one arrow.  I can’t miss!”  As the boat bore down on them, Will released the string and the flaming arrow shot like a ball of fire in the night.
    The boat burst into flames as the arrow pierced the main mast of the ship. The fire caught the sail which billowed to the deck, lighting it on fire as well.
    “Bloody bullocks,” Tom called softly as the flames rose higher.
    “Have you ever seen the like?” Nick asked.
    The boat stopped dead in the water. Their small sailboat coasted out of its shadow. Graham sighed. For an instant he thought they were safe. But the boat was burning quickly and it gave a heaving groan then listed to one side. The flames had spread to every inch of the ship and all three masts glowed red in the dark.
    “Nick, steer the boat away, or that mast could come down right on top of us!” Graham bellowed at his brother. 
    But Nick couldn’t correct in time and, as the large boat went down, one of its flaming masts smashed into their smaller vessel, splintering half their boat into pieces.
    Will and Nick went diving out the sides of the boat.
    Tom wrenched a piece of wood from the deck and set his toolbox onto the board, pushing it away from the sinking vessel and then he jumped in the water.
    “We have to jump!” Graham stood with Charlotte in his arms.
    “I can’t swim!” Charlotte screamed, panic choking her voice.
    “Doesn’t matter,” Graham yelled back as he jumped off the side of the boat with Charlotte still in his arms.
    Both plunged under the cold ocean water, but Graham quickly kicked them back to the surface. Charlotte gasped for breath. The shrieks of men pierced the air and the boats burned, lighting the scene. The larger boat seemed to heave its last breath and it sank below the water.
    Graham made to shift Charlotte but she clutched him tighter and they both sank below the surface. Graham kicked them up again.
    “Sweetheart,” he crooned softly to calm her fear. “I am not going to let anything happen to you. I have to put you on my back so I can swim to those rocks.”
    Charlotte nodded but as he went to loosen her arms, she tightened again.  He held her tighter around her waist.  He leaned his forehead to hers. “Relax,” he took a slow deep breath fanning her cheeks.
    “Kiss me again,” her mouth begged in more ways than one. 
    “Charlotte,” Graham groaned out.  His lips came down on hers in a brief strong kiss.
     
    * * * *
     
    Charlotte felt like her bones were melting with that kiss. The first she had been half-dreaming and thought she was asleep. But this kiss curled her toes and made her forget where she was and what she was doing.
    Graham broke contact and immediately shifted her to his back. He kicked towards his brothers who were already on a nearby rock.
    “I didn’t know it would be like that,” Charlotte whispered in his ear.
    “What?” he asked.
    Charlotte could hear the smile in his voice. She would have swatted him if he wasn’t all that stood between her and drowning. “Kissing. I didn’t know it would feel like that.”
    “That can’t be your first kiss?” Graham actually attempted to turn and look at her.
    “Well a few men have planted their lips on mine but those were not like this.” She snuggled closer. “I’m freezing.”
    “Of course, my lady,” he chuckled. They had nearly reached the rock. “Charlotte, kissing is…” He paused, “almost never like that.”
    “You felt it too,” her voice came out huskier than she intended.
    They reached the rock.  Graham pulled her back around him and then heaved her up onto the great stone.
    If she thought she had been cold in the water, she was instantly frozen when she came up out of the ocean, onto