A British Heiress in America (Revolutionary Women Book 1)

by Becky Lower

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Land, ho!”

  The cry from the small man in the crow’s nest made Daniel’s body erupt in goose bumps, as it always did when their journey was about to end. Daniel had sensed they were close to the coastline, could smell the difference in the air, but Hedges, up in the nest, was first to spot it. All the men on the deck pivoted leeward, peered at the horizon, and waited. Not a sound emanated from them. It was as if they held their collective breath until they spotted the smudge of brown Hedges had spied.

  Pip appeared on deck and made her way through the men standing silently until she arrived at Daniel’s side.

  “What is it?” She peered over the edge, following the sightline of the crew. “What are we looking at?”

  “Land ahead. We’re nearly home.” Daniel pointed to the west.

  She took the spyglass from Daniel and trained her gaze on the horizon. “All I see is water, Cap’n.”

  “Just wait a few minutes. Hedges has the advantage, since he’s higher up than the rest of us.” Daniel’s body canted forward slightly. “Can’t you smell a difference in the air? A more fishy scent?”

  She made a show of sniffing, then returned the spyglass to him. “No. You’re pulling my leg.”

  Daniel remained silent. He’d considered doing much more with her leg than tugging on it in the past few days. That’s why he’d maintained his distance. He hadn’t said more than a dozen words to her since he’d kissed her. Since she’d kissed him. His gaze slipped to her lips again.

  Damn. His body responded to her, even as he tried to corral his heart back into the pen where it had been since Gladys’s death. He’d deliver Pippa to her aunt and uncle tomorrow and then she’d become their responsibility, not his. He stole one more glimpse of her lips before he pivoted toward land. A cry rose from the men when they finally caught sight of the land Hedges had warned them about. Pippa jumped up and down, racing from one man to the next, grabbing their hands and dancing a jig.

  She finally returned to his side. “How soon can we leave the ship?”

  He took the wheel from Ben. “We’ll dock tonight, at slack tide. But we won’t unload the ship until morning.”

  “So tomorrow I’ll be able to go to Aunt Bernice’s?” Pippa’s voice wavered slightly.

  Daniel gave her a sidelong glance. “Your Boston adventure is about to begin, Pip. Are you nervous?”

  She straightened and glared at him. “I’m never nervous.”

  He controlled the impulse to grin. She was definitely nervous.

  “Your aunt will welcome you into her home, I’m sure, since your presence will give her an excuse to host dinners, parties and dances in your honor.” He shifted his gaze from Pippa to the shoreline coming into view.

  She stared off at the land mass, too. “Will you attend any of those dinners, parties and dances?”

  “Possibly, one or two. But I’m not in the same circle of people your aunt and uncle normally associate with, so I probably won’t see much of you once we get on land.” He kept his gaze on the shoreline.

  Instead of following his attention on the land, she stared at him. He could feel her gaze upon him, but decided his best course of action would be to pay close attention to the shoreline and steer his ship into the harbor.

  “I’ll miss you, then.” Her voice wavered softly before she left his side and left the deck.

  He wiped his brow and stared at his homeland. He'd miss her too. She’d become the belle of Boston’s British high society and he’d become the best secret agent he could be. The sooner the English left Boston entirely, taking Pippa with them, the better. No good could come from having her in his city. Unless he could find a way to use her, and not in the way he’d been dreaming of for days now. He wouldn’t use her body, but rather her mind. Could he possibly get her to divulge information about the British plans for attack against the upstart Americans before she’d figure out which side his loyalty was on? He’d have to tread lightly, and quite possibly, once she was back in the midst of her own kind, she’d want nothing to do with him. She certainly wouldn’t tempt him repeatedly with her lips, her breasts, her legs. Time would tell.

  • ♥ •

  In the safety of the captain’s cabin, Pippa allowed a few tears to fall before she blinked them away. Her voyage to America had been only the beginning of her adventure. The fact she’d picked the one ship in the harbor that night in England with the most handsome man she’d ever encountered heading it up was kismet, as far as she was concerned. He’d certainly made her life tolerable during their voyage. He’d protected her from the other crewmembers and from herself, the several times when she lost her footing near the railing. When she thought of other possible outcomes, on other ships, with other captains who weren’t as sympathetic, she couldn’t control the shudders that raced through her body.

  Yes, Daniel had made her life on board tolerable. If her body hummed whenever he was near, if her lips ached for his, if she touched him much too often, well, that was her problem. He’d succumbed to her, kissing her several times now, when she threw herself at him. But he showed remarkable restraint by backing away, and she grew more furious by the moment. She was unaccustomed to being rebuffed. But then, she had never had to throw herself at a man, either. Maybe she was doing it all wrong. And she still had no clue about his surname or for whom the ship was named.

  Well, missy, you won’t have to worry about him anymore. After tomorrow, things will get back to your normal routine.

  If Daniel was correct, and Aunt Bernice welcomed her, she’d become the dazzling addition to society that she had been in London. Men would throw themselves at her instead of the other way around. She preferred that scenario. There had to be some pliable men in Boston. Men who were more her style. More normal.

  “Ah, but do you really want normal?” She whispered as her gaze took in the porthole and the rollicking waves. “Isn’t that what you ran from? And, even though you’ve had to parade around as a boy, hasn’t this been the most exciting thing you’ve ever done?”

  She shrugged away her questions and instead focused on her course of action. She had one night left here in the cabin. Should she attempt one final time to seduce Daniel? Or should she settle for sharing a cheroot and a cup of rum with him? Maybe he’d be too busy to even return to the cabin until they had docked in port and started to unload the ship. Then, he’d have to come in and open the secret cabinet. It still riled her that she hadn’t been able to get a glimpse inside. Was he hiding gold doubloons? Secret missives? What could possibly be so important it needed to be kept under lock and key?

  She glanced around the small room. Everything was neat and tidy. She’d folded her blanket and piled it by the door, in preparation for her final night. Her gaze honed in on the hammock where Daniel had slept for weeks, while she kept her position in front of the door. She chafed that he wasn’t gentleman enough to give her the bed, but understood the rationale the first time Patrick had crashed into the room with an emergency. He would have snuffed out her subterfuge immediately if she’d been in Daniel’s bed.

  But there was no one coming in now. Probably not even Daniel. If she could just crawl into his bed one time...

  Her footsteps took her to the side of the hammock before she could even put two consecutive thoughts together. She sat on the bed, then swung her legs over and lay down. The scents of tobacco, spice, the sea, and sweat permeated the space. Daniel’s scent. She drew the pillow to her nose and breathed him in. Her eyes closed and she sighed as her body relaxed. Aunt Bernice would see to her launch into proper society again, starting tomorrow. She would once again have to follow the rules of decorum all of England lived by. One more night of freedom. That was all.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Daniel opened the door to his cabin slowly. Dawn was only now breaking and the dim light did little to guide him. He didn’t want to step on Pippa if she was sleeping on the floor, as she had done every night they had been at sea. He let out the br
eath he’d been holding when the door swung open without incident and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

  He tiptoed to his hammock, ready to sink into it for a few hours’ rest. They had successfully docked last night, and the unloading would soon begin. It had been a long night, though, and a couple of hours’ sleep would be beneficial before he set foot on land.

  Daniel bent over, ready to drop onto the bed, and found himself face to face with the woman who had been tormenting him for weeks. Pippa was asleep in his hammock! Her arm was around his pillow, embracing it, with her face toward the porthole. Had she been looking at the stars when she fell asleep? His abrupt halt left him only inches away from her. What should he do?

  He should wake her, kick her out of his bed, and get the couple of hours’ sleep his body cried out for. But he’d been fantasizing having her in his bed for weeks now, and here she was, a gift from the sea gods. He lowered himself to his knees alongside the hammock. Simply seeing her in his bed, her arms around his pillow, made his body react. His stomach knotted, his manhood stood at attention. His gaze roamed over her face, down her long column of neck. Should he give in to his baser feelings, finally? Touch her petal-soft skin?

  No.

  In only a few hours, he’d deliver her to her aunt, and she would cease to exist for him. He'd continue on his dangerous path, spend time with his daughter, and wait for his next assignment from the British. Pippa would become the darling of the Boston elite. Their paths would never need to cross. While his thoughts raged, his gaze fixated on her mouth. Maybe he should extract payment for her using his bed with a kiss. Her lips had been torturing him for weeks. The few short brushes his own lips had with them had not been nearly enough. He lowered his head to her even as his mind shrieked not to do so.

  Her lips were, if anything, softer than he had dreamed of. His kiss was light, gentle. He didn’t want to wake her, to let her see his unbridled lust. But now that he’d had a taste of her sweetness, he couldn’t back off if his life depended on it. He deepened his kiss.

  Her hand rose from the bed and circled his neck, tugging him closer, as Pippa’s lips opened to him. He took her up on her invitation, their tongues doing a happy dance with each other. A bolt of current shot through Daniel the moment his tongue met hers. He groaned, and her hand slid from his neck down his torso, scorching a path. He was lost.

  He couldn’t come up for air. His greedy mouth and tongue dueled with hers, taking, sucking, nipping. She matched him in vigor, her hands exploring his body, tugging him closer. When she started to undo his trousers, he finally regained his senses and backed off.

  “What are you doing, Pippa?”

  Her dazed expression almost had him going back for more. Her lips were swollen, and even more inviting. He stood, putting some distance between himself and temptation.

  She raised herself onto her elbows. “What are you doing?”

  He growled before he took a deep breath. “I was extracting my payment for you using my bed.”

  She bounced off the hammock and sidled up to him. “Well, you certainly appeared to enjoy it. Took your sweet time.” She brushed his arm.

  He stepped back a pace. “Leave me alone for a couple of hours, Pippa. I’ll take you to your aunt’s this morning. But, if you have any idea what’s best for you, you won’t set foot in this cabin again until we’re ready to leave.”

  She took a step forward. “I’ve done what’s best for me for weeks now. One more kiss from you will not upend my resolve.”

  His hand snaked out and tugged her to him. “What about two kisses?” He dropped his head and waged war with her mouth again. She plastered herself up against his raging body, bumping into his swollen manhood. Her breath hissed out and she ran a hand over his broad shoulder. His hand dipped inside her coarse shirt and under her binding, finding her squashed globes of flesh. He tugged the binding lower, exposing one of her breasts. His hand encircled it, his finger flicking over her nipple, which peaked in excitement in seconds. He longed to cover it, taste it, but he couldn’t tear his mouth from hers. Her hand wound down his back, encircled his hip, and wandered toward his front side.

  When she touched the cloth covering his shaft, he broke from the kiss and took a few stumbling steps away from her, gasping for air. The air crackled between them as they stared at each other.

  She huffed out a deep breath and broke their gaze. “You can take that as payment in full for the journey.” She tugged her binding up over her exposed breast. “I’ll do your bidding and leave you alone from now on.”

  He couldn’t take a step, much less string two coherent words together. She strode over to the nearly empty cigar box and helped herself to a cheroot before she slammed the door to the cabin when she left. He took a measured breath, to make sure he was still breathing. It was as if he were under a spell. He desperately needed sleep, but sinking into the hammock where Pippa had just been would continue his torture.

  After a few long minutes, he took the few steps to the bed and sat. He had never reacted like a madman with any woman before. Not even with Gladys. Thank God, his journey with Pippa was at an end.

  He lay back on the bed, placing the pillow behind his head. The pillow Pippa had embraced, just as she had embraced his body a few minutes ago. He inhaled her scent, which lingered on the pillow. And groaned once more. His body had only started to calm down, but picking up her combination of sea, tobacco and, for some unknown reason, cinnamon, made his senses tingle again. He closed his eyes. Her delightfully swollen lips, her hardened nipple, flashed through his mind. Surely, the current that ripped through his body hadn't been one-sided. Surely, she wasn’t just toying with him, as he was certain she had with many a man before him. Perhaps there would be a way to continue their liaison on land. But from the caveman-like way he had responded to her, she would be more problematic than useful in his spying endeavors.

  • ♥ •

  Pippa leaned over the railing on the bow of the ship, taking long drags of her cheroot. Her last one for a while, she was almost certain. She had spent no time with Aunt Bernice in years, but from what she could recollect, her aunt was one who followed the rules of society to the letter. It would be hard enough for her to buy the idea short hair was now the latest London fashion. The very idea of women smoking cigars would render her apoplectic.

  It would be nice if she could enjoy her last one, taking her time to appreciate the taste of the tobacco, to blow expert smoke rings and watch them float away. Instead, she was drawing on her cheroot so hard the tobacco burned faster than normal as her stomach heaved in unison with the waves slapping the ship. Her unsettledness was not only because she could now see the city of Boston, America, to where she’d chosen to bolt, but now Daniel had finally given into the temptation she’d paraded in front of him on an almost daily basis for the past three weeks. He’d kissed her, long and hard! She was no blushing wallflower. Several men from her past had backed her up against a wall and plundered her mouth before, men who were so taken by her beauty they couldn’t control their baser instincts. She’d been aware of their hard shafts bumping up against her and had been mildly curious about a man’s private parts, but none of her previous encounters enticed her enough to be as bold as she had just been with Daniel. She had molded her hand around his shaft, felt it twitch under her fingers, and longed to drop his trousers and touch him.

  Thank goodness, he had come to his senses and backed off. Even if her body screamed at him to return to her side and finish whatever they’d started, she was grateful he had the presence of mind to deliver her to Aunt Bernice with her body intact. It was one thing to be deposited in front of Aunt Bernice and to try to explain her boy’s clothing and short hair. It would be quite another to tell her about a tattered reputation. Although it probably was, in England, anyway.

  But she was no longer in England. Here, in this new land, she could make up a story about herself. She could begin again. She could forget the wrinkled old man her father had nearly
forced her to marry. She could instead fill her head with visions of Daniel. He had been out of control with her and her excitement had matched his. If they'd continued, both their bodies would have combusted at the end. He was a danger to her. At a time when she needed to keep her wits about her, Daniel had the capability of turning her into a simpering female who longed for his touch. She’d be much better off finding a suitable British officer to spend her time with. Someone who understood the rules of decorum and how to treat a lady. Someone she could flirt with, who she could entice, but who understood just how far he could go. Someone she could control. Not someone like Daniel.

  Of course, she hadn’t cared a fig for her reputation when she bound her breasts and stowed away on a ship bound any-where but England. She could not now waste her time with regrets. Instead, she fixed her gaze on the docks. Her stomach knotted as she pondered the next few hours of her life. She tossed the butt of her cheroot overboard and strode alongside Ben, whose gaze was also on the shoreline.

  “Home, sweet home, eh, Ben?”

  He rolled his gaze to her. “Aye, matey. America. Yer new home. How do you feel about it?”

  She glanced back at the harbor, the docks, and the sprawling buildings. “It doesn’t look so much different from England.”

  “The Brits settled most of the colonies, so I guess they would have laid out a city in the same way they were used to.” Ben heaved a float over the side of the ship. “But it’s the people who have been born and raised here who make Boston different. Make America different. You’ll see.”

  Pippa shifted her gaze to Ben. “You mean, men like the captain?”

  Ben barked out a laugh. “Yer captain is one of a kind.”

  “He’s not my captain. I’m never getting back on this ship.” She stared at Ben, who laughed again.