Why did she tense at his kind words? Why did his nearness make her breathless?
She simply nodded because she was afraid to speak.
“I had hoped the bath would help.”
“It did,” she assured him. “T-thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome.”
Silence descended between them. She’d never been this close to a man before. Life on her plantation didn’t include social functions or courting of any kind. Uncertainty worked its way inside her chest and her heart thundered in her ears. She should move away. She should put more space between them but she didn’t...
“I don’t mean to be such a bother—”
“You’re not a bother, Jewel.” The way he spoke her given name sent shivers racing along her spine. He lifted her chin with his palms and gazed into her eyes. Moonlight drifted across the planes of his face like water. Tangy salt air, his musky scent, and the humid Caribbean air all lent a sultry quality to the moment. Not even the breeze could wash away the sensual stickiness to her skin.
She gave a slight smile and whirled from his embrace, determined to break this spell. “Captain, I’ve been sick almost the entire voyage. I can imagine how frustrated you must be with me, but I do assure you I am perfectly capable of caring for myself from here on out. I do thank you for your kindness.”
“Jewel,” he interrupted.
She closed her eyes. Please, don’t say my name like that. A heady weight settled over her, she became very aware of how near he stood, wishing for all the world she could ignore him.
His hands enclosed over her shoulders and turned her gently. “Don’t do this,” he whispered.
She feigned ignorance. “Do what?”
“Pretend you feel nothing.”
She closed her eyes on a sigh and shook her head. “This can never be...”
He cupped her cheeks. “Why?”
“This is business...we’re partners.”
Rand swooped down and captured her mouth, whatever excuses she’d been about to utter lost on a gasp. With a rare blend of gentleness and eagerness, he kissed her and she surrendered to him easily. He was simply too practiced in the art of love-making.
His taste intoxicated her until she drowned in the sensations. Like a fine brandy and rum, he tasted both sweet and spicy. A man of contradictions. A man she knew so little about and yet he refused to open to her.
As his arms gathered her closer and her breasts flattened against him, she moaned. Shivers ran the length of her body like the soft after-tremors of an earthquake, both subtle and yet dangerous.
They broke apart, both gasping, reeling from the emotions roiling within. Even the atmosphere fizzled with energy. They stared at each other, uncertainty worked its way insider her.
“Do you still believe this is business, Jewel?” He dipped and kissed along her jawline to her ear. “My precious gem,” he said in a low voice. “Tell me, can you feel my heart pounding?”
She closed her eyes on a sigh. Yes, she wanted to answer back but held her tongue. Why couldn’t she just pretend this wouldn’t break her heart and enjoy this moment with him? Just once?
Her own heart thundered in response to his words, though it was his hands as they skimmed up her sides to cup her breasts that elicited tiny sounds from her. The heat of his palms burned through the fabric of her shirt, and she gasped.
Rand devoured her lips, sucking in her excited moans, and responded with a husky sound of his own. “I want you, Jewel. Let me in,” he whispered, returning to her mouth.
She didn’t answer him but returned each kiss with an eagerness he couldn’t mistake. Rand lifted her in his arms, crossed the cabin and tumbled them across the bunk. No longer did she lie passively and let him do his worst; instead she ripped open his shirt to feel the bare skin beneath. With that simple movement, he groaned deeply and ground his hardness against her center.
Gasping, she arched as a volley of pleasure trickled across her skin. Glorious. He felt glorious against her. She wrapped her legs around him and drew him closer, wanting more. He licked a wet path to her throat and collarbone, fire chasing in the wake of his tongue.
With a hard yank, he popped the buttons off her shirt and bared her body to his view. He paused then as his dark gaze soaked in every detail. “What an exquisite gem you are.”
Heat scalded her cheeks but settled low in the pit of her belly. His mouth immediately set to work down her neck until it centered between her breasts, and one hand cupped a turgid peak while he sucked the other into his mouth.
Jewel’s lips trembled apart in surprise but rounded in awe as sensation after sensation wracked her body. Tingles ricocheted from the tips of her breasts to greet the ache developing between her thighs. The moist, suckling mouth drew every ounce of ecstasy from her before marking a path down her stomach.
Shivering beneath his touch, unsure of what lay next, Jewel threaded her fingers within his hair, her mouth gone dry. Anticipation coursed through her veins as she tensed...waiting...closing her eyes...until his mouth settled on the apex between her thighs and she leaped in response.
His hands flattened on her belly until she relaxed, but her legs remained tensed, ready to spring closed. His tongue eased between the folds of her sex until he licked the tiny nub hidden within, and her hands clasped the sheets tightly.
He licked, sucked, and wrung every bit of sound from her throat until she grew hoarse and her body grew limp. She dared not glance down to where his head moved liquidly between her thighs. Waves of raw pleasure washed over her as the hungry insistence of his mouth drank up her sweetness. Her body arched off the bunk, taut like a bow and then sprang free as her release drenched her thighs.
Rand rose over her. His shoulders gleamed under the meager light and his stare burned with his desire. “Your body speaks loudly even when your mouth tells lies, Jewel. Let me hear it again.”
~ * ~
Rand gathered her closer, plundering her mouth once again just as he’d like to plunder her body. Watching her delicious body squirm and slide against the sheets in the throes of passion had almost done him in. He throbbed. He had difficulty breathing, just thinking about sinking into her body as she wriggled against him just like that.
He removed the rest of his clothing and resettled between her thighs. Jewel’s dark hair fanned out around her shoulders and her sweet, firm breasts rose to his touch. Perfect for the shape of his hands. He hovered at her opening, straining to feel the heat of her flesh. “I need you.”
She widened her legs, and he settled more fully between them and then sank inside. He groaned, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. She stiffened briefly. Once her legs urged him forwards, that was it. Every last shred of control vanished as he plunged inside, tearing right through her maiden’s barrier.
Pausing to allow her to adjust, he panted against her shoulder but Jewel captured his mouth in a searing kiss. Both of her hands grasped handfuls of his hair, and she ground her body against him. He was lost, pounding inside her as perspiration drenched their skin. She shuddered and cried out.
Her nails scoured his back, and he roared his approval. Rand expelled an oath, forcing himself to regain control. But then her body arched as she slid over him, the drenching heat of her desire soaking their thighs. He plunged to the hilt and back out until she begged for more. They slid and writhed and stroked, until massive shocks of raw ecstasy shattered into a thousand pieces like a ship on rocky shores.
Rand gasped and dropped over her, holding her tight after the most incredible love-making he’d ever experienced. The intense pleasure sent ripples through his body and into hers. They lay like that until he lifted his head, brushing her hair from her face tenderly.
She smiled gently up at him and glanced away. Cupping her cheek, he forced her gaze back to his, planting a sweet kiss to her nose and then her mouth.
Emotion choked him—something he refused to name. He rolled off her, unsure what to say, so he gathered her close and held her unt
il she relaxed against him in sleep.
Whatever this little jewel had done to him over the last several weeks, he planned to keep this treasure to himself, because losing it was suddenly unthinkable.
~ 6 ~
Someone pounded on the door just as the thunder of a cannon blasted them awake. Entangled with Jewel, Rand scrambled from the bunk and threw on trousers and boots before yanking open the door.
“It’s Blythe. He’s got us pinned in,” O’Conner said.
“Stay put,” Rand said, pointing in Jewel’s direction. She nodded and hid her flaming cheeks beneath the sheets.
Rand brushed past the Irishman, heading for the quarterdeck. His quartermaster followed in his wake as he slid his shirt on. Their boots battered through the companionway.
La Osidiana shuddered and tossed Rand against the bulkhead. “Blast!” Rand darted through the hatchway until he reached the main deck. “Run out the guns, O’Conner. Let’s show Blythe a good time.”
A storm rolled over the horizon like a thick velvet blanket from the southwest. “Full sail, O’Conner, bring us in across her bow. We can squeeze between the shoals and the ship.”
Sean nodded, relaying Rand’s orders. A full broadside erupted from the enemy and screeched through La Obsidiana’s rigging. Sails shredded under the assault and the crew scurried across the decks like worker ants.
Their only advantage was the wind at their backs. Rand planned to use it. The crew ran out the guns and knocked the wedges out from under the wheels while the chief gunner issued orders, waiting for the command.
La Obsidiana gathered speed. “Fire at will,” Rand called out. The schooner streaked through the cove, headed right for the frigate’s bow. Her battery of cannons exploded and cleaved through the HMS Gallant’s hull in a direct shot. A cloud of black shroud settled over the decks and clung to the rigging like ghosts, clogging the air and making breathing difficult.
Veils of drifting smoke blinded Rand as he stood at the helm. The Gallant moved toward them, ready to ram La Osidiana through the guts.
“Fire!” the chief gunner called and lead balls plowed through the nose of the enemy like a heavy ram, cracking timbers and planks in half. Shouts echoed off the cliff’s rocky shoals next to them.
La Obsidiana barely skimmed between the Gallant’s bowsprit, and the reefs. Sails ballooned with the breath of the gods and propelled her towards freedom.
“They’re going to try to usher us right into the cliffs, Cap’n,” O’Conner shouted.
Come on, don’t let me down now. Timbers creaked as the vessel picked up speed. Dark clouds swallowed the last rays of the sun, and the first wet pellets showered across the decks. Winds assaulted the already damaged rigging and tore shredded sails to pieces.
Water curled off La Obsidiana’s bow as the Gallant’s bowsprit missed gouging her stern by mere inches. Enemy seamen aimed pistols and fired at Rand’s crew. Bullets dinged off the side of the ship and embedded into three of his men. Shouts of pain resonated through the cove.
Rand cursed as return fire ensued.
Clear of the shoals and ship, La Obsidiana tacked toward freedom just as the Gallant loosed a full broadside to her rear. A cannonball shattered the stern’s railing, sending a fatal spray of splinters across the decks. A sliver of wood pierced the back of his shoulder, causing Rand to cry out. Jewel raced to him from the main deck. “Rand!”
His heart leapt into the back of his throat as he imagined a cannonball decapitating her. Fury raged through his veins. He pointed and roared, “I thought I told you to stay put. Get below decks, Derington, and that’s a damn order!”
She faltered and slid to a stop, confusion and pain marring her brow. “But—”
“No arguments. Just get below!” He clasped the wound and returned to the helm, ignoring her. Guilt threatened to wheedle its way inside his chest, but he tamped it down. She whirled, running back below decks; her footsteps pounded across the planks. He closed his eyes in remembrance of her in his arms. He clenched his jaw tightly. He couldn’t afford a mistake and her presence on deck would distract him.
But she’d brooked no argument, and her compliance surprised him, even as her tears wounded him. Telling himself to stand firm, he attempted to focus on the battle.
The two ships fired and tore through the rigging until they were out of range. “We’ve barely managed to scratch her, Cap’n.”
Sean came up from behind him, his gaze on the disappearing ship following them.
“Aye.”
“We’re wounded. The carpenter and crew are repairing her, but I haven’t received word on the damage yet. Be forewarned, we may have to dock somewhere.”
Rand winced involuntarily and nodded. “Keep me informed, and O’Conner? Check on Derington while you’re at it. Make sure she’s unharmed by her foolish foray on deck.”
“Aye aye, Cap’n.”
“And O’Conner,” Rand said facing the wheel once more. “Tell Jewel she can come on deck once I’m certain it’s safe.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
He ignored the look the quartermaster shot him and the churning inside his gut, choosing instead not to evaluate the reason why fear had all but choked the breath from his throat when she’d foolishly placed herself in danger. He feared answering the question burning inside his mind: Do I love her?
Why had he worried that he’d hurt her feelings after he’d sent her back below decks? Why did the idea of living without her suddenly scare him to death?
~ * ~
Jewel didn’t return to the decks; instead she cloistered herself away in the cabin and read herself to sleep. She refused to examine too closely the boiling resentment in her belly and exactly what it meant when it came to the captain.
After the afternoon-long nap, she finally ventured back on deck as dusk’s last rays inched across the horizon. The decks had been cleared and buckets of sand had been tossed across the planks to clean up the blood. In the silence of the coming evening, La Obsidiana bore little evidence of its recent attack.
Little conversation lingered on the air—the crew waiting for word on the ship’s damage as the crew went about their chores silently. Captain Rand stood solidly on the bridge with the wheel in his hands. Wind rustled the fabric of his torn, filthy clothes and loosened strands of dark hair. Despite the filth, he was handsome. He was the most enigmatic man she’d ever met and everything about him drew her in, luring her like a fisherman’s bait.
The ship groaned its aches and pains as the crew cleaned up. A melancholy settled inside Jewel as she glanced around. The deep sea funerals had been performed for the dead and the injured had been tended to. All of these lives changed forever for the sake of one man’s greed. Such a tragedy.
Sean O’Conner nodded and passed by her with an armload of charts. She returned the greeting with a smile that she was certain didn’t quite reach her eyes and followed the Irishman’s figure until he disappeared from view.
Did these men have families? Children? Uncertainty and pain wrapped around her heart. The carpenter’s hammer wailed in the hush of the coming night, its melodic clang like the sorrowful song of the whippoorwill.
Reflection on the last month’s events plagued her as she waltzed the decks. Wind whispered against her ear as the night air cooled her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself and moved towards the rail.
“You’re angry with me?”
She didn’t need to turn to know who stood behind her. “No.”
Rand eased around her and leaned his forearms on the banister. “Don’t be angry with me, but you must understand...”
She faced him. “You had a job to do. I understand, Whitton.”
He sighed and clamped his temples between both hands. “Rand. Call me Rand, damnit. It isn’t like you didn’t just whisper my name over and over again last night. You will likely do so again tonight.”
She gasped and slapped a hand on the wood. “How dare you presume—”
Seizing her upper arms, he
pulled her closer. “Don’t try to fool yourself or me. For once can’t you just be honest about what you feel? You’re angry at me, you resent that I sent you below decks, and you’re lying if you say otherwise.”
He was right. She ground her jaw and glanced away. “All right, I’m upset with you. See...it doesn’t solve anything to admit how I feel.”
Rand cupped her chin and forced her to look at him. “But at least now I know the truth is coming from your sweet lips.” She tried to disengage from him, but he held firm. “What would you have me do if I had to witness your death?”
“Might I ask you the same?”
“This is my ship...it’s my duty to be on deck and you’re my...guest.”
Guest? Pain wrenched a cry from her before she could stop it. “There’s little profit in having a guest on board, Captain. Surely you know that.”
Rand straightened and dropped his hands. “Jewel—”
“It isn’t like you would have cared one whit if anything happened to me anyway...Captain.”
The force of his kiss silenced her as he wrapped her in his embrace, crushing her to him. Drawing back, he hovered over her mouth. “Damn you, Jewel, why must be so stubborn?”
His lips, hard and demanding bade her to open. She surrendered under his assault because battling against such a man was useless. He knew every trick, every strategy to weaken her knees and crumble her defenses. “You will be the death of me, woman, and I’ll gladly go see the maker for just one more moment in your arms.”
An invisible fist tightened in her belly knowing that her time in the captain’s arms was limited. And now she’d wasted an entire day on her selfish pride. The dancing strokes of his tongue unleashed a whirlwind of sensation, and she clung to him. “I’m sorry, Rand. I shouldn’t have gotten angry. I know you meant well.”
Summons From the Castle, Regency Christmas Summons Collection 3 Page 10
