Elusive (Shipwreck Book 1)

by L. A. Fiore

  He yanked me up by the arm so hard he almost dislocated it. “I’ll take her. What do you want for her?”

  Noah appeared, and for as cool as he had been earlier, he was seething. I let myself appreciate that this dangerous man was going all alpha for me. “You can’t have her.”

  “But I want her. A deal is a deal.”

  “Fuck the deal.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s mine.” Noah’s fist connected with Hawk’s face and he went flying into the crowd.

  Tiggs came up behind me and dropped a shirt over my shoulders. “Hey, Willow.”

  I was still looking at Hawk, lying unconscious amongst the tables that had broken his fall. “What?”

  “Pigs just flew.”

  Noah grabbed my hand and for a second our eyes connected and in his burned the promise of what was to come, then he started for the door. “We’ve got to go.”

  “Can I put my shorts back on first.”

  Noah stopped, turned and looked down. “Tex!”

  I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or turned on. He leaned closer, his hand pulled through my hair as he brought my mouth so close to his we were practically kissing. “Have you ever done that before?”

  “Are you kidding? I almost scalped myself.”

  “Fucking hot as hell.”

  “Really? Are you sure you were watching the right person.” He bit my lip then soothed the pain with his tongue, “Later, you’re going to dance just for me.”

  “Okay.”

  He grinned. Tex appeared. “Found them.”

  I slipped them on, Noah watched like he was getting graded on it, before he whistled and we all left. He and Snake were in front, Tex and Tiggs at my sides as we hauled ass from the bar.

  “Won’t Hawk chase after us?”

  “Let’s hope so. It’s not fun if he doesn’t pursue.”

  “I didn’t have to dance, did I?”

  Tiggs looked guilty before he said, “No.”

  “So why did you make me?”

  “I wanted to see if you would.”

  “So I shook it up there for no reason.”

  “Not no reason. I enjoyed it, so did Noah.”

  He looked so adorable, the scoundrel, I couldn’t be angry.

  “What happens now?”

  He flashed me a smile. “We set sail.”

  “Are you appreciating that we are sailing with pirates in a three hundred-foot sailboat?” Zoe asked.

  We were standing on the bow of the ship, the sails were up and we were cruising to Mexico. With pirates. “Yes.”

  I turned to her. “What did they ask you to do when we docked?”

  “Smile, bat my lashes. But I wish I had been with you guys. I would kill someone to see you pole dance.”

  “In my underwear, Zoe. I pole danced in my underwear.”

  “We got the yacht.”

  “And all it cost was my dignity.”

  “From what I heard, you had a captive audience in our captain.”

  “He wants me to dance for him later.”

  “So you two have figured it out.”

  “Yeah. He has my necklace.”

  “What necklace?”

  “The one he took in Cancun. He carries it with him.”

  “Oh, Willow. That’s so romantic.”

  It really was.

  “You have a sexy, gorgeous, dangerous pirate who wants you. Don’t waste time on that. We might all end up in jail and most prisons don’t allow conjugal visits, because I’ve looked into it. Get your fill in now.”

  “Why would you have looked into conjugal visits?”

  “Why not?”

  I didn’t even know what to say about that, so I moved on. “Prison?”

  “We’re in a stolen yacht that we helped to steal. Not that I’m complaining because I’ve always thought it was more fun being bad.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. When Granddad suggested I be daring and reckless; was this what he had in mind? Doubtful, but I agreed with Zoe. It was kind of fun being bad.

  That night we ate under the stars. The crew was in good spirits, but then they had successfully stolen a yacht, so I guess that equated to good times for them. My painting wasn’t onboard. When we switched yachts, Noah made arrangements to have it stored. He said it was safer and since we were now on a sailing vessel, maybe he was right.

  Noah was across the way from me, lounging on the built-in benches. His legs were stretched out in front of him, his arm flung over the back, his shirt opened at the collar so a V of tanned skin showed and his hair was tousled from the wind. He looked like what he was, a sexy as hell pirate. And he was looking at me. He hadn’t taken his eyes off me since we returned earlier. And since I had thought of little else but his heated stare at the bar, I understood.

  He moved like a big cat when he stood, that long muscled body stretching was a sight. He strolled across the deck toward me, his focus fixed like a predator moving in for the kill. He didn’t speak a word when he reached for my hand and pulled me to him. Just as silently, he walked to the stairs that led to the lower deck. I was shaking, anticipation and lust going crazy inside me.

  I thought we were going to his room, but instead he took me deeper into the ship and when he flipped on the lights I stood speechless. There was a dance floor but more specifically there was a pole.

  “Are you kidding me? Who the hell owned this yacht?” I asked that as I looked over at Noah. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, but it was the look on his face that had me instantly warming.

  “Any time you’re ready, beautiful.”

  “I’m not good at pole dancing.”

  “You were doing fucking fine earlier.”

  I walked into the room, feeling a little wild and reckless. I touched the pole, walked around it. Noah’s focus never wavered. “You were going to barter me to that man.”

  “No.”

  “You discussed it over pints.”

  “I watched you over pints.”

  I leaned against the pole. “I was dancing for you earlier.”

  “I know.”

  “It was your hands moving over my body.”

  He pushed from the wall, locked the door, and moved toward me, all predatory and sexy as hell.

  “I’ll dance for you again, but will you do something for me?”

  “Anything.” Offered with no hesitation.

  “Strip.”

  His eyes went all dark but he stopped moving, his hands going to his shirt. Slowly he unbuttoned it, one at a time, exposing inch after inch of his beautiful body. He pulled the shirt down his arms, his muscles flexing as he dropped it to the floor. He stood before me in trousers and nothing else. I wanted to touch him, my hands, my tongue, but instead I stood perfectly still and watched as this dynamic man stripped just for me.

  His cock pressed against his trousers and I squeezed my thighs together to ease the ache. He flipped the clasp and slowly pulled his zipper down. His cock sprung free. He wasn’t wearing briefs. I gulped, and loud enough for him to hear.

  He dropped his pants, stepped out of his shoes. My eyes moved over him, his tattoo, his arms, his chest, the ridges of his abs, and the line of hair that led down to his cock. My mouth watered.

  “Your turn.”

  My fingers shook as I lifted off my shirt. His eyes were on my breasts. I ran my finger over the swells, dipped under the silk, ran it over my nipple. I removed my bra and his eyes went dark. I unsnapped my shorts, my hand sliding under the silk where I touched myself. Noah reached for his cock, stroking it as his hungry eyes watched me pleasure myself.

  “Don’t you fucking come.”

  I pulled my shorts and panties down my legs.

  “Touch yourself again.”

  I worked my clit.

  “Pull on your nipple.”

  I slid my free hand up my body and squeezed my breast, took my nipple between my fingers and tugged.

  “Harder.”

&nb
sp; I did and the pain only added to the experience. My eyes were on his cock and his hand. He was stroking himself hard, the tip glistening, his other hand was between his legs.

  He moved right into me, lifting me from the ground. My legs wrapped around his waist seconds before my back hit the wall. He shifted and plunged into me with enough force that he could have probably kept me up against the wall with his cock alone. It felt glorious. He pulled out and sunk in deeper.

  He looked me right in the eyes as his hips moved, claiming me with each hard thrust. His neck muscles tightened, his arms flexed, but his focus never left me.

  He pulled completely out of me. “Mine.” He emphasized that as he slammed back into me.

  “Yes.”

  The control he mastered had fled him. He was wild and hungry. He gripped my hips and pulled me down harder on his cock.

  “Touch yourself.”

  He didn’t have to ask me twice. As soon as I touched my clit, I went off like a firework. His hips moved harder and faster. A growl rumbled up his throat when he came, his big body stilled and his eyes closed.

  “I love watching you come.”

  His eyes opened. “I love making you come.” He lowered his head and tongued my nipple. His thumb brushing over the other tight peak before he closed his hand around my breast and squeezed.

  He carried me to a door that led to a bedroom. “How did you know this was here?”

  He gave me a look. Right he knew everything. He dropped me on the bed.

  “Hands and knees.”

  I didn’t keep him waiting. He settled behind me, his finger moving down my spine and over my ass. “I’m going to fuck you here,” he said as he pressed against my ass. Nerves had some of my euphoria fleeing. He sensed it when he moved lower and tugged on my clit. His hands moved to my ass right before I felt his tongue replacing his fingers, working me from behind. I was on the verge of another orgasm when he reached for the lube. He not only knew this bedroom existed, he had planned this. The lube was cold as he worked it into that tight place. I heard foil rip. A few seconds later, I felt his cock pressing against that tight ring of muscle.

  “Touch yourself.” He commanded, his hand was already between my legs. He pressed his hips into me, his cock pushing at that virgin place, slowly until the muscles yielded to the intrusion.

  “You okay?”

  I was more than okay. It felt foreign, but it felt really good. “Yes.”

  He caressed my ass as he pushed deeper. I dropped my head, my hands fisting the sheet as he slowly pushed into me until I felt the sac between his legs against my ass.

  “You feel so fucking good.” He pulled out a bit, then sunk back in as he thrust two fingers into my pussy. I moaned feeling him everywhere. His hips picked up the pace as he started to thrust into my ass while his fingers brought me to orgasm. I touched my clit and with the fullness everywhere I thought I might just die from too much stimulation.

  He pulled me back onto his cock as he sank in deep, and feeling his cock twitch in my ass as he came was surprisingly sensual. He curled around me, his cock still pulsing, and pressed a kiss on my shoulder before he pulled from me. He stood and headed to what I assumed was a bathroom. He returned a minute later, beautifully naked. He climbed into the bed, reached for me and pulled me close.

  “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.”

  “So you’re an ass man.”

  “I love your ass, but no. I just wanted to claim all of you. Every part of you, and now I have. Not to say I won’t be fucking your ass again, but...”

  “You don’t need to.”

  He touched my chin to turn my gaze on him. “No, but I do like that I’m the only one who has and will ever fuck you there.”

  “Will ever?”

  “Fuck yeah. Now sleep. You still owe me a dance.”

  Coming from him, his distinction of ‘will ever’ was as good as a declaration of love. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, wrapped in the arms of my pirate.

  I woke to Noah’s hand over my mouth. He lifted his finger to his lips. I thought it was foreplay, but the look in his eyes sent a chill down my spine. He moved from the bed and disappeared returning seconds later wearing his pants. He tossed my clothes at me and I hurried to get dressed before he grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall. My heart was pounding in my throat. He whistled a strange sound and a few seconds later he was answered. His head twisted to me, “You should go to your room.”

  “I want to come with you.”

  He didn’t argue but I suspect that was because his thoughts were on the deck and the people, I was guessing, who had boarded the ship. Likely Hawk or one of his men, though I couldn’t say I blamed them since we had stolen their yacht.

  We stepped onto the deck. It wasn’t Hawk. Two men, both around Noah’s age, were on their knees and still there was an arrogance about them. I didn’t recognize them from the ship earlier or the strip club, but it was possible they were from Hawk’s crew. It would explain the arrogance because in a sense they were justified.

  “Are you lost?” I had never heard Noah sound so cold.

  “No. We’re right where we want to be.”

  My jaw dropped. Did these guys have a death wish?

  Noah didn’t reply. He looked over at Snake. “Joy ride or more?”

  “I’m thinking more.”

  “Hawk?”

  “Don’t think so. He knows better.”

  “Why don’t you ask us, we’re right here?” The vocal one turned his attention on me. “Or better yet, let your bitch do the talking.”

  Noah had no reaction to that at all. He was so still he could have been a statue. Then he moved, a slow and deliberate swagger to the guns I was guessing Snake or someone else removed from the men before forcing them to their knees. Noah reached for one, touched it like a lover, his long fingers running down the barrel. He turned, aimed and fired. The man who had just been talking fell backward, a hole now in his forehead that started to leak blood. I gasped as bile rushed up my throat. Wide eyes moved from the dead man to Noah who stood there so calmly, so removed, as if he hadn’t just killed a man in cold blood.

  “We don’t need both of you.” Without even looking at me, he said to Chas, “Take Willow to her room.”

  I didn’t argue, followed blindly, because the sight of Noah killing that man was playing on repeat in my head. I knew he killed, but that, he didn’t even know who the man was, what he wanted. He killed him without thought. My body started to shake because I was beginning to understand that my romantic heart had struck again.

  I moved woodenly to the bed and dropped down on the edge. I think I was in shock. I thought Chas had left until he spoke from his place at the door.

  “You are not the first woman to romanticize us. Pirates, you read about them in books and see them in movies and people falsely believe we’re dangerous because we’re charming. The reality is we’re just plain dangerous. We live by our own code.”

  “But that man…”

  “Boarded our ship.”

  “But it isn’t your ship.”

  “It’s our ship now.”

  He pulled the door closed behind him, but I didn’t move. Just stared blindly at the door. My heart aching because it belonged to the man on the deck, but seeing him just now, how cold he had been, how he had decided that man’s life in a blink of an eye. I couldn’t live like that. To be with him I had to become something I wasn’t or he had to become something he wasn’t. There was no future for us. I think he knew that too. I curled up on the bed, my tears soaking the pillow. We would find the treasure and I would suck out every second I had with him, because I knew now there would be no happily ever after for us. It took a long time for me to fall asleep and when I did, it was a restless sleep.

  WILLOW

  What happened last night? The way that man approached you and pulled you away, I came just watching you.” Zoe and I were at the bow of the yacht. I hadn’t seen Noah or anyone else. He didn’t join
me last night and I hadn’t searched him out. Tears burned my eyes and yet I felt numb. Last night, before the men on the deck arrived, Noah had been so raw and passionate. But now, remembering last night only brought pain because I couldn’t keep him.

  Zoe was studying me. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m in love with him.”

  Her expression softened. “I know.”

  “And I have to let him go.”

  “What?”

  Tears filled my eyes. I wiped them away.

  “Will?”

  “We have a treasure to find. I need to call my granddad.”

  “Willow?”

  I looked out at the horizon. You wouldn’t think someone could feel so desolate when surrounded by such beauty. “I grew up alone. I mean I had my granddad, but I was lonely…so damn lonely. My painting, it used to hang in my granddad’s museum and I wished on that painting, wanted so desperately to find a love like theirs. And then I meet this man and he’s mysterious and sexy and sweet. I hardly knew him and I think I loved him even then. And now he’s back and every wish my young heart made, he’s the answer to them. But Zoe, they’re pirates.”

  “I know. I thought we thought that was sexy.”

  “Last night two men boarded the yacht. Noah killed one. Point blank in cold blood.”

  Zoe’s face paled.