The Pirate's Jewel

by Cheryl Howe

  Wayland knelt beside the injured man and looked at Jack. “You want me to take the knife out?”

  “Nah. I’m afraid the eye will come with it.” He glanced at Wayland.

  “No offense, but I can’t stomach that. Just help me pick him up.” He put his hands under Marcus’s shoulder and tilted him up.

  “Jack. Are you there, Jack? Am I going to die, Jack?”

  “Afraid so, Marcus.” Jack reached behind him and removed a larger dagger from the lining of his jacket. Nolan was going to have a talk with his crew about search procedures as soon as possible. Jack dragged the knife across Marcus’s neck, silencing his cries. “Let’s toss him. Ready? One, two, three.” He and Wayland lifted Marcus’s lifeless form and tossed him over the side. After a few seconds, a splash broke the silence.

  Jewel turned her face into Nolan’s chest, sobbing. Nolan stroked her hair. Night disguised the blood spilled on the deck. The large pool appeared as harmless as water. To spare Jewel, he’d have a crewman scrub it away before morning. Nolan felt nothing but cold satisfaction at the grisly scene.

  Jack turned back to Nolan. “Are we settled?”

  “Settled? I think not. You try to steal from me while I was feeding your mangy crew?” Nolan held Jewel tighter. He shouldn’t let the other man see how much she meant to him, but he couldn’t let her go. Thinking how close he’d come to losing her sped his heart to an unsteady beat. “We are far from settled, Jack.”

  Jewel wrenched free. “Is this all you care about? Your precious map. I was almost killed! Why didn’t you just let them kill me?”

  Jack spoke up. “Because he would a killed me, too. Messing with a man’s woman is a serious offense.”

  Jewel turned to Jack. “I’m not his ‘woman.’ I’m his—”

  Nolan grabbed her arm and jerked, hard. “Quiet. You’ve caused enough trouble for one night.” His grip tightened until he could feel the bone beneath her skin. He didn’t doubt he was bruising her.

  Jack wanted the map, not unlike a hundred other pirates who knew of Captain Kent’s legend. Bellamy’s fierce reputation had kept the treasure hunters at bay while he lived. Nolan’s growing reputation would have to do the same. Having his Achilles’ heel exposed was a risk he couldn’t take. It was fine if they thought he was smitten with his latest whore. He didn’t want word to spread that he had a deeper, more permanent bond with the woman on his ship.

  Jewel closed her mouth, but the look she gave him told him how much he’d hurt her. He shoved her behind him, keeping a tight grip on her wrist.

  “You’re in luck, Jack. You saved my woman’s life, and seeing as she’s a fresh piece, I’m quite grateful. So I’m going to let you live.”

  Jack smiled. “I knew you was a good lad.”

  Nolan returned his smile. “You and your crew can take refuge in your longboats while we burn your ship to the waterline.”

  “Come on, Nolan. Let me make you another deal.”

  “No, deals, Jack. I’m giving you your life. That’s more than you deserve.”

  Jack shrugged. “Could we have a little libation for our journey? It’s a long way to shore.”

  “All you want.” Jack smiled.

  “Ah, you are a good lad, Nolan.”

  “But that’s not the message I want you to give to the Brethren. Make it clear that Nolan Kent is following in his grandfather’s footsteps. Anyone else who has any ideas about getting the map won’t get off as lucky as you.”

  Jack bowed. “My pleasure, Captain Kent.”

  Nolan grinned, satisfied that it held enough of the sinister to convince anyone he was a bloodthirsty villain. “Parker, set them in the water and clear out anything of value from their ship.”

  As Jack and his crew were herded onto the rope ladder, Nolan let Jewel yank her wrist free of his grasp. “Why didn’t you tell that man I’m your wife?”

  Nolan shrugged. “Because you’re not.”

  Jewel stepped back as if he had threatened her with his fist. “You lied to me? That wedding wasn’t legal? You just planned to use me to get what you wanted!”

  Nolan raked his fingers through his hair. He snagged the forgotten gold earring. He would keep it. It suited his change of plans. “We both know I haven’t gotten what I want. But that’s going to change.”

  Jewel backed away from him, eyeing him warily. “You have your precious map. What else could you want?”

  Nolan grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. “You. In reality as well as in name.”

  He bent his knees, forcing Jewel over his shoulder.

  She braced her hands on his back and lifted her upper body, trying to force him to put her down. “I-I won’t be treated like this.”

  Nolan didn’t release her, even when she started to kick. “It’s your choice, sweetheart. You’re not my wife yet, but you will be. We can do it the easy way or the hard way, but by daybreak this marriage will be consummated.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Jewel backed into the farthest corner of the cabin the moment Nolan set her on her feet. He had risked her life for his precious map. She wouldn’t just docilely bend to his will now that he had the whim to toss up her skirts. With his hair wild, dark stubble covering his chin, and a gold hoop glinting wickedly against his tanned neck, the Nolan she knew had disappeared. She should be terrified, but her heart raced and traitorous desire tightened her belly.

  Nolan leaned against the bolted door, watching. “Come here.”

  Jewel shook her head. “Who are you?”

  Nolan grinned. His teeth looked white and ferocious against the black of his beard. “I’m the man you want. I’m the man you’ve wanted since we first met.” He spread his arms wide. “And I’m all yours.”

  He stalked toward her. The intensity in his blue eyes affected her with the same physical sensation of a finger drawn down her spine. He hadn’t looked at her like that since before their wedding. “I was only a child when we first met.”

  He yanked his loose shirt over his head, and then dropped it to the floor. “A little girl with dreamy eyes. You wanted someone to rescue you, and I did.”

  Jewel scoffed and put her hands on her hips. The flood of ire eased her desire, which was battling for control. “Hardly. I wanted to escape being forced to marry a man I didn’t love.”

  She wished she could take back her words the moment they left her lips. Oh, yes, she had escaped one unpleasant fate only to land in an ironically opposite predicament. Instead of living a life with someone she didn’t love, she’d be forever pining over a man who didn’t love her. Jewel raised her chin, not wanting Nolan to witness the shadows that must have danced across her gaze at her own thoughts. “And you certainly didn’t rescue me. I had to sneak on your ship, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  Nolan stopped when they were toe to toe. Jewel held her breath, afraid he would touch her and even more afraid that he wouldn’t. The stare he leveled on her certainly didn’t hint at indifference. Though Jewel had come to understand that lust and love were entirely two different things, at the moment it didn’t seem to matter. The pull of Nolan’s heated gaze weakened her knees to the consistency of warmed honey.

  Jewel’s back hit something solid, and she found herself pinned in the narrow space between the bunk and the curve of the hull. Nolan braced his forearms on either side of her, trapping her, and then bent his head to whisper in her ear, “I haven’t forgotten anything.” His breath was the only thing that touched her. “I haven’t forgotten the way you looked at me when I walked into the tavern that second time. You were a woman then. A woman hungry for adventure…and for a man.”

  Jewel turned her face away from his; she couldn’t look into his eyes and lie. “That’s not true.” She sneaked a quick peek at him. His expression betrayed nothing beyond desire. “Well, only a part of it’s true. I wanted to escape Charles Town—see the world, the way my father promised.”

  Nolan smiled. “And you wanted me, too. Maybe you didn’t understand it. But you
did want me.” He touched his tongue to the vulnerable side of her neck, which she had foolishly exposed to him. “Say you did.”

  She turned her head abruptly, sending hair across the spot he’d been teasing, and glared at him. “I won’t say it. I wasn’t looking for a husband. That was my mother’s idea.”

  He pressed his hips against hers. His body was fully ready to carry out the promise in his smoldering gaze. “I don’t want you to say you wanted any man. I want you to say you wanted me.” He smelled her hair. “You belong to me, and I to you. I fought it, but I won’t anymore.”

  Jewel forced herself to stare into his gaze and not lean into the hard planes of his body. If his words were spoken with even a hint of tenderness, she might toss aside her doubt and give in to the tension that had begun to gnaw at her belly. He left no question that he wanted her in this moment, but what came after that still frightened her. She was afraid to even suspect that his feelings might go deeper than he’d ever admitted. Words were easily given, but actions were truth. “Yet you’d risk losing me for the sake of that map.”

  Nolan slipped his hands around her waist, pulling her snugly against the hard proof of his determination to bed her. “Never.” He kissed her neck and then her earlobe. “It was the only way. They would have taken you for sure once they had what they wanted. And I would have thrown that knife myself, but my hands shook too badly.”

  He rubbed himself in slow, lazy circles around the apex of her thighs. Jewel leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She had missed him so. “I want to believe you, but...”

  Nolan took her hand and guided it between their bodies. Heat radiated through his clothing. Jewel closed her fingers around his straining erection before she could stop herself. Her heartbeat quickened with the pulse beneath her fingertips.

  Nolan’s breath came out a husky sigh. “Then, believe this: I haven’t forgotten what it feels like to be inside you. Believe what there is between us, because it is real. I’m your husband, Jewel. This is right.”

  Jewel pulled her hand away, bringing it to his chest to push him off. “It’s not that simple.”

  He gripped her wrists. “Yes, it is,” he ground out between his teeth. He put her arms around his neck, and then pulled her to him roughly. “I don’t expect you to forgive me for what happened. I know you can’t. But I still want you as my wife.”

  She stared at his face, trying to understand the change in him. He moved his hands up from her waist to massage her back. He kept up the subtle pressure, forcing her against him. Of their own will, her fingers wrapped themselves in his hair.

  “I know what I am now. I took you, and I’m keeping you. You’re my wife.” His hands cupped her face. “Accept that and accept me.”

  He held her still while he lowered his mouth to hers. No part of her mind or body had any strength to resist. His lips were soft and coaxing, even gentle. The kiss displayed nothing of the hunger he had shown when he entered the room. She leaned into him, returned his kiss. He forcefully slid his tongue into her mouth. She clung to him, hungrily accepting his invasion.

  His hands drifted to her bottom. He cupped her and pulled her to him. Liquid heat dampened her thighs at the contact, forcing her to arch against him, the urge to be rid of the layers of their clothing unbearable. A low growl in the back of his throat set off another wave of lust that sent pulses straight to her sex.

  He didn’t press his advantage, but seemed to linger with the slow, torturous kisses he trailed to the hollow beneath her chin. “That’s it. Melt for me, sweetheart. I’m going to make everything up to you the only way I know how.”

  He reached for the lacings of her gown. He peeled away her clothes, kissing each section of exposed skin as it was revealed. He got to his knees to untie the waistband of her skirt. She stiffened and stilled his hands by placing her own over them. He gazed up at her, his eyelids heavy and his gaze glazed. “Let me undress you. I want to see you. All of you.”

  She blushed but nodded, the intensity of his request too powerful to refuse. It felt strange to have him on his knees before her, worshipping her. She touched his hair. Strange, but intoxicatingly wonderful. With a sudden realization, she knew she would let this man do anything he wanted to her body, just so she could be close to him.

  He placed a feather-light kiss on her navel. “I want to see your smooth belly swell with my seed. Then there’ll be no chance of you leaving me.”

  She brushed back his hair and tried to relax while he slid her skirts over her hips. “Oh, Nolan—I won’t leave you. I never even thought of it.” She almost told him again that she loved him but swallowed the words before they were out. Their union was still too precarious. She wasn’t ready for any more illusions to be shattered if he didn’t respond favorably to her confession.

  He swirled his tongue inside her belly button. “Prove it to me. Let me be your husband. Let me consummate our marriage.”

  She laughed. “Do I have a choice?”

  He lightly nipped the sensitive skin covering her hipbone. “Absolutely. You have to want it, too. As much as I do.”

  He kissed the curls at the apex of her thighs and she tried to pull away. His hands cupping her bottom held her firmly in place. He gave her another quick kiss and lifted his head. “Don’t pull away from me.”

  His palms roamed over the curve of her bottom, and then dipped into the vee at the top of her thighs. Despite her commitment to retain an ounce of modesty, he coaxed her thighs slightly apart. A draw of his tongue across the overly sensitized flesh he managed to expose forced a gasp from Jewel that sounded deceptively like a breathless moan.

  “Your scent tells me you like this. Spread your legs for me. Let us both have what we want.”

  The sight of him kneeling before her, his face so close to her most private part, flooded her with a heady mix of anticipation and shock. “Shouldn’t we get in bed?”

  He slid his palms around her thighs, gently nudging them wider. “Why?”

  She was forced to move or fall. “I thought you wanted my consent.”

  He dipped his head and licked her. Heat rushed to the points his tongue touched. He chuckled, deep in his throat. “You’re so wet, you’re screaming ‘yes,’ sweetheart.”

  Jewel tried to pull back, but he held her thighs firmly. “Then stop.”

  “We want you wet.” He lifted his head only long enough to say those words. When he touched her again, he used his mouth and his tongue, devouring her in an openmouthed kiss that threatened to buckle her knees. He dipped his tongue inside her, and she cried out.

  “Nolan,” she pleaded, in serious danger of collapsing.

  To her relief, he slid his hands and mouth up her body. But with his withdrawal, her body throbbed in protest. She felt as if she had swallowed her heart and it beat thickly between her parted legs. She tried to find the courage to beg him to kiss her there again. He stopped at her breast. She forced herself to breathe evenly, to get hold of her racing desire, but it was impossible as he forged ahead undaunted. He suckled one nipple and then the other, so thoroughly she thought her knees did buckle. When she wavered, he steadied her with a firm arm wrapped around the small of her back. He guided her to the bunk. “Tell me what you want me to do now, Jewel.”

  She felt too weak to even put up a token struggle. She was wet, warm, and aching for him. All her sensations centered between her legs. If he didn’t hurry, she would be begging him.

  He stood over the bed, the cocky grin on his face warning her that her want showed too plainly. “Tell me. Say it.”

  Her eyelids were heavy, and she had no desire to argue over his confident expression. He had her right where he wanted her and they both knew it. She let her gaze slide down to his erection. He had shucked off his pants and boots. She swore he visibly swelled while she gazed at him. She glanced back up at his face and saw he had lost his satisfied smirk. She smiled and stretched, arching back off the bed. The look on his face gave her all the courage she needed.

  S
he touched her wet center, shocked by the heat radiating from her body. “Kiss me here again.”

  She lifted her knees and he rewarded her cooperation by kissing the inside of her thigh. His hot breath was as heady as his kiss. He maneuvered himself so he lay half on the bunk while he knelt on the deck.

  “Do you want me to make you come?” He yanked her to him a bit roughly. He spread her thighs, and she closed her eyes, readying herself for the wash of sensation that would make thinking impossible. He traced her opening with a single teasing finger. “Do you?”

  She squirmed, but he held her still. His gaze questioned her.

  “No. Not yet.” She laid her head back and relaxed, giving in to the attention her body craved. “When did you get so…difficult?”

  He kissed the inside of her thigh again. His thumb found the center of her pleasure and she bit her lip to keep from moaning. “Since I stopped trying to deny what I want.” He used his tongue to lick closer to where his hand caressed her, and a tremble raced through her limbs, tightening her already hard nipples. Her knees dropped to the sides of their own accord.

  He chuckled, probably at her wanton abandon, and straightened her leg with his free hand. He lifted his head and nuzzled the back of her knee. All the while, he kept a finger moving inside her and his thumb circling the center of her desire. “I love the taste of you. The feel. I want to be inside you.”

  His husky voice played on her nerves as thoroughly as his hand and his mouth. The muscles in her thigh started to contract, and she knew she was spiraling quickly to a place where she would have no control. The way he touched her, the way he leaned between her spread legs left her so vulnerable. She feared she would crumble before he ever got inside her. “Please, Nolan.”

  “Please what?”

  Her hips bucked to the rhythm of his finger. Her gaze fell back behind her eyelids. “Make love to me.”

  He continued his assault while nuzzling up and down the inside of her thigh. “I am.”

  “No. You know what I want.”

  “Tell me.” He shifted his weight.