by Merry Farmer
She waited, sensing there was more he was hesitant to tell her.
He averted his gaze. “I wasn’t able to see another island, and I still don’t know where we are.”
His words didn’t come as a surprise, yet, clinging to a last hope, she said, “Perhaps if you’d climbed right to the top.”
She regretted the glimmer of hurt in his eyes when he looked up. “You know I did.”
Guilt gnawed at her. He’d risked his life and she’d doubted him. Clearly, he felt he should know where they were. She had to be stronger, for both their sakes. She reached for his hand. “I’m sorry. What’s the good news?”
He stood. “We’re going to the wreck, to see what we can salvage.”
She squinted up at him. “This is the good news?”
He grinned. “No. First, we see if we can drag out the mattress from my bunk, then the good news.”
He helped her rise, holding onto her hand when she turned to the beach. “Do we have a bargain?”
She looked into his intriguing eyes, excited by the prospect of a softer bed. “Sí, Capitán,” she teased.
Maximiliano didn’t fault Heidi for doubting him. The great Lázaro, scourge of the Spanish Main, had no idea of their location. If the wreck stayed on the rocks, he could eventually gather enough wood to build a raft. However, if they set off in the wrong direction, there’d be little chance of survival in unpredictable currents.
He forced these concerns aside as Heidi tied on her shoes and looked at him hopefully. He should consider himself fortunate he hadn’t been stranded with an ugly shrew, although then he might not have the problem of the inconvenient arousal that hardened every time he touched her.
He’d gathered sturdy vines on his way back, and formed them into a loop, which he slung over his shoulder. “Follow my lead,” he warned as they set off.
“I’m getting better at this,” she boasted as they made progress over the rocks.
When she finally reached the gunwale, he stretched out his arms and pulled her to safety. It was the first time they’d both returned to the ship and she seemed reluctant to separate their bodies. “It’s not your fault, Maximiliano,” she murmured, her head on his chest.
She was right he had no control over wind and weather, yet he felt a burden lift from his heart.
“I’m thankful it’s you I’m stranded with,” she said.
She’d been married and must understand the reason for the hard, male flesh nudging her belly. He was elated when she pressed her mons to his arousal and said, “I see you feel the same way.”
The temptation to make love to her on the shifting deck of his ruined ship was powerful, but they didn’t have long before the tide came back in. “The mattress,” he rasped as a reminder to himself as much as to her.
She glanced up at him, her eyes full of thwarted lust. “Oh, ja.”
He looked forward to the pool with even greater anticipation.
From the outset of their marriage, Heidi and Torsten’s sexual relationship had followed what she assumed was the path all young couples trod. On their wedding night—as her mother had predicted—he’d mounted her, grunted his way to completion, pecked a kiss on her forehead, then fallen asleep. It became the routine. At first, she’d been plagued with a feeling there was supposed to be something more, but gradually she’d become resigned to the occasional bedding. He seemed to enjoy it, which meant she was a good wife, though he couldn’t hide his disappointment as time went on and there was no child in her womb.
His enslavement to alcohol changed things and she gradually became the object on which he took out his anger. His sudden death brought only a sense of relief that she would never again be subjected to his assaults.
Now, she craved a pirate! Surrounded by wreckage, castaway on an uninhabited island, she was filled with an insane urge to rip off her clothes and beg him to make love to her. Clearly, the near-death experience had stolen her wits.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“About my husband.”
Dismayed she’d replied without thinking, she expected him to pull away, but he didn’t. “How did he die?”
The last five years spewed out in a breathless diatribe—the disappointments, the pain, the guilt, the shock in her husband’s eyes the moment he realized he’d murdered himself. “He was waving the pistol around,” she explained, “ranting in a drunken stupor when it just went off. At first, I thought he’d shot me.”
Maximiliano listened without interrupting and rocked her as she wept. “It’s good to let it all out,” he said softly.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I do feel better,” she replied truthfully. “But you must think I was a terrible wife.”
“No, cariña,” he said. “You had a weak man as a husband.”
First Kiss
Throughout the Caribbean, Danish people were reputed to be hardy and hardworking. Maximiliano could well believe it. Heidi had endured an abusive marriage. The way she’d so far dealt with being marooned spoke of courage. Her determination to help him wrestle the mattress from the bunk, up the narrow companionway and off the wreck, all the while keeping a smile on her flushed face, convinced him she’d been raised to see a task through to its completion, no matter how difficult.
The vines came in useful, as he’d hoped, to tie the mattress into a roll with the linens inside, then to heft it onto his back. Heidi carried his tinderbox, candles, a supply of ship’s biscuits, a flagon of rum, a water canteen and the candle lantern from his cabin—all wrapped in a torn piece of sail. The task of ferrying everything across the rocks was rendered somewhat more difficult by Heidi suffering a fit of giggles begun when she discovered one of her shoes wedged in the broken capstan wheel. The other was nowhere to be found.
By the time they reached the beach, her giggling had become infectious. He divested himself of the mattress, fell to his knees on the sand and let the laughter well up from inside him. It had been too long since he’d laughed so heartily. Finally, he lay back against the rolled-up mattress and beckoned her. “Sit beside me.”
She came, still smiling, and nestled into him. “I love your laugh,” she said.
“I haven’t laughed so much in…well, years.”
“The life of a pirate must be difficult,” she replied.
“Sí,” he rasped. No one had ever seemed to realize that before. No one had looked at his life from his point of view, or taken into account the gut-wrenching fear that stalked him. Heidi understood.
It was ironic. They were in a perilous situation, and he was certainly worried about how they might survive long enough to make it back to civilization. Yet, Heidi’s presence made him feel everything would work out in the end. They’d been marooned together for a reason.
“When will you tell me the good news?” she asked.
“First, we eat.”
“Good. I’m hungry.”
“After that, we carry our loot up to the cave.”
“You’re a hard taskmaster,” she teased.
“Then you’ll hear the good news.”
She planted a fleeting kiss on his lips before scrambling to her feet. “Come on, then. I’m anxious to learn what it is.”
The effect on his cock was predictable, but he savored the salty taste of her lips. He couldn’t wait to show her the pool.
Tiny red crabs scurried out of their way on the beach. “Once we get a fire lit,” Maximiliano said, throwing down the mattress when they reached the clearing, “we can try cooking a few of these little creatures.”
Heidi laughed. “We’ll need to catch a thousand just to make a meal.”
“True,” he replied, settling a coconut between his thighs. “For lunch we’ll have coconut, followed by more guava…”
“Biscuits, too,” she added.
“And we can forage on the way to the cave.”
Heidi watched him strike the coconut until it cracked open. “You’re getting to be…”
She was forced
to curtail the compliment when he dribbled milk into her mouth, but some still trickled down her chin. Her heart leapt when he licked the drops from her skin. “Mmm,” he said when their eyes met, “salty.”
She saw hesitancy in his gaze. He wasn’t sure how she would react. The bitter Heidi who’d boarded the Hekla in Sankt Thomas would have chastised him for his brazen act. She inhaled deeply, placed her hand on his bearded cheek and kissed his lips, tentatively, nervously.
He closed his eyes and nibbled her lower lip, then ran his tongue along it. “I’ve wanted to taste you since you waved your pistol in my face,” he whispered. “However, if I put these coconuts down, I’ll be tempted to do more than kiss you, and we might never get to the good news.”
Torsten hadn’t known how to flirt. Maximiliano’s teasing made Heidi’s nipples tingle. “Slyngel,” she breathed.
“I don’t know that Danish word,” he admitted.
“It means rogue, scoundrel,” she replied.
“Ha! Pícaro. Of course, I’m a pirate.”
“But you weren’t always a pirate.”
He frowned. “No, but that’s a tale for another day. Now, we eat, then we get our meager possessions into the cave.”
She swallowed her disappointment, accepting a chunk of coconut meat.
Hauling their belongings up to the cave was challenging, and had to be accomplished in two trips. When the mattress was finally wedged into the tiny space, they both collapsed on it, breathing heavily.
“Much more comfortable,” Heidi said.
“Palatial,” he quipped. “Ready for your surprise?”
“I just want to sleep,” she confessed.
“Fine,” he said, getting to his feet. “I’ll go by myself. But you’ll be sorry.”
As he expected, she followed him out of the cave. He led the way to a spot where the waterfall was visible. “There, fresh water.”
She shaded her eyes. “But it’s out of reach.”
His anticipation grew. “Patience, querida.”
Five minutes later, they stood on a rock looking down at the pool. To his surprise, she seemed nervous. “We can swim in it,” he explained. “Be clean again.”
“It looks deep.”
She can’t swim.
“I’ll go first,” he said, shrugging off his jacket, then yanking his shirt over his head.
Her eyes widened when he untied the laces at his waist. “Perdóname, but I don’t intend to bathe in my clothes.”
“No, of course not,” she allowed, her gaze fixed on his chest.
He turned his back, divested himself of his pantaloons then slid off the smooth rock into the water. It came up to his waist. “It’s warm,” he exclaimed. “And I can stand up here. I’ll keep my back turned.”
The Pool
Heidi stared at Maximiliano’s broad back, disappointed with only a brief glimpse of his endearingly white backside and bronzed legs before he slipped into the water.
She longed to remove her clothes and cleanse her body in the pool, but had always been afraid of deep water, and Maximiliano was completely naked. Old inhibitions about her body surfaced. He’d see how fat she really was if...
No. Swimming naked with men wasn’t how she’d been brought up. Her Lutheran parents would be scandalized.
That tipped the scales. She was no longer the timid child who’d jumped at the chance to marry and escape a strict home life.
She undressed and hugged her arms to cover her breasts. “No peeking,” she warned, scooting to the edge of the rock to test the water with a toe.
“I’ll have to turn if you want me to help you,” he replied.
“Wait,” she cried, losing her balance in her panic.
She fell in, squealing and flaying her arms.
He turned to grasp her hand, pulling her close. Before she could object, he walked backwards into deeper water. Trembling, she clung to his shoulders.
“Never be afraid when you are with me, Heidi,” he said softly. “I will not let any harm come to you.”
“I’m not afraid.”
It was true. She believed he would keep her safe. However, the intimacy of breasts pressed to a broad male chest, the thrill of strong hands on her hips, the awareness of an aroused pik nudging her thighs, those things terrified her. Torsten had told her bluntly she was inadequate in bed. How could a well-muscled, virile man like Maximiliano find her pleasing? The thrusting of her husband’s member had been painful. Maximiliano was...well...bigger.
“You worry too much,” he said. “Put your legs around me.”
She snaked her arms around his neck and obeyed, drifting into a world of peaceful desire with his pik nestled against her most intimate place.
He kissed her, nibbling slowly, then coaxed her lips open and delved his tongue into her mouth. Her tongue met his in a mating dance as she savored the taste of guava and the sip of rum they’d shared. Intoxicated, she inhaled the scent of a desirable man.
She willed herself to relax, wanting him, but if he entered...
“You’re not ready yet, querida,” he said, evidently knowing what was in her heart. “Tonight, I’ll make you mine.”
The temptation to thrust inside Heidi was hard to resist, but Maximiliano knew the value of patience. She desired him. However, she’d suffered abuse and was understandably nervous and afraid. Later, he’d make sure she was aroused to the point she’d beg him to possess her—though he was beginning to sense she had possessed him. He wanted her to want him, to understand this wasn’t just about a male urge to dominate a woman.
For now, he contented himself with the firmness of her thighs on his hips, the warmth of her slit atop his cock, the press of her breasts against his chest.
When the tension had drained out of her limbs, he tipped her back so her hair floated on the water. “I’ll hold you,” he promised. “Wash out the sand.”
She hesitated only a moment before reaching back to rake her fingers through the long tresses.
He fixed his gaze on breasts that would fill his big hands, and tawny nipples with the biggest halos he’d ever seen. His cock saluted its approval.
She opened her eyes and smiled.
He leaned forward to swipe his tongue over one nipple, grazing it with his teeth until it hardened.
“Maximiliano,” she breathed, her wide-eyed surprise evident.
The truth became clear to him in an instant. Not only had her husband been a brutal drunkard, he’d not known how to bring pleasure to his beautiful wife. “Do you like that?” he asked.
She came up from the water and nodded shyly, raking wet hair off her face.
Praying his resolve wouldn’t desert him, he lowered his head and suckled like a hungry babe. Slowly introducing this woman to the delights of sexual intimacy was suddenly of the utmost importance.
Heidi floated in a sea of bliss, her fear of the water gone. She lay on her back, trusting Maximiliano to support her with one hand.
He touched intimate places with his fingers, his lips and his tongue.
She relished every pang of desire that spiraled up her thighs and into her womb. This is what had been missing with her husband. Euphoria. For the first time in her life she was a desirable woman.
She wanted to whine like a baby when he suggested they get out of the pool and lie in the sun to dry their bodies.
She climbed up onto the rock without a thought for her nakedness, feeling free and wild. Her uncertainty returned when he emerged from the pool, water sluicing from his bronzed body. The proud lance jutting from the nest of black curls at the apex of his thighs convinced her she wasn’t staring at a mere mortal.
But he narrowed his eyes. “Your husband marked you,” he growled.
She’d forgotten the faint bruises. “Ja.”
“Coward,” he hissed, stretching out beside her, looking up at the sky. “I give you my word I will never raise my hand against you.”
“I believe you,” she replied truthfully, fascinated by the size and t
hickness of his pik. It was as if he and Torsten belonged to two different species.
“Do you want to touch me?” he rasped.
“More than anything, but...”
He took her hand and placed it on his male part. “No buts, querida. I am not like your husband. Your caress will bring me pleasure.”
“I don’t know...”
“Trust your instinct,” he said, folding his hands behind his head.
Uncharted Waters
Maximiliano knew what he liked, as did a half dozen women in different pirate havens up and down the Spanish Main. Time was money to his mistresses, so he’d taught them how to please him quickly. It was about release, then on to the next high seas adventure.
For the first time in a long time he was safe from the hunters. He and Heidi had all the time in the world. He wanted her to discover where and how he liked to be touched and looked forward to learning her body’s secrets.
Heidi sat cross-legged beside him and moved her hand on his cock. She watched him, tightening her grip and pumping faster at just the right moment. He mused that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if they were marooned on the island forever. He found most women superficial but suspected Heidi was an intriguing puzzle he could spend years unraveling. He growled when she cupped his sac with her free hand. The hint of uncertainty in her eyes made him feel he was being touched by a virgin.
The notion heightened his arousal. She’d come close to release in the pool, and he was ready to explode. He turned his head to look at her, awed by the glistening pink folds of her woman’s place. He brushed his knuckles over the curls at her mons. “Perfect,” he rasped as his balls drew up.
She moaned when his thumb found the swollen diamond of her desire. Her hand matched the rhythm of his strokes, faster and faster until she screamed her release at the moment his seed erupted. He slipped a finger inside her as she convulsed, teasing the inner muscles to prolong her ecstasy. When she stilled, he gathered her limp body into his embrace, humbled to have brought her to what he suspected was her first sexual climax.
