Page 25 of The Black Lion
“I cannot believe he would do such a thing. He knows how much I love you.”
He gave her a solemn look filled with pity. “I know you want to think your father is a good man …”
“I think he is a man who only considers his best interest,” she said with a shrug. “I do have affection for him, but the reality of my birth cannot be ignored. He took advantage of my mother’s position as his property, knowing she could not truly deny him. She was like any other slave until she had the wiles to earn her freedom, and mine.”
“She was a brave woman, much like her daughter.”
Arabella lowered her eyes in the face of his praise, knowing she hadn’t been as brave as she ought, or as smart. She’d been so blinded by grief she hadn’t seen Will’s manipulation for what it was.
“You asked how I knew Will and your father had turned me over to that gang? It was when I tortured it out of theHannibal’s captain. I suppose they thought that if I were away for years, Will would have a chance to win you. That theHannibalwas reported as lost must have seemed fortuitous for them.”
Her head spun as she took all this in, appalled at the cruelty of her father and Will. Truly, Archibald’s behavior did not surprise her, but Will … he had been one of Drew’s only friends in the world. Mrs. Throckmorton had hated the evidence of her husband’s involvement with a slave, and had made it clear that Drew was not welcome in her home, even after his mother had died and left him an orphan.
Mr. Throckmorton had set him up in a house in Falmouth with a nurse to care for him. He’d gone to school and become a carpenter’s apprentice, and despite the interference of his father’s wife, had managed to forge a tight bond with Will. Upon the death of his wife, Mr. Throckmorton had begun bringing Drew into his home for extended visits. It was during those times that Arabella had come to know both boys, finding in them her closest friends in the world. Will’s betrayal wounded her so deeply she could hardly stand it. How could he have been so cruel?
“Jealousy is a powerful emotion, Bella,” Drew said, as if having read her mind. “I know how it feels. When I began sending my spies into Falmouth, I learned he was courting you and the island was ablaze with talk of your eventual marriage. I didn’t want to believe it, but then I saw you myself and … I was fit to kill you both then and there. But I loved you too much, even when it hurt, and I wanted my hands on him just as badly, so I bided my time. I’m glad I did, so I could come to see that jealousy and anger blinded me to the truth.”
She braced her hands on his shoulders as he finished helping to dry her. Then, he was guiding her to the bed, laying her down on fresh, clean sheets. The ones holding the evidence of her lost maidenhead were nowhere to be found. Arabella sat in the center of the bed, waiting for him to join her and feasting on the skin he exposed as he began to disrobe. His gunbelt fell away first, then his shirt came off over his head, his boots, stockings and breeches following. When he climbed into bed, Arabella went to him, straddling his hips and wrapping her arms around his neck. She needed to be close to him, to feel connected to Drew after so much time apart.
“You must know I’d never have considered him if I thought for a moment you were alive. I was just so lonely and wretched without you. And he was there, and he … he manipulated me most thoroughly.”
He braced both hands at her waist, smoothing them down to her hips and back up again. His cock swelled against her mons, full and thick.
“He took advantage of you. But you were never his,” he growled, raising both hands to cup and knead her breasts. “I’m taking you to my island and refuse to let you out of my sight ever again.”
Moaning, she undulated her hips to press closer to him, fitting her breasts more fully in his grasp as he toyed with her tender nipples. “I won’t want to be away from you. Not ever. You’ll have me, always.”
He made a low hum of satisfaction, still toying with her breasts and seeming to enjoy himself immensely. “I’ll have you right now. I know it’s bad of me when you must be sore from this afternoon, but … goddamn it, Bella. I can’t get enough of you. I never could.”
“Have me,” she urged, despite the lingering soreness. She didn’t care if it hurt, if he tore her apart. She wanted him. Needed him.
A wicked gleam flashed in Drew’s eyes as he lowered his hands to cup her buttocks, raising her up so he could fit his cock at her opening. “Ask me nicely like a good girl. Say, ‘Please fuck me, Captain.’”
She gasped when he surged his hips, giving her the barest inch of him and pausing. Gripping his shoulders, she ground against him, urging him deeper.
“Please fuck me, Captain. Oh!”
Her exclamation choked off on a strangled cry as he swiftly pressed her downward, spearing her on his cock. His head fell back against the headboard and the muscles in his arms bunched and rolled as he propelled her up and down his cock, his hips moving in time with hers so they danced together, as in tune with one another as they’d always been.
The sting of his invasion melted away as she stretched to accommodate him easier than before, this position allowing him in as deep as he could go. She clawed his chest, wild with desire as she gave herself over to primal lust and need. As she hurtled toward climax, Arabella clung to Drew, throwing her head back and surrendering to the storm as it washed over her, exulting in the fact that he was hers once more.
Chapter Eight
The following afternoon, when the sun was at its highest, Drew stood amongst his crew on the deck ofThe Sea Lionwith Arabella at his side. His two prisoners knelt in irons, ready to face the justice of the crew and their captain.
Despite a near-sleepless night, Bella was bright-eyed and radiant. With past slights smoothed over and lies exposed, they were now free to become reacquainted with one another—an opportunity Drew did not take for granted. They had passed the night tangled with one another in his bed, legs intertwined, voices low as they spoke every word that had gone unsaid between them for five long years. When they weren’t talking, Drew was exorcising years’ worth of turmoil between her thighs.
He ought to be gentler with her, kissing and caressing her with the tender hands of a lover instead of the dominating ones of a pirate captain, but his fervor for her was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. It demanded utter annihilation—panting, sweating oblivion.
His Bella was as receptive to him as she’d always been, her carnal urges awakened and responding in kind to his dark urges. She only clung to him tighter when it was over, kissing his neck, his jaw, his lips. Her sweetness in the aftermath was his favorite part—something he’d never thought to experience again during those hellish days aboard theHMS Hannibal.
That time in his life was over. With this final act, he would put Archibald, Will, and their foul deeds behind him, then escape with Arabella to part of the secluded Pirate Island. His pirating days were far from over, for there was an entire crew of men relying on him, and oceans full of ships for the plunder. But he would strike out to sea secure in the knowledge that Arabella would always be his home, his place of refuge, the thing drawing him back toÎle Saint Marie.
This morning, he delved into the chest of treasures he’d been saving for over the years for the first time. She’d been surprised to learn that the bench beneath his bay of windows was actually a chest, which he opened to reveal the riches kept safe within. Drew had taken the best of the plunder from various ships for her, and it gave him great pleasure to finally put it all in her possession.
His Bella had been catered to as a lady all her life, but now she would be a queen. She bathed in waters scented with jasmine and clove, and slathered her skin with rose and almond oils. Once he had her on the island, he’d reserve a portion of his house staff to cater to her every whim. He would do it because it would gratify him to give her everything her father had thought him incapable of—but also to make up for his own mistakes. She had forgiven him for the assumptions he had made, as well as his lack of trust in her. However, Drew wouldn’t be content with that. He would spend the rest of his life ensuring she was kept safe and showered with everything she could ever desire.
He gave his queen her pick of gowns in opulent fabrics taken from all over the world—India, Morocco, The Orient, Italy, Spain, and France. She chose a sari of green silk embroidered with gold beading from amongst his bounty taken from an East India Company ship, wrapping it around her body and allowing the long, end of the garment to flow over one shoulder. She wore nothing beneath it, exposing the golden slope of one shoulder and her upper back, making his mouth water to bite and kiss that bare skin. She tried several pairs of slippers before finding some that fit, and allowed him to fasten a jade broach over her breast.
