Page 29 of The Black Lion
Drew glanced down at her, humor dancing in his eyes. “What do you say, my Bella? Would you like to be married aboard my ship? She’s not a fine church, but she’ll do.”
Joy welled within her at the prospect, and she threw her arms around Drew’s neck. “I wouldn’t want to be married anywhere else.”
He turned back to Padre and shrugged one shoulder. “You heard the lady. We’d be honored for you to marry us. Now, sod off.”
With a boisterous chuckle, the priest left them, closing the door tight behind him.
Arabella fairly trembled with excitement, the events of the past few days now converging on this moment in which she stood in Drew arms, belonging completely to him.
Drew’s amusement faded by degrees as desire flared in his eyes, the hands at her back slowly smoothing their way down to her buttocks. He gave her a squeeze and pulled her tighter against him, a rapacious smile spreading across his brutally handsome face. The hard ridge of his cock was relentless against her belly, and her cunt answered in kind, taking up a slow and yearning throb.
Taking her hand, he began propelling her across the room, his strides long and purposeful.
“Come, Bella.”
Drew leanedback in his chair, his gaze tracing Arabella’s curves outlined by the silk of her sari. He reached up to remove her brooch, dropping it onto the desk and then setting about unwinding the fabric. The evening had been a pleasant diversion, but as the hours crawled by, he’d found himself hungry to have her to himself. After going so long without his Bella, he craved her like a man starved.
She braced her hands against the desk and let him have his way with her, quivering as the fabric fell into a vibrant green pool at her feet. Drew grasped her waist and lifted her to sit on the surface, prompting her to lean back on her elbows and spread her legs. He slouched in his chair to accommodate his painful arousal. Drew had always thought her alluring, but she’d never been more beautiful or desirable to him than she was right now—limbs spread and her body open to his whims, adorned by only brilliant gold and glistening emeralds.
He trailed a finger through the soft curls between her legs, dipping into the seam of her mons. “Before we go forward with anymore talk of marriage, I want you to consider that I am not the man you once knew, and never will be again. You are the love of my life, but this ship and the sea are my mistresses. The crew are my family, and I want them to be yours, too. I will not lay down my role as captain. I never dreamed the life of a sailor could be for me, but it is, Bella. As long as there are men out there profiting off slave labor and the sale of human cargo, I cannot stop. Fighting them has become my purpose.”
She shivered as he strummed her clit with featherlight caresses, his other fingers spreading out to slide through her silken curls, pressing and massaging, teasing her into readiness for him. “I loved the boy you were all those years ago. But I love the man you are now, too. People like Big Jack and their families rely on you. They need you to lead them and help them make their living. I would never begrudge them that.”
“I will give you anything you desire,” he continued, delving his middle finger into her sheath and withdrawing to find it coated in her wetness. He lapped the juices and hummed his pleasure at her taste. “Anything that is within my power to give—and there isn’t much out of my reach.”
She moaned and writhed as he went back to teasing her, lightly stroking the furrows and folds of her cunny, marveling at the way she responded. She’d been made for passion and pleasure—hispassion and pleasure.
“And what would you have in return, Captain?” she purred, spreading her legs wider and arching her back.
“Just you,” he replied. “I warn you, Bella … there may be times I am gentle with you, but I’ll find it difficult. There is little tenderness left in me. You drive me to madness, to lust and urges that cannot be contained. I find myself wanting to devour you whole. Perhaps you ought to consider whether you can live with that.”
Her eyes met his, the dark depths filled with yearning.
“I want you the way you are, Drew—wild and demanding. I am yours to do with as you see fit.”
Her spoken surrender nearly hurtled him past the line of his control. Just now, he had the most difficult time holding back and allowing himself to enjoy slow seduction and teasing.
Drew clenched his teeth and tamped down the urge to drop his trousers then and there and stuff her full of his cock. Instead, he slowly rose to his feet, running his palms up her body to cup her breasts. She mewled when he rolled her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, giving her a few light tugs.
“Are you in any pain?”
She gasped when he took hold of her clit and gave it a sharp pinch, then moaned as he began rubbing the swollen nub with slow, lazy circles.
“I’m a little sore. But I don’t want you to stop … I don’t want you to hold back.”
“Then I won’t.”
He kept up his ministrations between her legs while reaching toward the chest he’d caught her rifling through yesterday. She likely had no idea what any of the items stored inside were for, but he’d take great delight in showing her.
“Were you curious about this little chest, my Bella?” he murmured, selecting a pair of clamps from within its depths.
“Y-yes.”
Holding the two diamond and pearl encrusted clamps up for her inspection, he grinned. “In Paris, the most daring women wear their gowns low enough to nearly display their nipples. In the bordellos, and even in a few ballrooms, you would be shocked to see pairs of breasts adorned with jewels. Some of these pieces are made to actually pierce the nipple as one might wear an earring, but these are simple clamps. They are as much for stimulation as they are for adornment.”
Her eyes went wide as he palmed one breast, and he kept his gaze trained on to her face as he bent his head to lick her nipple, then drew it deep into his mouth. The little nub hardened against his lashing tongue, her soft, panting moans urging him on. He might have spent all night here, sucking and biting Arabella as she squirmed beneath him, but he couldn’t wait any longer to see her adorned with the extravagant baubles, which he’d taken from a chest of jewels belonging to the mistress of a French aristocrat.
She whimpered when he snared her nipple in the clamp, her expression of sudden pain melting into one of bliss as she grew accustomed to the tight pressure. He did the same with the other nipple, coming upright to admire the sight of her breasts, upturned and capped by the priceless gems.
