Page 35 of Pirate's Intent
Such as it was.
She nearly said his name but bit her tongue lest he was disliked in these parts. Because the good Lord knew it was a possibility when it came to him.
“Who are you talking about?” she said curtly. “Either tell me or be gone.”
“Be gone?” the woman mouthed then chuckled. “Do ye really think ye’er in a position to be talkin’ to me like that?” Her finely plucked brows fluttered up. “Especially when moments before ye wanted me to help ye escape?”
Something about the woman’s tone caught her attention, and she narrowed her eyes. “He is here, isn’t he?” She kept things vague. “An old friend of mine.”
“Friend?” The woman snorted. “He has never used that word when it comes to ye.” She whispered in her ear, “But aye, he is here and comin’ for ye, my sweet.” She trailed her fingers along Hannah’s thigh now. “All ye have to do is be a good girl for him, and he’ll see ye taken good he will.”
“You mean taken good care of.”
“Oh, nay.” The corner of the woman’s mouth shot up. “I mean what I said. Takengood.”
She swallowed hard, recognizing his words in the woman’s message. The promises, and threats, he had made over the years.
Now here she was completely at his mercy.
Blazing heat flared under her skin, and an all-too-familiar ache blossomed between her thighs. Hell and damnation, this was bloody perfect for him, was it not? Almosttooperfect. Had he planned this somehow? Had he caught wind of her ship being in these waters and set her up? Even as she thought it, she knew it a bit far-fetched.
Yet some might say it was a long time coming.
“Mark my words, Hannah McCullen,” Luke had warned when she haughtily walked away from him rather than watch him go off to war. Rather than feel the pain she tried so hard to ignore. “The next time I see you, you will pay for all your long years of taunting me. You will, at last, give me everything your eyes have promised.” Then, because as a rule, he cared naught for common decency. “And you will do it on your back with your thighs spread wide.”
Though she had appreciated his discretion because God knew he could have said a great deal more, that didn’t stop her temper from flaring.
“The nerve,” she had exclaimed, spinning on him only to find him striding away. “You will not walk away without apologizing you,” lout, swine, arse, none of which were proper, so she yelled, “Englishman!”
“Sip then?” The woman offered the bottle one more time. “Because if ever a wench needs one, it's ye with what ye’ve got comin.’”
Never were truer words uttered, and they had nothing to do with an island full of filthy, lecherous pirates but just the one. The filthiest of them all she suspected. At least when it came to what could slip off his tongue. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to imagine what else that tongue was capable of. The things it could do to her.
“A sip then,” Hannah relented on a sigh. She ended up taking several long swallows, bracing herself for the worst. “Where is he then? When should I expect him?”
“Soon enough.” The woman licked her lips and winked. “Chin up, poppet, ye’re a lucky tart being at the mercy of that one.” She sauntered out, calling over her shoulder, “He always did ride me the best.”
“Dear Heavens,” Hannah muttered when the door shut.
She tried not to envision images of him with the woman. Whore. Because that was what she was. A woman of the night. Yet no matter how hard she tried not to see it, images kept flashing in her mind. First of him taking the woman then taking Hannah. Riding her with as much zealousness as he had threatened. Her denials turning to groans of pleasure.
In fact, she was so lost in the fantasy that she had little time to fear when a pot-belly man entered, seen only by the candle he carried. He had just set it down on the table, when someone snuck in behind him, closed the door quietly, then wrapped his arm around the man’s neck.
Moments later, the brute hit the floor, out cold, and another man altogether faced her.
Luke had always been too handsome for his own good, but something about the way he looked now turned the ache between her thighs to a raging inferno. Gone was his Royal Navy uniform. Now he wore black breeches, boots, and a loose-fitting white shirt that left his tanned, muscular chest bare. His longish black hair was pulled back, his chiseled features harder somehow, his strong chin unshaven and his eyes the exact shade of the Caribbean waters.
“There is my little tease,” he murmured, moving so stealthily she barely heard him. But she saw him just fine. Tall and broad-shouldered, he stood over her with a roguish grin, the dark promise in his eyes unmistakable, his words without quarter. “At long last, it is time for you to pay up.”
ChapterTwo
––––––––
IT SEEMED LIKE EVERYsecond of every minute of every day since last he saw Hannah had led to this moment. How many countless times had he envisioned her sprawled out like this completely at his mercy? How often had he fantasized about the look on her lovely face?
Hannah had always been a stunning beauty with delicate features, and the years did nothing but add to that. Her pale blonde locks offset her large, almond-shaped bright green eyes, and her body though small was surprisingly voluptuous. It seemed every fantasy he’d ever entertained came rushing back as he eyed the length of her from her sinfully full lips to her lush breasts to her slender thighs.
“Luke,” she replied hoarsely, then cleared her throat, ignoring his statement about her paying up. “Thank goodness you are here.”
