Page 50 of The Pirate Lord
Some part of her sensed this was his way of making up for the snake, of making amends for all he’d done. Though her rational mind wanted to scream it wasn’t what she wanted, her body said otherwise.
It craved this sweet losing of herself to him. It craved his touch, his body against hers. To her shame, the more he stroked between her legs, the more wantonly she yearned for it … yearned for him.
“Yes, sweetheart,” he breathed against her cheek, “take it. It’s there for you. Let yourself take it.”
She didn’t have to wonder what he meant. An unfamiliar tension built inside her, like the eager anticipation she’d felt as theChastityhad left the Thames and slid into open sea. Ahead was danger and excitement. She could feel it just beyond her grasp, beckoning, drawing her.
Every whisper of the leaves, every sliver of light dusting Gideon’s hair, every luscious tropical scent conspired to draw her on. He no longer kissed her, too intent on caressing her. His face grew strained, his eyes burned with an unholy light, yet he kept stroking and fondling her, building the tension until with unexpected quickness, it exploded and rocked her with a wild burst of pleasure.
A hoarse cry escaped her lips as she clutched Gideon close, quivering and shaking against him. Oh, sweet God. Sweet, sweet God. Was this what it was like between a man and a woman? This piercing excitement, this shattering closeness? She’d never dreamed, never imagined…. No one had ever told her such things could happen.
Now that she knew it could, she understood why Gideon had offered it as an appeasement, why he thought he could tempt her into his bed.
And that understanding brought the bitter tears rolling forth once more.
Chapter Fourteen
For up and down in sea-port town they court both old and young;
They will deceive; do not believe the sailor’s flattering tongue.
— ANONYMOUS, “ADVICE TO YOUNG MAIDENS IN CHUSING OF HUSBANDS”
Gideon didn’t know why he pulled away. He knew he’d given her pleasure. He’d felt her convulse around his finger, felt her tremble with the shocks of her climax. It would take very little to lift her legs and thrust into her, to bury himself in her softness as he’d ached to do ever since the day he’d first seen her.
Yet he didn’t. This fresh onslaught of tears … this he couldn’t bear. She cried like a woman who’d lost all hope, who’d looked shame in the face and seen her own likeness there. Each sob wrenched him as no woman’s sobs had ever done before. It made no sense, none at all.
Angry at himself for his reaction, he drew down her skirt and released her, muttering a soft curse as he turned and walkedswiftly back to where the dead mamba lay. He stood there staring at the snake, its body frozen in an S curve on the dried leaves, but he couldn’t shut out the sounds behind him. The little gasps she made with each sob, the hiccuping breaths, beat a tattoo in his brain, wiping it clean of lustful thoughts. Only moments ago he’d been hard as iron, wanting her so badly he could feel the ache in the very root of his loins.
Well, he certainly wasn’t hard now. How could he be, with those sobs of hers? Sweet Jesus, he couldn’t stand them. She hadn’t cried when he’d taken her from theChastity, and she hadn’t cried when they’d argued. To hear her cry now when she’d been so strong before just reminded him how he’d torn her from her home and family. She hated him for it. He could hear how much.
But she’d wanted him, too. She cried now over her loss, but a few minutes ago, she’d wanted him.
Now her sobs were quieting, and he could hear her shifting her position, probably straightening her clothes to cover up all evidence of what they’d done. But what else could he expect from her? Miss Prim-and-Proper Reformer thought she was too good to be caught in the arms of a pirate. Damn her for that.
With another savage oath, he jerked his saber out of the ground and wiped it on some leaves. “You’d better go back to the beach. I should check the area to make sure there’s not another snake around. They sometimes travel in pairs.” Though it was true, it was really just an excuse. But he couldn’t face her right now, not when she was so upset and he felt this ridiculous guilt.
“Travel in pairs?” She sounded horrified.
Digging his fingernails into his palms, he resisted the urge to return to her side and reassure her. “Don’t worry. If you stay beside the stream, you’ll be all right. Go on. I’ll be along in a few minutes.”
A short silence followed. “Gideon, I suppose I … that is …” She paused. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“You’ve got nothing to thank me for,” he bit out, unable to forget those heart-wrenching sobs.
“But—”
“Go back to the beach, Sara.” He didn’t know which was worse—her tears or her thanks.
Almost at once, he heard a telltale crunching of leaves behind him, moving quickly away from the clearing. Obviously, she wasn’t staying around to repeat her thanks. And that irritated him almost as much as the thanks had.
Everythingshe did irritated him. He groaned. No, not everything. Not the way she responded to his lovemaking, her sweet little mouth clinging to his … warm, generous, inviting.
His unruly body grew hard again, making him scowl. She wasn’t going to do this to him, confound her! He had too much else to handle on the island without worrying about one infuriating lady of the realm.
Letting loose a number of foul curses, he thrashed about in the surrounding brush with his saber, relieved not to scare up any more mambas. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been quite truthful with Sara about snakes on the island. He and his men had tangled with quite a few since they’d been here.
Returning to the snake, he gave the blasted thing a good kick. If not for it, Sara wouldn’t be so set against Atlantis. He sighed as he sheathed his saber. No, that wasn’t entirely true. She’d been set against it from the beginning. The snake had only sealed her hatred.
