Page 69 of The Pirate Lord
At least she hadn’t awakened in his arms. She couldn’t have borne that. Last night, it had seemed right to give herself to him. Their argument earlier . . . the fire . . . all of it had conspired to throw them into each other’s arms.
But this morning in the harsh morning light, she knew it had been a monumental mistake. Petey would be returning with Jordan. How could she face them, knowing she’d dishonored herself and her family?
Of course, she couldn’t tell Gideon that. No, she wouldn’t be able to explain anything to him—why she’d been so weak last night . . . why she couldn’t continue to be weak. He wouldn’t understand why they couldn’t continue as lovers.
That is,ifhe wanted them to. He might not. He still hadn’t even said he wished to marry her.
She frowned. Not that she wanted to marry him. No, indeed. As her dream had proved, marrying him would only compound her error.
Quickly she slid from between the sheets that still bore the crimson stain signaling her loss of innocence. She paused a moment to look at it. She would never be a maid again.
But she had no time to fret over that. She must dress and leave before he returned, before he made her forget her good intentions. All too conscious of the soreness between her legs, she scanned the floor for her shift, but there was no sign of it. She searched around frantically. None of her clothes were here.
“Looking for this?” came a voice from the doorway to the cabin.
She whirled around, her heart leaping into her throat. Gideon lounged in the doorway with her shift hanging from one finger. He was dressed in gray trousers and a snowy shirt unbuttoned nearly to his waist. In the light of morning, he looked handsome and charming and so utterly male he took her breath away.
A curse on the man! Why must he be so appealing?
“I thought you might try to run off while I was away, so I took the liberty of removing your clothes from the cabin.” His gaze slid with telling slowness down the length of her naked body. “I see that was a brilliant notion.”
She blushed furiously. It was one thing to stand in front of him undressed in the middle of the night when she was drunk with passion. It was quite another to do it in broad daylight. She cast a furtive glance through the open doorway. What if one of his men were to enter the saloon? How mortifying that would be!
She held out her hand. “Please, Gideon, give it to me.”
He sauntered into the room and closed the door behind him. With a smile, he hung her shift on a hook by the door, then came toward her. “Not yet. I like looking at you in the morning. There’s plenty of time for dressing later.”
“But . . . but . . .”
His hand snaked around her waist to pull her close. That familiar light was in his eyes again, the one she’d seen every time he’d looked at her last night. And to her complete shame, she felt herself growing soft and liquid under the fire of it.
“Good morning,” he murmured as he bent his head toward her.
“Please, Gideon?—”
“That’s it, sweetheart. Say ‘please, Gideon . . . more, Gideon . . . I want you, Gideon’—”
“Why, you arrogant?—”
He muffled her words with a kiss, a long hungry one that reduced her to pudding. When at last he pulled away, she was speechless and he was grinning. “Much better. I see I’ve been following the wrong approach with you. I should’ve kissed you every time you opened your mouth.”
She puffed up like an angry cobra. “Now see here, Captain Horn?—”
This time when he cut her off, he wasn’t content with just a kiss. This time he lifted her and carried her to the bed, his mouth making love to her every step of the way. And when he followed her down onto the bed, shedding his clothes quickly before parting her thighs with his knees, she could only open to him, rising to meet him as he entered her with a fierceness that left her aching.
This time their lovemaking was quick and wild, with the urgency of two people who fear they’ll never have another chance to mate. To her consternation, she was as eager as he. She wanted him inside her, around her, driving out her fears.She wanted him to be hers, even though she knew he never could be.
Afterward she lay cradled in his arms spoon-fashion. Despite the sounds of footsteps tramping on the deck just on the other side of the wall and Barnaby ordering the sailors about, she felt peaceful and content just being in Gideon’s arms.
Oh, how had she come to this pass? What perverse demon made her forget all her good intentions the second he touched her? No doubt about it, Gideon truly was a talented, clever satyr who could seduce her whenever he wished. Worst of all, he knew it.
He pressed a kiss to her ear, his breath fanning her hot cheeks. Then he splayed his fingers over her naked belly provocatively. “What is it the Song of Solomon says? ‘Thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.’”
Good heavens, now the cursed man was quoting Biblical poetry in the most outrageous context! He truly was wicked.
“And thy breasts—” he began.
“Gideon!” she protested, twisting to glare at him as her face flamed. “Really, that passage is quite indecent. It’s not meant to be . . . repeated aloud.”
