Chapter Nineteen #2
A rusty glow fell over them as the sun edged toward the horizon. Red walked over and threw down a sack filled with young coconuts near the small fire now burning in the center of all their activity. She barely spared a glance for him.
It shouldn’t bother him.
But it did.
The men sat on mats of palm fronds and passed around a tin of hard biscuits. When the notes from a tin whistle floated over them, Christian let out a chuckle. Leave it to a bunch of rough and tumble pirates to be so utterly prepared for such an event.
Red didn’t join them. She stood at the edge of the group, kicking sand around in a little pile. Griff patted the empty spot next to him, but she shook her head.
“I’m going to go for a swim and wash up.” She turned and began walking down the beach.
A prickle of unease swept over Christian and he stood. “She shouldn’t be alone.”
Griff huffed. “We certainly don’t have any ladies’ maids around, and I’m positive she wouldn’t want any of us spying on her.”
Christian grabbed the blanket he’d been sitting on. “No. Swimming so soon after being in shock could be dangerous.” A vision of her sinking beneath the water thrust itself to the front of his mind.
“Does that chest contain any bandages?” He folded the blanket as Griff rummaged through it and produced a roll of muslin.
By the time he set out after her, she’d disappeared around a bend.
He quickened his pace and jogged along the water’s edge, wet sand pressing into his bare feet.
The chatter from the crew faded away until only the quiet sounds of night surrounded him.
The soft lap of waves against the beach. The rustle of palm fronds to his right.
When he rounded the bend, he drew up short as Red strode into the water.
Naked.
Her hair cascaded down her back in unruly curls, hiding the welt he’d meant to wrap. Water splashed around her ankles, up to her knees and his throat went tight. The setting sun silhouetted her body, the curve of her buttocks barely visible.
Shit. He rubbed his hand along the itchy stubble on his jaw. If she turned, she’d see him.
Spying.
She didn’t turn. Instead, she dove beneath the swell of a wave. He held his breath until she surfaced. And then his breath left him completely.
She flipped onto her back, floating on the glassy surface. Water covered her belly, but her breasts thrust into view. His cock went hard so fast, he doubled over. She swept her arms back and kicked out into deeper water.
God, he felt like a green schoolboy peeping on his first nude woman. He should leave. Give her privacy. Her feet disappeared and she bobbed in the water. Over her head. He thought of the after-effects of shock. Dizziness. Shortness of breath. If she fainted . . .
“Red!” He shouted before thinking his plan through.
She spun in the water, her lips forming a perfect O before her eyes slanted. “What are you doing?”
He shoved the blanket and bandages behind his back. No chance he would admit he was concerned. Which left only one thing to do.
He dropped the items onto the beach and pulled his shirt free. When he unbuttoned the fall on his breeches her gasp rang out over the water.
“I decided I need a bath as well.”
“You—you . . .” She trailed off and twisted to face the sea. “There are plenty of other places to bathe, Lieutenant.”
“You don’t have to watch.” He peeled his breeches off and threw them to the sand. The water splashed around his legs as he strode toward her. When it closed around his waist, he relaxed his muscles. The perfect temperature.
He bent, submerging his head and running his fingers through his hair. The cool water caressed his scalp and he straightened, shaking his head. A few more steps into deeper water, he lowered his hands and scrubbed at his sides. Dropped one hand farther. Closed it around his cock.
Damn, he was harder than he thought.
A few strokes to clean himself. His eyes darted out to Red’s stiff shoulders and he groaned at his palm’s rough contact.
“Are you decent?”
He let go of himself and held back a laugh. “Depends on your definition of decent.”
She turned. Swam back until she could touch. Took a step toward him. And cried out.
In an instant, he was moving toward her. He crossed the distance between them in a few strides. “You shouldn’t be swimming.”
She gave him a blank stare, and he cleared his throat as he came to a stop in front of her. With wide eyes, she crossed both arms over her breasts. “Lieutenant, this is far from proper.”
A soft chuckle pushed forth. “When have we ever been proper with each other?”
She hopped on one foot as a swell lifted them.
“What’s wrong?” A cramp could be lethal in the water.
“I stepped on something.”
“Don’t get angry with me.”
“What do—?”
He swept her into his arms and she let out a shriek. One hand closed around her waist and the other beneath her knees. The slip of her skin against his brought forth a rush of heat. When he took a step toward shore, she threw her arms around his neck.
He forced himself to keep his eyes above the water. See, he could be a gentleman.
Then one of her nipples brushed across his chest.
God help him.
“Let me see your foot.”
She stared at his neck and gave a quick shake of her head. He slid his hand down to her calf when she remained silent. The movement made her suck in her breath and she wiggled, slipping lower. Onto his erection. Maybe she wouldn’t notice.
She noticed.
Her eyes went round and she tried to wiggle back up.
It made things worse, and her bottom pressed firmly against him.
“Red,” he choked out. “I’m not a saint. If you want my help, please let me see your foot.”
She swallowed but stilled. “I didn’t ask for your help.”
“Well, you’re getting it.”
She glared at his chest and he shifted, lifting her higher.
Some of the tension in her shoulders eased and a moment later, her foot bobbed to the surface.
He slipped his hand from beneath her legs, causing her to tighten her grip.
God, the contact was amazing. He forced himself to ignore the cool press of their flesh together and examined her foot.
When his fingertips slid along her sole, she jerked it back with a snort. His lips curved. Ticklish. He pressed on and found a small shard of shell jutting out.
“Here we go.” He pinched it between his fingers and yanked it free.
“Ouch!”
A tiny drop of blood welled from the spot and he pressed his thumb over it. He held her that way for a long moment, savoring her nearness. The last orange sliver of sun dipped below the horizon and shadows wound their way around the two of them. Too soon, she slackened her grip and he released her.
As soon as she got her feet beneath her, Red turned from him. This was when he should return to shore. But he couldn’t.
He stood behind her, watching her hair swirl around her shoulders. The soft blanket it created obscured her body and his hands yearned to part it. He clenched them at his side as silence stretched heavy between them.
He took a step closer, tugged forth by an invisible tether, and she angled her face toward him.
“Do you feel it?” she whispered, searching his eyes.
Did he feel it? God, every inch of his body buzzed with feeling. He reached out with his hand and paused inches from her.
“May I?”
She nodded and he swept her hair to the side, over one slender shoulder. And he feasted on the curve of her sides, all the way down to where they blended with the dark water. With deliberate slowness, he set his hands on her shoulders, rubbed his thumbs in circles just above the water.
Her sigh was his undoing.
He dropped his hands, slipping them along slick skin. When he closed them around her waist, she turned to him. Nibbled on her bottom lip.
She’d hunched so that her breasts remained underwater, but he couldn’t miss the soft swells.
Nor the dark points of her nipples blurred beneath the surface.
He groaned and tugged her to him, pressing her belly against his cock.
She didn’t try to wiggle away this time, just stared at him with parted lips.
He rocked his hips against her. “Feel what you do to me?”
Even in twilight’s shadows, he could see the color rise on her cheeks.
He lowered his lips, set them on one cheekbone. “I wonder, do you blush everywhere like this?”
His thumbs swept out, brushing against the curls between her legs, and she made a soft noise in the back of her throat. And then her hands were on his chest, tentatively traveling up. He growled his pleasure and caught her mouth with his.
It was like unlocking Pandora’s box. She leaned into him, sweeping her hands up to his neck, tangling in his hair.
When he slid his hands around her bottom, she pushed off the seabed and wrapped her legs around his waist. Her tongue met his eager strokes and she made the sweetest little muffled cries.
He pulled his mouth away and she dug her nails into his scalp, trying to pull him back. Ignoring the pain, he lifted her and dropped his face to the valley between her breasts. Her back arched as he closed his lips over one pert nipple, grazing his teeth over the taut skin.
This time, she cried out aloud, grinding her core against him, inches above the throbbing tip of his erection. One hand delved between her thighs, parting the folds there and he grinned. Slick heat surrounded his finger. So wet.
Her hips tilted into his caress and he sank a finger into her. So soft. His breaths came in pants against her skin as he lapped his tongue over the salty drops beaded across her breast. She clung to him, muscles deep inside her velvet softness clenching around his finger.
Need pulsed through him in an ever-stronger crescendo, bordering on pain as every inch of his cock strained to reach her.
He withdrew his finger and she shook her head. “Please, don’t stop.”
Pressing through her curls, he found the nub of flesh there.
“Oh,” she whispered into his hair. “Oh.”
His lips trailed up to her collarbone, up the curve of her neck. Nipped at her earlobe. “Do you like that?”
She moaned when he rubbed a quick circle and he sucked at the tender place below her ear.
Mine.
The word thrummed through his mind and he tried to push it away.
Mine.
He let her slip lower. Lower. Until the part of him aching most for her touch bumped against her. The ache intensified.
He moved his hand, guided himself to her entrance. Something sharp dug into his neck. Her teeth. And then she wiggled her bottom.
He slipped inside her a blessed inch and her breath caught. Reining in the very last shred of self-control he had, Christian went still. “Is this . . .?”
She bit him again. “Christian. Please.”
“Please, what?” His voice came out hoarse. “What do you want?”
She clamped around him, a tight, hot, glove.
“I want you.”
With a guttural growl, he tugged her hips down and sank himself all the way into her.
Bliss. Pure bliss.
The buoyancy of the water gave the movement a whole new feeling as he gripped her hips and moved her in rhythm to his thrusts. Her head fell back and he pivoted so the last remnants of twilight flickered across the front of her.
With eyes closed and mouth slack, her face fairly glowed with passion. Her breasts bounced with each thrust and he groaned at the crash of pleasure the sight sent spiraling through him.
Wound tight as he had been, he’d already climbed to his peak, and he slowed his movements. Not yet. Not so soon.
But she clenched her legs tight and, using his shoulders for leverage, began the movements herself. She slid up and down his shaft, bumping her forehead against his. The determined frown on her face gave way to a satisfied smile as she got the hang of it. She sank onto him and wiggled.
God help him.
He needed to stop her.
“Red.”
Everything in his world centered around that one word. Her cries faded into background noise, his own grunts unrecognizable. Until it was just him and her. The slide of their bodies together. Her fingertips digging into his skin. The salty residue still on his tongue.
He looked down, to where their bodies joined in the darkness, her copper curls entwined with his.
She let out a gasp and his name slipped past her lips.
His cock surged and he groaned. Too late.
The urge to finish inside her—to claim her as he had before—consumed him.
No. The hazy thought pricked the back of his mind.
This was different. She wasn’t just a pirate. Not anymore.
He began to pull free and she pressed her brows together in protest, clinging to him.
“I can’t. Not inside you. Too risky.” The words left him in a breathless gasp as he struggled to hold off his climax.
She tightened her grip and bumped her forehead against his. “It’s alright. I take special herbs. No risk.” Angling her hips, she began to slide down him once more.
Thank God. Because time was up.
Clamping his fingers into the soft flesh above her hips, Christian slammed into her with one more deep thrust. He held her tightly in place, even as she squirmed against the pressure, as wave upon wave of release exploded through him.
He shouted. At least he thought he did. The force of the orgasm left him speechless, struggling for breath.