A Pirate of her Own (14 page)

Aye, he’d bed the wench. One way or another.

Late that night Serenity came awake with a
start. “Who’s there?” she whispered, her heart thumping against her breastbone as she strained to see into the darkened room.

“It’s all right, Serenity. It’s just me.”

She calmed as she realized Morgan stood just to the side of her bunk, his lean body silhouetted by the faint moonlight that spilled in through the windows. His faced was masked by shadows, but she could feel his gaze on her like a physical touch. It was as if he searched her features for something.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, wondering what had brought him to her bed in the middle of the night.

“No, I just wanted to show you something.”

There was a hint of mystery to his voice, and if she wasn’t mistaken, there was also a note of playfulness. A playfulness that she’d never before heard from him.

Grateful she was still dressed in her brother’s clothes, she climbed out of bed. Morgan lit a small lamp and held it up over his head so that she could see.

“I thought I told you to lock the door,” he said in a chiding tone.

“I honestly forgot.”

Instead of the glower she expected, he smiled. “For once I’m glad you didn’t listen to me.”

Then he took her hand. A strange warmth fluttered in her stomach at the gentle pressure of his callused hand wrapped around hers.

The only sounds she could hear were the gentle lapping of the waves, and the thundering of her own heart.

Morgan led her topside. He blew out the lamp and pointed up to the sky.

Following the line of his hand, Serenity gasped. Above her head a thousand stars twinkled. But more surprising than that was the shower of sparks in the sky. It was as if a hundred stars were falling at once. Never in her life had she seen anything so miraculous.

“It’s incredible,” she said breathlessly.

“I thought you would enjoy it.”

“What is it?”

“Old sailors call it the star dance. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does…”

“Oh, thank you,” she said. “I’m glad you woke me.”

His smile widened.

Serenity stared up at the stars that twinkled and fell. They were breathtaking.

Morgan pulled her by the arm and led her over to where he’d placed a blanket on deck along with a small midnight picnic. Serenity laughed at the sight. “What is all this?” she asked suspiciously.

He shrugged. “Who says we can’t enjoy a quiet evening alone?”

“The town gossip, Mrs. O’Grady, were she here. I say, Captain Crook, but it looks like you’ve got more than the stars on your mind.”

“And if I admitted that I did?”

Her heart stilled at his deep voice.

How easy it would be to succumb to him. And how disastrous. Biting her lip, she reminded herself of Chatty, of the horrible things people had said and done to her after she’d been caught alone at the lake with her beau. She’d done absolutely nothing and yet everyone in town had treated her like Jezebel.

Even so, Serenity couldn’t quite silence the nagging voice in her head that told her a night in Morgan’s arms would be well worth the price.

If only it were that simple.

She gave him the only answer she could. “Then I would have to say you’re wasting your time.”

He blew the lantern out, then set it down on the deck and bent close to whisper in her ear. “Am I, Serenity?”

The seductive tone of his voice sent shivers through her.

Kiss me, Morgan! Please, just one small kiss, then I shall return to my room and have sweet dreams of you in a safe world where no one can harm us. Where no one can mock me.

“You are an incredible woman.” He brushed her braid off her shoulder.

Run, Serenity. Run back to your room now before it’s too late!

But it was already too late.

She couldn’t move. Like a lamb trapped by a deadly wolf, she was hypnotized by his voice, held spellbound by his touch.

“A curious woman.” He moved to stand behind her, and she could feel his breath fall against her throat as he ran one long tapered finger down her cheek. “I’m quite sure you’ve wondered what lies between men and women. Why it’s forbidden for them to be alone.”

“Never.”

His rich laughter filled her ears. “You’re a terrible liar.”

His arms came around her suddenly, and holding her tightly against his chest, he rested his chin on her head. Ribbons of pleasure spiraled through her at his touch, and she wanted to lose herself in this one moment in time.

He raised one hand up and gently stroked her cheek. Never in her life had anything felt so wonderful.

If only this could last forever.

But her feelings were just the enchantment of the night. The sight of the stars dancing, of the gentle rippling of the waves, the music of the wind caressing her body in time with his hand. This wasn’t real. It was an illusion. The same kind of illusion that she’d had about him to begin with.

The Sea Wolf wasn’t her noble prince. He was a man with a black past. A past that would mean Morgan’s life if he were ever caught.

Aye, that was the argument she would use to safeguard her heart. The argument she would use to drive him away. “You are a crooked pirate, Captain Drake. I could never give myself to a man who killed for pleasure.”

“And if I told you I never killed for pleasure?”

Serenity closed her eyes, trying to squash the part of her that took delight at his words. She mustn’t listen to that part of herself.

She needed to push him away. To make herself seize her denial.

But the dreadful thing was, she couldn’t lie to herself.

“I don’t know if I could believe you.”

But she wanted to. Desperately. It hurt so much to learn that her prince was a bandit.

He tilted her face toward him and splayed his fingers along her neck. Over her shoulder she looked up at him, and the intensity and need in his eyes took her breath. Never had a man looked at her with such raw, unbridled longing. She was at a loss as to how to deal with him.

With a terrifying need of its own, her body leapt to life under his skillful hands.

“Haven’t you ever done something wrong that you later regretted?” he asked, his voice thick and deep. “Something that made others think terrible thoughts about you?”

“Yes,” she whispered, her voice breathless. “I ran away with a pirate.”

His deep laughter filled her ears, quickening her blood as his smile softened the hard edges of his face. “And is that the worst thing that ever happened to you?”

“Nay,” she said, her throat tight. The worst thing that had ever happened to her was being held right now by a man she knew she could never have. Feeling things for him she knew she shouldn’t feel.

Morgan felt her pulse race beneath his fingertips. Her fear reached out to him, but more than that he felt her hunger. The same hunger that throbbed through his body as he battled himself to keep from taking from her what he wanted most.

She needed seduction. He would have to move slowly. Hold her for tonight. Kiss her. Introduce her to her body’s delights one step at a time.

Slowly.

You’re a selfish bastard, Drake. This is wrong. You have nothing to offer her except a broken heart.

And as wrong as it was, he couldn’t stop himself. Maybe it was because he’d been too long at sea without a woman, or maybe it was her unique charms. He didn’t know the reason, he just knew he had to have her.

He bent his head down and nuzzled gently at the soft flesh of her neck while wisps of her hair teased his cheek, his lips.

Serenity moaned in pleasure and buried her hand in the soft curls of his hair. Never in her life had she experienced anything like this. Her entire body burned and ached. Her breasts swelled and her nipples grew taut.

His lips were so warm against the flesh of her throat, felt so incredible. His tongue stroked the fold of her ear, and her legs turned to jelly. His arms tightened around her, and she knew they were the only thing that kept her on her feet.

“Oh, Serenity,” he breathed in her ear. It was half a curse, half a caress.

His hand slid inside her shirt and cupped her aching breast. Her breath caught in her throat at the intimate contact that was half pleasure and half torture. Her breathing rapid, she bit her lip as an aching need thrummed through her body, pooling itself between her legs.

Then he moved his hand away from her breast, and just when she thought she was safe, he cupped her between her legs. She moaned in pleasure as his hand did the most incredible things to her body.

Tell him to stop!
her mind demanded. But she didn’t want him to.

He had been right, she was too curious for her own good. And this just felt too wonderful to stop.

Then he moved in front of her, his lips claiming hers. Serenity opened her mouth to taste the full essence of him. She buried her hands in his hair.

He slid his hand down into her pants and touched the most intimate part of her body. Her legs collapsed and only his arm around her back kept her from falling.

Morgan pulled back from her lips and ground his teeth. His entire body burned until he feared he’d go mad from it. All he could think of was burying himself where his hand played. But he knew he couldn’t. Not yet.

He wanted her as he’d never wanted any other woman, and the best way to have her as hot and ready for him as he was for her would be to show her what pleasure her body held. Let her hunger for him as much as he did her.

He returned to her lips and drank of the only pleasure he knew he would have tonight, as he quickened the strokes of his fingers against her tender folds.

Serenity didn’t know what was happening to her body. All she could focus on was the rhythm of his touch. The burning heat of her body as he teased her with his fingers. As he gently stroked and probed her body, his fingers sliding in and out of her, faster and faster.

She gripped his hair in painful need as her pleasure built and built until she was sure she would die from it.

And just as she could stand no more, her body burst. A thousand tendrils of pleasure rippled through her and she cried out in ecstasy.

And still his fingers continued their exquisite assault.

“I can’t take it,” she begged, her entire body convulsing and trembling.

He removed his hand and leaned against her, trapping her back against the ship’s railing. It was only then she realized he was covered in sweat, his body shaking as much as hers.

“That is only one small taste of what I can show you,” he whispered hoarsely in her ear.

And then he left her.

“Morgan?” she called softly, her body still pulsing. “Where are you going?”

“To take a long, cold bath, then get drunk.”

Morgan threw back another shot of rum. His stomach burned, but not nearly as much as his loins. At this rate, he was sure he was going to die from the pain.

I could have had her!

She’d been his for the taking. He had given her release, and given himself hell.

Well, it’s what you deserve.

It was, he knew that. He had no right to take from her what he had. After this night, she’d never be the same. Now she knew the rewards of desire, knew what pleasures her body could achieve.

He growled at himself. He never should have sought her out. Never touched her the way he had.

In all honesty, he hadn’t meant to touch her. His intentions had been honorable enough.

Well, not completely honorable. He had intended to kiss her. To hold her.

Ah, face it, Drake, you’d meant to seduce her! Who do you think you’re lying to? You know the truth.

He cursed and cupped his head in his hands.

“Captain?”

Morgan tensed at Barney’s voice. Straightening up, he glanced to where Barney stood in the entrance of the galley. “What is it, Mr. Pitkern?”

“Mr. Pitkern, is it?” said the quartermaster with a hint of humor in his voice as he entered the room. “You must be suffering much to be so formal when it’s just the two of us.”

“Two? You mean you’re out and about without Pesty?”

Barney joined him at the table. “Well, I was thinking of having a bit of rum, and she don’t like it much when I drink.”

“She’s a true woman then.”

Barney plopped his mug down on the table and poured himself a liberal amount of drink. “In some ways she’s a greater nag than my sweet Bertha.”

Morgan frowned at the mention of Barney’s wife. The old man seldom spoke of her. “Is that what has you up?”

Barney heaved a weary sigh, lifted the mug from the table, and took a hearty swallow.

“Today be her birthday,” he said after a few minutes of silence. “I was just trying to think about what she’d want for a gift, if she were still here.” Barney sat down across from him and smiled sadly. “She so loved lilies. We had a yard full of them. I was just thinking that we spent the first month of our marriage planting those lilies in her garden. It was too early in the year, I thought, but she proved me wrong.” He gave another sad laugh. “Funny, she often proved me wrong. Even when I was right!”

Morgan smiled, thinking about Serenity and her knack for doing the same to him. “Do you ever miss living on land?”

Barney cleared his throat and shook his head. “Never. ’Tis Bertha I miss.”

They sat in silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts. Each longing for something they couldn’t have. Aching for something that was useless to want.

Barney poured himself another mug full of rum. He finally broke the silence. “Funny how love can make you happy no matter where you live. I could have had nothing more than a tin shack and dirt to eat when I had Bertha, and life would have been as good as if I lived in a palace.”

Morgan contemplated his words.

For some reason, they made him think of his mother. He could barely remember her most of the time, but the one memory he carried of her most clearly was an image of her with his father. They’d been laughing together as she played his father’s favorite song on the pianoforte. His father had stood just behind her, his hand lovingly placed on her shoulder. They had looked so happy that day that Morgan had stared at them until they realized he was in the room.