Blow Me Down (42 page)

I eyed the mound of pillows propping him up and decided he could use another one.

“As a matter of fact, I do have an indoor lap pool.”

“Woohoo!” Tara did a little dance of victory in the doorway. “And I get to beta test everyone from now on, right? I’m a really good beta tester. I take all sorts of notes and stuff.”

“You’ll be my number one beta tester,” Corbin agreed, his lips quirking as I approached him with another pillow. “Amy, any more and I’ll be leaning forward.”

“My friends are so going to die when they hear about you,” Tara said, doing another little dance. “When are you and Mom getting married?”

Corbin’s eyebrows rose as he looked from my daughter to me. “Who said anything about marriage?”

“That’s it; no more Florence Nightingale,” I said, slapping the pillow over his face and holding it there. “Tara, close the door after you. I have a few things to say to your stepfather-to-be, and I don’t want you picking up any of the bad language I’m about to use.”

Tara looked worried for a moment, then grinned as Corbin, rather than fighting me, made shooing motions with his hands. “We’re gonna be rich! And I’ll have PC Monroe for a stepdad! I’m going to tell
everyone
I know!”

I waited until the door was closed before pulling the pillow off his face.

“Just so you know, I’m not actually related by birth to her. She was left by a pack of wolves.”

One side of his mouth twitched.

“Now, on to more important things.
Who
said anything about marriage?” I asked, my eyes narrowed.

He raised a hand. “I did?”

“That is correct. I will allow you to live.”

“Good, because there’s something I need to tell you.”

I smoothed a strand of hair off his forehead. I’d managed to clean most of the blood off of him, but he had been given strict instructions neither to get his six stitches wet, nor to do anything strenuous that might open the gunshot wound. “What’s that?”

“You don’t look like you did in the game.”

My hand froze in the middle of stroking his hair. “I don’t?”

His eyes glinted like mercury in the sunlight. “No. You look better. Your brain lied to me about just how beautiful you really are.”

I smiled, warmed to my toes by the love that shown in those bright eyes.

“But that is just icing on the cake so far as I’m concerned. What you said in the ambulance was absolutely right—it’s the inner you that I fell in love with, the you that shines through everything else. I love you, Amy Stewart. Marry me again?”

I pretended to think about it. “Will you share what you have with me?”

His eyes widened a little in surprise. “Of course. Holder turned over Paul’s notebook with his bank account numbers and passwords, and the police assure me it shouldn’t be any problem recovering the money he stole from me.”

“Silly man.” I kissed the end of his nose. “I don’t mean worldly goods. Despite the avaricious nature of my daughter, I don’t care anything about your fortune. I meant important things, like time. You’re not going to turn into one of those workaholic people who are never around and never have time for their families, are you?”

“You mean someone who spends her free time doing other people’s work? That sort of person?”

I punched him gently on the shoulder. “I’ve changed. I know now what’s really important in life.”

He laughed and tugged me down so I rested on his chest, careful to avoid his injured side. “Sweetheart, you haven’t changed one bit; you’ve just adapted a little. You’re going to manage me just as you’ve managed everything else in your life, but I’m not going to complain. So long as I’m on the receiving end of your attention, I’m happy.”

His lips were as sweet as they were in the game—sweeter, because I realized just how much my brain hadn’t included in our intimate activities. I flicked my tongue across his lower lip and said, “Well, at least we know that
this
is going to be better than virtual reality.”

“Better?” He pushed me back a little and looked slightly insulted. “Madam, are ye implyin’ that I wasn’t man enough to satisfy yer lustful needs?”

“Of course not! I just meant that sex in reality has to be better than mind sex—”

“That’s a challenge if I’ve ever heard one,” he interrupted, pulling me back so my mouth was on his. His hand slid up my waist to cup my breast. “Prepare to make good your slur, wench.”

“Corbin,” I said in between kisses that were growing more and more heated. My body started to tingle in a familiar fashion. “Remember what the doctor said. No strenuous activity.”

His fingers slid down my hip, pulling up my skirt and tugging my leg so my knees were on either side of his hips. “That’s why I’m going to let you do all the work.”

“But . . . your stitches,” I said, the pressure inside me demanding a release, but worry about his health taking precedence. I pushed down the blanket to look at the small bandage on his side. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

“A little, but there are other parts of me that hurt much worse, and since you’ve devoted yourself heart and soul to taking care of me, I think you should start with the biggest ache.”

I wiggled a little, his “biggest ache” apparent under the thin blanket that covered him. “Well . . . there is a little matter of a promise that you’ve yet to keep.”

He frowned. “A promise? Other than marriage?”

I climbed off him to lock the bedroom door, returning to pull off my blouse and skirt before leaning over to kiss the wits right out of him. “A promise inherent in the game.”

His fingers were busy removing my bra and stroking the flesh he uncovered in the process, but he stopped long enough to raise both his eyebrows.

“The title of the game, my darling.” I smiled into the kiss I pressed to his welcoming lips. “I fully expect you to buckle my swash, baby.”

Blow me down if he didn’t!

Those of you who are pirate fans are probably shaking your heads and saying, “Whoa, you took some serious poetic license here, babe.” I’m not going to deny in the least that I did, overall, play fast and loose with certain aspects of pirate history, just as I played equally fast and loose with the world of virtual reality.

I did try to have as many elements of both topics as factual and accurate as possible, and still keep this an entertaining work of fiction. I feel obliged nonetheless to point out that there is not, to my knowledge, a VR game in existence such as Buckling Swashes.

There is, however, an Internet massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) called Puzzle Pirates (
www.puzzlepirates.com
), which has provided me with countless hours of pleasure, along with the desire to write a book about pirates, albeit virtual ones. Daniel James, the CEO and brainy guy behind PP, has been of much help to me in talking about the mechanics of running such a popular game, and tolerated countless questions and naggings, for all of which I’m truly grateful.

Yarr!