Emerald [Pyrate's Treasure 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (9 page)

Wrapping her hand around the base of his cock again, she held it steady as she lifted her body. She stroked the tip of his cock up and down between her pussy lips, sucking a tiny breath as it caressed her clit. Dragging it farther down between her legs, she fit the thick head of his cock at her widespread entrance.

They both moaned as she slowly lowered herself down his thick shaft until their curly hairs brushed. Once she settled fully over him, she lifted her hands to his shoulders before she leaned in and kissed him.

“So hot around my cock,” he murmured against her lips before tilting his head and kissing her fully.

Her pussy muscles twinged as they adjusted to his intrusion, but she refused to back down. She was horny and needed her mate. She began a fast ride, but before she had completed the third stroke, Nick grabbed her hips and forced her to move at a third the speed she had been.

“Slow and easy, gypsy. Otherwise you won’t be able to walk when we’re done,” he urged gently.

When she nodded and began to move at his slower pace, he began to open the rest of the buttons up the front of her dress. Pushing the sides apart, he buried his face between the mounds of her unbound breasts.

She began to move faster but kept the motions somewhat controlled as he began to play with her nipples. Her arousal bubbled up in her as he pushed her breasts together and sucked both nipples into his mouth at the same time. The strong suction he applied to them sent electric fire straight to her clit, quickly sending her screaming over the edge into the pit of orgasm.

His hands slid to her hips, and he moved her up and down on his shaft several more times before he cried out with his own release. He then turned them so he could lie along the bench before pulling her down to rest on his chest.

“Love you, mate,” she murmured, closing her eyes for a few minutes of peaceful rest.

She felt him brush a kiss over her hair. “I love you, too, my sweet gypsy. Somehow we will work this all out.”

* * * *

Wednesday morning Emerald stood frozen on the dock, looking at the Sheriff Department’s speedboat. Goldie and Caleb had already climbed onboard, and Nick was standing by her side, waiting for her to cross the six-inch distance between the wood she stood on and the floating fiberglass boat.

Nick wrapped an arm around her and leaned in until his lips brushed her ear. “I’ll be right beside you the whole time. You are a strong, brave, beautiful woman and can do this.”

Emerald closed her eyes and nodded. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed onto all the strength she had in her and stepped over the edge and down into the boat. Nick followed her a heartbeat later.

As soon as they settled onto a bench seat at the back of the boat, Goldie untied the lines securing the boat to the dock while Caleb started the engine. Emerald’s stomach was in her throat. Her heart was racing so fast she felt light-headed. Then Nick wrapped his arm around her, and the realization that they were motoring away from the island faded away.

Closing her eyes to keep from panicking and demanding they go back, she snuggled her face into Nick’s chest. He murmured in her ear, but between the boat’s roaring engine and the wind rushing past them, she could not make out his words, but his tone was soothing and the arms wrapped around her comforted her enough that she relaxed and drifted on a cloud of mated happiness.

She woke to a relative silent stillness. Looking around, she was shocked to find they had reached the marina and Caleb was maneuvering them toward the dock.

“Wow,” she said, turning to find Nick watching her closely. “I fell asleep.”

“Yes, you did,” he said with a comforting smile, “but you needed it since you haven’t slept much the last couple of nights.”

Emerald felt a slow burn climb up her face as she realized the reason why she had fallen behind on her sleep. Worried about leaving the island for the first time in eight years, she would wait until Nick passed out after they had wonderful and inventive sex in his bed. Once she was certain he was asleep, she would crawl from the bed and go to her bedroom where she would write for hours until she felt tired enough to sleep. Then she would return to Nick’s bed.

“You know about that?”

He nodded. “I woke up several times last night and found myself alone. There was light coming in from your room, and I heard the tapping of fingers on a keyboard. Knowing that interruptions can screw up an author’s creative process, I decided to let you work. Hope the story is a good one.” He nuzzled his nose up the side of her neck.

Emerald tilted her head to the side, giving him easier access as she grinned as she remembered what she had been writing for the last two days. “Yes, it’s going to be a good story, but not one appropriate for children.”

“Oh, really?”

“Uh-huh. I’ll let you read it once it’s finished, and after you’ve finished reading the rest of my stories.”

He had spent the day before reading the some more of the children’s stories Emerald had written. Once he had finished, he declared them as good as the handful that Silver finally confessed to have submitted to him in Emerald’s name.

“Oooo, can’t wait to see it. For now, how about we go walk around town?” Nick asked as he pulled his arms from around her and stood up.

Emerald took a breath as she looked across the deck to the marina and the small beach town beyond. “Okay, but don’t leave me,” she said softly as she placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

He did not answer until they were on the dock and he had threaded their fingers together. “Not a chance,” he said, holding up their intertwined hands. “I love you, gypsy, and we’re going to have a wonderful day. Now, what would you like to do first?”

Emerald looked down at his clothes then at all the other humans in sight. Her mate stuck out like a peacock on a turkey farm. Knowing the two boys who had assaulted her were no longer living in town, thanks to Nick doing some investigative work on the Internet, and that he would be by her side the entire time, Emerald’s fear slowly dissipated.

With the first genuine smile she had shown since agreeing to this trip, she patted her mate’s chest. “First stop is to buy some beach-appropriate clothing for my overdressed mate. And maybe some souvenirs for your friends back in New York. Then lunch and maybe we can find a hiding place to make out,” she whispered with a wink.

Nick looked surprised at her itinerary, but grinned in response. “Feeling better?”

She nodded as they followed Goldie and Caleb up the dock and onto dry land.

After buying Nick shorts, T-shirts, and sandals at a beachwear store, they walked through the rest of town until they came to a restaurant with a covered outdoor seating area. Though she had been scared spitless before leaving Pyrate Island, Emerald found herself relaxing and actually enjoying herself.

After lunching on fried seafood, fries, and creamy coleslaw, Goldie and Caleb left them alone after they decided to meet back at the boat several hours later for the trip back to the island.

“Doing okay?” he asked with a smile as he finished his tall iced tea.

“Just fine. How are you?” she asked, unable to wipe the grin that she had worn since leaving the dock.

Her spirit was lighter than it had been in years, and she was kicking herself for hibernating on Pyrate Island. All it had taken was finding her mate to fill her with a bravery she had never felt before.

“Want to walk around some more? Or go back and sunbathe on the boat while we wait for Goldie and Caleb?”

“Can we just sit here for a few more minutes before we go anywhere? I’m having fun just sitting here and people watching,” Emerald answered, her gaze drawn to several small children who were playing chase around their mother.

Children were one of the things she missed most about visiting the mainland. Except for an occasional child born to one of the pack members, she had forgotten what small humans were all about. Chase and giggles without thought to the dark side of light.

“Will you be okay if I hit the men’s room?” Nick said as he pushed from his seat.

“Sure, no problem,” she replied. A pair of seagulls on the sidewalk begging for a handout distracted her.

She did not realize she was alone until two men surrounded her. The alcohol breath that filled the air around her told her that they were more than a little drunk.

“Hey, sweetheart, want some company?” one of them asked as he and his buddy each pulled up a chair too close for her comfort.

“No, thank you,” she said, the fear that had left her earlier suddenly running back and causing her to feel sick.

“Aw, don’t be like that, babydoll. You’re too pretty to be hanging out here alone. Maybe we could go somewhere and get better acquainted,” the second one said as he stroked a hand across the top of her shoulder.

As she eased away from his skeezy touch, her fear turned to anger. Pushing the table out of her way, she stood up and turned on the two men. But her anger flared so much she could not speak and her wolf broke from her normally tight control. She growled low in her throat and felt her canines slide down as a red haze dropped over her eyes.

“What the fuck?” the two men said in unison as they pushed their chairs farther away from her.

Before her wolf could completely break free, Nick stepped in. He pulled her into his chest and held her tight as he turned them until her back was to the drunks. She heard him ask, “Are you bothering my wife?” in a low, threatening voice that she never wanted aimed in her direction. She wondered for a moment if he had a fierce expression to go with the voice.

His comforting presence and touch combined with the thought that he would step between her and danger calmed her wolf almost as quickly as her anger had originally flared.

She heard the men stammer an apology as chairs scraped across the concrete floor. A moment later Nick loosened his hold and used two fingers to lift her chin until she looked up at him.

“Emerald? Honey? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Thanks for stopping me,” she said softly as she began to tremble in response.

Nick hugged her again then lowered his head forward and kissed her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I can’t believe those two actually tried to hit on you.”

“They were drunk,” she said. “I was scared for a minute, but then I thought about it and realized that I had as much right to sit here and not be hit on. Then I got mad. I got so angry my wolf almost broke through. Thank you for stepping in and saving them from being eaten.” She hugged him with a giggle.

They stood there for a few minutes hugging and calming one another before they slowly parted. Nick picked up her left hand and looked hard at it. “I think we need to do something to stop men from hitting on my mate.”

Lacing their fingers together again, he kissed her ring finger before walking out onto the street.

“So where are we going?” she asked as he led her down the street.

He pulled out his phone and texted someone. As they waited, they continued walking. When his phone dinged in response, he read the text then turned them to walk up the next street away from the wharf area.

“We, my sweet mate, are going to the nearest jewelry store and buying a great big shiny piece of bling for this finger,” he said, stroking his free hand down the ring finger of her left hand. “And if you agree, instead of going back to the island, we can go to New York, close up my apartment, and arrange for me to be a telecommuter with only one client in my stable. When we get back here, we are going to get married.”

“We are?” Emerald asked, amazed that his plan did not frighten her in the least.

“Yes, we are.” He glanced around and saw the store he was looking for across the street. Then he turned back to her. “That is, if you’re okay with the plan?”

She turned her head and looked up at him. “Can we spend tonight here in town, just in case?”

Nick stopped just outside the jewelry store’s door and pulled her into his arms. Dropping his head, he kissed her until they were both breathless. “Whatever my sweet gypsy wants,” he murmured when he finally lifted his lips from hers.

Two weeks later, Nick taped closed the last box to be shipped to Pyrate Island before looking at Brittney, who seemed to have blossomed into a competent, organized assistant, though she was still timid. “These boxes are to be shipped to the island. Have the rest of the stuff packed up and sent to my apartment. The manager knows they’ll be coming and will take care of them.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, still sounding like a mouse facing a gauntlet of cats. “Oh, there’s someone waiting to see you. She did not care that this is your last day of work. She was adamant about seeing you, no matter how long she had to wait. She didn’t have an appointment, but said you would see her.”

“Who is it?”

“She wouldn’t give her name, but she said you were expecting her.”

Nick frowned as he tossed the roll of tape on his desk. The only person on his schedule was his mate, who he had sent shopping with strict instructions to buy something beautiful for their last dinner in New York before returning to Pyrate Island. After two weeks back in the city, he realized that neither he nor Emerald could be comfortable living in a tenth floor apartment that looked out on nothing more than other tall buildings.