The Devil's Necklace (8 page)

His eyes were hot, his lips sensually curved. She could read the hunger, the desire for her that he fought to control.

Grace swallowed, hoped he wouldn’t notice that she trembled. “Thank you…for coming. Thank you for lessening Fox’s sentence.”

“I did it for you, not for him.” He reached out and brushed her cheek. “And I meant what I said. Everything’s going to be all right.”

She wasn’t sure what he meant, but in a strange way, she had come to trust him. She simply nodded, hoping things would work out as he said. She watched him leave the room to return to his duties and suddenly felt empty. She wished she could call him back, beg him to stay.

Ask him to make love to her.

The thought struck out of nowhere. For the first time, she realized she wanted Ethan Sharpe to touch her, kiss her, make wildly passionate love to her. It seemed insane, but the more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. From the moment of her abduction, she was a
ruined woman. And no man would offer for a woman of questionable virtue.

Grace thought of the nights she had slept beside him, curling up in her sleep against his lean body for warmth. There were nights she had lain awake trying not to think what it might be like to touch him, to run her hands over his warm, solid flesh, to feel his muscles change shape beneath her fingers.

She wanted him, hungered for him, just as he hungered for her. And yet, since the day he had saved her life, he hadn’t pressed her. Grace wasn’t a fool. She knew there was no future with a rogue like Ethan Sharpe, a pirate—
privateer,
she corrected. Still, there was no use now in saving her innocence for the husband she would never have.

And she wanted—for as long as it would last—to know completion with a man she desired.

An odd feeling of rightness settled over her. She wanted Ethan Sharpe to make love to her. Wanted it more than any thing she could recall. But how did she make that happen? She wasn’t brazen enough to simply ask him.

Or was she?

As the day wore on, Grace paced the cabin, hoping he might send a message asking her to join him for supper. They had passed some indefinable point in their relationship today, shared something special, something indeed quite wonderful, she thought. Surely he would seek her out.

But no message came. When Freddie appeared at the door with her supper tray, her disappointment swelled. Had she misread him completely? Had his desire for her waned?

Or was his avoidance a compliment instead? Was
he playing the gentleman at last? Treating her with the respect due a lady?

Something told her it was this last, that he no longer in tended to barter for her willingness in bed, or to seduce her into it.

He wouldn’t return to her bed—unless she invited him.

C
ourage.
The word hovered there in her thoughts. Did she have the unusual sort of courage it would take to invite Ethan Sharpe into her bed?

Grace pondered the notion for the next several hours, her conviction growing stronger. She had no idea what the future might hold, no idea if she even had one. All she had for certain was the present. Determination filled her and she found herself crossing the cabin to the small writing desk in the corner. With a steadying breath, she drew out a sheet of foolscap and placed it on the table in front of her.

Her fingers trembled as she lifted the pen from the ink-well and blue drops of ink spilled over the page. Muttering, she tossed the paper away.

Her second effort wasn’t much better.

Dearest Ethan,

She crumpled the paper, not liking the start, and began anew once more.

She didn’t say more. There was only so far she was willing to go. Once he arrived—if he came at all—she would take the next step. Assuming she still had the courage.

When Freddie returned to remove her supper tray, she asked him to deliver the note.

“I’ll see ’e gets it, miss.”

“Thank you, Freddie.”

The boy left the room and the moment the door was closed, Grace hurriedly changed into the sapphire gown trimmed with black lace. She swept her hair up, but used only a few pins to hold it in place, making it easy for Ethan to take down if he wanted.

Her heart pounded. Her palms felt clammy. She was about to take a step into the heretofore unknown world of womanhood. Excitement poured through her, and only a hint of fear. She wanted this, wanted him. She thought of their heated kisses, the pleasure that poured through her body whenever he touched her. The breathless sensation he stirred deep inside her just by entering the room.

It was late when the knock at her door finally came. She had almost convinced herself he would not come. But when she opened the door, Ethan stood in the passage dressed in a clean, white, full-sleeved shirt and snug black breeches, his knee-high boots freshly polished and his hair neatly combed.

“I believe you invited me to join you.”

“Yes…” That odd breathlessness swept over her and suddenly she felt shy. Her heart was banging so loudly she was certain he could hear.

“A nightcap, I believe you said.”

“Yes…” She was acting like an idiot, standing there staring at him, unable to think what to say.

Ethan stepped into the room and quietly closed the
door. His eyes ran over the sapphire gown. “If I had known this was a special occasion, I would have dressed more formally.”

She shook her head, wishing she had chosen something else, glad that she had not. She wanted to look pretty for him and this gown seemed the best choice.

“There is hardly a need for formality.”
Certainly not.
He looked magnificent just as he was, so handsome it made an ache throb in her chest. “The occasion is simply that I wished to properly thank you for your comfort this after noon.”

The edge of his mouth faintly curved. “In that case, why don’t I pour us a drink?” Crossing to the sideboard, he poured a sherry for her and a brandy for him. “I believe it might be interesting to know your idea of a proper thank-you.” He returned and handed her the sherry. “Where shall we begin?”

Grace’s stomach contracted. Dear Lord, this was far more difficult than she had imagined. She hadn’t really asked him there to thank him. She had another, far more interesting reason for sending the note.

“I’m afraid, I—I’m not exactly sure.”

Ethan frowned. “You’re nervous.” He took a drink of his brandy, set the glass down on the table. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you quite this way. What is it, Grace? What’s wrong? Why did you invite me here?”

Her hand trembled, sloshing a drop of sherry over the side of the glass. Ethan noticed and took the drink from her hand. “Tell me, Grace. What’s wrong?”

She moistened her lips, worked to muster her courage.
Say it,
her mind commanded.
Tell him the truth.
“I asked you to come because…because I want you to make love to me—that is, if you still want to.”

For several long moments, Ethan just stood there, his light eyes wide with disbelief.

“Christ, I’m a fool.”

And then he was cupping her face between his hands and capturing her mouth with his. He kissed her one way and then another, his fingers sliding into her hair, knocking the few pins loose as he tilted her head back and deepened the kiss.

“‘If I still want to?’” he whispered against the side of her neck. “I’ve thought of little else since the moment I saw you aboard the
Lady Anne.
”

More kisses rained down on her. He kissed her until she was breathless. Grace clung to him, her arms around his neck. Her senses were reeling, her body catching fire. Her nipples swelled and hardened, ached beneath the bodice of the sapphire gown. Her lips felt swollen and tender, and the wetness of his tongue in her mouth made her stomach contract. Her fingers curled into the hair at the nape of his neck. The silky tendrils brushing against her skin made her tremble.

Her nipples tightened and burned. Kissing her all the while, Ethan worked the buttons at the back of the gown and the bodice fell open. He eased the blue satin and the straps of her chemise off her shoulders, leaving her naked to the waist, and his hands cupped her breasts. He molded and caressed them, gently tested the weight and shape of each one, and pleasure tore through her.

“Ethan…” she whispered as his mouth left hers to replace his hands. He began to suckle the fullness and her legs went weak. She knew little of making love, never imagined a man might know a woman this way, might use his lips and tongue with such skill, might be able to push her near to swooning.

Her head fell back and he feasted on the column of
her throat, nibbled an earlobe, claimed her mouth once more. He shoved the gown down over her hips, taking her thin chemise with it, leaving her naked and trembling. His hands smoothed over her back, down to her buttocks, captured the roundness, and he pulled her into his heat.

She could feel him there, hard and throbbing, pulsing with desire for her. She should have been frightened but she was not. She felt like a woman, as she never had before, felt the force of her femininity and understood in that moment, the power a woman held. And yet she was in Ethan’s power as well, enslaved by his kisses, his heated caresses, the pleasure he gave her with each touch, each brush of his lips over hers.

His hand slid over her stomach, over the soft thatch of curls between her thighs, and she gasped as he found her softness. She was wet, she realized, and distantly wondered if she ought to be embarrassed.

“Easy, love,” Ethan soothed, feeling her body tense as his hand probed for entrance. “Just let yourself go. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Whatever was happening to her seemed natural to Ethan and she did as he commanded, giving herself into his care, letting him guide her in the journey.

“I want to touch you,” she said, only a little surprised at her boldness. “I want to know the texture of your skin, to feel your muscles moving.” It was another Grace talking, a woman she had never known. This creature was brazen and fearless, as unreal as the night, which seemed more dream than reality. At least she told herself that was so.

Ethan’s eyes locked with hers, his blue gaze hot and in tense. He pulled his white lawn shirt off over his head and tossed it away, took her hand and flattened it against his chest. She studied the intriguing dark curly hair, tested
the coarseness, traced a finger around a flat copper nipple, and felt his muscles bunch.

His breathing quickened. So did hers. She looked up at him and gauged his hunger by the rigid set of his jaw.

“I want you so damned much.” But he seemed determined not to rush, to let her set the pace.

She ran a finger over his ribs, spread her hand over the flatness of his stomach, watched the muscles across his abdomen contract.

She was naked. Suddenly she wanted him naked, too. She looked up at him and Ethan must have read her thoughts for he lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the bed. He settled her there and kissed her again, then left her for a moment to strip off his boots, breeches and smallclothes. When he turned, she sucked in a breath and her heart took a frightened leap.

She had never seen a naked man before and certainly not one fully aroused. His member was long and thick, protruding heavily from its protective nest of black curls. She must have gone a little pale for Ethan paused at the side of the bed, bent down and very gently kissed her.

“We’ll take it slowly, take all the time we need. Trust me, Grace. I promise to make it good for you.”

She did trust him. At least in this.

Ethan joined her on the bed and more kisses followed. Slow languid kisses, hot penetrating kisses, deep seductive kisses, all of them melding together until her body was on fire and slowly melting. Heat pooled low in her belly and a restless ache burned between her legs.

His hand found her there and he caressed her until she writhed on the bed, began to plead for something, not sure what it was. She didn’t notice when he moved, settled him self between her legs, not until she felt his hard length against her passage, probing for entrance. The muscles
across his shoulders strained with the effort to go slowly and her own body tensed.

“Easy, love. Try to relax. I don’t want to hurt you.”

She knew that he would, knew enough about the act to know that the first time was always painful, and with a man as well-endowed as Ethan, probably even more so.

She tried to help him, tried to relax as he instructed, which wasn’t so hard to do when he started kissing her again. Slowly, gently, he entered her, filling her and filling her, stretching her to accept his size, whispering soothing love words in her ear.

“Easy,” he said softly, kissing her again, then with a final push, he thrust home.

Grace cried out at the pain, though she tried her best to clamp down on the sound.

“Damn!” Ethan held himself rigidly above her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. It must have been some time since… I’m sorry. I should have gone slower.” Grace made no comment. The pain was beginning to recede and she wanted him to continue. Sliding her arms around his neck, she pulled his head down for a kiss. It seemed the final assault on his control.

A little at a time, Ethan began to move, slowly at first, then faster. The pain returned for a moment, then began to fade as pleasure took over. Her body softened around him, allowing him to penetrate even more deeply, and she heard him groan. His rhythm increased, the heavy thrust and drag, the incredibly delicious heat, and she found herself responding.

The pain was gone now, her body burning with the same hungry need that Ethan seemed to feel. “Don’t stop,” she heard herself say, driving him onward, his body surging deeper, filling her and filling her until all she could
think of was Ethan. All she could feel was the size of him, the fullness, the incredible heat of his body.

Her own body tightened. Each muscle thinned, seemed to stretch well past its limit, then finally in unison they snapped. Stars burst behind her eyes, an entire galaxy of them, and an unfamiliar sweetness rose inside her, like honey on her tongue. Grace cried out Ethan’s name and clung to him while the world splintered around her.

She didn’t know how long she lay there. She made no effort to stir until she felt Ethan’s hand, smoothing the hair back from her temple.

“Are you all right?”

She turned her head to look at him, saw him lying on his side, propped on an elbow looking down at her. “What…what happened?”

He chuckled, seemed inordinately pleased. “The little death. That is what the French call it. The closest thing to heaven that one can know on earth.”

She smiled at the description. “Yes…it was a bit like falling through the stars.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean to.”

She glanced away. “It only hurt for a moment. And it was worth the pain.”

“The next time will be better. Your body is learning to accommodate mine. The pleasure will be even greater.”

“I don’t believe that is possible.”

He smiled one of his rare, beautiful smiles. “Why don’t we see?” And then he was coming up over her, kissing her and caressing her breasts. He slid into her more easily this time and she felt the wonder of it, the pleasure of being joined with him.

It was in that moment that she realized she was in love with him. That perhaps she had been in love with him
since the day she had been swept into the sea and he had risked his life to save her.

She loved him and because she did, her body blossomed for him, opened to him, and when she reached release, the heavens parted and she soared.

It was nearly dawn when she awakened from a peaceful slumber. In the faint rays of light coming in through the windows at the stern, Grace saw Ethan standing next to the bed, his broad back turned to her, naked except for his breeches, bent over, pulling on his boots. He had the most beautiful body, wide shoulders that tapered to a narrow waist, slim hips and long sinewy legs.

She stiffened as she saw the scars on his back she hadn’t noticed when he had slept beside her in the darkness. He had hinted at their presence. She knew he must have been brutally treated during his stay in prison. Was her father really to blame?

A knot formed in her stomach. She had no way of knowing for certain. She didn’t even know if her father was the sort of man capable of selling out his country.

Ethan turned then, saw that she was awake, and smiled. The gesture deepened the color of his light blue eyes and brought his high cheekbones into prominence. It was a beautiful smile that made him look years younger.

“I wanted to wake you, to make love to you again this morning, but I know I hurt you last night. It must have been a while since you…since you were with Jeffries.”