James pressed his knee against the sea chest and curled his heavy body over her like a storm cloud. She was captivated by the man"s thunderous expression. It stirred her blood to see the heat in his eyes-for her.
He took her leg and wrapped it around his hip, pressing more and more of his weight against her quim as he settled between her legs.
Sophia gasped again. Blood thumped through her veins. She took in a deep breath.
Then another. Quick and hard.
"Are you sure you want to break my fingers?" He slowly licked her lips with the tip of his tongue. "Are you sure you want to cripple me, so I can never touch you again?"
Sophia moaned.
He cupped her breast. It filled his large palm. She was hungry for breath as he kneaded the sensitive mound. The strength, the heat in his hand was pure torture. He moved his fingers in harmony with the waves. It was a lazy caress. But, oh, what a caress! It dazzled her senses.
"Have you missed my touch?" he whispered hoa.r.s.ely.
He ripped the shift. She stiffened, pulse pounding. She grabbed his wrist. But he stil slipped his stalwart fingers into her bodice and plumped her breast.
Sophia whimpered. Cool air rushed over her nipple, taut and peeking through the hole.
He darted his warm thumb across the hard nub and rubbed.
Yes! Like that!
She chewed her bottom lip as he stroked the nipple. It lengthened under his masterful touch. It ached. She ached. For him. So deep. So strong.
Sophia closed her eyes. She reached for him with her hands. She reached for him with her lips...
He pulled away from her.
Not again!
He was breathing hard. So was she. He was fighting...what? Her? He had a voracious s.e.xual appet.i.te. She remembered the wench prostrated at his feet. Sophia had interrupted him with his paramour. He was stil unsatisfied. How much longer would he suffer? How much longer would he make her suffer?
James opened the chest again.
She seriously contemplated slamming the lid on his fingers once more.
"I don"t have time for this," he said brusquely.
She almost choked. She scooted back across the bed, pul ed her skirt over her knees and covered her breast. "And what the devil is so important-"
He yanked the Jolly Roger from the chest.
Sophia stared at the skull and crossbones, the hourgla.s.s warning prey that time was running out for them.
She blinked. "I thought you"d retired from piracy?"
"I have."
"Then what are you doing with the flag?"
He looked at her sharply. "There"s a ship tailing us. We"re about to be attacked."
Sophia wasn"t alarmed. The man had a l.u.s.ty appet.i.te for s.e.x-and a good fight.
Perhaps he wanted the other ship to attack? Perhaps he wanted another thrilling raid at sea? Cravats and coattails didn"t suit him.
"Is it a navy vessel?" she wondered. "Is she here to apprehend you?"
"No," he said succinctly.
"Are you going to rob her then?"
"I"m going to sink her."
"Why?"
He said darkly, "She"s my enemy."
Sophia shivered. She was his enemy, too. Would he sink her one day?
"Why is she your enemy?" she said, breathless.
"Do you remember the account in the paper about the pirates?"
"Yes."
"She"s been posing as the Bonny Meg, attacking other ships in my name. I can"t let her do that anymore."
Sophia"s eyes rounded. "You"re not really delivering cargo to America, are you? This was all a trap to lure the impostors out to sea."
"That"s right."
"So that"s your mission?" Sophia stretched out her legs and crossed them at the ankles.
She folded her arms across her chest, too. She had tasted the smoke and blood of a sea battle before. She had endured the cannon"s wrath on her father"s pirate ship. She wasn"t worried about the skirmish, and with Black Hawk at the helm, she"d bet her fortune he"d come out the victor. So..."Why are you letting her chase you?"
He regarded her thoughtfully. He then gathered his features, hard and inscrutable. "I don"t want to frighten her off. I want her to come closer before I hoist the flag and attack her. I want her to know the real Black Hawk destroyed her."
That was the coldhearted devil she remembered from the island. That was the vengeful brute she had encountered at the earl"s picnic-the very barbarian who might destroy her one day, too.
He headed for the door. "Stay here, Sophia."
"I hope she sinks you first!"
He paused, muscles stiff. "If anything happens to me, Wil iam knows you"re here. He"ll keep you safe. He"ll take you home."
James left the cabin without sparing her another glance.
Sophia humphed. She hoped the blackguard drowned. She hoped a cannonball smacked him straight in the belly; he deserved it.
She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. She napped...a minute later she jumped from the bed and started to pace.
The cannons blasted. Footfalls pounded overhead. Men shouted for gunpowder.
Smoke and sulfur seeped into the hull, drifting through the ship and into the cabin s.p.a.ce.
Sophia sneezed. Water filled her eyes. She wasn"t crying, but the sting from the sulfur pinched her eyes and afflicted her vision.
She had to squint to see the lock. She angled the blade through the keyhole, digging.
"Open!"
The door obeyed.
The lock snapped.
Sophia blinked. But she quickly smothered her wonder and slipped the knife back between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s before she scrambled to her feet.
Slowly she opened the door and peeked into the corridor. Empty. Good. She didn"t want another pirate to see her, to know she was...o...b..ard. If her reputation wasn"t already ruined, one word uttered by a foxed tar in port would see to it that it was.
Sophia sneaked through the pa.s.sageway, her belly in a knot. She wasn"t seasick. She had st.u.r.dy sea legs. However, the muscles in her midriff ached. Ached with dread.
She braced her hand against the wall for support as the ship lolled perilously. There was a ringing sound in her ears. Crackling drumbeats. The blasts resounded. One after another. Boom. Boom. Boom.
Sophia reached the stairs. In the violent upheavals, she grabbed the steps and ascended them like a ladder to keep her balance.
She popped her head through the hatchway.
Topside, dark clouds of ash and soot rolled across the deck. She choked back the fumes. The smoke was thick. It was hard to breathe-and see.
Where is he?
She was positioned astern, the length of the Bonny Meg stretching before her. She searched the deck. She searched for him.
"Rake her!"
Sophia"s heart thundered. She shifted her eyes to starboard. He was alive! So alive!
Pinched nerves eased. Warmth rushed through her veins. She trembled. She was so weak.
She had wasted so much energy fretting. It had been for naught. He was alive. He was still alive.
James moved across the deck in harmony with the thrashing waves. He was one with the ship. Chaos stormed around him, but he ignored it. He cut through the smoke. He moved with confidence, avoiding hazards even with a wall of soot obstructing his view.
The Bonny Meg belonged to him. Sophia sensed he"d move across the vessel with the same a.s.sured gait if he was blindfolded. He knew the ship so wel . He was comfortable with her, too. If she dipped, he arched his body in the opposite direction to compensate.
He maintained his balance. He never lost his footing. He was strong and in control. He was in his element. And Sophia was captivated.
"She"s getting away!" cried James.
The Bonny Meg maintained the weather gage, bearing down on the enemy ship. The other rig was desperate to escape, turning downwind. As she rolled, she exposed her hull.
"Aim for the belly!" James ordered.
At the same moment the enemy"s cannons pointed up at the Bonny Meg"s sails. A series of blasts thundered through the heavens.
Sophia"s heart was in her throat as splinters rained. She ducked. The shards of wood pierced the deck like daggers. The fore and mizzen masts remained untouched. The mainmast was crippled, but standing.
Sophia poked her head through the hatchway once more...but Black Hawk was gone.
The deep, quick raps of her heart filled her head as the pressure in her skul mounted and throbbed. Blinded by the dense smoke, she screamed, "James!"
A big shadow loomed. It was a dark and familiar silhouette. A gust of wind pushed the gray wall of fumes across the deck, revealing the pirate captain looking haggard.
But alive.
Sophia"s heart quickened. The black devil was covered in soot. It was smeared across his features, too. The black smudges stressed the dark fire burning in his deep blue eyes as he glared at her.
"Get below!" he bl.u.s.tered.
He was hoa.r.s.e. The shouting and smoke had ravaged his throat, deepened his voice...
made it huskier, more seductive.
She shivered.
She glanced at his dirty shirt, ripped. The muscles underneath glistened in the sunlight, the flesh stained with gunpowder and sweat-and blood.
He was hurt.
But he was alive.
She might not be for too long, though. He looked murderous. But she didn"t budge from the hatchway. She waited another minute for the other ship to take flight before she was sure the battle was over-and he was still alive.
Sophia descended the steps, coughing. She beat the air with her hand, shooing the smoke as she returned to the captain"s cabin to wait for him.
Chapter 15.
J ames grabbed the ratlines. He curled his arm around the coa.r.s.e rope and clenched his teeth. Lungs heaving, he glared after the enemy vessel sailing away and cursed the craven crew. He had come so close to sinking the impostors.