Adrienne appraised him carefully, allowing her gaze to roam not only his face, but also parts of him visible above the table.
“One of the things my father disliked most about me was my inability to take his word as law in regard to caution. I’ve always been the type who has to see for myself. Until you show me otherwise, I’ll keep to my opinion that you are indeed not soulless but rather a kind and generous man.”
“T’will be your folly, Miss St. John,” he warned grimly.
She smirked, her eyes once again doing that dancing thing which intrigued him.
“Aye, perhaps, but I can add it to my growing resume of foolhardy errors in the event your words prove true.”
Rising, she took a few purposeful steps, bringing her to stand near his shoulder at the corner of the table. Their reflection shone back in the gilded mirror hanging across the room. She met his eyes there and held them. Reaching out, she ran the back of her hand over his perfectly chiseled cheekbone. She didn’t miss the sharp intake of breath her action elicited from the man. Bending down so her mouth was even with the shell of his ear, Adrienne whispered.
“Where you see a devil, I see an angel who rescued me.”
Nicolai’s eyes flew to hers, widening at her words as she dropped her hand gently to his shoulder where she gave him a soft pat before returning to her seat.
Unable to stand the constricting panic, which settled in his chest at her declaration, he pushed away from the table. Standing, he stared down at her, for once at a loss.
She thought him good? Kind? An Angel? The way she was looking at him in that moment made him want to be all of those things and more. Her words made him wish for the unrealistic and unattainable. Things like love and acceptance; a family.
He suddenly wanted her to always look at him the way she was at that very moment. But, for a man like him, women like Adrienne and the life she made him yearn for were impossible dreams. Because Nicolai knew it to be true, he knew he had to keep himself at a distance. Unable to face the hero worship so blatant in her eyes any longer, Nicolai turned on his boot heel and left the cabin.
Chapter 3
She’d hoped he’d come back after leaving so suddenly during their meal. She had even attempted to wait up for him, but as the hour grew later, it became obvious he wasn’t returning to his quarters and she’d given up. Changing into one of the long cotton night dresses he’d had brought to her along with the gowns, Adrienne retired for the night.
Now, as she lay here, wide-awake and unable to sleep, she sighed. His story had been awful and she’d seen the sadness in his eyes as he recounted his beginnings. She couldn’t imagine living in an orphanage, much less being cast out into the elements as a newborn, unwanted.
Adrienne tossed again under the fine linen covers and warm quilt of Captain Mikhalovic’s bed. She couldn’t get his words out of her head. His name stood for black wolf, he’d said. In the quiet that surrounded her, sudden realization rang clear as a bell.
She’d heard rumors in Bombay of a fierce pirate who went by the moniker The Black Wolf. He was said to be vicious and bloodthirsty. While Nicolai certainly matched the fierce part, she’d yet to see anything vicious or bloodthirsty about him.
It was said he was impossible to catch because both he and his ship were capable of blending in whenever they were in port. It made perfect sense that the vessel Nicolai captained would be named The Chameleon, if he were in fact whom she suspected him to be. There were very few people who could even claim to have encountered him and lived to tell the tale and most of those accounts were discredited as fictitious. Even the Crown, who placed a price on the Black Wolf’s head, couldn’t actually confirm the man existed. The bounty was there in the event rumor turned into truth.
She flipped over to her back, studying the wooden planks overhead as the ship rocked gently under her. Her heart bled for the boy he described. There in the darkness, Adrienne could almost picture a small, tow-headed child, his body beaten and thin from lack of food. Though she had no experience with children, the image made her want to save that child, to protect him from those whom would do him harm.
Had his early years driven him to a life of piracy or had other factors led him to this dark and dangerous profession? And while it seemed to suit him in some ways because she couldn’t imagine one such as Nicolai being settled into restrictive proper society, she also couldn’t imagine him ruthlessly murdering others. Though, to be fair she had no reason to doubt his claims because as of yet, he’d proven to be a man of his word.
Soulless, God’s big toe, she huffed. Whatever his deeds might have been and might be in the future, she knew with every fiber of her being that Captain Nicolai Mikhalovic did most assuredly possess a soul. The very idea otherwise, was ridiculous and she determined at that moment, she would set out to prove him wrong. Her eyes finally beginning to grow heavy, she closed them to sink into a deep sleep.
A loud bump in the night and an even louder curse woke her with a start as she opened her eyes in the darkness of the cabin. The silhouette moving around the quarters clumsily could be none other than Nicolai himself as no one else she’d witnessed since coming onboard had his height and breadth. Why was he in here? What could he possibly want?
Nicolai had left Adrienne in the middle of their meal together and had gone into the mess hall with the other men. Recounting his early years to the woman had dredged up things he’d rather not dwell on and so he dived headfirst into a bottle of rum with a few of the crewmembers.
After several drinks accompanied by many songs, he’d forgotten his earlier decision to bunk with the rest of the men since the sweet and very beautiful Miss St. John now occupied his cabin.
He had promised her that while she was under his care, her reputation would remain intact, however his now rum fogged mind decided that he was entitled as well as deserving of his soft comfortable bed as the lady.
He stumbled into the room to find all the lanterns extinguished, causing him to promptly trip over a dining chair as he attempted to make his way to the bed. Moonlight coming through the starboard windows gave enough light for him to see the outline of her form burrowed underneath his eiderdown quilt but not enough for him to see the corner of the trunk, which he also tripped over.
His loud curse echoed throughout the room as he sat down hard on the corner of the bed and pulled off his leather knee high boot to inspect the damage to his foot.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Adrienne’s sleepy voice trembled with fear.
“Trying not to perish in this obstacle course while exercising my right as captain of this ship to sleep in my own bed,” Nicolai answered, pulling off the other boot. He dropped it on the floor with a thud. His brain swam with drink causing him to pause for a moment to steady himself lest he topple onto the floor from his sitting position.
“I thought you didn’t harm women?” Her voice cut through the darkness, the edge of fear unmistakable.
Nicolai turned to look at her. She had sat up in his bed, clutching the sheet to her chest. He could feel the eiderdown stuffed mattress vibrating with her tremors as she huddled away from him in fright. He heaved a sighed.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Adrienne,” he said, all formality gone. His Russian accent was heavy from drink and fatigue. “I’m far too drunk as well as too tired. I’m just going to sleep. Relax, Myshka.” Even his drunken mind recognized the courage it must be taking for her not bolt from his bed.
Keeping himself fully clothed, he laid down on top of the covers, turning on his side to face away from her and closed his eyes. As he relaxed into the soft bed, her trembling slowly began to ease. He felt her stretch out beside him and though several inches separated them, the heat of her body warmed his back as he slid into the void of sleep.
Nicolai cocked one eye open as the horizon shone in brilliant red and orange through his portside window, but that wasn’t what woke him.
Raising a hand, he carefully brushed long strands of chestnut hair fro
m his face and turned his head. Some time in the night he’d moved onto his back while Adrienne had moved closer to him, curling herself against his side, her hand delicately placed on the center of his chest. His arm was securely wrapped around her as he’d in turn unconsciously held her in place while they slept.
He watched her sleep, struck once more by the innocent beauty of her face. Dark brown lashes rested against her cheeks, which were flushed with the warmth of slumber. Her rosebud mouth was relaxed, the corners slightly upturned and he wondered what she could possibly be dreaming of that would cause such a sweet half smile.
He wasn’t one to spend an entire night with a woman, especially given the fact that most of the women he was acquainted with were prostitutes. Very rarely would he even lie in their beds while he took them, choosing to forgo things such as lice, which frequented the brothels as much as the pirates did.
It was his usual behavior to take his whores against a wall or from behind while they bent over their own filthy beds. Once he was done with them, he returned to his own accommodations, which he always ensured were vermin free.
Only one whore in particular did he trust with issues such as his health and hygiene; primarily because he paid her a regular sum not to take on other clients. She was exclusively his whenever he was in Nassau. Yet even with Consuela, he refused to spend the night. No matter how late into the night their trysts may go, he always left her immediately after the fucking was concluded.
It surprised Nicolai how he relished the feel of Adrienne against him. His mind attempted to reason how this tiny little mouse of a girl brought out every protective instinct he had, while at the same time, his body wanted to debase her in so many scandalous ways. His cock apparently wanted the same thing as it was making its large presence known.
He could feel her breasts pressed against his ribcage reminding him that while she may be young and seem so small, she was certainly all woman. Her abundant curves fit into his side snugly and perfectly, making him wonder if this feeling was what drove better men than he into marriage.
Was having your arms full of a warm, soft female who slept so trustingly against you worth the headache he had always believed a wife would be? Skeptically, he dismissed the thought.
Adrienne St. John may be a stunning creature who awoke a protective, softer side he hadn’t been aware he’d even had, but she was still a female. Her gender came with far more negatives than positives, in his opinion. Perhaps he’d gone too long without a woman as his crew had and that was what had his mind going places he dared never to go.
Even as he attempted to deny that she stirred something within him, his hand flexed against her hips of its own accord, fingers seeking out the soft rounded flesh there.
Adrienne muttered something intelligible in her sleep, pressing herself more fully against him. Nicolai felt his cock harden further, the britches he’d slept in the night before, straining over his manhood as blood flooded the appendage between his legs.
It would be different if she were a woman of experience but as it were, he needed to leave this room before he did more than just damage her reputation. Attempting to remove his arm from around her without waking her, Nicolai tried to move off the bed.
“Don’t,” she said, her voice full of sleep. Her fingers clenched the material of his shirt. He stilled, taken by surprise by both her vehement plea and the strength of her hold. After a moment, her hand loosened from his shirt to begin roaming over the peaks and valleys of his chest and abdomen. Nicolai ground his teeth together, cock hard enough to drive nails while he half sat, half leaned in an awkward position and determined the best course of action.
He should just dump her unceremoniously onto the mattress and take his leave, but the way she was touching him had him almost paralyzed with need.
“Don’t stop touching me,” she whispered. Her once relaxed face was now scrunched up in disapproval.
Nicolai saw that her eyes were still closed and recognized she must be dreaming rather than consciously asking him to continue holding her. Seeing that Adrienne wasn’t fully awake should have been the deciding factor for him, but his resolve weakened when her fingers trailed further, tracing the ridge of his erection through his britches. She thought him an angel? She would soon see how wrong she was.
Adrienne was having the best dream of her life. In it, she was cradled fully against Captain Mikhalovic while he did things to her body her conscious mind hadn’t dreamed possible.
His lips moved over her neck and chest as he pulled down the shift she wore and suckled at her breast. Funny, she had no idea that kisses to her breasts would feel so good.
His rough hands traveled downward under the covers, raising the hemline of her nightgown so he could touch the satiny skin of her thighs that fell open to his investigating fingers. She moaned in pleasure, pressing her body upward into his palm when he touched the mound at the core of her body.
Moisture flooded her center when he parted her folds and rubbed the bundle of flesh at the top of her sex, causing it throb in response. His lips rose to cover hers as she tangled her hand in his hair.
“Adrienne,” he groaned, his hips flexing into her side. The part that made him male was rigid and impossibly large, as well as hot. It scorched her thigh as it pulsed against her. Moments ago, when the dream had started, she’d been tracing that enormous evidence of his arousal but had stopped when he returned her touch with one of his own.
The sensations he was causing at the crux of her body were too distracting; felt too good for her to focus on anything other than the fact that she was on the precipice of something indescribable. Something foreign, yet wonderful was happening, and her lower abdomen contracted with pleasure.
She opened her eyes as bliss encompassed her entire being, which was now so primed that even upon realizing she wasn’t dreaming, she was powerless to stop her body’s reaction.
Nicolai was on his side, raised above her, his hand working magic on her venus as he pressed kisses to her jaw line. The hardened length of him was very real and very large as he rocked against her.
The thought of it and what he might do with that enormous body part sent her over the edge and she cried out. Fissures of pleasure curled her toes and she clenched her hand around his hair tighter. Wave after wave consumed her body and mind while Nicolai’s hand worked Adrienne into a frenzy.
Chest heaving, she gasped for air, attempting to make sense of what had just taken place. As the last tremors shook her body and she began to come down from the height he’d sent her soaring to, reality returned. Adrienne stiffened, her eyes rounding in disbelief.
Nicolai felt the change in her and pulled his hand away from her center. Leaning up, he peered down into her face, his green eyes hot with need.
The terror there was the equivalent of a dousing with cold water.
“What were you doing to me?” She asked, horrified.
“Only what you asked, Myshka. I awoke to find you pressed against me. When I tried to do the honorable thing and leave you be, you begged me to touch you.”
“I was dreaming, you oaf!” Adrienne sat up on her knees and hit him with a pillow. The white linen nightgown she wore slid from one shoulder as her hair tumbled haphazardly down her chest and back. Her eyes blazed fury and indignation at him. If Nicolai had thought moments before that the woman in his bed couldn’t possibly get more alluring, he’d been mistaken. His cock, already over-full and aching, tightened more, threatening to spill his seed into his britches at the sight of her kneeling and enraged in the center of the feather mattress.
“You shouldn’t have come in here in the first place. Did you wait until I was asleep so you could take advantage of me? What you did was scandalous,” she ranted. Her tone of accusation made him laugh.
He rose from the bed, stretching.
“Madam, I simply needed my bed. T’was you who turned to me in the night. Perhaps you waited until I was asleep before you acted out your carnal fantasies on my vulnerable body
. If anyone should be scandalized, ‘tis I.”
“I did nothing of the sort. I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” she huffed incredulously, looking away. Her cheeks were bright red though her rage was fading as embarrassment took shape.
“I’d say you are a natural, then. Perhaps you have a future in the lovemaking arts?” Once his remark was out, he regretted it. Her eyes flew wide with anger at the insinuation he’d inadvertently made. He knew from their discussion yesterday she feared being reduced to prostitution. Nicolai ducked as she threw the second pillow at him with a screech of fury.
“I am no common whore. Get out,” she yelled, pointing to the door.
Too late to offer an apology that she would most likely reject, Nicolai bowed low, “With pleasure, Miss St. John.”
She didn’t miss the smirk on the man’s face as he grabbed his boots and quit the room. As the door slammed shut, Adrienne had to wonder if perhaps he’d been telling the truth all along. Maybe he was evil after all.
“What was all the screeching coming from your quarters?” Cooper asked as they inspected the work the crew had done yesterday and throughout the night. The two men dangled off the side of the ship, seated on leather saddles attached to a pulley system of ropes that allowed them to move over the hull of the boat with minimum effort.
Nicolai made a grunting noise in his throat.
“Nothing more than a reminder of why I rent my women. It seems Miss St. John has been repressing her natural desires. She wasn’t pleased to learn that she initiated some rather scandalous acts this morning while she slept.”
Cooper chuckled as they pushed off the planked hull to examine another section. Taut ropes were in place for them to grip on to in order to hold their place while they searched for any remaining weak spots.
“Women…” The quartermaster sighed. “They’re just as lusty as we are, but we’re always the villain when they act on their needs. That said, I thought you were going to bunk with the men? Wasn’t it you who said the lady was off limits to us all?”
Black Wolf Page 4