Always the High Seas: Pirates of Britannia Connected World

by Emily E K Murdoch

  He may be a Demonios, but that did not make him an animal.

  Javier leaned a hand against the wall and blew out slowly. It would take several breaths to get that thought from his mind.

  The temptation to storm in there and just pull her into his arms, kissing Esmeralda until she melted into his embrace, had to be quelled. He would never force her to do something she had no wish to, and he did not wish to end up back in the brig.

  After several minutes, he was ready.

  Within seconds of his knock, a voice said, “Enter.”

  It was not the typical bark he had come to expect from Captain Esmeralda, and neither was the vision that presented itself to him as he closed the door.

  The entire cabin was covered in candles. At the desk, which had been cleared of its scraps of parchment, broken quills, maps, charts, instruments for measuring the stars, and old bits of bread, there was a feast fit for a king, and beside it sat Esmeralda.

  Not the woman Javier had expected. No, this was an entirely new lady.

  This Esmeralda was a vision of beauty. Gone was the leather and linen she wore as captain.

  In its place was a gown of the latest style. Its tight bodice showed off her figure in a way that made Javier swallow hard, with pearls embroidered into the sleeves and hem around her neck. Her hair was pinned up, with a few pearls interspersed within the curls.

  She was breathtaking.

  She smiled with a knowing look in her eyes.

  “I may be a captain,” she said with a gentle laugh, “but I am also a lady, and I know how to dress for dinner. Have you never seen a woman dressed this way before?”

  He barely knew if his mouth could form words. He had suggested the dinner as a flirtatious way to gain a little more power over her, to tease her perhaps with a kiss.

  He had been utterly mistaken. It was she who had all the power.

  “None as beautiful as you.”

  His words were not chosen for effect. She looked a mixture between pleased and irritated, and when she told him, rather than invited him, to sit down, it was with a slightly gruff voice.

  Esmeralda le Brecque. He had intended to come here and capture her, but instead, she was rapidly capturing his heart.

  What should he do with his hands?

  Esmeralda smiled. “I informed Cook that he should just leave the food here for us to enjoy and that we would ring the bell if we required anything else. Does that suit?”

  He nodded, unable to speak. There would be no interruptions to their candlelight dinner.

  He had intended to seduce her, even if just a little bit, but was she attempting the same thing?

  “Good,” he managed, hating the vulnerability in his voice.

  This was everything he could have hoped for.

  “I have never seen this dish before,” she said, pointing at a platter of fish over a bed of potatoes. “Have you?”

  There was a hint of concern in her voice, and it was that which gave Javier his voice back.

  “I may have given Cook a little help,” he said, allowing his shoulders to relax. “Just a few ideas and a suggestion about herb mixtures.”

  Esmeralda stiffened and glared in suspicion. “Poisoning my crew, Demonios?”

  “No, of course not!” he said hastily.

  Picking up the fork beside his plate, he dug into the fish and then pronged a slice of potato. Raising it, he offered it to her.

  She glared, suspicion evident on her face. She was well within her rights to expect him to eat it first. Some of the most feared captains even had food tasters to ensure any discontented crew members could not kill them.

  The aroma of the carefully cooked fish enticed Esmeralda, and she leaned forward and allowed the forkful of food to be placed in her mouth. She chewed and closed her eyes.

  “This is delicious,” she said.

  A warmth entirely unrelated to his deep-seated attraction stirred in his stomach. Was it pride?

  “Thank you,” he said. “Here, let me help you to…”

  “I can serve myself,” she said, eyes snapping open. She hesitated and then added, “Thank you.”

  The bottle of wine on the desk was red and swirled tantalizingly in his glass, but Javier was careful to drink sparingly. He needed his wits about him.

  Dios mío, to think that he had underestimated her so foolishly! Hiding in her cabin had never been a smart idea, but perhaps coming onto her ship in the first place had not been clever, either.

  Captain Esmeralda was not one to be taken unawares.

  “So, tell me,” he said after they had both eaten a little more, “how did you become the captain of the Periculum?”

  She laughed. “And one of the only female captains on all the seven seas?”

  Javier shrugged, relieved she had not taken offense at the question. “Well, it would be foolish of me not to be curious.”

  Silence filled the cabin for a few moments, and Esmeralda considered him as she sat back in her chair. He held her gaze and knew it was the only way to gain her respect.

  “’Tis not a long story,” she said abruptly. “I did not like the way my father ran a ship.”

  “Tell me about it,” he said gently.

  “Let’s just say that he did not follow any sort of code,” she said. “I…I need to be able to face myself and my maker on Judgement Day. This way, I can.”

  Perhaps she had hoped her words would silence him.

  “You said you stole this ship?”

  Esmeralda came alive. Her whole demeanor changed, and Javier saw for a moment the woman she could have been if she had led a different life.

  “The Periculum was supposed to be my dowry,” she said. “Every le Brecque woman receives one as long as she marries within her parents' expectations. My dowry. In my mind, all I did was take what was intended for me.”

  He smiled, hearing the rebellion in her tone. There indeed was no one like Captain Esmeralda le Brecque. She was her own woman.

  He would never meet a woman like her ever again.

  “Anyway, I have spoken more than enough about my family,” she said. “What about your father?”

  Javier felt the pain in his gut as if she had thrust a knife into his flesh. “He…he is a terrible man.”

  He had intended to say more, but what was there to say? His gaze dropped to his empty plate, but he could still feel her eyes on him. She expected more.

  “He saw pain as a way to get what he wanted,” he said heavily. “I wished to leave his ship to get away from him. I had decided to stay on land, perhaps build a life for myself.”

  “I think our fathers were cut from the same cloth,” came the reply, and Javier looked up to see Esmeralda smiling ruefully. “I could not imagine leaving the ocean. It is everything to me. I am not certain if I could live without it.”

  “Perhaps if I had met you a few years ago, I would have agreed with you,” Javier said wryly. “But I have made my decision. I made it a long time ago. I want land. Something to depend on.”

  Why was he saying all this? Javier had never spoken of this dream, not in this way. It was not as though he had many confidants on the Doloria, but the words had poured from his soul to hers.

  “The ocean can be depended on,” she countered, her smile soft. “Depended on to surprise you, I suppose. No two days are the same. If you do not like a place, you leave. If you do not like a person, you—”

  “Throw them overboard?”

  Her smile broadened, and Javier knew he was utterly in lust with her. He had cast off logic a long time ago. She was perfection, and he was caught in her trap just as surely as if she had been a siren.

  He moved his chair around to the other side of the table.

  “What are you doing?” she asked

  “I want to be closer to you.”

  “I do not accept anything like that from my crew, and I will not accept it from you. Return to the other side of the desk.”

  But despite her words, he could see the way Esmer
alda’s body was responding to him. She had leaned toward him, her pulse quickening, whether she realized it or not. She wanted him. She wanted him as desperately as he wanted her.

  “What?” he said, assuming an innocent look. “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean,” she shot back.

  It was a gamble, but Javier was ready. “Yes. I want to kiss you.”

  Esmeralda stared, shocked by his forwardness. “You what?”

  “I want to kiss you,” he said again, allowing his accent to thicken, knowing it had worked a hundred times before. “I want to taste your lips. I want to know what holding you feels like.”

  She was still staring, silent, but she had not moved away. Emboldened by her reaction, Javier leaned forward and took her hand in his. She did not pull it away.

  “You have been alone, isolated, for too long,” he said in a low voice, attempting to keep his body calm. He could still be thrown in the brig for this, or worse. “You cannot find a lover in the crew, and you will not leave the ocean. You are alone. Except for me.”

  Was it his imagination, or had her gaze flickered across him?

  “I will be gone soon,” Javier breathed. “You will never have to see me again, and yet you will have passionate memories to hold onto. Why can’t I show you what it means to be loved, what it means to feel?”

  Esmeralda breathed, “I said, I do not accept that from any of my crew.”

  “I am not your crew.” He leaned forward and placed his lips on hers.

  Chapter Seven

  None of this was real. It had all started with that scandalous invitation to dinner. If she had rejected it…

  But then, the candles had been her idea. The gown, too, and Esmerelda knew it showed off her figure in a way that leather and breeches never could.

  It was wrong.

  Yet, it did not feel wrong. In fact, Javier’s lips on hers felt more right than anything in the world. Her breath quickened as her hands moved to pull him closer, her body knowing what it wanted, even if her mind did not.

  Every part of her wanted to say yes as his tongue gently explored her mouth, shooting pleasure across her body, but she knew it would be a mistake.

  Allowing herself to be loved would be a mistake. She could not allow it.

  She moaned, his hands moving to pull her closer.

  She would lose her innocence, something she would never get back. She could start to care for this Demonios far more than she should, and he would be off her ship forever in just a few days.

  And perhaps the most permanent consequence of all, she could fall with child.

  She tried to think, but it was impossible with such heat between them. She had always wanted a child someday, that was true, and no man had ever tempted her enough to consider him a future husband. No man would ever rule on her ship.

  Could this situation give her everything she wanted?

  Pleasure in the arms of a man who knew how to give her what she wanted?

  A child, an heir to the Periculum.

  She would still be the captain. Perhaps it was time to indulge herself.

  Esmeralda sunk into the kiss, allowing the experience she had forbidden herself before. Surrounded by family, or crew, or lads barely old enough to hold a sword, she was now in the presence of a true man.

  And then suddenly it was over. Esmeralda blinked at Javier as he sat back, looking concerned.

  “Lo siento. I apologize,” he said stiffly. “It was never my intention to force…it is not my way to take what I want.”

  Javier Mateo de Soto, of Los Demonios de Mar. He was handsome, it was impossible to deny, and he had impressed her with the way he had handled her crew. Any other quartermaster under her had attempted to maintain his authority with harsh words and shouting.

  Not Javier. In just an afternoon, she had seen in him a man who could be respected.

  He will be gone, she reminded herself. Gone, and not able to torment her any longer.

  She wanted him to show her all the joy that could be found in the bedchamber.

  Her cheeks warmed at the very thought, and as she stood up, she knocked over her chair.

  “I am sorry, Captain Esmeralda,” Javier said, raising his hands in the customary sign of surrender. “You can throw me in the brig if you like, starve me until we reach Southampton, or forbid me whatever you want. But I have to say kissing you, sharing that moment, it was worth it.”

  Esmeralda swallowed. She was more accustomed to giving orders, and she could not form the words to ask for what she wanted. Him. All of him.

  Instead of speech, she reached out and took him by the hand. He rose silently and allowed himself to be led to the door of her bedchamber.

  Esmeralda barely had enough courage to look at him, but she forced herself to meet his gaze.

  He looked astonished. “I thought,” he said hoarsely, “that you were going to throw me into the brig. Are…are you certain?”

  She smiled. “I haven’t decided yet whether you will return to the brig after this, but perhaps you can demonstrate why you should not be. Show me…” She swallowed. The words did not come naturally to her. “Show me pleasure. Show me everything you want. For this night only, you are in charge.”

  Without saying a word, he stepped through the door, closed it, and then pulled her into his arms, pushing her up against the door and kissing her.

  It was wild, and passion flowed between them. Esmeralda gloried in it. This was what she had been missing. Her whole body responded to every touch, and Javier knew how she wanted to be touched.

  His hands were at her wrists, pinning her against the door, which only made shivers of desire shoot up her spine. His mouth possessed her, and she moaned.

  Javier lifted her hands above her head, and Esmeralda let herself go.

  “Dios mío,” moaned Javier, breaking the kiss and staring eyes. “You are…God’s teeth, Esmeralda…”

  She panted, leaning forward, trying to kiss him again. “More. I want more.”

  His fingers made light work of the ribbons on her gown, and within a moment, it pooled to the floor, leaving her standing in nothing but her undershift, which was pulled from her body so violently that it ripped along one edge.

  “You are beautiful,” he managed in a hoarse voice. “So beautiful, Esmeralda. I could look at you all day.”

  “Don’t,” she managed. “I want to see you.”

  She reached out with shaking fingers, but he pushed her back and kissed her deeply. Not yet. First, I need to reward you.”

  “Reward me?”

  He did not speak but instead dropped to his knees. She could not understand why, but then he kissed her gently on the stomach. Esmeralda shivered, the sensation moving down to her secret place.

  “So beautiful,” he whispered and then kissed a little lower.

  Only then did Esmeralda realize what he was about to do. “Javier, oh!”

  His lips had brushed across her secret place, and her whole body had rocked with the intensity of the feeling. It was wonderful, more than she could have expected, more than she had hoped for—but did people do this?

  “Are you sure?”

  His strong hands were now on her hips, holding her steady as he gently teased and worshipped her body, licking and caressing in equal measure as Esmeralda closed her eyes, whimpering at the incredible sensations.

  “Oh, yes,” she moaned, unable to keep quiet. “Yes, Javier …”

  It was impossible to breathe, impossible to control herself, and her whole body shuddered as the ecstasy built and overwhelmed her, crashing over her like a wave that would never cease.

  Eventually, Javier rose to his feet.

  “I…”

  “I know,” he whispered. “I know.”

  She stared in wonder. “I had no idea…”

  He smiled. “I know.”

  He lifted her off her feet and tossed her onto the bed. Esmeralda watched as Javier quickly stripped off his clothes.

  He was
magnificent. All the muscles on his body and the trail of hair that moved tantalizingly down his stomach culminated in what she could only imagine was the most masculine thing in the world.

  Javier joined her on the bed, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply. She returned the kiss, knowing she would never feel like this again, never see this level of intimacy again. The strength of his body against her softness, his hair brushing against her skin. He was hers for this night, and she would give him everything he wanted.

  “I have never felt like this before,” she managed to say as they broke apart.

  “Neither have I.”

  It was impossible to know whether to believe him, but what did it matter? Esmeralda had left behind all the cares of the world tonight, and for all she knew, the Periculum had disappeared, leaving this cabin only.

  His hands moved over her body, and everywhere they touched, she felt a shiver of growing pleasure.

  Was it possible for her to experience that level of ecstasy again?

  Following her instinct, she pulled him closer, her legs wrapping around him and squeezing him tightly.

  Javier groaned. “Christ, Esmeralda, you are more than I could ever have expected.”

  Unskilled in the ways of love, it had crossed her mind she could have disappointed him, but her mind could not dwell on that thought for a moment longer. Not as his fingers had moved to her secret place, slowly stroking her, and his mouth had found her breasts.

  “Oh, Javier,” she moaned, lying back and trying not to scream. The last thing she needed was her crew rushing in. “Oh, yes!”

  It was heavenly, the feeling of being utterly adored, and he did adore her, Esmeralda was sure.

  “Yes!”

  Every inch of her shook as her body cried for release again, and it took another moment to open her eyes and look up at a smiling Javier.

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “Do not concern yourself,” he said in a low voice. “I will get my pleasure, but first, you. ’Tis time someone did everything for you.”

  Esmeralda stared. How was it possible that another person had put into words exactly how she felt? How could a man who had only stepped on board the Periculum two days ago understand her so well?