Caution to the Wind (American Heroes)

by Mary Jean Adams

  Will turned her hand over in his and slipped the necklace into her palm. Finding her wide-eyed look of astonishment gratifying, he closed her fingers over his gift. He turned her hand back over and raised it to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

  As the crowd around them erupted into cheers, he said, for her ears only, “I love you. I had intended to ask you last night, if you had given me the chance.”

  “So, now, when do you intend to get married?” asked Captain Goodman after the clamor had subsided.

  Will grinned, recalling that his former captain seldom left an opportunity for escape. “I suppose as soon as we can find a church or a ship’s captain willing to perform the ceremony.”

  Goodman surveyed the expanse of blue sea that surrounded them. “I think out here a ship’s captain might be a more likely find.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Will said. “Perhaps you would do us the honor?”

  “The honor would be mine, Will.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  For the second time in a week, Amanda had the luxury of a lavender-scented, freshwater bath. Captain Goodman even managed to find a gown suitable to serve as a wedding dress. On a chair next to her bath, mauve satin petticoats shimmered beneath a gown of cream trimmed in the finest French lace.

  Amanda reached out from the tub to caress the soft fabric. When she had asked the captain how he could have come by something so fine, he just smiled and said it was sometimes better not to be too curious. The gown’s origins were of no matter. It belonged to her now.

  Captain Goodman had given her more than he could ever know. She could see his influence in the man Will had become, guiding him through the struggles of a turbulent adolescence, much as Will did for Neil now.

  Her heart swelled with love for her betrothed. Even if she had to live much of her life with him at sea, knowing that he loved her in return would sustain her through the many long days ahead. The nights would be harder, she decided, recalling the passion they had shared not long ago.

  He might not come home for months at a time, but when he did, he would be hers, and she would make sure she used that time wisely. If she had her way, he would have no desire to go to a tavern or accept any social engagements. She would keep him occupied with more pleasant diversions.

  She ran the bar of lavender soap across her breasts, remembering the caress of his palms, his fingers and his mouth. When the soap dropped into the water Amanda let it go and slid soapy hands across slick skin. Her breasts felt fuller than before and she cupped them, testing their weight and running her own thumbs across her nipples, delighting in the rippling sensations that ran to the pit of her belly.

  “Thinking of me?” Will asked from just inside the door. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankle.

  Amanda squeaked and ducked down in the tub, splashing water over the side. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  How long had he been there, watching her?

  “I didn’t intend you to.” He gave her a knowing grin.

  Unwinding his long limbs, he strode to the tub.

  “It’s not considered proper for the groom to see the bride on their wedding day before the ceremony.” Especially naked, she added to herself.

  Considering the intimacies they had already shared, she shouldn’t be embarrassed. Yet, something about being in the bath with him standing over her went beyond intimate.

  “Relax.” Will knelt beside the tub. He cupped Amanda’s chin in his hand and titled her face so he could place a light kiss on her lips. “I had no choice considering you needed rescuing this morning.” He shrugged. “Or so I thought. Apparently, you were well on your way to getting out of that one on your own.”

  “Yes, but you came when I needed you,” Amanda reassured him.

  Will laughed. “Don’t worry. My self-esteem isn’t so weak that a wife who can handle her own is going to unman me.” He looked at her seriously. “Any second thoughts?”

  “Well,” she began. An uncharacteristic expression of doubt danced across Will’s features, and she couldn’t resist teasing him a bit. “I have considered that perhaps I didn’t use the opportunity to its best advantage.”

  “Opportunity?”

  “Yes. I thought you were being forced to propose, but it appears you already had it planned. Perhaps I should have hesitated before saying ‘yes’ and done a little...negotiating.”

  “What would you have asked for?” His gazed flickered to her naked breasts, and Amanda rather thought she knew what line of thinking he had gone down.

  She bit her lower lip. She had to try one more time. “I want to remain part of your crew.”

  “Part of my crew?” Will asked, his bemused expression confirming that it had not been the request he anticipated.

  Amanda smiled to herself. She had thrown him off. If negotiating naked gave her the advantage, she would have to remember to try it again when the stakes were high.

  “Will, you can’t marry me and then expect me to go ashore and live out my days without you.”

  “But, life on a privateer can be dangerous.”

  “You think I don’t know that! I just spent the last several months on your ship dodging cannonballs and sewing up severed limbs.” She punctuated her point with wet hands, splashing water on the sleeve of his coat.

  “No one can dodge a cannonball,” Will said, “and, as I recall, only one man lost a limb.”

  “So clearly it’s not as dangerous as all that.”

  “You twist my words, Amanda,” Will said, his voice serious. “But, I will make you a deal. You can remain on board my ship, and I suppose as a member of my crew, for now. After all, I have no wish to die of food poisoning, and the doctor says you are the best with a needle he’s ever seen.”

  “Thank you!” Amanda threw her wet arms around Will’s neck, heedless of the water dripping from her naked breasts and soaking his waistcoat.

  “You can remain a crew member until...”

  “Until?” Amanda pulled away searching his face.

  “Until you are with child and then you will go ashore, willingly I might add, and live in a house on dry land with a doctor to attend you if it should become necessary.”

  “Until I am with child. Is that it?”

  “Yes,” said Will, eyeing her mischievous grin with suspicion.

  “You realize, don’t you, that you just gave me an incentive to stay out of your bed?”

  “You realize don’t you,” Will said, teasing her with her own words, but with a smile that softened his response, “that it is you who has tried to seduce me twice and once succeeded. I’ve come to the conclusion that I have so much appeal for you that it would be impossible for you to stay out of my bed.”

  Amanda ducked further down into the tub, splashing water over the sides and soaking his breeches before he could jump out of the way. The short tub required her to bend her knees and prop her feet up on the opposite side. She wiggled her wrinkled water-soaked toes and studied them.

  He was right and she knew it. He had never once taken the initiative, and it mortified her that he had realized it—and mentioned it.

  “I certainly hope I won’t be the only one to make the effort in this marriage.” Amanda crossed her arms over her chest, blocking her taut, pink nipples from his view.

  “I can assure you that you will not.” Will cupped her face in his large hands. His lips lingered on hers, before he nudged them open with the tip of his tongue.

  Amanda wrapped her arms around his neck again, effectively soaking what little dry clothing remained. “Surely there has to be some sort of taboo against doing this with the bride before the ceremony,” she whispered against his lips.

  “No, there is not,” Will said, pulling her to her feet. “At least not on a ship. In fact out here, it is tradition.”

  Amanda laughed. “You’re making that up.”

  “Perhaps, it is not tradition yet,” he said, grabbing a towel, “but tr
aditions need to start somewhere.”

  Amanda could think of no reply to that strange logic. In fact, she had a difficult time thinking at all. Will dried her legs, slowly, thoroughly, one at a time. Amanda closed her eyes and supported herself with her hand on his shoulder, giving herself over to pleasure. Will ran the rough towel across delicate skin in slow, mesmerizing strokes. She swayed toward him until his dark curls tickled the tips of her breasts.

  Amanda bent her head to the top of his, buried her nose in his hair, and breathed in his scent. She would never tire of the way he smelled, a heady mixture of man and sea.

  He worked the towel up between her thighs, lingering at the hollow where thigh met hip. She sighed her contentment and widened her stance, hoping to encourage him to continue his exploration.

  The heat rose in her cheeks, but not from embarrassment this time. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she supposed she should be ashamed of her wanton behavior with a man she had not yet married. Will dropped the towel and used his fingers to part her soft folds and stroke the sensitive nub beneath. A moan escaped her lips. How could she be ashamed of her actions when he robbed her of all reason with his slightest touch?

  Amanda opened her eyes when Will grasped her hips in both hands. He glanced up at her with a look that implored her to trust him. Amanda wondered what he was about to do, but she gave him a smile that told him she trusted him, with her heart, and with her body.

  His tongue darted out to tease the very spot where his fingers had stroked her just moments ago, and her knees buckled. Only his firm hold on her hips and her fingers entwined in his hair steadied her against wave after wave of pleasure.

  “I didn’t know you could do this before or after the wedding,” she said, sounding a little out of breath.

  Will chuckled. “There is much I look forward to showing you, but perhaps we better take it a little slow today, or we will have to prop you up at your own wedding.”

  He scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the hammock. She lay back and watched him undress, enjoying the slow unveiling of the well-built man beneath the formal attire. Will gave her a wicked smile then slowed his pace. He unbuttoned his silk shirt, taking his time with each button then slid it off his shoulders, revealing his broad chest sprinkled with dark curls.

  He reached for the buttons on his breeches then gave Amanda a suggestive look, “Are you sure you don’t want to help?”

  She smiled wickedly in return. “I don’t think that would be wise unless you brought a change of clothes. If I had been the one to remove your shirt, you wouldn’t have any buttons left.”

  Will laughed then tugged his breeches down his hips and thighs. When finished, he proudly stood naked before her.

  “It’s about bloody time.” Amanda reached out to take his hand and pull him toward her.

  Will sat on the edge of the hammock. “You aren’t too tender after yesterday?”

  Amanda shook her head, and he lowered himself to her. He reached between them to continue the pleasure he had started earlier, but Amanda would have none of it. She wrapped her legs around his hips and drew him to her.

  “You’re rather eager,” he said, sounding pleased.

  “We have a wedding to get to, you know.” She kissed his neck. “We have to hurry or they might start without us.”

  When Will guided himself into her, there were none of the sharp pains of yesterday. She rose to meet his slow, languid strokes, reveling in the fullness of him.

  Desperation building, her breathing grew more rapid, and she grasped his hips trying to pull him closer and take him deeper into her own body. She quickened her own pace, urging him to do the same with her hips and her hands, grasping at a goal that remained just out of reach. Then Will pulsed within her and he took over, thrusting deeper and faster. She let him set the pace, and familiar waves of pleasure washed over her once again. Then he shuddered, collapsing on top of her.

  She lay beneath him, listening to his breathing slow and running her fingertips across the sweat slick skin of his back. After a moment, he tried to roll to the side, but Amanda grasped him to her.

  “No, not yet. Please.” Although he no longer filled her the way he had, her sensitive inner walls still pulsed around him, and she wanted to savor it awhile longer.

  He settled against her. She kissed his neck, recalling their recent agreement and the conditions that came with it. Until you are with child.

  Even now, she could be pregnant, in which case she would only have a few weeks before he would see the tell tale signs, and then she would be off the ship. The thought of leaving him made her want to weep.

  “Will,” she said, her voice shaking. She nudged his shoulder.

  “Hmmm?” He sounded as though he had drifted into a doze.

  “I don’t think I can do it,” she said.

  “Now’s a fine time to tell me after we’ve already consummated the marriage,” he said, his voice teasing.

  Amanda laughed at his attempt at humor. “You can’t consummate a marriage before it exists.”

  “Aaargh,” he groaned, kissing the corner of her lips, “You mean we have to do this again?”

  She pushed his shoulder to get his attention, “I don’t mean the marriage, I mean this.”

  He withdrew and rolled onto his side. “You didn’t enjoy it?”

  “Of course I did!” she said. “That’s the problem.”

  “The problem?” He looked thoroughly befuddled.

  “Yes, I could be pregnant even now,” she said, tears shining in her eyes.

  “I hope so,” Will said, trailing a finger down the center of her abdomen and then spreading his hand across her taut, flat belly. “I can’t wait to see you all swollen with my child.”

  “But how will you? How will you see me swollen with child if you make me leave the ship?”

  “Who said you’re going alone?”

  “I’m not?”

  “Of course not,” Will answered. “Getting you pregnant would be only a temporary solution to keep you off the ship. Knowing you, you’d find a way back on, probably hauling our poor baby with you. As I see it, the best way to keep you off my ship is to keep you pregnant, and for that, I need to be there.”

  “You do?” A tear rolled down Amanda’s cheek and Will caught it with his finger.

  “Of course I do.” Will lifted her, rolled onto his back and settled her against his chest. Amanda crossed her hands over his chest and leaned her chin against them. “I’ve been at sea for a number of years, and I’ve probably been one of the most fortunate captains in the business. But for me, it was never about the money.” He stared at the ceiling above them.

  “For country?” Amanda asked.

  “I like to think that was part of it,” he replied. “But in truth, I think I have been searching for something missing from my life.”

  “What were you searching for?”

  “Family.” He looked down at her. “I never really knew my own father even though I followed him from battle to battle. As captain of his regiment, he mostly interacted with the other officers. Too young to fight, and kind of timid to boot, I was just a lowly drummer. I’m not sure how many of the men even knew I was his son.”

  Amanda smiled at the image of a young, curly-haired boy with big golden eyes banging away on a drum and trying his best to keep up with full-grown men on the march.

  “And your mother?” Amanda asked. She desperately wanted to hear the details of his life, and she hoped the question wouldn’t shut down their conversation.

  “My mother was a lost cause from the start. She hadn’t been born into wealth the way my father had, but she coveted it.” Will snorted. “Looking back, I think jealousy was about the only emotion she ever felt. When I was born, she resented my intrusion into her busy life, full of all the social engagements she had never been invited to until she married my father. Then she resented the war for taking him away from her. When he died, I think she lost some of the respectability his pre
sence gave her, and she resented him for abandoning her.”

  “What did she do?” Amanda asked.

  “Spent all his money mostly. I think it was her way of getting her revenge on him.”

  “And on you,” Amanda added.

  Will’s eyes held real sadness, and Amanda supposed that he mourned for the mother he never really had. She raised her head from her hands, hoping to turn the discussion toward happier times. “So did you find what you were searching for at sea?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact I did,” Will said, happiness returning to his face.

  He tucked one hand behind his head while he caressed her back with the other. A surge of pure pleasure washed over her and her inner core twitched in anticipation. Surprised her body would respond so quickly after making love, she laid her head against his chest, determined to let him finish his story.

  “I already think of Neil as a brother.” His voice rumbled in her ear. “In truth, I had even begun to think of him as a son, even though we are separated by less than ten years.”

  Doing the math, Amanda smiled to herself. That would make him only twenty-five, and she had the suspicion Will might be a couple years older. One day soon, he would discover Neil’s true age, but not just yet.

  “You know he’ll make an excellent captain someday, and I don’t intend to ask him to leave the ship with us. Does that bother you?”

  “Not at all,” she replied, raising her head so he could see she spoke from the heart. “Privateering is dangerous business, but he can hold his own. This is the life he loves. I wouldn’t dream of asking him to leave it.”

  “Somehow, I knew you’d understand.” The pride in his voice warmed her in ways words never could.

  “Anyway. I’ve made enough money to pay off the Amanda many times over. I can easily hand her over to Buck. He is more than qualified to be a captain in his own right. Frankly, I think the only reason he’s stayed on with me is because he expects to be named her captain someday. And, I have enough put aside to outfit a couple additional ships. If I can find decent commanders who have the strength to manage a good crew, I can make enough money to last us well after the war is over and we are allies with the English again.” He paused, mulling over the distant future. “After that, maybe we’ll go into trade.”