“Oh!” she shouted, frightened by this action. Her legs clamped together around his head.
Immediately, his head popped up from under her skirt. “Just relax, Wife. You’ll enjoy it, I promise.”
“Nay. Ye’re scarin’ me, Tristan.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I think ye’re movin’ too fast.”
“I see,” he said, dropping her skirt back into place and standing up. “Then I guess we’ll slow down, because the last thing I want is for you to be frightened of me.”
A quick knock sounded at the door and Ramble walked in, carrying a tray of food and a bottle of wine. “Food’s here, Cap’n. Are ye ready?” He stopped in his tracks when he saw Gavina sitting on the table. She quickly pulled her skirt down to cover her legs, and pulled her bodice together, hiding her bare breasts.
“Oh, I see ye’re already at the table,” he said, walking over and putting the tray down next to Gavina as if it were a normal thing to do, sitting atop a hanging table. “That’s an odd way to eat yer meal, but whatever ye do it’s none of my business. I’m just here to bring ye yer food.”
“That’s right, it’s none of your business.” Tristan reached out and helped Gavina off the table.
“Nairnie made the best chicken dish. Plus, these biscuits with warm butter and herbs are like a piece of heaven.” Ramble lifted a lid off a square, wooden plate and held the plate up to Tristan. “Just smell that.” He wafted air at him with the lid.
“Ramble,” said Tristan in a low voice.
“I had to fight off Aaron just to get you a few of these delicious biscuits,” Ramble continued talking. “I figured since this was yer weddin’ celebration and all, ye deserved at least a few.”
“Ramble,” said Tristan again.
“Aaron grabbed a whole handful of these just for himself,” Ramble told him, putting down the plate and lid and picking up a biscuit between two fingers, holding it out to show it to them. “Look at all the butter oozin’ from it, and those little pieces of green that Nairnie said are fresh herbs.” He stayed focused on the biscuit and licked his lips. “When Nairnie started swingin’ her ladle at Aaron, he took off up the ratlines and hid in the lookout basket so she wasn’t able to stop him. I’m sure he had at least four biscuits with him, when Nairnie said we were only allowed one each.”
“Ramble,” said Tristan.
“Just give this a taste, Cap’n. It’s so delicious, ye’re just goin’ to die.”
Tristan grabbed Ramble’s hand with his, crushing the flaky biscuit between Ramble’s fingers. Butter oozed out and ran down Ramble’s arm.
“You’re going to be the one to die if you don’t get the hell out of here,” growled Tristan.
“All right, I’ll go,” said Ramble, opening his hand to see the smashed biscuit. He held out his open palm to Tristan. “Where did you want me to put this?”
“I’ve got a few suggestions, but I won’t say them aloud since my wife is present.”
“Oh!” Ramble looked down at his hand and then over to Gavina. “I suppose ye’d like to be alone, being that ye’re married now and all.”
“What gave you that idea?” asked Tristan.
“I just thought since –”
“Thank ye, Ramble,” said Gavina with a giggle. “Ye may keep that biscuit.”
“Oh, thank ye,” said Ramble, shoving the smashed biscuit into his mouth and licking the butter off his fingers as well as his arm as he headed out the door.
“I suppose I should thank you,” Tristan told Gavina once Ramble had left the room. He picked up the wine, pulling the cork out of the bottle with his teeth, and spit it across the room.
“Thank me? For what?” Gavina watched him lift the bottle to his mouth and then stop.
“For keeping me from strangling that pesky Ramble.”
“I think he’s kind of cute,” she said with a giggle.
Tristan took a swig of wine, drinking it down as if it were water. “Never call a pirate cute, no matter how young he happens to be. It’s not a compliment, I assure you.” Straddling the bench, he sat down and started to eat. It was only when she cleared her throat that he noticed she was still standing there.
“Have a seat,” he said, nodding to the barrel. “This food is for both of us.”
She sighed and sat down, somehow expecting him to act more like a gentleman since they were now married. Then again, she was only fooling herself if she really thought he would. He was a pirate and pirates only looked out for themselves. She moved the lid over, looking around the table.
“What do you need?” He picked up some chicken with parsnips and herbal gravy with his bare hand and popped it into his mouth.
“I think Ramble forgot to bring us spoons for the food and goblets for the wine.”
“Don’t need spoons,” said Tristan, continuing to eat with his fingers. “Besides, they all keep getting lost so I decided we’re better off without them.”
“Well, what about a goblet so I can have some wine?”
He looked up, licking his fingers and handed her the bottle. She hesitated to take it.
“I told you, I don’t have cooties,” he told her, pushing the bottle into her hand. “Now eat up before the food gets cold. It’s not often we have a hot meal.”
She took the bottle and used her sleeve to wipe off the mouth of it before she took a sip. He looked up and stared at her as he continued to chew.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, taking another small sip.
“Nothing.” He looked down and kept eating, but she could tell something was bothering him.
“Please, tell me what troubles ye.”
“I said, nothing.” He didn’t look at her when he spoke.
She persisted, trying to find out, but immediately wished she hadn’t. “Ye can tell me.”
“Dammit, Wench, you’re starting to sound like that bothersome Ramble!” He pounded his fist against the table and made the dish jump. Then he stood up, wiped his hands on his tunic and pulled off his clothes, exposing his bare backside to her. In one motion, he jumped into his swinging bed.
“Are ye done eatin’ already?” She looked at the plate, still full of food. “I willna eat all of this. Ye really should have some more.”
“I’m going to sleep and I don’t want to be bothered.” He threw one arm over his face.
She let out a sigh and stood up, walking over to the side of the hanging bed. “I’m sorry if I upset ye, Tristan. Can ye tell me what I did?”
“That’s enough,” he muttered.
“I’m no’ one of yer crew, so please stop actin’ like I am. I’m yer wife now, and as yer wife, I think I deserve to ken why ye are upset.”
He sat up in bed so quickly that it scared her and she gasped and jumped back.
“All right, I’ll tell you. Wife. I’m not blind. I see the way you act when I’m around. I know you don’t want me because I’m a pirate.”
“What? Nay, that’s no’ true. After all, I married ye, didna I?”
“Hrumph,” he grunted, and fell back once more on his bed. “We both made a mistake where that’s concerned.”
“Tristan, please,” she said, not understanding why he was acting this way. “Tell me. What did I do to make ye so upset with me?”
He turned on his side and looked at her from inside the canvas bed. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“Nay. Tell me.”
“I was willing to put my mouth . . . well, anywhere and everywhere with you. Yet you needed to wipe off a bottle I drank from as if you were afraid of getting some sort of disease.”
“Well, it was . . . dirty.”
“Nay, that’s not it and we both know it. It’s because you think of me as naught more than a black-hearted cutthroat and a thief.”
“Nairnie told ye what I said,” she grumbled under her breath.
“She didn’t need to. I see it in your eyes. You don’t want me, and ev
en though we’re married, you never will.”
“That’s no’ true.”
“Aye, it is. You continue to push me away. Even when I try to please you, you won’t let me. God’s teeth, I can’t even consummate our marriage. What the hell am I supposed to think?” He threw his hands up in the air.
Gavina bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her composure and not let him upset her. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her vulnerable, should she start to cry. “Pirate is too guid of a word for ye!” she spat. “Ye are nothin’ but a selfish cur. It is time ye realize that everythin’ is no’ all about ye, Tristan.”
“I am not selfish.” He jumped out of bed, not caring that he was naked. “All I’ve done is look after you since you’ve joined my crew.”
“Joined?” She laughed at the absurdity of that, not daring to look below his waist. “Dinna ye mean since ye took me prisoner aboard the Falcon? It’s no’ like I came here of my own free will.”
“You’re free to go anytime you’d like. Just give me the word and I’ll drop you off at the first port.”
“Then do it! Drop me off on land since I ken it’s what ye really want,” she told him, no longer able to hold back her tears.
Tristan saw his wife crying and let out a deep breath. “For God’s sake, Gavina, stop crying.” When she turned away from him and sobbed, he hurried over to her. Gently, he placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Dinna touch me,” she said, pushing his hand away.
Tristan wasn’t good at expressing his emotions or talking about them, so he didn’t really know what to do. Everyone usually came to him with their problems, but now he realized he was going to have to open up to Gavina if he was ever going to get her to trust him.
“Gavina, I – I just don’t know what to do to make you want me.”
She sniffled and turned to face him. “What makes ye think I dinna want ye?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, clenching his jaw and looking up at the ceiling. “Mayhap it’s the way you look at me like I disgust you, or the way you talk behind my back calling me a murderer and a thief.”
“Tristan, I’m married to ye now. Isna that enough proof that I do want ye?”
“Nay, it’s not. I know you did it only because of some crazy reason of you wanting some of the treasure for yourself.”
“Aye, that’s true, but ye dinna ken anythin’ about me or why I even want it. Dinna ye see that I’m all alone in this world now and that I have no one and nothin’ but ye? Right now, ye’re all I’ve got.”
“So that’s why you married me? So you wouldn’t be alone? And you call me selfish?” He turned and headed back toward the bed. “I’ll get dressed and leave. At first light, I’ll take you back to shore.”
He heard a rustling noise and when he looked over his shoulder, he saw his new wife standing there naked holding the torn gown in her hand. His eyes slowly traveled down her body, from her head to her feet. This was the first time he’d seen her totally naked, and it was truly breathtaking. Gavina was feminine and alluring and everything a woman should be. No more was she hidden beneath the clothes of a boy. She was baring herself to him, and all he could think about was making love to her. His manhood instantly hardened as he found himself filled with desire. He could never walk away from her now. “Gavina? What the hell are you doing?” he asked cautiously, hoping she wasn’t just playing some sort of silly game.
“Ye’re goin’ to need to fix the gown for the next lass ye bring aboard.” She tossed the gown over the trunk.
“There won’t be another woman aboard,” he said, turning his head away from her, biting the inside of his cheek. Damn, mayhap she wasn’t looking to make love like he thought after all. He kept his focus out the open window. “You’d better hurry up and put on some clothes before someone walks in.”
He heard the sound of a key turning in a lock and then the padding of her bare feet as she crossed the floor. “I’ve locked the door so no one will bother us,” she said in a soft voice, slipping her hands around his waist from behind him.
“What are you doing?” he asked her again, trying not to throw her down and take her hard and fast, since he wanted her so bad right now.
“Ye are right. We’re no’ truly husband and wife until we consummate the marriage.”
“What are you saying? I thought you wanted me to drop you off at shore.”
“That was all yer idea. Now stop pushin’ me away because I’m comin’ to ye freely to consummate our marriage and make this real.” He felt her hands sliding around him, and before he knew it, she had wrapped her fingers around his hardened form. Not able to hold back any longer, he turned and pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard, claiming her as his woman. When he pulled back, she was licking her lips.
“There’s one thing you need to know before we couple, Gavina.”
“What is it?” Her long lashes blinked more than once and he swore it was purposely and in a flirtatious manner.
“I’m a pirate, and when I want something, I take it.”
“So, what is it ye want?”
“I want you.”
She raised a brow. “I see. Well, I’m a pirate’s wife now, and I take what I want, too.”
“What is it you want?” he asked, holding his breath almost afraid to hear her answer. God, he hoped she wasn’t going to say treasure right now.
“I want ye, Tristan. I want to consummate this marriage and really be yer wife.”
Tristan was so filled with lust right now that he thought he was going to burst. He kissed her hard and ran his hands down the front of her, dropping to his knees. Kneeling at her feet and looking up into her innocent, blue eyes, he realized after this, she would never be a virgin again. “Spread your legs for me,” he told her.
She bit her lip and nodded and did as he asked.
Filled with apprehension, but no longer frightened of Tristan, Gavina surrendered to what her husband was telling her to do. She wanted to learn what happened between a woman and a man, and Tristan was the one she wanted to teach her. She would do whatever he wanted, and not turn him away again. He was her husband now, and all she had. No matter how rugged and ruthless Tristan and his crew were, they were still her new family. Belonging somewhere . . . to someone . . . meant everything in the world to her. She would no longer have to feel as if she were alone.
Spreading her legs, she closed her eyes, allowing Tristan to taste her like he’d so wanted. She had never thought that once she relaxed and stopped fighting him, that it would feel as good as it did. Tristan created magic with his mouth that she never could even imagine. Her body pulsated with each flick of his tongue, and she cried out in ecstasy when his lips found their way to her hidden pearl of desire.
He continued to lick her, making her knees go weak. Trembling with elation, she reached down and grabbed his hair to keep from falling. Before she knew it, he stood up, bringing her with him as he lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist. With their bare bodies pressed together, she quivered with even more desire as he carried her over to the bed.
Then he threw her into the hanging bed, and jumped in after her, straddling her body with his strong legs. She looked down to see his engorged manhood, and daringly reached out, wrapping both her hands around his long shaft this time. Like silk over steel, it reminded her of running her hands over the gown.
“Aaah, lass,” he said as his eyes closed when her fingers moved higher and closed around his tip. Then she started to stroke him, petting him in a way like she would a dog. “You are driving me mad!”
His hand clamped over hers and squeezed. And when she looked up into his eyes, she realized he needed to find his release.
“Let’s do it,” she whispered, wanting to find her release as well. He’d already brought her so close that it wouldn’t take much since she was teetering on the edge.
He wedged himself between her spread legs and the next thing she knew she felt him enter her. The b
ed swung back and forth and the ship swayed as he thrust into her, filling her completely. She tensed at first, since it frightened her. He was so big, and she was just a virgin. But at his next words, she felt herself coming to life.
“Take me like you want me, love. Relax, and accept me for who I am. If you do, I promise you will feel what every woman wants to feel when she makes love. Let me in, and I will see to it that you will be glad you did.”
It was his promise that made her relax. She trusted him now, and knew that he would never really purposely hurt her. If she listened to him, he told her she would experience feelings like never before. She believed him, since she’d already felt something when he had his head between her thighs. Releasing a breath, she relaxed. Then, like he promised, she started to feel something very enjoyable. “I – I feel somethin’ happenin’,” she told him in surprise as her body welcomed him and she was no longer afraid. It felt so good to have Tristan inside her. She no longer felt alone.
“Let yourself go, love,” he told her, breathing heavily as they joined together, doing the dance of love. “Find the rhythm of lovemaking. It’s much like the rhythm of the ship, rocking back and forth in the sea.”
Sure enough, she felt the rhythm, joining him in this special union of truly becoming man and wife. Gavina felt herself climbing to heights she’d never known. When a euphoric feeling filled her being, without even realizing she did it, she screamed out in unbridled passion. Tristan grunted and then he growled, each noise getting louder with each thrust. It was followed by his release, sounding even louder than hers. The bed ropes creaked and moaned and the both of them swung back and forth. There was so much motion and swinging of the bed that she wasn’t even surprised when she heard a snap of the ropes and they ended up together on the floor.
“Oomph,” he said, quickly holding up his weight so as not to crush her. “Are you all right, Gavina?”
Tristan (Pirate Lords Series Book 1) Page 19