Damn, he was half hard, probably due in part to the expectation of having solid land under his feet for the first time in forever. God, he could smell the earth, the vegetation. He had missed that and didn’t even realize. He longed to grab a handful of sand and squeeze it between his fingers. He wanted to feel the stillness of the earth, so predictable, so safe.
When the skiff hit ground, he jumped out of the boat and lifted Lydia to keep her from soaking her clothes in the clear blue water. He nearly stumbled on the dry sand. For some strange reason, the earth seemed to sway under his feet.
A midshipman grabbed his arm and stabilized him before he dropped Lydia. “Not to worry, sir. It’s the sea legs. You become used to the rocking, and then when it stops, your body keeps up the motion. You’ll settle out in a day or two.”
A day or two and they would be back on ship. Would he then have the same disconcerting disequilibrium when he boarded?
Lydia stumbled and then laughed. “I feel like I’m on skates for the first time and am somewhat out of control.”
The first mate brought Tim over and said, “Miss Lydia, Tim here can take you over to that set of rocks, and with a blanket strung up, you can have a private bathing spot. She can also help you with your laundry. It will be perfectly safe. The men have their orders and will not bother you.”
“Oh, what a lovely thought. Rhain?”
At the gleam in her eyes, all he could do was give her this boon. “Of course, Lydia. I’ll bathe over there.” He pointed at a spot halfway between where they stood and the rocks where she would bathe.
Without a backward glance, she picked up her laundry and grabbed Tim’s hand. “Come on, then, my friend, time for a swim.” The two women hurried away, with Tim looking somewhat stunned.
First Mate Dunn clapped him on the shoulder. “They’ll be all right. Tim is a trustworthy hand, although I think she is half besotted with Miss Lydia already.”
Rhain tensed.
“Not to worry. Tim has a girl in just about every port. She won’t fall too hard.” He winked, and Rhain fought the urge to follow the two women.
With half his mind keeping watch on Lydia, he shucked his clothes and walked into the water, which felt cool against his hot skin. Sucking in a breath from the chill, he dived under to stop the slow torture of icy needles of water lapping at his skin.
Swimming warmed him up, and then the clean water felt wonderful on salt-caked skin. He stretched arms and kicked legs in a satisfying physical activity he’d not enjoyed in years. Always loving to swim, he decided that at their new home, he and Lydia would swim daily. It would be good for them. He slipped easily through the water, wondering how close their plantation home was to the ocean.
ALASTAIR WATCHED HIS lover slide gracefully through the sapphire-blue water. Large, powerful muscles propelled Rhain with little effort. Dark hair slick against his head, face beginning to tan from the sun, the man appeared positively edible.
Half an hour later, he finished his work and made his way over to where Rhain washed his clothes in the nude. His London pale skin flexing over a purely male frame was spectacular.
Most of the seamen not in the hunting party were also nude and washing either themselves or their clothing, but none of those lean, tan bodies held his interest.
“Did you enjoy your swim?” he asked as he walked toward Rhain.
The man crouched, bending toward the water where he rinsed out the last of the soap. He turned, face tinged pink, probably only partially from the sun.
Smiling, Alastair made his move. “Grab up your clothes; there is a freshwater pond not far. You can rinse out the salt to make the cloth less scratchy. I’ll have Tim do the same for Miss Lydia’s things in that stream over there.” He pointed to the other side of the lagoon. “I see they are dressed and enjoying the sun. Mate Dunn can stay with Miss Lydia until Tim is finished.”
Rhain grabbed up his wet things and casually held the wad in front of his crotch.
After Alastair made the arrangements with Tim, he showed Rhain the way to the secluded jade-green pond formed by a depression in the rocks, where a small stream flowed. The place was picturesque, and he made a point to stop here every time he came this direction. He helped Rhain rinse the clothes, and they stretched them out on short bushes, disturbing a bright-green bird in the process.
He stripped fast. He longed for fresh water and clean skin. Alastair appreciated Rhain’s strong, tall body but did not give in to the temptation to touch. There was time after they went for a swim.
God, the cool fresh water felt soft against his rough, salt-encrusted skin. He took a deep breath and then sighed.
Rhain, almost shyly, lowered himself into the water. For such a domineering love partner, the man could be downright endearing with his blushes and shy glances.
Alastair swam over to him, took his lover in his arms, and kissed those beautiful lips, but Rhain frowned and pushed him away.
“Someone will see.”
“Not at all. I’ve asked for one hour of privacy, and it will be maintained, of that you can be certain. And if someone from the ship happens to catch a glance, it will be nothing they haven’t seen many times already.” He reached for Rhain again, but the man swam away.
Turning over on his back, Rhain said, “I don’t know. I’m not as comfortable with all this as you.” He waved toward the shoreline where most of the crew gathered water from the stream.
“Rhain, I wished to show you this place. I’ve been planning to take you on that soft mossy spot for days. Come here.” He held out his hand while treading water, and Rhain hesitated only for a moment before swimming over and giving him a bruising kiss.
In the end, Rhain took Alastair on the mossy spot. He wasn’t quite certain if he was the one who offered or if it was Rhain who took, but it didn’t matter, because the experience was sublime.
When their breathing settled, Rhain sat up and started tossing small twigs into the pond. The man was beautiful in the muted sunlight, surrounded by green. “Our hour is almost up, I suppose. Should we do your laundry before we must give up this oasis?”
He sat up laughing. “Oh, my dear. I don’t do my own laundry; that’s why I have a crew. I’m too busy and much too important for that type of labor.”
Rhain pushed him back onto the soft moss and covered him. “Too important or too arrogant?” He cocked one brow, and they laughed and then kissed until voices could be heard not far off. They dressed, collected their things, and walked to the shore.
Alastair already missed their solitude.
Lydia sat in the shade with her newly cleaned clothing strewn around, drying on scrubby bushes. Dunn kept an eye on her from where he stood, marking things off on a supply list. Tim was off somewhere, likely foraging for fruits and nuts.
Some men were still swimming, and the dinghies slipped back and forth to the ship with fresh supplies.
“We will eat well tonight and for the next couple of days. This area has berries, fruit, mushrooms, and other things to fill your belly. And if the hunting party does their job well, we will have game to roast.” He heard Rhain’s stomach rumble, and he gave the man a smile. “You certainly do have a healthy appetite. I guess that is how you grew so large.”
In an unusual show of mischief, Rhain wiggled his eyebrows. “Actually, my appetite has increased immensely since I met you.”
He squeezed Rhain’s hand briefly. “Come, let’s put your and Miss Lydia’s clothing in the next boat going to the ship. One of my men will string them up to dry in your berths.”
It wasn’t much later that Rhain realized all his tasks were complete, so he sat on a log with Lydia and listened to her wax poetic on how their piece of land would be just like this spot, if not even more lovely. How there would be a cove where their pirates could anchor their ship and come for a visit every few months.
The girl’s ideas were quite ridiculous, as the Hurricane had a route to maintain and it took them a year to travel the whole course, and h
e wasn’t at all certain their land abutted the ocean. However, he let her talk and just soaked up the happy feelings.
He must have nodded off at some point because his head jerked up painfully at Lydia’s, “I must tell you something, Rhain, but only if you promise not to become angry.”
“Well, that certainly got my attention, Lyd. Who did what, and how many people must I kill?”
She slapped his arm. “Oh, don’t be silly. I am quite serious. Promise.”
“I am more than quite serious, Lydia. Is it First Mate Conall Dunn? I certainly hope not; even though he is small, I do believe he will be rather difficult to dispatch.”
Lydia laughed. The sound, clear and dry, was so endearing to Rhain, he wanted to cry for joy.
“No, Conall has been a perfect gentleman. Although I do very much care for him and wouldn’t mind if he would let the chivalry go for a while now and again.”
“Lydia,” he growled, ready to interrogate her on the use of the man’s first name.
She leaned closer. “What I want to tell you is that I have been kissed.”
He shot up from the log and glared at the crowd of seamen on the sand. “Who? Tell me. That is totally inappropriate, and I will handle this straight away.”
“Sit down, Rhain, or I’ll tell you nothing more.”
He sat, heart beating out in staccato rage, and scanned the crowd. No one looked their way. No one looked guilty. Damn and damn!
“It all happened so innocently, to be honest. I was sitting with Tim, drying off in the sun. I felt so wonderful after my bath that I started talking to her and admitted I didn’t realize there were women who, like you, lusted after their own sex.”
Rhain bridled and sought the female sailor in question. The woman worked alongside the men, pulling her own weight as if she had been born a man. She did not look like a Lydia-kissing tyrant.
“Anyway, I’ve always understood your attraction to men because, well, men are so desirable. I never realized it worked both ways. So I asked her to tell me why she would dally with women, and the things she told me…” Lydia fanned her face with one slim hand. “Dear me. And then I confessed I’d never been kissed. That I’d quite like it if Conall would kiss me—”
“Lydia!”
“Calm, brother. He hasn’t even attempted, but I can have fantasies. I am one and twenty after all.”
He frowned at that, not at all certain if he could demand his little sister to stop having fantasies.
“As I was saying, I confessed to her that I did not want to do a bad job of kissing if Conall actually did manage to do the deed with me. And I asked her to teach me.”
“Lydia Morgan, of all the ridiculous ideas. How could you even come up with that…that, well, ridiculous idea?”
Lydia laughed.
Of all things.
“Don’t be angry; you promised.”
“No, actually, I didn’t.”
She continued as if it were a forgone conclusion that he would hold his temper.
Rhain was not as convinced.
“So she showed me. Showed me how to tilt my head to move our noses out of the way, how to relax my lips so the kiss didn’t feel like a hard apple but like a soft apricot, how to open my mouth to let her tongue—”
Unable to sit still, he jumped up again. The image of Lydia with someone’s tongue in her mouth set his stomach churning as if he’d eaten week-old stew. He could take this no longer. Pacing around their little private bit of sand, the sand stinging the bottom of his feet, he took one deep breath after another.
How could his sister, his precious little sister, be so bold? When had she even gotten old enough to want a tongue in her— No. He would not think about that. How had she matured without his notice and want a kiss from anyone? That thought was marginally less awful.
It seemed like a week ago she was a gangly child. Now she was kissing, not anyone mind you, but the only woman, who happened to be a deviant, on the ship.
Well, perhaps that was better than her kissing a man. After all, how much trouble could she manage with another woman? Yes, actually, that thought calmed him considerably, so he sat back down and let Lydia finish what she needed to tell him.
“May I continue?”
He snorted. “Oh, please do. I’m dying to learn what you got up to next.”
Patting his arm, she continued. “So without going into any more details, she taught me how to kiss, and now I am comfortable that I will not embarrass myself if anyone ever invites me to do so.”
“Lovely,” he said, but the word came out sounding as if he’d just eaten an underripe plum.
They were quiet for a long while before he said, “Lyd, do you like women?”
She tilted her head. “I will have to think about this. As I never knew it was an option, I never considered it. I must admit I enjoyed the kisses. Tim is a good person, and her kisses were soft and she smelled sweet and fresh. I had these little tinglings in my belly.” She fluttered a hand over her middle. “But I am certain I must kiss a man for comparison.”
He sank his head into his hands. His sister would be the death of him.
“Don’t fret, Rhain. You would not want me to make a decision without doing the proper research, would you?”
He shook his head in frustration, which she obviously took as encouragement.
“Of course. You’re a man of intellect; you probably did the same thing, didn’t you?”
In fact, he had, purchasing time with a whore, and then later tried again with Sally Blount, a pretty young seamstress who earned a bit extra now and again selling kisses and more. It did not work well for him for some reason; what was sought after by most healthy men made him anxious and was only mildly pleasant.
How could he chastise his sister for waiting years longer than he to do the same experimentation? He shook his head again.
“As I expected.”
Apparently, she would read into his actions what she intended, so he was determined to sit and listen until she ran out of outrageous things to say.
“I plan to ask Conall tonight. After he drinks some rum. I think he will say yes.”
“Lydia, this is a very dangerous idea. What if he can’t restrain himself? What if he—”
“He won’t, but in case he does, you will not be far away. I plan to stage this experience while you are near. Tonight, during the feast, I will lead him to the shadows, just there. Station yourself there.” She pointed to a shadowed clearing, then to a flat boulder in the sand. “If I’m not out of the shadows in three…no, make that five minutes, come and rescue me from the clutches of a dastardly pirate.” Her eyes glowed with humor, and her smile held so much lust for life that he, the stupid romantic, could not say no.
“I truly believe this is a stupid idea. Is there anything I can do to dissuade you?”
She shook her head, sprightly, near-white curls bobbing around her face.
He sighed, stood, and started to walk away. “What did I do to deserve you, sister?”
She laughed with all the enthusiasm of a drunken courtesan and called to his retreating back, “Imagine how much trouble I’d be if I’d been healthy these last few years.”
He shivered at the thought.
Rhain sat hunched over his tankard of rum punch, watching the spitted venison roast over hot coals, thinking about Lydia. He’d done her bidding. He’d spent the longest five minutes of his life while she disappeared into the dark with her sailor. In that time, he thought of at least a hundred ways to dispatch the reprobate, but when the two walked out from the shadows, Lydia’s hand resting gently on the man’s arm, it seemed so normal, so harmless, he didn’t know what to do.
So he sat, drinking too much rum, and watched the seamen turn more and more rowdy.
Alastair sat beside him and handed him a plate. “That meat will take some time to cook. I thought we should start with the rest of the meal so we can row back to ship while the moon is still up.”
Rhain noticed First Mate D
unn brought a plate to Lydia as well. The man acted like a proper courtier and not like the man who had just kissed his sister in the damn bushes. He ate the stewed bitter greens, wild onions, and mushrooms. They tasted excellent, even in his foul mood.
Dessert was a mixture of unidentifiable plum-sized, purple fruit and tart berries drizzled with honey. A rare treat for this group, he assumed, so he forced back worry long enough to express his enjoyment and thanks.
The good food and rum released his tension. As the sun slipped below the trees, the near deafening sound of birds shifted to the sound of nocturnal insects. The island noises were startling after the monotonous sound of the sea for so many weeks.
Making certain to keep Lydia within sight, he began to enjoy himself again. The ocean’s surface glistened, reflecting the sky’s lavender and navy hues. He enjoyed the heat of Alastair sitting next to him. He could become used to this closeness, the uninhibited relationship. In fact, he’d acclimated to parts of it already and knew he would sorely miss the gorgeous pirate when they disembarked on Dominica. He was suddenly very sad. Most likely due to the two measures of rum he’d been given.
Alastair talked amicably about trivial matters. “There were three deer in all. Two will be consumed tonight; the other will serve as stew stock for the next few days. About a dozen fowl will fill in the rest of the meals with meat. Everyone should be well fed and satisfied until we reach Dominica, this being the last stop, barring unforeseen issues.”
A light touch on his leg brought his full attention to Alastair. “What has you troubled?”
He nodded at the first mate laughing with Lydia.
“Ah, I see. Not to worry, Mate Dunn is an honorable man. He will do nothing Miss Lydia does not fully agree to.”
“What about my wishes in the matter?”
His Pirate (Second Chance Book 2) Page 9