Abe readily agreed, moving so that his mouth was mere inches away from her heat, and then he blew softly. At the same moment, Eliza let out a low groan that had her hips involuntarily bucking.
Satisfied, James turned to Abe, saying, “You may go now.”
The click of the door closing was all the warning Eliza got before James’ hands began to fuck her again, sliding in and out of her hot channel and then bringing the wetness up to circle her clit. She couldn’t help it; the moment he launched the attack, she began to slowly implode.
Stars erupted behind her eyes and she gasped as a silent scream stole her breath. James pumped and thrust his fingers, riding out every drop of passion until she was begging him to stop.
James wrapped her into his arms and whispered softly, “You are mine, Lizzie girl. You always have been. Abe knows it, Tony knows it, and if I have to fuck you twice a day in front of every member of this ship, I will do so.”
Too tired to even argue, Eliza fell asleep in his arms.
Chapter 5
The next few days Eliza was rather quiet. One could never completely call her meek; that was too out of character for her. But on the other hand, she had no idea that such a wanton creature lived inside of her.
There had been a moment the other night when James had her thighs spread that she had wished James would have fucked her. She would have loved to see the other man’s face as she took James’ length inside her body.
Better yet, if he had removed his own cock and started to stroke himself, Eliza would have wanted to take it into her mouth.
She wasn’t certain what was happening to her. It wasn’t that these types of things were foreign to her. In the brothels one saw more than their fair share of lewd acts. But it was the first time she had wanted to initiate it.
Even now, her pussy throbbed at the thought of the man’s tongue licking her heat while James watched on, perhaps his finger pumping in her ass.
What was the matter with her? What kind of depravity had overtaken her thoughts? Never had she felt so confused about who she was.
“Are you going to sulk again today, or might I come in?”
Eliza glanced up to see Tony peering around the door. With a roll of her eyes, she motioned him forward. “I have not been sulking.”
Tony’s brows rose and he tsked, “Tis terrible that you are so out of touch with your sensibilities. Damnation, woman. The man merely played with you while another was watching. It wasn’t as if he forced you into anything.”
Eliza grunted, knowing that Tony had a point, but it was all so embarrassing, wasn’t it?
“How would you feel if someone watched you doing or having intimate acts done to you?” she countered.
His eyes brightened and he clapped his hands. “That is my favorite! I like people to watch as my lovers take me. It makes me feel powerful and wanted.”
Eliza took a moment to mull that over. She had indeed felt the desire that Abe had for her. It was almost a tangible thing. And yet, wasn’t it wrong? No stranger to the perversions of men, did women too have such inclinations?
A bright flush stained her cheeks when Eliza remembered one particular night in the brothel when a fine lady had hired her for the evening. In her innocence, Eliza hadn’t the slightest idea what the woman wanted of her.
Eliza could feel the heat begin to pool between the apex of her thighs as she remembered the woman licking her folds. It had been much softer than a man’s touch, almost like a butterfly. But the woman had clearly known what she was about.
“What are you thinking about to cause your face to flush such a violent shade of red?”
Eliza uttered a curse that no proper lady ever would dream of speaking aloud. “It’s really none of your business.”
Was she a lady anymore? A week ago, Eliza would have told anyone point blank that she was doxy, just like the other women who did whatever they could to survive. She had lived that way for more years than she wished to count.
Somehow, when James walked back into her life, she started feeling like the girl he’d left behind. Eliza had imagined there wasn’t any softness left inside of her, but perhaps she was wrong.
“Take a damper, love. The ice queen routine really doesn’t suit you. Now, I know what will do just the trick. The Captain has some spirits around here somewhere. That should be enough to loosen your tongue so you can tell old Tony what’s on your mind.”
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Eliza asked incredulously.
Tony’s eyes were bright with mischief when he replied, “Not completely smashed, just a trifle squishy. You seem like you could use a stiff drink. I thought you would be all rainbows now that the Captain allows you to walk about the cabin and yet you are still scowling like a thunder cloud. Now, here you are, drink up!”
Eliza took a tentative sip. The fire water burned every inch of her throat as it went down. For a moment she feared that it would be coming right back up again. “Who made that?” she gasped hoarsely.
Tony wriggled his eyebrows. “Well, I don’t rightly know; it was confiscated on a raid near Balboa. Potent, isn’t it?”
“Deadly,” she remarked, eying the rest of her drink dubiously.
“Finish the rest, come on now. There, you didn’t cough nearly as much that time, well done!”
Eliza wiped the tears from her eyes. “I think that could strip paint from the wall.”
Tony shrugged. “Likely could. Now, what were we talking about?”
Eliza prayed that the earlier conversation had slipped his mind, but she wasn’t to be accommodated by that wish.
Tony motioned for her to scoot over so that he could sit beside her on the bed. “Now we shall be comfortable. I want to hear all about you. Start at the beginning and go slowly.”
Much to both their surprises, Eliza began to talk. She spoke about her humble home and how much she loved her parents as a child. They were happy, she said, not wealthy, but blessed beyond measure by the things that really mattered.
Just skirting the fringes of polite society, Eliza wasn’t required to take a maid everywhere she went. They only had two retainers at the home, and they were needed there.
“You were alone when you first met the Captain? Did he ravish you?” Tony’s words had begun to slur a little.
“Nonshense,” she responded.
“You’re drunk.” Tony grinned in delight.
Eliza scowled. “Do you want the rest of the story or not?”
Tony motioned for Eliza to continue. She told him about the butterflies that had erupted in her belly when she first met James. Her parents thought him too high in the instep for their daughter.
“Too high in the instep for the Captain?” Tony’s tone was incredulous. “The man is a barbarian.”
Eliza looked down at her hands. “I don’t know about James being a barbarian, but I do know that he did precisely what my parents feared. My mother told me that men of his station didn’t marry girls from the village.”
“I can only assume that you met in secret?” he asked softly.
Eliza’s head remained down as she nodded. “I was just seventeen and thought I knew the world. James wanted to marry me, and everything was falling into place like a perfect fairy tale.”
“This is the part where you tell me your perfect world fell apart?”
Eliza nodded again. “Completely and utterly.”
“Bah, you know the trouble with fairy tales?” Tony interjected.
“What?” Eliza’s head popped up, hearing the heat in his voice.
Tony hopped off the bed and began to pace in the small cabin. “I hate them, did you know that? They aren’t true. Nobody lives happily ever after. In real life there is sickness, disappointments, punishments, and outright cruelties that ruin any possibility of happily ever after. I am not saying that people can’t have good marriages or relationships. But the idea that nothing bad will ever happen again is a load of pig swill.”
“Pig swill?” she repeated.
>
He nodded decisively. “Precisely.”
He was so passionate about his theory that Eliza couldn’t help but wonder what dream of his had been shattered. One didn’t carry those types of feelings unless they had experienced heartbreak.
“What do you know of broken hearts?” Eliza brought her eyes to his as she asked the question.
Tony’s smile was sad, just a hint of wistful reflection. “Let’s worry about you today, love.”
“No.” Eliza shook her head. “I shared something with you, now you share with me. That is how things are done. Or weren’t you aware of that?”
“You, Madam, are indeed learning very quickly how to become a pirate.” The teasing glint in his eye had Eliza giggling.
“And you, handsome pirate, have the speech of a Lord. So, what is it to be? Who is Anthony—really?”
The handsome young man sighed, and for a moment or two was silent. Eliza wondered what could make him so reticent. A part of her worried that she had pushed him too far. Just when she was about to tell him that it really didn’t matter, Tony began to speak.
Chapter 6
“I was born Anthony Roland Archibald III, only son and heir to the Duke of Bancroft. My parents were cold creatures who had little use for each other and much less for their infant son. I suppose I ought to be thankful they didn’t drown me at birth.
“As the years passed, my father began to insist that I learn more about the estate. Mother caught a chill and seemed to always be in and out of poor health. I would like to think if she had really known what was happening in those ducal lessons, she would have never allowed it. However, I am more than willing to bet that is only wishful thinking on my part.”
“Dear heavens,” Eliza sat up with concern etching the lines on her face. “What happened in those lessons?”
“My father’s mind, it was twisted. He had an affinity for little boys.”
Eliza gasped. Some of the worst brothels had men who preyed on smaller children. It was the worst sort of crime.
Tony shrugged, his broad shoulders drooping. “My father then would beat me for enticing him. I begged for him to stop, but he wouldn’t. Finally, at the age of fifteen, I shot him.”
Eliza’s eyes widened into saucers. “You killed him?”
Tony let out a mirthless chuckle. “No, the bastard is still with us I am afraid. However, his right hand is missing a few fingers. He sent the magistrates to lock me up. I barely managed to escape when I ran straight into some soldiers. I found myself shackled in a press gang next to the Captain.”
“James?” Her horrified whisper echoed throughout the room.
“That’s all I will tell you about that, love. The Captain’s story is his to give. However, there is the little matter of you being a right prude.”
Eliza gasped indignantly. “That is a horrible thing to say.”
He laughed. “I’m a pirate. I don’t give false flattery. Was that what you were expecting?”
“You are terrible. Did you know that?”
“Tony the Terrible,” he mused. “I quite like that.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she growled.
“But it is what I heard,” he countered.
“Are you two almost finished comparing the length of your sails?” James asked dryly from the open cabin door.
“How long have you been there?” Eliza gasped, feeling suddenly very vulnerable. Had she said anything that he could hold over her? She didn’t think so, but she couldn’t remember.
Tony stood at attention. Suddenly, all traces of the drink seemed to be out of his system.
James dismissed his man and then eyed the tipsy woman on his bunk.
Eliza raised her chin at his scrutiny. She was still angry with the man, and he wasn’t going to get away with it.
“How dare you humiliate me in front of your crew?” she demanded hotly.
In a flash, he was right beside her, taking the tumbler out of her hand and setting it on the table. Before she could scramble off the bed, James was there pressing her into the mattress.
“You deserved the spanking, Lizzie.”
She turned her face to the side and closed her eyes.
James took advantage of the moment and began to kiss the length of her beautifully delicate neck.
Eliza tried to contain the moans that threatened to escape her mouth. Dear heaven above, this man could do amazing things to her. Maybe she should just let him have his fill of her. Maybe then he would see that she wasn’t the girl from all of those years ago. Disgust for the life she had led filled her, causing her body to stiffen.
James knew the minute that Eliza had gone from willing participant to lifeless rag doll.
“What is it?” he demanded roughly.
Eliza couldn’t speak. Was that emotion clogging her throat? Surely not. She had given up crying over her fate years ago—hadn’t she?
“Lizzie, dearest, what is it? What is wrong?”
“That bloody name!” she cried at last. “I am not Lizzie. Don’t you understand? She is dead. She’s been dead for longer than I can remember. No—that’s not true. She died the day she buried her unborn baby.”
James reeled back. “What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t know, couldn’t have known. I was going to tell you that night when you came for me. But you never came, James. My parents, they could never accept a bastard. I was thrown out and spent several nights on the street before a nice man took me in.”
James was thunderstruck. He never would have dreamed that her parents would throw her out. But the baby, he’d had a child?
Suddenly, the weight of the world was too much for him, and James took an abrupt seat at the table, his head dropping into his hands.
“I am so sorry. I didn’t know, Lizzie. I was coming to you when some men were set upon me. The next thing I knew, I was at sea with thick chains on my ankles and wrists. Tony was beside me, as was Abe. We all suspected foul play. Tony’s father, Abe’s uncle, and me...”
“You think my parents did that to you?” she asked in a horrified whisper.
James sighed. The sound so weary that Eliza almost went to him.
“You don’t know,” she said at last, “but you suspect it was them.”
James nodded. “I can’t imagine it could have been anyone else. But perhaps I was just in the wrong place. We will never know now that they are passed.”
Eliza wrapped her arms around her waist. “You don’t know the things I have done.”
James head snapped up and then his eyes narrowed as he asked, “Do you mean surviving when most individuals would have perished? Or are you speaking of the strength of character you have in every fiber of your being?”
She flushed. “You are being obtuse. You know I mean that I have been living as a whore.”
James was on his feet and scooping her up into his arms. “Do not ever refer to yourself in such terms. You survived—don’t you understand? I lived for years in chains, watching men around me dying from disease or the lack of food. The only reason I lived through it was because I wanted to make it back to you. I’ve killed men, most of whom deserved it, but some who didn’t. I’ve done things I am not proud of. But Lizzie, we are here now. Don’t let the hurts of the past ruin what we could still have together.”
“There is more,” she blurted into his neck, her arms wrapping tightly around him. “When you punished me—”
“I am sorry, Lizzie,” James interjected. “I shouldn’t have done that without your consent. I thought you weren’t opposed to it because of the wetness between your thighs. But perhaps I read into it more than was there.”
“You didn’t,” she whispered softly. “I am wanton and lustful, James. A lady would never find pleasure in such things.”
“You are a passionate woman, with wants and needs. I can’t imagine the things you have lived through or had to endure. But never apologize to me about desiring something sexually. I enjoyed the show we put on very much.
Did you?”
Crimson stained her cheeks. “You know I did.”
James threw his head back and laughed. “I love that you still blush at such things. You are every inch a lady, Lizzie. You are my lady, and I am your pirate.” He laughed when he saw the indignant look on her face. “There is no use calling me anything else, love. I have stolen this ship and most of the crew. We raced back to England to come and find you, and now we must sail for Jamaica.”
“Are you chasing treasure?” Eliza asked.
“We are chasing treasure,” he corrected her. “Yes, in a word. We have word of a Spanish vessel that should be moving through the area. If tides and times prove true, we should reach them in the next five to seven weeks.”
“Jamaica?” she exclaimed. “What will we do in the meantime?”
James bent his head to capture her lips.
Chapter 7
The desire that had been flickering inside of Eliza once again bloomed to life. James took his time to caress her tongue and coaxed her to kiss him back every bit as passionately as he was kissing her.
His hands went to the laces up her spine and, with deft skill, he began to unfasten her dress.
Eliza’s body broke out in goosebumps. She wasn’t sure if it was the sudden chill from her back being exposed to the air, or if it was because of this man kissing her into oblivion. She couldn’t imagine another person on the earth that could illicit such a conflict of emotions inside.
A part of her mourned the loss of her parents once again, only this time it was a loss of faith in who she had believed them to be. She had thought that she couldn’t think lower of them when they banished her from their home.
Now, learning that the probably were responsible for James not making it to her that night, it hurt anew, like fresh wound.
James was right. They had wasted too many years apart, even though it was no fault of their own. They needed to embrace the time they now had together.
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