Liam recognized the name, but said nothing, knowing Brigid’s opinions on the matter. The Dark Beauty was flying English colors at the moment, but as far as he knew they were pirates, not licensed privateers. They only attacked England’s enemies, true, but without legal recognition they could still be hanged as pirates. With that hanging over a man’s head, it was always wise to keep his options open.
“Liam Lynch. This is my wife Brigid and Robert Mahomet.”
Sebastian nodded and considered the bedraggled trio for a moment. “I’m afraid we weren’t prepared to pull women from the sea, so I can’t offer you your own cabin,” he said, giving Brigid a rakish grin. “But you can use mine until we reach port.”
A surge of jealously rose in Liam unexpectedly and he took a step closer to Brigid to slide his arm around her. He felt her stiffen, making him guess she was still angry at him. “My wife will not be staying in your cabin. We’ll make do,” Liam said tightly.
“Ah, no. Forgive me; my wife will be staying in my cabin with her.”
Sebastian gave a small gesture and Liam followed it with his eyes, noticing a slim, dark-haired young woman in a lad’s clothing. Her hair was in a thick braid over one shoulder and she looked quite at ease in the breeches and shirt. The sight of her mollified Liam somewhat. While the rest of the crew might not be particularly well-behaved, if Brigid was with the captain’s wife he could assume she’d be safe.
The woman stepped forward and introduced herself as Siobhan to Brigid. “Why don’t we get you changed into something less…bloody?”
Liam glanced at Brigid’s dress and for the first time realized she was covered in blood, her dress torn. She had stabbed pirates back on the merchant ship, he remembered. Bashed Elazar over the head, too. Perhaps his worries about keeping her safe on yet another pirate ship were unfounded.
Brigid grabbed her bag and without another look at Liam, walked off with Siobhan. He watched them go, feeling a strange mix of emotions. On the one hand, he was relieved that she hadn’t continued fighting with him since they had escaped the Gato del Diablo. On the other, she hadn’t said much of anything to him at all.
The crew began their work to settle in for the night. With the storm abated and their moment of rescue passed, there was no reason for them not to. The captain approached Liam.
“If the wind doesn’t die, we should reach New Providence within the next two days,” he said. “I don’t know what port you were headed to, but I’m sure you can find another ship from there.”
Liam nodded absently. “That’s where we’re going, so it suits me fine.”
He looked up toward the night sky to orient himself. He’d been looking at star charts since he was a boy and it helped him feel grounded in a way. No matter where he went or what happened, the stars were still there. It took a moment before he realized the captain hadn’t walked away. He was still standing beside him, watching. Liam turned to give Sebastian a curious look.
“What?”
“You and the old man look fresh as daisies aside from the damp, but your wife is covered in blood.”
Liam looked down at himself, then shrugged. “My clothes were…destroyed. I had to replace them. Robert hid from the pirates.”
Sebastian said nothing and just continued to look at him. “You took the time to change your clothes when your wife’s dress is bloody and torn?”
Angering the captain didn’t seem wise, but Liam couldn’t help but feel defensive under this line of questioning. “Just what are you getting at?”
“You didn’t kidnap that woman, did you?”
The question made Liam laugh. “No. If I’d been out to kidnap her, I’d be the bloody one.”
“There are some things I don’t take kindly to. Mistreating women is one of them. I trust Siobhan won’t hear a different story from Brigid than the one you’ve told me?”
“It’s the truth. I don’t see why Brigid would tell a different story.”
The captain shrugged. He didn’t look entirely satisfied, but he seemed to accept Liam’s answer. “Enjoy your stay on the Dark Beauty, Mr. Lynch.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
DARK BEAUTY
“I’M fairly sure we can’t salvage any of your outer clothes,” Siobhan commented as she examined Brigid’s dress critically.
The dress had been stolen, but Brigid still felt a bit a disappointed to see it lost. It was lovely and it had been a stroke of luck that she’d actually found a dress sewn for someone else that would fit her. She began unlacing her bodice to remove it. “Do you have any cloth on board? I’d pay for it. I have an extra chemise and some men’s clothing, but this was my only dress.”
“I do. Don’t worry about paying for it.” Siobhan clucked her tongue in disapproval before she sat down on the bed to start pulling out Brigid’s clothing. “We’ll hang these up in here to dry tonight.”
Brigid looked over at the other woman and offered a hesitant smile. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I don’t see any sense in trying to make a profit off someone in as dire of straights as you,” Siobhan said. She paused when she pulled out a pair of drawers from the bag. She held them up with a scandalized look. “Are these yours?”
“It’s the French fashion.” Once Brigid had stripped off the soaked chemise, she took off the pair of drawers she was wearing. She saw Siobhan’s eyes open in shock. It was clear enough from Siobhan’s accent that she had grown up in Ireland, rather than in the colonies where ever-shifting alliances, trade and piracy had led to goods traveling quite frequently between the people of differing nations.
“I never thought to wear a thing like that under my skirt,” Siobhan said. “How do you manage to get them off again when you have to relieve yourself? It can’t be easy under all those layers.
Brigid held them up to examine them. “Well, no, but see how they’re split through the groin? They wrap each leg individually and are joined at the waist, but it’s open.”
Siobhan just continued to look scandalized by that. Brigid marveled that a woman who lived aboard a ship and wore men’s clothing had such firm ideas about propriety.
“How wet is my nightshirt?” Brigid asked.
Siobhan felt it and shook her head. It was far too wet to wear. She found the spare chemise in the bag, then offered it over. Brigid accepted it and found the bag had kept most of the water from the storm out. She pulled the simple garment over her head. It covered her from neck to ankle, though without all of the layers over it the chemise would have been obscene to go out in. It was preferable to sleeping nude when she never knew what might happen in the night, though. If she found herself leaving yet another ship, she wanted to at least have her skin covered.
“So what’s the point of wearing them like that?” Siobhan asked.
“Oh, you know. It keeps your thighs from rubbing together under your skirt and if your skirt gets pulled up its an added layer of covering from prying eyes. They were in the trunk of clothes that I found the dress in, so I took them and tried them for the first time today. I rather like them.”
“You stole these clothes?”
Brigid froze, realizing her mistake. As pleasant as Siobhan had been, she was still a stranger. Identifying herself as a thief on a ship that had just rescued her didn’t seem particularly wise. She tried to think of a lie to explain away her slip of the tongue, but nothing would come to mind.
After a moment, Siobhan took pity on her and smiled. “It’s all right. I’ve stolen quite a few things as well. Just don’t take anything that isn’t yours on this ship.”
“No! No, I wouldn’t do that,” Brigid said. “I’m grateful for the rescue. I would never think of taking anything from you or anyone on this ship.”
“Of course you wouldn’t.” Siobhan examined the drawers from the bag for a moment longer, then got up to drape the clothing over furniture in the cabin. “I’ve gotten used to wearing breeches, but I think I’d feel strange wearing little pants under a skirt.”
; Brigid followed to help her. “I imagine they’re of more use in colder environments.”
Once they finished hanging everything up, Siobhan started working her braid loose. “So what has you so angry at your husband?”
“I’m not angry at him.”
Siobhan fixed her with a critical look. “You didn’t say a word to him and looked irritated when he put his arm around you.”
Brigid sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. Lying around Siobhan seemed to be an entirely pointless exercise. “He wanted to tie a man up and leave him to burn alive on that ship.”
“Did the man deserve it?”
“He attacked me and he killed Liam’s parents.”
Siobhan nodded a little as she dragged her brush through her hair. “Aye, he deserved it.”
“No one deserves that! It’s horrible,” Brigid countered.
“You have a soft heart, to want mercy for a man like that. Did your husband do it?”
Brigid shook her head. “No. He left the man alone after I got upset.”
The dark-haired woman raised her brows in shock and set the brush down. “He gave up vengeance for his parents’ deaths and an attack on his wife? You have him wrapped around your little finger.”
“No,” Brigid said forcefully. “I don’t. The manacles he had to tie the man up with were in his bag because he thought he might need to use them on me.”
Instead of being horrified by that, Siobhan only laughed. “Oh, aye. That is a fun one, isn’t it?”
“Excuse me?”
Siobhan grinned broadly. “You know, he ties you up, has his way with you. Isn’t it fun to feel so helpless and the center of his world all at once?”
Brigid looked down at her hands, considering that for a long moment. It was true that she hadn’t particularly minded when Liam had tied her up. In all honesty, the passion of their first time together wouldn’t have been quite so explosive without that element of submission and danger. He’d packed moments after he’d had her against the wall. Maybe his mind had still been dwelling on that particular adventure?
“I suppose it is,” Brigid said finally.
A knock at the door drew her attention away from staring at her hands. Siobhan went to open it, revealing Liam on the other side.
“Can I speak with Brigid in private?”
Siobhan shot a curious look toward Brigid, who nodded. “It’s all right. I’d like to talk with him as well.”
“I’ll leave you be, then.”
Liam shut and locked the door behind Siobhan, then dragged a hand through his hair with obvious agitation. “Look. I never set out to hurt you. You were like a wild thing when I caught you in my cabin. I thought it would take more effort to build up some trust between us.”
“How does tying me up build trust?”
Liam opened his mouth to answer that, looked confused, and then closed it again. “You got a lot more docile after I tied you up the first time. I thought it might work the same way a second.”
His thought process didn’t make much sense to her, but what Siobhan had said did. Liam had never hurt her or pushed her to do things she didn’t want to do, but being tied up had been a strange thrill. He knew as well as she did that she’d enjoyed being with him that first time.
“Well, it might,” she said. “I’m sorry for getting in the way of your revenge. I still don’t like what you were going to do, but I am sorry.”
“Brigid O’Cullane apologizing to me. I never thought I’d see the day,” Liam said with a grin.
She stood up and set her fists on her hips. “I apologize when it’s warranted. Now that we’re not in that longboat, I have a lot of questions for you.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly, cocking his head to the side as if he were listening to something far off. “What would those be?”
She was quite for a moment as she carefully considered where to start. She wanted to know what the cat things were. What had Elazar called himself? Catkind? She wanted to know what “shifting” meant and why anyone thought she could do it. She wanted to know why a cat monster would think she was a good choice for birthing his kittens.
Thinking over it all again made her feel tired and she closed the distance between them to mold herself against his body, nestling her head on his shoulder. She felt his arms wrap around her to hold her close. “That’s not a question, luv.”
“Just hold me for a moment. I didn’t get nearly enough of this earlier.”
She felt him nod and his arms tightened around her for a moment. Her eyes closed as she relaxed into him, pushing all of the horror of the night into the darkest recesses of her memory. She could ask questions later and deal with it then. Comfort seemed a better choice than answers just then. After a moment, she raised her head to find his lips with hers. His mouth was warm and firm against hers, instantly taking control of the kiss. One of his hands moved into her hair and she could feel his fingers combing through it, making her sigh in pleasure.
His hot tongue probed at the seam of her mouth and she parted her lips readily to him, moaning as he took her mouth. His tongue explored her mouth for a moment before her own tongue slid against the other muscle and wrestled with it for control. There was a low growl in his throat before his arms squeezed around her. A moment later he used his body to push her back against the wall and pin her in place. It made her gasp into the kiss, shocked and thrilled by it.
She felt as his hand slid down the side of her body, then over her hip through the sheer chemise. He started tugging the fabric up, then caught her at the back of the thigh to pull her leg around him.
“This is the captain’s cabin,” she murmured against his lips.
“Aye, so we’ll be polite and not use his bed.”
His hand moved between their bodies to get his breeches open. When she felt the hard press of his cock against her, she moaned under her breath and rolled her hips to him, her head falling back against the wall. He slid his hot shaft against her sex slowly, not pushing into her yet. Just teasing her beyond all reason.
The soft silk of his lips glided along her throat as he kissed there, then lightly scraped over her pulse with his teeth. She hissed and pressed closer to him. Her need for him was sudden and overwhelming after everything that they had been through. She felt his hand cupping one of her breasts through the thin chemise, kneading the soft mound for a moment before his thumb dragged back and forth over her covered nipple.
“God, Liam. I thought you were dead. I was so scared,” she said in a breathless rush.
“Shh. I’m not going anywhere.”
He kissed his way back up her throat, then slid his lips over hers again. Her hands moved to his hair, holding him into the kiss as she leaned forward. Her lips stroked at his, her tongue seeking his out again. She kissed him as though he were the last drop of water in a desert and he mirrored all the same fervency back to her.
She thought she might die in anticipation, but just when she couldn’t take it any longer he shifted his hips against her and pushed forward. Inch by inch, his thick shaft worked inside of her and she whimpered into the kiss. The leg he’d drawn around him pulled him closer to her, her own hips rocking to him again, easing him deeper into her.
When their bodies were pressed together as close as could be, she sighed with a relief she found hard to explain. She knew they were only together to get the treasure. There had been no talk of spending even a moment together longer than that. He’d offered no promises or words to imply she was anything but a temporary lover. Yet, she felt complete in his arms. Feeling him inside of her when she had been afraid that he was dead drove away all of the fear and horror. All there was to her world in that moment was him.
He drew back slowly, then thrust into her again, making her body arch at the delicious sensation. Her arms around him pulled him closer, clinging as though even a sliver of space between them risked losing him forever. Another slow thrust made her moan against his lips. After that, he began to move faster, driving into
her over and over again as they both surrendered to a desperation too overwhelming to be given a name.
She broke the kiss to gasp for breath and instantly he was ducking down into the side of her neck, kissing and nuzzling there. Her fingers curled in his hair, her head turning to the side to brush her lips against his temple. The tension in his body and the quiet, masculine groans of his pleasure were as precious to her as her own enjoyment. Both of his hands moved down to grasp her ass, then pulled her up off the floor. She gasped in shock, wrapping both legs around his waist so she didn’t dangle. His next thrust was at a new angle and deeper, making her swear quietly.
The suddenness of their coupling and the furtive nature of it in the captain’s cabin was driving her quickly to the edge. It seemed as though every time with Liam was even more exciting than the last. That there would eventually be a last time made her heart clench painfully and she clung to him with new hunger. There would be a last time, but not yet. They still had that moment and she intended to cherish it.
Another thrust from him and she bit her lip to fight back her cries of ecstasy as the tension finally snapped. Her body writhed helplessly between him and the wall, wracked with shudders. He was only half a breath behind her before he buried himself inside of her and groaned against her throat. She felt the hot flood of him and the way his hands tightened on her. He kept rocking there, crushing her to the wall.
It took a few seconds before she realized he was saying something. It was her name, breathed against her throat over and over again.
They both stayed where they were when it ended, panting for breath. His body kept her pinned to the wall, his hands helping to support her. She thought she could stay like that for hours, if only he could keep holding her.
“The captain thinks we’ll reach New Providence within two days,” Liam said, then raised his head to slide his lips over hers.
She returned the kiss, then rested her head against the wall again. “Oh. That’s…that’s good.”
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