by Eliza Knight
All of it had been ripped away. His whole life taken in one night. A bloody massacre of all he knew, and his future shredded and bloody as the bodies around him.
“Cap’n?”
Startled, Wraith whipped around and growled, “What?”
Churl backed up, hands waving in defense in front of him. “Didna mean ta scare ye, Cap’n. S’only, the men be wonderin’ if they can have a meal now we’s out to sea.”
Wraith nodded, not trusting his voice to come out sounding right through his closed throat.
“Will ye be takin’ yer meal with the lady, in yer quarters?”
Again, Wraith nodded, then waved Churl away.
With a deep sigh, he made his way down to the quarterdeck and the doors leading to his cabin. But there he paused. He wanted to enter, to see Faryn again. He wanted to ask her how she fared, to discuss with her the plans for their voyage and when they landed. Wanted to gauge from her how her family would react, what amount of coin he could expect. But knowing he needed to ask those questions wasn’t what stopped him. What kept him from entering the door were the other feelings creeping in, trying to take over his controlled and methodical mind. Feelings of possession, interest, desire—he dared not give voice to anything more than that.
With a curse through gritted teeth, he turned the knob on the door and slipped inside.
They’d left at dawn and now the sun blazed outside on the decks, reflecting almost blindingly from the water’s surface, but despite that, inside his cabin was dark. The curtains were drawn over the few portholes and no candles were lit.
Aware of the room like he was the back of his hand, Wraith let his eyes adjust to the change in light and then looked around. Where was she?
Soft breathing and an occasional nonsensical murmur were whispered. He walked toward the bed and found her curled up under the thick plaid blankets, deep in sleep, hair fanned out like a golden halo atop her head.
He watched her. Admired her beauty. Took in her innocence. Felt himself grow drowsy with the even rise and fall of her chest.
Sleep sounded perfect. Wraith peeled off his linen shirt, had a moment where he thought being nude beside her not such a good idea but quickly tossed it overboard. They’d already made love once. What would it matter if he slept nude beside her? Hell, she herself was only dressed in one of his linen shirts.
Without another thought, he stripped down to his skin and slipped between the sheets. Lying on his side, he pulled Faryn’s warm body against his length.
He ignored the quickened beat of his heart and how his breath caught in his throat. He rested a hand on her bare hip, his shirt having risen to bunch around her mid-section. Somehow, he even managed to bridle his erection, which raged hard against her soft buttocks.
Sleep was what he needed. But sleep was not what he was going to get.
Chapter Six
Warmth filled her. Softness caressed her. Then hardness, stroking over her body. The scents of man and sea curled around her. She sank deeper in the blankets, completely comfortable, and relaxed into the delicious warmth and pleasure.
Faryn’s eyes shot open and she jerked against a male body.
The gasp was stilled on her breath when lips claimed hers. She was rolled onto her back and a hard male body covered her. A tongue stroked along her mouth and hands roamed over her body. She should have cause to fear, but she would have recognized the kiss anywhere, and as shameful as it was, she welcomed Noir’s touch.
She leaned up, deepening the kiss, and curled her arms around his warm back, stroking over the smoothness of his flesh.
She spread her thighs beneath him, her knees at his hips, her body already slick with the need for him to sink inside her.
Noir moaned against her mouth. “Ye are a little vixen, are ye not?”
Faryn smiled and lifted her hips up until his arousal was cradled between her thighs. “I only do as my master bids me.”
When Noir didn’t answer right away the warmth started to desert her. Had she said something wrong? But he kissed her again, this time gently against her lips.
“Faryn, leannan, I dinna wish for ye to do only as I bid when we are together, like this.”
She didn’t know how to answer, wasn’t sure what he meant by his words. “I-I dinna understand.”
He pressed his forehead to hers, his hands settling on her hips. “Dinna spread your thighs for me because ye think I demand it. Do it because ye desire it. Do it because ye desire me.”
Stunned, she lost all sense of words. She did desire him. She did want him to drive deep inside her. She needed him to touch her. But what she realized then was he needed her to tell him that. He was so accustomed to women tossing up their skirts and taking him because he wanted them to, not because they had a choice. Why did he want it to be a choice with her? At the moment she cared not why, only that he did, and that she burned with a fever so hot only he could douse it.
“Touch me,” she demanded.
“Aye,” he growled, and crushed his lips to hers.
He kissed her senseless while pulling his shirt from her body. His hands roamed up over her ribs to her breasts, where he teased her nipples until she writhed and begged him for more. He bent his head low, taking a nipple gently into his mouth, then scraped his teeth over it and sucked gently.
Faryn moaned and tugged at his hair. Wanting more of what he had to give. Wanting a release as sweet as the one he’d given her in Orelia’s court.
“Noir, please!” she begged.
But he wouldn’t let her get away that easily. “What is it, minx? What do ye want from me?”
“Oh,” she gasped as his mouth went lower, his tongue circling over her navel. “Aye,” she whimpered, not really sure what she was saying, only knowing that the feel of his tongue on her flesh was exquisite.
He moved lower, kissing the top of her mons and blowing gently on the nub that sparked pleasure.
She bucked her hips and shrieked, “Nay! Aye!”
He darted his tongue out to lap at her pearl.
“Mmm…leannan…so delicious…”
Faryn threaded her fingers through his hair and spread her thighs wider.
Wraith lapped at her bud relentlessly, until she breathed so quickly she feared she’d faint. Her legs shook and surreal pleasure radiated through her entire body. She was on the precipice, about to break apart, when he stopped and thrust his tongue deep.
She moaned and writhed as his tongue darted in and out then swirled up to circle her nub before thrusting back into her core. She pressed her hips up and down in time with his swirling, thrusting tongue. Her head fell back and forth and she moved her hands from his hair to grip at the sheets.
But as close as she was to climaxing, he wouldn’t let her. Every time her body began to tremble and she was sure she’d break apart, he’d change his pace. Until she could no longer speak and her whole body shook with incomprehensible need.
He pulled his tongue from inside her and sucked her pearl into his mouth, rubbing his velvet tongue heatedly over and over the sweet nub. “Come,” he growled against her in demand.
With the force of seven seas, a climax crashed through her. For a moment, she ceased to be. Life itself was nonexistent and the only thing she knew was sheer erotic pleasure as it coursed through her.
He continued to lazily lap at her tingling flesh until her tremors subsided and her legs stopped shaking.
“Ye are exquisite,” he murmured. “To see ye in the moment ye take your pleasure… I nearly came undone myself.”
He pushed up onto his knees, his cock jutting out long, thick and hard.
Faryn licked her lips. She wanted to give him the same pleasure he’d given her. But she wouldn’t ask, for fear he’d say nay.
“Thank ye,” she said, her voice hoarse from her moaning. She pushed up into a sitting position and tucked her legs underneath her.
Faryn gulped, her mouth opening and closing as she studied his naked body. Here in the cabin, she had
much more leisure to watch him, to see him, without anyone standing on the outside making her feel self-conscious. Faryn wasn’t sure how to react or what to think. Sculptures and paintings had not prepared her for what jutted from between his muscled hips. Long, thick, hard. And that was only the beginning. She couldn’t describe more. Her body instinctively approved—mouth watering, belly fluttering, wetness pooling between her thighs.
Oh, my… Faryn wanted to reach out and stroke the smooth, velvety sac that rest beneath the hard length of his cock. Aye, cock. She dared roll the wicked word around her mind. For cock was the only word to describe his member. No polite words would do. For his cock, was made for pleasuring. Every naughty, wanton thought she’d had since meeting Noir came to the forefront of her mind, ending with what he had done to her with the swollen flesh of his cock. What she wanted to do to him.
Her desire must have been written on her face. His lips quirked up in a smile and he nodded as if answering her unuttered question—aye, he said. Aye, he would pleasure her until her body shook like the queen’s. Aye, he would take her to the pinnacle of the heavens and back down to earth again. Aye, this was happening.
“What are ye about, lass?” Wraith’s eyes twinkled. And she thought for sure this rake would know of her wicked plans.
She walked her fingers up from his navel to his chest and circled over his nipples before leaning forward and licking a tiny taut tip.
He sucked in his breath and threaded a hand in her hair.
“Do ye like that?” she asked.
“Aye,” he murmured.
She sucked harder on his nipple, as he’d done to her, and delighted in the short growl in the back of his throat. She tongued her way over to his other nipple, making sure it too got the same attention. As she sucked, she could hear his heart beating louder in his chest. Smug pleasure filled her, knowing she was the cause for his rapid pulse.
Taking her mouth away from his nipple, she leaned up and kissed his lips, the muskiness of her sex scented his face and flavored his tongue. She hadn’t expected that but found it an extreme aphrodisiac. Her sex fluttered and the renewed pulse of desire flooded lower.
But this wasn’t about her. This was about him.
She leaned lower and kissed the flat ridges of his abdomen. He sucked in his breath.
“Faryn, wait,” he said lightly.
“What is it?” She had a feeling he would ask her to stop, so she didn’t let her mouth leave his abdomen. Instead, she pressed kisses and licked at the flesh of his stomach and pelvis, driving him as insane as he’d driven her with his mouth.
“I—”
She wasn’t about to let him protest. Before he could finish talking, she had his thick shaft in her grip and kissed the tip.
He whistled through his teeth and moaned.
She licked his flesh and stroked her hand up and down the length. She’d never sucked a man before but instinct took over.
Noir was as still as a statue, his breathing hissed between his teeth.
She didn’t make him wait any longer, instead opened her mouth wide and took the tip of his cock inside. Her lips stretched wide around him and she sucked him in farther.
He groaned a sigh and pushed his hips forward, as if he’d fought an internal battle and lost.
His breathing grew harsher and he started to pull out of her mouth but she gripped his hips and thrust him back inside.
“Aye, leannan, aye,” he murmured.
Faryn was relentless in her mission to give him the same pleasure she herself had felt.
His groans were deep and guttural, he whispered of the devil in a maiden’s disguise.
She moaned against his cock as he thrust deep again. One of his hands held her hair tight. She sucked harder, keeping pace with his hips as he thrust into her mouth.
“Faryn!” he shouted, yanking himself from her, and spilling his seed on the sheet. “Blood and bones,” he murmured.
She slowly rose, his gaze boring into hers, his expression one of awe. She couldn’t quite read what it meant.
“Lass…I’ve never allowed…” His voice trailed off and he pulled her against him, fell to the bed, her head on his chest, their legs entwined. “I’ve never allowed any woman to put her mouth on me.”
Faryn was shocked at his words.
“Why?” she whispered.
“It is about control for me,” he stated flatly. “When your mouth was on me…I lost all control. I let ye lead me to salvation.”
Faryn chuckled. “I wouldna exactly call it salvation.”
Noir laughed too and kissed her on top of her head. “Sounds odd, aye, but believe me, it is a salvation of sorts.”
“I am glad I can bring ye that.”
“Me too. I’ve lived in the dark for so long, and the moment ye first raised your eyes to mine a warmth settled inside me. I fear…” He trailed off again, as if his emotions were too strong to discuss and he was revealing to her things he’d probably never told another soul.
Their gazes met and held. Faryn’s heart clenched. Why was he having this effect on her?
A knock at the door interrupted their locked gazes, giving them both a reprieve from whatever was building between them.
Wraith tossed the blankets back on top of her and pulled on his breeches.
“Enter,” he growled.
The door opened to several of the captain’s servants, who brought in trays of food, a jug of wine and serving dishes. With a glare from Wraith, they did not glance toward the bed where she lay nude beneath the blankets and still trembling. Instead, they kept their eyes on their work and then hurried to leave.
“Shall we dine, leannan?” Wraith said, his lips curved in invitation. “Or did ye have your fill on the first course?”
Faryn’s cheeks flamed with embarrassment.
“Nay, Captain, I am still starving.” She flipped back the covers, aware that she was showing him all of her, then placed her feet on the floor. A moment’s questions about how she could be so bold with this man, and how her family would surely die of shame, flashed in her mind before she shoved them away.
She sauntered to the table, her stomach growling, and her body yearning for a man she felt like she’d known forever.
Chapter Seven
Storm clouds raged above and the ship rocked back and forth. Winds blew the sails this way and that and waves crashed against the hull.
Faryn was safe and warm in Wraith’s cabin from the tempest that beat the outside of the ship, but inside her mind turmoil brewed. In fact, the week they’d spent aboard ship had torn her apart inside. She was falling deeply for the rakehell pirate captain and wasn’t quite sure what she could do about it. Or how to react to such strong emotions.
What could she do? He would return her to her home. She would have to marry Lord Bréagadóir and suffer for the rest of her days—which would most likely be numbered. He’d made it clear he did not truly wish to marry her but would do so for her parents’ sake and the money they would pay him. And Wraith would go back to being a dread pirate on the open seas.
A chill swept over her despite being curled up beneath thick blankets. Dear heavens, she’d spent more time in bed in the last week than she had her entire life. Living aboard ship as the guest of Captain Noir certainly had its benefits. He catered to her every need—not only sensually but in everything else as well. And oddly enough, he seemed to gain satisfaction from it. He was genuinely pleased to be in her company, although at times she could see he struggled with something.
She wanted to ask what it was but she was afraid he was only disgusted with himself for treating her so well, so she did not.
Face reality, Faryn, he is only using ye for coin.
She frowned at nothing and climbed from bed, wrapping the thick wool blanket around her shoulders. She made her way to the porthole and gazed outside at the storm. Lightning streaked across the sky and seconds later a loud boom of thunder hit. She had a sudden urge to leave the cabin, one she hadn’t
had since boarding, but now she wanted to. She wanted to see the men at work, wanted to feel the rain on her face. Maybe it would help to wash away some of the shame she was beginning to feel at her behavior—at having not noticed before, or refusing to see, that the captain was only using her.
Just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes. What a fool she was! What did she think? That the captain would fall madly in love with her and sail her around the world while they pirated together?
She could not be part of such dealings, and he would never fall in love with her. Hadn’t her parents always told her she was foolish and childish for wishing for love in the first place? Her father had constantly lectured about how a person made their own fate, that emotions had little play in it.
For her father, how true those words were. He’d offered her no comfort when she’d been ill used the previous spring. He’d only paid a man to take her off his hands. Her fiancé was the worst sort of man there could be.
In fact, being abducted now seemed like a blessing…
Fighting foul weather on Mother Nature’s open seas was a worse battle than if they'd been boarded by enemy pirates.
Already one crewman was tossed overboard with the force of the winds. The men had tried to throw him a line while at the same time trying to regain control of the ship. They won the ship but lost the man.
Wraith’s head pounded.
He wanted nothing more than to go to his cabin and slip his arms around the beautiful woman who awaited him. To forget the ship, his crew and this hellacious storm.
He ducked suddenly as rigging went flying overhead.
“Churl!” he shouted.
“On it!” his mate hurled back.
The crew scurried around him as the storm picked up wind and took hold of his ship again.
Faryn took root in his mind again, the thought of her curvy hips, round bouncing breasts, taut nipples, wet, hot...
A waved crashed over the side, splashing him.
He frowned. Each time he thought of the woman below, something happened. Spirits ran rampant on the sea. Ghost ships, specters, spirits controlling the waters, the weather. Was the universe trying to tell him something?