Reece kicked the door to the stateroom closed with his foot as he pulled Aimee tightly to him. His lips crushed hers in a fierce, white hot embrace. “You are mine, Mrs. Hamilton. Now and forever,” he purred against her lips.
Aimee smiled and gave him a quick peck, but not doing anything to try to leave the embrace. “And you are mine, Mr. Hamilton. I’ve known it all my life. It is you who is finally aware of how things were always meant to be.”
Her smile tugged at Reece’s heart, but he needed her to know that he was serious. “You are my life, Aimee. You are more important than anyone or anything.”
Aimee said nothing. She only let go a sigh of pure bliss, and rested her head against his chest. Reece loved the feel of her body as it melded against his. He closed his eyes tightly, knowing he held his whole world in his arms. “Mine forever,” he breathed again, close to her ear, his voice incredulous.
After several seconds, Aimee lifted her head, kissed the tip of his nose and then wiggled a little, hinting for him to give her a little space. As soon as he did she pulled off her gloves and began searching in her hair, plucking out what looked to be miniature weapons and laying them on a nearby table. “While I would love nothing more than to fall immediately in your arms, Mrs. Shay must have used every hairpin she had on board in doing my hair. I’m afraid I would be in danger of wounding you, myself, or us both if I did not first remove these things.”
Reece chuckled and came up behind Aimee to nibble on her neck. “Take your time. I’ll just enjoy what parts of you I can get to as they become available.”
Aimee rolled her eyes, but also loved the feel of his warm lips against her skin. No matter how many times or ways Reece kissed her, it always sent shivers down her spine. She knew it always would. “I cannot believe Mr. Haskin actually married us,” she remarked breathily, trying to distract her mind from the sensations Reece was creating with his mouth.
“I must admit to being more than a little surprised that he did not pull some type of prank to delay things,” Reece said as he unhooked the back of her gown so he could continue his onslaught on her senses. “I honestly thought he would,” he added right before bending his head once more.
Aimee removed a pin and a large lock of hair fell down her back. “We would have deserved it. We are fortunate that he has been so forgiving.”
Reece made an inarticulate sound and began running his fingers through Aimee’s freed hair, relishing its silkiness. “You mean we’re lucky the man is so damn reserved. Probably has no idea how to generate a passionate response from a woman.”
“Be nice,” chided Aimee playfully as she pulled out the final pin, letting the rest of her thick curls fall free. “Mr. Haskin was very hospitable and I’ll have you know there is something about his reserved demeanor that is quite compelling. If my heart had not already been claimed, I might have been caught by the allure of his mysterious nature.”
Reece growled, spun her around, and covered Aimee’s mouth with his own. His kiss was voracious, filled with longing as his tongue claimed hers over and over until she was weak and trembling with need. “What was that about finding another man compelling?”
Aimee lifted her passion-filled eyes to meet his. “Never. No matter how long you are gone—months or even longer—never will you have to worry. There has been and only ever will be one man for me. You.”
Reece’s large hand came up and gently cupped her cheek. “Who says I’ll be gone for such long periods?”
Aimee pulled back slightly. “But I thought . . . won’t you be?” she finally asked.
Reece slowly began to slip her gown off one shoulder and leaned down to kiss the soft skin its vacancy revealed. “I will have to leave from time to time, but I don’t always have to be at sea. I am partial owner of the company and there are things that I quite miss about living on land.”
Aimee threw her head back both unwilling and unable to stop Reece from what he was doing physically to her. But she was afraid she had just misunderstood what she had just heard. “But. . . but you love the sea. You never wanted to stay home before.”
“Aye, I do love being on the water,” Reece murmured against her skin. “But I was at sea for so long due to the war and then when it was over, I could not come home.”
The second sleeve slipped down her arm and Aimee felt the gown slither down her frame and fall to the floor. Reece’s mouth did not slow its exploration as he turned her around. Aimee could feel herself becoming more and more lost to his sensual attack. “Why not?” she finally managed to ask.
“I was in love with a blond beauty who could not be mine,” Reece answered as he removed the last of her undergarments and began to lave one pink beckoning nub. “I knew if I spent any time around her at all, I would whisk her away and make her mine despite her family, my lack of status, and my best friend—who undoubtedly will kill me for falling in love with his baby sister.”
Aimee felt her control slipping and decided to switch roles. Sliding out of his embrace, she stepped behind him and began to repeat the erotic torture he had begun on her. “So what about your ship?”
Reece swallowed as he felt her hands slip under his shirt and lift upward. A moan escaped him as her lips pressed against the middle of his back. “The, um, Emerald? Collins deserves a ship of his own. And, um, uh, and . . .”
Aimee delighted in his response and it encouraged her to continue downward. “Then which ship will be yours?”
“The Emerald will, um, always be mine. But this way . . . uh, I can relieve each captain for a trip, giving them a, uh . . . Good Lord, a uh, break and me a chance to check on the health of the ship and the crew and . . . good God woman, I can stand no more.”
Reece spun around and buried his face in her neck with a guttural sound. He could feel the bed against his calves and fell back against the mattress, pulling Aimee with him. The moment the bed felt the impact of their weight, the frame shifted and immediately crashed onto the floor. Down feathers from a busted seam in the mattress flew into the air causing Aimee to roll over and cough, waving her hands in front of her face. “What . . . what happened?” she half coughed, half choked.
Reece remained lying on his back staring at the planks above him. Right above those planks were the captain’s quarters, housing an old man and his wife—both of whom had to be behind their current predicament.
Aimee saw where Reece was staring and sighed in resignation. “We should have expected them to do something. I mean they each told us quite openly that they were bored.”
Reece laid the back of his wrist on his forehead and muttered, “Aye, but what are we going to do for a bed for the next week?”
Hearing the loud boom and sharp scream, Annabelle froze for a second before putting her brush down and turning around to seek her husband’s expression. Seeing a lack of alarm, she calmed and asked, “Whatever could that have been? If I did not know better, I would think that two or more of the crew were in a scuffle and a piece of furniture got in their way.”
Shay finished removing his jacket and laid it over the back of a chair. “Wasn’t one of the crew, my dear. Far from.” He then pointed downward.
Annabelle followed his finger and looked at the floor. Realizing what he meant, her head snapped back up. “Oh, my . . . their bed? Good Lord, how do you think that happened?”
Shay grinned. And then he slowly lifted his finger so that it pointed above them.
When Miles heard the thundering sound followed by Aimee’s unhurt, but startled cry, he let go a satisfied sigh. He leaned back and propped his feet on a crate in front of him, and for the first time that day, let his lips turn upward. It had taken a little while for the bed to break. Longer than he thought it would since he had sawed clean through each of the legs, but it did not matter.
He had finally gotten his revenge.
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
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bsp; Copyright © 2014 by C. Michele Peach
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ISBN: 978-1-4201-2653-2
First Electronic Edition: August 2014
eISBN-13: 978-1-4201-2654-9
eISBN-10: 1-4201-2654-7
A Woman Made For Sin Page 38