He had been near the stream following the sound of the waterfall and knew it was close, but he was unprepared for the scene before him when he looked up.
Water tumbled over a sheer rock ledge, dropping at least triple the height of the Windrunner’s main mast into a pool of deep blue waters. The whole of it was framed by the lush greenery of trees, vines, and flowers.
Utopia. Utopia with a naked woman swimming in the middle of it.
Or what he assumed was a naked woman. A naked Katalin.
She wore no shirt—that he could tell as she stroked through the water, her bare back glistening above the surface. And with a quick scan along the edge of the pool, he spied her shirt, vest, breeches, and bandana wet and lying flat, drying on a rock in the sun’s fading rays. Naked, indeed.
He watched her silently for minutes, knowing he should make himself be known to her, yet resisting that very thing. Her hair was free from its braids, and it was the first time Jason could see its actual color. A wild mix of strawberry and light blond hair flowed behind her.
Water splashed as she stopped her stroke, straightening herself in the water. With a quick breath, she dove forward and under. Her backside broke free of the water, her skin smooth and strong with lean muscle, before her legs followed suit—thighs, calves, heels, toes—kicking as she descended into the depths of the pool.
Moments passed with her deep in the water, only air bubbles to give her location, and Jason suddenly had to rearrange his member under his ragged slops. Land wasn’t the only thing he hadn’t touched in two years.
She broke free of the water with a gasp, and after a quick swipe of her face, she opened her eyes.
Opened them right at Jason.
The squeal that escaped her was not captain-like at all.
Jason stumbled as he tried to whip away, avoiding her eyes. There was no hiding the fact that he had just been gawking at her naked body like a twelve-year-old boy. After nearly bumbling to his knees, he found his footing and tilted his head, blatantly staring up at the vines growing over the tree in front of him.
“Do you not have your dry legs about you yet?”
“Dry legs, Captain?” Jason said into the thick air, not turning around.
“Versus sea legs, Jase,” she said, and he could hear the humor in her voice.
“I guess I do not, Captain.” He coughed, his gaze not leaving the trees. “I apologize. I did not mean to interrupt. I was sent up to find you. Everyone else is drunk and lazy with food and did not want to climb the mountain.”
“I am needed?”
“Not really. The water casks are all replenished and the crew just wanted to know about the plan for moving on back out to the ship or setting up camp.”
“You can turn around, Jase. Only my head is above water.”
He turned slowly, head tilted downward as he tried to maintain the slightest bit of decorum. But he could still see her. She was treading water, hair wet and framing her face.
Hell. How could he not be attached?
She was beautiful. He had only seen her up close in moon-or lamp-light, and rarely without the bandana covering her head down to her eyebrows. He knew she was pretty, but this—even at this distance he could see he had grossly underestimated her features.
How had he never realized she possessed that much naked beauty?
He already liked her immensely. Admired her. Was enamored with her. Even if she wanted no attachments.
And now she looked like that.
The only thing he had wanted for the past two years was to get home. One goal. And now he was suddenly lusting after the damn captain of the ship he was trapped on.
“How deep are they into their cups?” Her voice rode along the water, loud, but smooth over the rush of the waterfall.
“Swimming.”
Katalin rolled her eyes and swam closer. “Blimey. It sounds like they already made the decision for me. And they rightly know that.”
“Do you need to get down there?”
“No.” Her hand flipped out of the water, waving them off. “Since I am sure they are almost to a one drinking until fully passing out, I think they will be fine without me for the immediate future.”
“You know your crew.” Jason chuckled. “Half are already face-down in the sand. The tide was coming up, so I already dragged a couple up from the beach.”
She laughed. “Be sure they thank you for it come the morrow.”
“I do not think they realized how beautiful it was up here, or I would not have been sent.” Even as he said it, Jason wasn’t quite sure if he meant the raw nature or if he meant Katalin.
“Their loss. Every one of them could use a bath.” Katalin’s arms rolled back and forth, creating ripples as she treaded water. “Feel free to come in. I guard it well, but I will share my bar of soap.” She pointed to the shore by her clothes. “You will end up smelling like tangerines, but there are worse things. And I do promise to not return the ogling that you did not have the good sense to disguise.”
“I did not hide it well?”
“No, Jase. No, you did not.”
“I apologize.”
“It is forgiven.” The smile on her face gave evidence that she was not nearly as upset as she had right to be, and that her anger at him from days earlier had dissipated.
Jason made sure his eyes stayed on hers and didn’t veer downward. “Is it deep?”
“Deep?” She took a deep breath and threw her arms above her head, disappearing below the water. After a moment her head popped up. “Not too deep. Maybe another length of me. Why?”
“I do not swim.”
Water sputtered in front of her mouth.
“What? Jase? You do not swim? Why on god’s good earth not? You have been floating on a bloody ocean for years.” She stroked through the water closer to him.
He crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head. “I never learned. I can make it across shallow rivers and the like, as long as I can bounce off the bottom. And I can flounder about to keep my head above water, but not for very long. I tend to sink. I did not grow up near any deep or large bodies of water, so I never needed to learn, nor thought to.”
“But the longboat—you went in the water—you saved me.”
He shrugged. “That was necessary.”
A splash flew up as she hit the water with a fist. “Any one of those bilge-sucking idiots could have jumped in and gotten me out, but they sent down the one that cannot swim.” She shook her head, eyes to the blue sky. “I am thoroughly disgusted at my crew.”
“I am fortunate it was me.”
Her dark blue eyes flew to him. “You are? Why?”
“You talked to me because of it. Beyond that first night, you talked to me.” Jason’s posture eased, his arms falling to his sides. “I do not think you would have done so without my actions.”
“I do not know if that is true.”
“No? I watched you for a week never so much as look in my direction.”
“You were watching me?”
“I was.”
“Trying to figure out the oddity of me?”
“Yes. And also just watching you. Your mastery of the ship. The men. Of navigation. You are efficient, the men listen to you, and you are very good as captain. So much so that it is the only reason I can understand how a man might begin to not see you as a woman. That is what I saw that first week.”
“Even with that, even with the last few weeks, you still see a woman, Jase, don’t you?”
“I do. That is honestly what shines brightest in you. At least as far as I can see.”
She nodded, grim, her head turning as her eyes washed over the thick greenery surrounding the pool. After a moment her gaze shifted back to him. “Be that as it may, you are to remove your clothes this instant. You are getting in this water and learning to swim.”
Jason coughed, eyebrows arched. “My clothes? I would rather not.”
“Why?”
“The crew is already susp
icious of me, no matter that I have done everything and more than what is asked of me. I will not be found in a compromising situation with you.”
“And I will not have a sailor on my crew that cannot swim.” She started to stroke closer to him. “So strip down and get into the water. That you see me as a woman is your problem, not mine, Jase. That you cannot swim is my problem.” She paused in her strokes to point. “There is a sandy shallow area by those three big rocks over there. That is where we will start. Captain’s orders.”
Jason sighed. “Captain’s orders?”
“Captain’s orders.”
“Fine. But I will leave my trousers on.”
She was already moving to the shallows and chuckled. “If it will help your sensibilities, Jase, then by all means, do so. But my clothes are drying right now and I do not get clean water very often, so I will be remaining as God gave me to this earth.”
Jason walked over to the few boulders, stripping off his shirt as he eyed Katalin in the water. She had reached a point where she could stand and was waiting patiently, smirking. Thank the heavens she was still in water up to her neck.
With a shake of his head, Jason waded into the warm pool. His trousers immediately became waterlogged, dragging on his waist. But he wasn’t about to admit that to Katalin. He needed to keep his slops on if he was to escape this whole debacle without compromising his captain.
He stopped a few arm lengths away from her, standing, the water up to his lower chest.
“What now?”
“You are going to have to come deeper. I want to see how you float, first.”
He took a few more steps into the deeper water, still maintaining distance between them.
“Good. Now lean forward, kick your legs out, and float.”
Jason leaned forward, kicking his legs, but they didn’t rise to the surface. They stayed down, heavy weights against his float.
“Did you really just try?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes.”
“Hmmm.” She moved forward, stopping right next to his arm. “Not very coordinated. You are a sinker. Try again, and I am going to push up on your stomach.”
Jason’s eyes focused upward on the tops of the trees. She was bloody naked and only a damn hair away from him.
At his side, her arm moved, searching in the water until her hand found his belly. Her palm went flat on the expanse.
“You have seen me stroke. Once you are horizontal, floating, start stroking and kicking. You need movement to keep afloat. Take a deep breath for extra buoyancy, fill your lungs, and lean forward again.”
If only to end the torture, Jason took a deep breath, leaning forward. Her hand pressed up on his belly, bringing his lower torso and legs in line with the water’s break.
“Good. Now smooth stokes. Rhythm. That is all you need.”
His arms lifted out of the water, stroking, and he was moving forward in short order.
“Good God, Jase.” Katalin’s sudden outburst echoed in the clearing and her hand jerked from his belly.
Jason immediately stopped movement, his feet sinking to the pool floor. On guard, he searched her face. “What? What is it?”
Her hands went on his arm, and she twisted herself around him in the water until she was facing his back.
“Your back, Jase. Good God.”
Jason drew tall in the water, his face turning stony, mouth tight.
He had forgotten to hide his back.
“Jase, I had no idea—you mentioned the cat-o’-nine-tails—but this. I know the scar on your face, but this—this is beyond reason. What did they do to you?”
Her fingertips ran lightly over the ravaged skin, the ragged lines of raised scars on his mangled back. She trailed one particularly long line from above to below the water, straight down his back.
A statue, Jason did not move away from her, even though every muscle in him begged to. He stood, accepting her fingers on his skin. If only so she did not see him as weak. See the scars control him. He would not allow that. That pain would never control him again.
“Jase?”
He cleared his throat, body still frozen in place, but he did glance over his shoulder at her. She was staring slack-jawed at his back.
“I am sorry, Kat. I did not mean for your eyes to have to see the horror that is my back.”
Her eyes whipped to his, fire burning in them. “Your back is not horror, Jase. Whoever did this to you—that is where the horror lies. That is where the demon exists. Not here.” Her fingers slid along a line near his shoulder. “Not on you.”
She shook her head, eyes closed. “How? Why? Why would anyone do this?”
“I did not always listen well on a ship where basic human respect lacked. But I was lucky. I survived. Many I knew along the way did not. I have watched men die in slow agony from the very same thing.”
Head still shaking, she drew her hand away, circling his body until she stopped in front of him. “I would not consider that luck, Jason. That is beyond what anyone should have to endure.”
His eyebrow arched at her use of his full name. “I have my life, Kat. I landed on your ship. There is luck in the unlucky.”
“I do not understand how you cannot be bitter.”
“I am. But I have had no time to wallow in it. It serves no purpose. Not now.”
“Because your purpose is now what?”
His cheek with the scar flew up in a half-smile. “Serve the ship. Serve my captain.”
She laughed—thick and warm and easy. “Is that so?”
“I am in the water, half-naked with a naked woman per my captain’s orders. I would not be doing this on my own accord. My honor would not allow it.”
“I do enjoy when you talk of honor, Jase. You have lived a very different life than I.” She pushed off of the pool bottom, floating backward into deeper waters. “And speaking of the reason we are in the water, you also need to learn how to tread water.”
She reached sufficient depth, and her arms began to move back and forth in smooth rhythm, keeping her afloat. “Come out here and mirror what I am doing.”
Jason moved closer to her, following her lead and rolling his arms evenly through the water.
She smiled at him. “Perfect. Your head is barely bobbing. It is easy, is it not?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “More than easy.”
Her head cocked at him, eyes squinting. “You are not…”
She suddenly dove toward him, disappearing under the water. A moment passed, and then her head broke the surface right next to him.
Her hand was already in motion, sending a tall wave of water splashing into his face. “Bamboozler—you can still touch ground.”
Jason laughed, hands up to block the onslaught of water she continued to send his way. He let her have her way for a few seconds. “Truce. Truce.”
Several more splashes hit his cheeks before she halted, shaking her head in amused disgust at him. “Lying to your captain puts you on deck swabbing duty fairly quickly, Jase.”
“I can imagine.”
Both of her hands swung wide, starting another round of splashing.
Chuckling at the latest barrage, Jason moved forward into the wall of water, grabbing both of her forearms, stopping her.
Her laughter as she looked up was well worth the price of water on his face.
Loath to remove his fingers, he gripped her, shaking his head, a smile still lining his lips. “You do not have the slightest inclination of what you are doing, do you, Kat?”
“What?” Her nose crinkled. “I take offense. I know how to swim perfectly well.”
“No. Doing to me.”
Her eyes went wide. “What?”
His hands dropped from her arms. “Hell, Kat. You are naked. Touching me. Laughing. Beautiful. This is more than any man should be forced to bear.”
She blinked hard at his words, her face turning serious. Her breath turning hot. “I did not know…”
“How can you not know what
you do to me, Kat? How is it not more obvious than the ocean that has surrounded us for weeks?”
“If it is the same thing you do to me, Jase. To my stomach, to my chest, to my mind, then…then I know.” She closed her eyes, dragging in a deep breath, water beading off her chest. “I know. But it has to be hidden. Denied. The crew…”
“Right now. Right here, Kat. The crew is absent. There is no one. Nothing to hide. Nothing to deny. Just us.”
She opened her eyes, slowly nodding. “Just us.”
His right forefinger went to a wet lock of hair at her temple, twisting it around his finger to his knuckle. “How has no man ever touched at you? Looked at you like a woman?”
“They know my father.” Her eyes locked in his. “No man has ever dared to touch me.”
He leaned in, his lips brushing the wet hair behind her ear. But not her skin. He didn’t dare touch her skin. Not yet. “I do not know your father.”
“I hope you never do,” she said, her voice a whisper.
He pulled back, meeting her eyes. The blue in them had gone dark, smoky. “Tell me you want this, Kat.”
“I…I do…but my father—”
“Hell, Kat, your father or not—life, limb—I do not give a damn.” His hands went to her jawline, cupping her face, thumbs tracing her cheekbones. “Once I touch you, once my lips meet yours, I will not be able to stop. Ever. I will want you again and again. Your body. Your mind. That I know. Do not allow me to touch you, Katalin, if you ever intend to make me stop.”
Her breath went rapid, her chest rising and falling out of the water. He could see her wavering, deciding. She closed her eyes, giving the slightest shake to her head.
Jason froze.
And then her eyes opened—the heat in them unmistakable. “I will not make you stop. I want this. I want you, Jason. I know nothing of this—I have no experience, even if I have heard everything an imaginative sailor could ever say on the act. But I know down to my soul that I want whatever you are going to do to me, Jason.”
He refused to move for a very long second. Letting her words hang. Letting himself believe the words she spoke.
She didn’t waver. Didn’t take the words back. It was real.
Jason didn’t waste another second before he encased her, finding her mouth, his hands going under her hair, down her back to press her body against his.
Hold Your Breath 03 - My Captain, My Earl Page 5