“I can see that you’re a man of courage and honor...and decency,” she added to boost her own courage. “I know I can depend upon you to see me safely away from here.”
The coldness vanished from his face. “Courage, yes,” he said as a warmth gathered in his eyes, “but if you want a man with honor and decency, the Devil’s Lair is the wrong place to look.”
Her forehead crinkled with worry. “I was relying on you to help me.”
“That I shall do,” he swore, “just as soon as we agree upon a price. And I don’t want your money.”
As the leering crowd snickered, her anxiety grew. “What do you want as payment?” she asked, although fairly certain what he desired.
The captain touched her hair. Slowly, he pulled a handful of the long strands over her shoulder. His fingers slid the length of it until the back of his knuckles touched the swell of her bare breast.
A queasy feeling gripped her insides. Her heart beat so rapidly she thought it would burst from her chest. She shifted her gaze from his face and focused on a neutral object on the far side of the room in an effort to keep her body from trembling violently.
Any hope of getting away unscathed immediately dissolved. She knew what price this pagan, savage pirate would demand from her.
****
Payton Tyler felt her flinch when he touched her warm, naked skin. He moved his hand from her breast and lifted her honey-blonde hair to his mouth. The ends brushed across his lips like silken threads.
Nuzzling his face into the handful of luxurious strands, he inhaled her scent. “You smell good, like sunshine and flowers.”
He glanced at her face only to discover she no longer stared with pleading eyes. Eyes that defied description. A ring of dark blue, perhaps teal, faded inward only to be replaced by an amber sunburst of color spreading outward from the black center. Long, dark eyelashes framed the incredible eyes, but her eyebrows, fine and delicately arched, were a similar shade of her honey-blonde hair.
His gaze settled on her lips. She had an average mouth, not too full and not too thin, with a hint of color the shade of pinkish coral. But they had a distinct, raised outline, especially on her upper lip. Tiny, delicate twin peaks rose up from the deep valley in the center and curved to the outer corners.
The tip of his middle finger glided over the defined peaks. “I like this,” he replied, his voice a gritty whisper.
When her lips thinned and tightened beneath his touch, he forced his hand from her mouth. With a lifetime spent at sea and shabby ports, he’d known far too many women who traded their bodies to men for favors. This woman was not one of them.
His mind searched for answers. Why was this innocent young woman dressed in such a provocative gown? How did she end up in a tavern located in this dangerous part of town? And why alone, so late at night?
But she had spirit. He knew that much. He saw the terror that gripped her, yet she stayed her course. She held her head high and looked him straight in his eyes while a pack of hungry, lecherous sharks circled her lovely body and threatened to devour her.
The one thing he knew for certain was she desperately needed help. His help. He would not deny her request.
“Where do you want me to take you?” he asked.
A sickening horror seemed to grip the angelic vision before him. Her eyes, now wide and full of fear, stared onto his. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly between hers.
“Please, no,” she begged.
Her delicately outlined lips trembled, and her incredibly colored eyes misted over with tears. Then the realization occurred to him. Evidently his lovely angel thought he intended to ravish her first, here, in front of these men.
“I mean,” he decided to clarify, “where would you like to go?”
Her trembling mouth stilled when she captured the lower lip between her teeth. The mist in her eyes cleared after blinking several times.
“Union Square.” Her voice revealed a hesitance.
“You mean the Public Square on the other side of Chinatown?” He watched her nod.
“What’s she going to give you for your help?” one of the men demanded to know, a heavy slur in his voice.
Payton glanced around at his companions as they panted in lustful anticipation. In order for his reputation to remain intact, he’d have to give an equally lustful response.
“Whatever I want,” he said before looking back at her. “Is that agreed?”
As she released his hand, her gaze slipped away. “I don’t seem to have much choice,” she said, her voice barely audible.
“Then the bargain is struck.” He slid his hand around her slender neck. His thumb pressed against her chin, forcing her face upward. “We’ll seal our bargain with a kiss.”
He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. Warm, bare breasts pressed against his naked chest. His blood turned hot. His heart pumped faster. Heat surged through his veins. His muscles tightened, and his extremities stiffened. He pressed her to his throbbing body. With her mouth a mere breath from his, he gazed into her incredibly-colored eyes. Just before their lips touched, he paused. He wanted to give her the kind of kiss which the drunken men around him would approve, but he couldn’t treat her that callously. Instead, his mouth brushed over her lips, more like a caress than a kiss.
Chapter Two
“Shall we go?” Payton asked Julia.
Stunned, she stared into his brilliant blue eyes. She’d prepared herself for a brutal assault of her mouth, but this dangerous-looking, dark-haired pirate had given her a tender kiss. She’d not believed him capable of such gentleness. Her mind reeled in shock. But her body shivered with delight.
He relaxed his tight embrace. His fingers skimmed down her back and lingered at her waist.
Her legs wobbled, and her body swayed. She regained her balance just as his hands slipped away. A tremor rippled through her, but not from fear. Warmth gathered in her belly and spread to her toes. The feeling seemed so strange, so new, that she didn’t know what name to give it. But she knew what caused the shiver that snaked around inside her and the glow that spread throughout her body. It had started with the pirate’s kiss. The moment his lips had brushed across hers, something had awoken deep inside her. Instead of creeping back to where it belonged, the feeling lingered and seemed to grow. A tiny spark had ignited inside and threatened to turn into a blazing fire if left unguarded.
She took a deep breath and let it out between pursed lips while forcing her mind to focus on what happened around her, instead of inside her.
Payton stood in front of her without speaking. A smile played upon his lips as his brilliant blue eyes scanned her body.
The rest of the room whirled with activity. The drunken men scurried around the tavern gathering articles of clothing scattered about a table and chair. They returned to the captain and offered him the items. Their tending to him conveyed respect. One man assisted him into a black wool jacket while another held out his leather-billed cap of the same color. A third man opened the tavern door and peered out into the foggy darkness.
“You might be needing this, Cap’n, if that scurvy looking scum is waiting for you outside.” The man with yellow teeth handed him a revolver. “Do you know how to use it?”
“I think I can figure it out.” He grinned as he slipped it into the waistband of his trousers.
“You can return it to me tomorrow.” He glanced at Julia. A smile spread across his face, revealing more rotted teeth. “After you get out of bed.”
Payton moved Julia to his other side, away from where he’d sheathed the knife on his hip. “It’s going to be a long walk. Will you be warm enough?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine.” She pulled the hood into place and wrapped the cloak around her body.
He grasped her hand, about to lead her to the door when her cold fingers touched his warm palm. “Don’t you have gloves?”
She shrugged in a vague manner. How could she admit they lay beneath the body of a dead man?
“I must have dropped them somewhere.”
The man at the door opened it wide enough for Payton to squeeze through with Julia in tow. “Be careful of Buddy. Looks like he’s sleeping it off on the steps again.”
They maneuvered around the slumbering body and made their way down the alley. When they reached the street, he turned to her and put a single finger against his lips.
She stood motionless and listened. In the distance music played, laughter drifted through the heavy fog, and footsteps clomped along the cobblestone streets.
He tugged on her hand, and she followed. When they reached the boarded walk on the other side, he pulled her close to the buildings so the deep shadows swallowed their bodies. They hurried down the walk, but when they neared the end of the street, he slowed their pace. He released her hand and pushed her behind him.
She heard him cock the revolver he held in his left hand. The weapon rested against his thigh.
“What—” She squeezed her lips together when his elbow pressed against her ribs, but her silence came too late.
Two men holding revolvers stepped from the corner of the building. She recognized one of them as the man who had followed her into the tavern.
“Well, ain’t this interesting. Looks like you ain’t doing such a good job of taking care of the woman after all.” His tone carried a sneer, but suddenly his voice turned hard. “Give her to us without a fight, and we might let you live.”
“You want her?” Payton sounded surprised. “And you won’t kill me?”
“That’s right,” the man said.
Julia sensed the man lied. She hoped Payton realized it also. She worried more about his fate than her own. He’d defended and protected her. She didn’t want him to die simply because he’d offered his help.
Payton grabbed her arm and pulled her beside him. He pushed the hood from her head, exposing her hair in the foggy moonlight.
“I didn’t know she was all you wanted.” He threw open her cloak to reveal the swell of her nearly bared breasts. The two men watched in leering awe as he stroked his fingers over the skin of her breasts.
“She is beautiful. And she’s got a body a man could spend all night loving and never get enough of. But...” His voice had been low, almost mesmerizing, but it turned hard. “No woman is worth dying for. You can both have her.” He flung her toward them.
Julia barely had time to gasp in shock before he tossed her into a heap at the feet of the two men. She couldn’t believe it. That cowardly pirate had given her to these horrible men to save his own life.
Her surprise quickly became outrage. If she possessed a weapon, that spineless captain would be her first target. The single shot from a revolver scattered her thoughts. She attempted to stand to see what had happened, but a hand pushed her back down.
“Stay there,” Payton ordered as he stepped over her.
She remained crouched on her hands and knees, but from her position, she saw both men sprawled beside her on the walk.
He pulled his knife from the body of one of the men and wiped the blade clean on the man’s clothing before sheathing it again. The wounded man squirmed in agony.
She squeezed her eyelids shut, blocking the sight of blood squirting from his chest. Bile rose in her throat, and she clamped her hand over her mouth to muffle the gags.
“We’ve got to get away from here. That shot will likely bring others.” He lifted her from the ground.
As they scrambled down the street, she heard doors open and voices call out. Brisk footsteps swirled around in the fog. They hurried for several blocks without stopping before he maneuvered her into the alcove of a storefront.
“We can stop here for a few minutes so you can catch your breath.” He gathered her cloak around her body.
She pulled one arm free of the cloak and swung at him with her fist. If he hadn’t moved at the last instant, she would’ve caught him squarely on his cheek, but her fist glanced off the tip of his bearded chin. “You were going to let those men have me.”
He grabbed both arms and pinned them to her sides. “Keep your voice down.”
“Are you afraid?” she asked in a voice just as loud, but now tinged with sarcasm. “You can always trade me again to save your own miserable, worthless—”
He pulled her against him. His tight embrace cut off the rest of her words. “Is that what you think?”
“That you’re worthless and miserable?” she managed to say while struggling against him, yet she couldn’t budge his solid frame.
His lips curved into a smile. “I thought I was a man of courage and honor.”
“Evidently your courage stops short of protecting a defenseless woman.”
“Any man that ever connects with your fist will never call you defenseless.” He put the side of his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. “Did you actually believe I’d hand you over to that scum?”
“You did. You threw me at their feet,” she said, but some of her bluster had faded.
“That was to get you out of the way. I would’ve preferred to keep you behind me, but they seemed intent on killing me. I couldn’t have helped you if I was dead. Didn’t you wonder why I pulled back your cloak to expose your breasts?”
“I-I thought you were just being rude.”
“You thought I wanted one last feel before I gave you over to them? You do have a body that starts a man thinking. That’s exactly what I wanted them to do—think about you. They had their revolvers drawn and pointed at me. I wanted them thinking about you. And looking at you.
“I had the revolver in one hand and my knife in the other right after I pushed you to the ground. Those men watched your lovely body fall, and before they had a chance to look back at me, one of them had my knife in his chest. The other one had a bullet.”
She cringed at his bluntness. Too many men were dead tonight because of her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I never should have gotten you involved in helping me. You could have been killed by those men.”
“Not bloody likely,” he ground out, but his tone softened. “Would you really care if something happened to me?”
She nodded even though he held her chin. “There’s already a shortage of men like you in this world.”
“You mean worthless and miserable?”
“I didn’t mean to call you that. I was frightened and upset. You risked your life to protect me. I never should have doubted you.”
“Then you promise to trust me from here on out?”
Julia hesitated while she studied his face. The darkness didn’t allow a good view, but she remembered how he’d looked in the tavern—like a dangerous, bloodthirsty pirate. And evidently she’d assumed correctly. He’d just fought two men for her. They might be dead by now, but he didn’t seem bothered by their death. She couldn’t understand her reasoning. She should be terrified, yet she felt completely safe in his arms.
“Yes, I promise to trust you.”
“I think we just struck another bargain.” He moved his hand from her chin, allowing the back of his knuckles to skim along her jaw and around her neck. His fingers threaded through her hair. He cradled the back of her head in his hand.
“Are we going to seal it with another kiss?” She barely recognized her voice. She sounded breathless and shaky. The thought of his kiss quickened her pulse. Her breathing reduced to nothing more than shallow gulps of air.
“No, two kisses. It is our second bargain.” He lowered his head until his mouth captured hers.
This one differed from his first. The kiss lasted longer, but his lips pressed against hers in a gentle, tender touch. Then his tongue stroked into her mouth.
Her body stiffened, and she tried to pull from his embrace. She used her own tongue in an attempt to force him out of her mouth. When he didn’t stop, she beat on his chest with her fist until he ended his kiss.
“What were you doing?” she asked, the shock in her voice.
“Didn’t you like that?” His c
ontained amusement.
“No one has ever kissed me like that.” Her fingers brushed at her lips, still wet from his mouth.
“You mean I’m the first? I think I like that,” he said in a dark whisper. “What else have you never done with a man?”
The sensual lure in his voice caused a tingle to ripple inside her. She forced down the feeling and tried to regain some control. “I’ve never inflicted an injury with my knee before.”
He laughed, making a deep, rumbling noise. “I like you. You’ll probably be the death of me, but I still like you.”
“I don’t think I like you. And I don’t like you holding me like this.”
“But you fit against me so well,” his voice teased. “You’re taller than most women. Five and a half feet or more.”
“So I’ve been told,” she said through clenched teeth. She hated being reminded of her height. Her tallness made her feel abnormal.
“It becomes you. Nothing about you is common, or ordinary. Your hair. Your eyes. Even your lips.”
“You’re very tall, also,” she said to divert his attention. Even in the dark, she felt his gaze directed at her mouth.
“That makes it convenient.”
“Convenient?” she questioned.
“Aye. I don’t have to bend down so far to kiss you.”
He nuzzled his face against the sensitive area of her neck. His beard and mustache tickled her skin. His warm breath made her flesh prickle, but his touch didn’t repulse her.
“You’re soft and warm,” he said next to her ear. His husky, breathy voice sent shivers through her. “And you smell sweet, like an exotic flower.”
“It’s the Jasmine perfume,” she blurted out in a nervous reaction. “My brother gave it to me.”
His fingers stroked across her collarbone to the hollow in her throat. “I’ll bet you even taste good.” His mouth brushed over her neck and pressed against the spot where his fingers had been. He nibbled and sucked on her skin.
“Don’t—” The rest of the words caught in her throat as warmth spread throughout her body. She pushed against him in an effort to put some distance between them. His unbuttoned jacket shifted, and her hand pressed against his naked chest.
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