by Lydia Dare
“Nothing important,” he murmured as he put his arm around her and drew her into his side.
“You’re not worried about the moonful, are you? Armand and Etienne have sailed under a full moon more times than I can count.”
He shrugged. He wasn’t as worried about that as he once had been. Now he was much more worried about proving himself to her father. To being a man she could respect and love. “I’m not worried about anything.”
She burrowed more closely into his side, her summery scent teasing his nose. He wanted to draw her into himself, as close as she could go.
Livi placed a hand over his heart. “I won’t leave your side. Everything will work out. Just wait and see,” she murmured, her breath tickling his chin.
“I know,” he replied. Though he wasn’t certain he agreed.
***
Livi tiptoed out of the small cabin, careful not to wake Gray. After the day he’d had yesterday, he could use as much sleep as he could get. After the night they’d shared, he might sleep all the way to Boston.
She nodded in greeting to some of the Aspire’s crew and finally made her way to the front of the brigantine. She leaned against the ship’s railing and closed her eyes, content to let the sea breeze wash over her skin. What a truly wonderful adventure she was on. Life with Gray would never be boring.
A familiar hand landed on her back and Livi smiled, knowing who stood behind her without even needing to look. “Thank you, Armand,” she said softly. “For everything.”
He heaved a heavy sigh and then leaned his large frame against the railing at her side. “You’re sure this is what you want? You’re sure he is who you want?”
“Oui, I’m sure.” Livi opened her eyes and tilted her head to see her brother, who looked troubled. She slid her arm around his and leaned her head against his shoulder. “In time you’ll accept him.”
Armand shook his head. “It’s not me you need to worry about, Liv. I’m concerned about what will happen when we finally set foot in New Orleans. You know Father won’t be happy with this turn of events.” He slid his arm around her and hugged her to him. “The man has nothing to recommend him, nothing that will mean anything to Father.”
Indeed, very few men would be deemed worthy by the powerful Philippe Mayeux, but Gray didn’t have to live up to her father’s expectations. He only had to live up to hers. She rested her head against her brother’s heart and smiled against his chest. How comforting she’d always found Armand’s embrace.
No matter how strong and rigid he appeared to the world, when it came to her, he’d always been the most tender of men. How like him it was to worry about Father on her behalf. But it was pointless to predict Papa’s reaction to anything. “He has my heart. Papa will see I’m happy. That should be enough for him.”
Armand tipped her chin up so she had to look him in the eyes. “I told your husband he should claim you tonight. Father won’t try to break that bond, but…” He frowned. “Well, make sure that’s what you want, Liv. There’s no going back after you’ve been marked.”
Livi touched a hand to her shoulder. “I know that.”
“You have the day to decide whether you want to wear Hadley’s mark or not. You can always lock him in your cabin and stay on deck through the night if you choose otherwise.”
And destroy Gray in the process? Livi gaped at her brother. “You think I should run out on him?” She couldn’t imagine ever doing any such thing, especially after everything they’d been through.
Armand shook his head. “I can’t make that decision for you, Liv. You’re on your own path. I just want you to be sure of what you’re choosing. There are some things that can’t be reversed.”
And some things she would never want to reverse. She wasn’t certain why or even how she’d fallen for Gray, but she had. Her heart had been in shambles yesterday when she thought he’d run out on her, but when she’d spotted him on the Madame Gracieuse, when he’d jumped from the schooner to her brigantine, when he hadn’t hesitated in the least at her suggestion they marry that very moment—she’d known he loved her too. “Thank you for worrying about me.” Livi smiled up at her brother.
Armand heaved a sigh. “Made your decision already, hmm?” He dropped a kiss to her brow. “Do at least one thing for me?”
After all he’d done to help Gray get to her? “Anything,” she vowed.
“Rummage through Etienne’s trunks. Your husband is going to need more than the clothes on his back during this voyage. I think he’s worn the same trousers two days in a row.”
Despite his protestations or dire warnings, Armand liked Gray. Livi could see it in his eyes, and that warmed her heart more than a little. She nodded her head in agreement. “Oui. That sounds like a brilliant plan.”
Gray had never experienced a moonful in closed quarters. Not with others who could learn his secret if he exposed it unwittingly. A little help might be in order, perhaps. She called to Armand’s retreating back. “Do you know where I can get some whiskey?” she asked.
He turned back, one eye squinting as he appraised her, his gaze incredulous. “You insult me, Livi,” he said with a smirk. “Do I know where to get whiskey?” He scoffed.
She rolled her eyes at him.
He winked. “I’ll take care of it.”
She would never repeat it in public, but she was grateful for having at least one ne’er-do-well brother on board right that very moment. She might have need of that whiskey. Or Gray might, at least. She couldn’t have him howling at the moon through the portal in their room. That simply would not do.
Thirty
This was for the best, Livi had no doubt. As the day progressed, she’d watched Gray pace the deck of the Aspire as though it were a cage. When she’d asked about his anxiety, he’d laughed off her questions and mumbled something about stretching his legs. No, as the day went on, she had no doubt about what she needed to do. He’d thank her in the morning. At least she hoped he would.
As the moon sank low over the ocean, Livi and Gray made their way to Armand’s quarters. She knocked softly on the door.
“C’m in,” her brother called from inside.
Goodness. Livi knew that slurry voice. Armand was already foxed. Hopefully, he’d left enough for Gray.
After shooting her an amused look, Gray pushed open the door, then preceded her into the room. He chuckled when he took in Armand’s relaxed pose where he lay sprawled across the bed. “Tipping it a bit early, aren’t you?” he teased.
Armand pointed to the portal, where the sky was darkening. “A lame attempt at escaping the pull of the moon.” He held a bottle out to Gray. “One for you?” He tipped the bottle with one of his fingertips and, if not for Gray’s quick reflexes, it would have been a puddle on the floor.
Gray caught it in his strong grip and held it out to Armand. “Thank you, but I need to keep my wits about me tonight.”
Armand narrowed his gaze. “On a night such as this, the last thing you need to keep about you is your wits.” He nodded toward the bottle that Gray kept, trying to foist upon him. “That’s for Livi, not for you,” he finally said, giving Livi a dramatic wink. “Just as you requested, m’dear.”
A puzzled expression settled on Gray’s face.
“I’ll explain it later,” Livi promised. If Armand’s current state was any indication, her brother would be asleep within moments. “We should get to our quarters before the moon rises much higher,” she warned. The last thing any of them needed was for her husband to sprout a tail and pointy ears in the corridor of the ship. She took the still-outstretched bottle of whiskey from his hands.
“Do we need that?” Gray asked, as they stepped from Armand’s cabin to the outside.
Livi locked her brother’s door, then pocketed the key. “We might,” she hedged. “Better safe than sorry.” Then she started toward her quarters, knowing Gray would follow right along.
“Livi, the last thing I want to do is lose my inhibitions with you.”
&
nbsp; But losing a bit of his control was exactly what he needed; it was best for everyone. Livi stopped in her tracks, then reached up to cup his face. “You’re not worried you’ll harm me, are you?” She snorted, hoping to lighten his anxiety just a bit. “You’re worse than an innocent on her wedding night,” she teased.
“Very amusing.” He slapped her bottom. As she scurried toward their cabin, he called after her, “I’ll get you for that.”
“Promises, promises,” she sang.
He growled and ran after her, a low rumble in his chest as he followed her through their doorway and into their cabin. She locked the door behind them and said, “Turn around.”
The apprehension on Gray’s face returned tenfold. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want to hold the key in my hands all night. I imagine I’ll have better things to do with them.” Heat crept up her face as his gaze darkened with lust.
“Why didn’t you say so?” He spun away from her and counted to ten.
Livi kicked up the corner of the rug and tucked the key beneath it. Then she pulled the stopper from the whiskey decanter and poured a glass. She held it out to him as he turned back around. “Drink,” she instructed.
Gray shook his head. “No. I told you, I want to have my wits about me.” He sat down on the edge of the bed and began to tug his boots from his feet. He followed with his coat and waistcoat, and then his cravat. He tugged his shirt over his head and let it land like a fluttery bird on the floor.
“You’ll find this easier if you have a few drinks,” she said.
“Find it easier to bed my wife? I sincerely doubt that.”
***
Find it easier? Livi had lost her bloody mind if she thought he’d flummox this up. The day he claimed his wife would be a day to remember. Not a day that he was so foxed he couldn’t string two thoughts together, much less a memory. Absolutely not.
She sat down on the only chair in the cabin and crossed her pretty little hands in her lap. “That’s too bad. I thought we might be able to play a little game.”
A game? His ears almost twitched. “What sort of game?”
She looked everywhere but at him, and the area above her nose wrinkled as she scrunched it. “I’m a little nervous,” she said, as though confessing to a priest. She began to wring her hands together. “I thought a few drinks might make you a bit more pliable. Less… scary.”
“I scare you, Liv?” He got to his feet and approached her. “I’d never harm you. I don’t have to claim you at all tonight, if you don’t want. It’s not too late for you to lock me in like you did Armand.”
“I want to be with you, but I’m worried.” She nibbled her bottom lip. “Humor me?” she asked. “Play my game?”
Gray sighed heavily. “Tell me the rules.”
“Sit,” she said as she pushed him down into the chair.
Then she ran her soft little hands across his naked chest, and his manhood immediately responded. “Liv,” he growled in warning when her fingertip slid across his nipple. “Take some of those blasted clothes off, will you?” he asked as nicely as he could under the circumstances. He put his stocking feet up on the table and crossed them. “I’ll watch.”
Gray didn’t know what he’d expected, but the pull of the rising moon was nothing compared to the pull of Liviana Hadley.
She held a full glass out to him. “For every item I remove from my body, you’ll have to take a drink.”
He could play her game without getting foxed, couldn’t he? Of course, he could. He’d been drinking ever since he was old enough to tip back a bottle. Gray tossed back the contents of his glass. “What’s coming off first?” he asked, a grin tugging at his lips.
***
Livi took a deep breath and kicked off a slipper.
Gray arched a dark brow at her. “That’s all I get. A slipper?”
She refilled his glass. He lifted it to his lips and talked around it. “I suppose this will get me another slipper.” But he drank it anyway.
She kicked off the other slipper, and it sailed across the small cabin to thump against the wall.
“Shh,” Gray warned. “I believe that Irish priest is on the other side of that wall.”
“He might want to find other accommodations, then,” Livi said. “Because I have a feeling things might get a little loud in here.”
Indeed, the sound of growling had a way of permeating the walls.
“Only if I do it correctly,” Gray said. Then he drank the next glass she poured for him. He leaned back in his chair, studying her with those dark eyes of his. “What will she take off next, I wonder?”
She tugged a pin from her hair and let it clatter to the floor.
“Oh, no,” he said, lowering his feet. “That’s not nearly worth the price I’m paying. All of them,” he directed.
Livi’s heart lurched within her breast. But she tugged all the pins from her hair until the heavy mass tumbled about her shoulders. She poured another glass for him. She had his full attention, his gaze both intense and appreciative.
“So pretty,” he said.
His trousers were tented by the length of him, and she had a nearly insatiable urge to strip his trousers off and to feel the swell of him within her grip. She licked her lips at the thought. He needed to drink enough so he’d sleep through the night, sleep through the transformation, and not wake until morning.
Oh, she wanted him to claim her, wanted him to make love to her all night, but he wasn’t accustomed to sea travel, not during a full moon. She couldn’t risk him changing into his wolf form and alerting everyone to his presence on the ship. That would be a disaster. For both of them. “Drink,” she said.
Gray tipped the glass back and drained it dry. “What’s next?” he asked with a smirk almost as big as the twinkle in his eye.
Livi spun around and presented her back to him. He quickly worked the fastenings of her gown until she was able to slide it down her arms and over her hips. Then she stepped out of it.
“I do love the green garters,” he said slowly, licking his lips. “Can they be next?”
She pointed to the glass. He refilled it himself and downed the whiskey in one quick swallow. She untied one garter and rolled her stocking down her leg. When he drank another glass without her urging, she bit back a grin. How nice to know she affected him so. She’d have to remember that on nights that weren’t ruled by the moon.
Honestly, this game of hers was affecting her as much as it was him. Her belly clenched each time his eyes landed on her body. And her drawers were wet with wanting him.
“Are you foxed yet?” she asked as she tugged her last stocking off. He drank three glasses in quick succession, stopping only momentarily to wince on the last one.
“Not hardly,” he grunted. But he rested his head in his upturned palm.
Perhaps her plan was finally working. The last three glasses had her tugging her chemise over her head and shoving her drawers down to her ankles.
He looked supremely satisfied as he noted, “You still owe me for that last drink.”
“I have nothing left to take off, Mr. Hadley,” she informed him.
“I can see that, Mrs. Hadley,” he teased. His gaze roamed her body hotter than any caress could have been. “Hold your breasts in your hands,” he ordered.
She couldn’t possibly do that, could she?
“You owe me, Livi,” he said, nodding toward the glass as he refilled it. “Just pick them up in your hands. Let me watch.”
“You’re a pig,” she said.
“Wolf,” he corrected.
She did want to keep him drinking, didn’t she? To avoid the pull of the moon. So she did as he requested. Heat built deep in her belly as she lifted her breasts in her hands. Her thumb slipped across one dark peak and her breath hitched in her throat.
“That feels nice, doesn’t it?” he asked. He tossed back another swallow. “Sit down on the bed.”
“Why?” If they stopped now, he would never pass o
ut. He would become a beast and everyone would find out. He wasn’t like her brothers. He hadn’t done this before.
“Because you owe me.” He took another swallow.
The bed was no more than a foot from where he sat so casually, his elbows on his knees while he regarded her. He reached for her hand and took it in his, tugging it down toward her nether curls. “Gray,” she protested.
“Here,” he whispered, his words raking across her skin hotter than any caress. He dragged her fingertip toward that nub that was pounding so loudly in her ears. “Touch here,” he said and he pulled his hand back. He pressed her legs open wide and sat back. He took another drink. “Do it for me, Livi,” he asked. She couldn’t refuse him, not with her blood singing in her veins and her finger playing about the damp folds of her heat.
“Gray,” she protested, but she found that little nub and began to circle it. He praised her quietly, urging her on. Her protests quickly became pants, leaving her mouth unheeded. She didn’t care about the noises she made. She only cared about the way he made her feel.
He licked his lips as he opened the placket of his trousers and shoved them down his hips.
Livi let her fingers circle faster and faster. “You have me so hot, Livi,” he ground out.
Not nearly as hot as she was. Goodness, she would burst into flames any moment. Then she felt it, that buildup that she still didn’t understand, even though he’d provoked it so many times. “Gray,” she cried. And when she did, he reached for her, pulling her up with one strong hand around her back, and brought her to straddle his lap.
“Livi,” he growled as he centered her over his manhood and held tightly to her hips, sliding inside her as far as he could go. He stilled and screwed into her, holding her tightly. He brushed her hair back from her face with tender fingers. “God, Livi,” he growled. His thumb took over where her fingers had been and his lips played along the side of her neck. He nibbled her gently while he coaxed her higher and higher than she’d taken herself, with his length filling so fully.