The Red Drifter of the Sea: A Steamy Opposites Attract Pirate Romance (Pirates of the Isles Book 3)

by Celeste Barclay

  Moira wasn’t lawfully his wife, even if he hadn’t contradicted Keith when he implied it to Dónal. He hadn’t thought of her as his mistress since the last time he’d said it, and she’d been right that she never accepted the position.

  “My betrothed,” Kyle continued, “you set us on the path to a mutiny. If my men think a pint-sized lass can browbeat me, then they will assume they can defeat me. You will get yourself, our bairn, Tomas, Snake Eye, Braedon, and me killed if Keith can’t stop them. Those three will stand beside us, more to protect you than to side with me. I will lose any respect if my brother must come to my rescue on my own ship. You risked that, Moira. Your little spectacle is worse than you thought.”

  Kyle dabbed the unscented oil onto his finger and swirled it about Moira’s rosebud, pressing his finger inside to prepare her, and receiving a moan in return as she pushed her hips back. A resounding slap landed against her backside. He dabbed the ginger oil onto the largest plug he dared use with Moira and cautiously eased it into her. He watched the muscles in her back tense as the plug entered her, then her legs danced around as the burn began. He’d been mindful not to place too much oil on the device, since it was her first time with that size plug and with the sensation. As the flange rested between her bottom cheeks, Kyle landed a slap on the other side from the last one.

  Moira’s breath caught again. The sensation of being so full wasn’t entirely new after her experiences with Aidan, but it had been nearly six years. The burn from the ginger was excruciating, but the slaps eased the pain, giving her something else to focus upon. But as the sting faded from her globes, she was left with the effects of the ginger. The only benefit she saw was that every muscle between her belly and knees contracted, so she didn’t fear dropping the ben wa balls. But as she shifted in discomfort, the balls moved within her channel, making her arousal almost as unbearable as the ginger burn. She was desperate for Kyle to ease all of her needs, and she thought for a moment he would when he helped her off the table and lowered his mouth to her breast. He swirled his tongue over her nipple before suckling one and massaging the other. She trembled with need, but Kyle pulled away just as she thought his attention to her breast would bring her to climax.

  “Go to the corner, Moira,” Kyle commanded. He kissed the crown of her head, her forehead, the tip of her nose, and her lips before giving her a gentle nudge.

  Moira nodded and made her way to where she’d now logged numerous hours. Kyle wouldn’t keep her there long that day. She’d frustrated him, even angered him as she argued, but he’d already forgiven her. He had no wish to curb her courage to speak up, and he didn’t want her to resent him as she did Dónal. But he needed her to understand the danger she created by not considering where she argued, or who their audience was. They’d already disagreed strenuously about whether Kyle should continue her punishments and their play while she was with child.

  Moira pointed out that farmer’s wives worked alongside their husbands while carrying, and female servants in keeps still managed heavy platters while they were pregnant. She saw no difference between the physical strain she experienced with Kyle and what other women always endured. Kyle finally capitulated when Moira admitted that not having Kyle’s dominance scared her. She confessed she felt adrift without him, and she pointed out that he’d promised when they met on the MacDonnell ship not to set her adrift. And Kyle agreed he enjoyed the intimacy the implements brought them when used for pure pleasure.

  Thirty-Seven

  Kyle slipped from the chamber and went above deck to see how close they were to the ship Moira spotted. It shocked him to recognize the captain of the ship. He groaned as he looked over to the Lady Grace and found Keith looking back at him with a matching grimace. Once the ships were within speaking distance, all three dropped anchor and lowered their sails. The Lady Charity and Lady Grace tethered themselves together in case the ensuing conversation didn’t remain civil. The three captains walked toward the bows of their ships.

  “Aidan O’Flaherty,” Kyle called out. “What the fuck do you want?”

  “A good day to you too, Drifter,” Aidan called back.

  “Not still eating the MacDonnells out of house and home, and swiving Lizzie every waking hour?” Keith asked. As the words left Keith’s mouth, Kyle and Keith’s expressions once more matched. These were shock, followed by disgust. Lizzie MacDonnell appeared from the hatch that led below deck. Neither brother had heard of Lizzie sailing with Aidan. Seeing their expressions, Aidan grimaced, then shrugged.

  “Where is my lie-about sister?” Lizzie called as she came to stand beside Aidan, wrapping her arm around his. He fought to extract it from Lizzie’s grip and leaned away from her. Keith and Kyle chortled to see Aidan was not as thrilled to have Lizzie aboard his ship as he was to drop anchor in her on land.

  “What do you want with her, Lizzie?” Kyle asked. He knew he had to fetch Moira. He couldn’t keep an encounter with Aidan and her sister from her, but he wanted forewarning about Lizzie’s scheme.

  “I wish to see my dear sister,” Lizzie offered.

  “You’ve never been an adept liar,” Kyle spat. “Men ignored your lies because you’re not known to refuse anyone. What do you want with Moira?”

  “We have some news she needs to hear,” Aidan interjected. “You really should get her.” At Aidan’s seriousness, Kyle nodded. The Irishman was deadly calm during negotiations, but the surety in his voice now made the hair on the back of Kyle’s neck stand up.

  “It’ll be a moment,” Kyle warned before he glanced at Keith. His brother gave Kyle an imperceptible nod before Kyle made his way below. He opened the cabin door to find Moira exactly how he expected. Her hands were behind her back to keep away the temptation. Her feet were apart, and she rested her buttocks on them, mindful of her sore cheeks. She didn’t turn to greet him, instead lowering her head.

  Kyle helped her to feet and pulled her into his arms. He felt the last of her tension slip away as he held her. Her deep sigh and the way her body went limp told Kyle that she felt at ease after their argument, even if it hadn’t ended the way she wished. “Mo ghràidh, I need you to come up on deck with me.”

  Moira leaned back, and her brow furrowed as she noticed the wariness in his voice and his expression. She nodded and stepped back, but Kyle’s hands slid down her arms until they held hers. She looked past him to the door then back at him.

  “What’s happened, Kyle?”

  “Let me help you remove the plug and the balls, then I’ll help you dress. I’ll explain once you’re ready,” Kyle answered.

  “No. You’re scaring me. I want to know now,” Moira insisted. “I know I sound petulant, but you never sound like this. Something is wrong, and I want to know what’s happened. Oh, dear merciful God! Is it the English navy? Are they coming to take you?” Moira’s face crumpled as tears threatened. Mustering her resolve, Kyle watched as she straightened her spine and narrowed her eyes.

  “Easy, sweet one. You don’t need to rush into battle on my behalf,” Kyle chuckled. He was growing used to her shifting emotions, and rather than grow frustrated with them, he felt sorry for how Moira struggled at times. “Let me take out the plug, and you can release the balls.”

  “No,” Moira shook her head. “You planned for me to be in that corner longer. I—I don’t want to be—” Moira closed her eyes as she struggled to admit even to Kyle what she needed.

  “What is it, sweet one?” Kyle asked as he encircled her in his arms once more.

  “I need you, Kyle. God, how I ache and need you. At least these devices, as much as they torment me, also give me some relief. I don’t know that I can think straight at this point.”

  “Can you hurry?” Kyle asked as he glanced back at the door, then shook his head. He stuck out his hand, palm up. “Bugger them. Give me the balls, Moira.”

  She nodded and reached down to retrieve the marble spheres. Kyle lunged for her, and she sent the balls rolling across the cabin floor. He backed her against the
wall and lifted her until her legs wrapped around his waist. He plunged into her sheath as she clawed at his back. Their coupling was frenetic as they kissed through each thrust. Moira tunneled her hands into Kyle’s hair, each tug urging him on. The plug added to the tightness they normally experienced from Keith’s stiffened rod and Moira’s narrow channel.

  “Kyle!” Moira cried out as her release ripped through her, and his answering cry of “Moira” blended with her voice. He reached around her and withdrew the plug, tossing it into the washstand bowl. He rested his forehead against hers as they fought to catch their breath.

  “Was I too rough?” Kyle panted.

  “Can we do that again?” Moira grinned.

  “Cheeky,” Kyle said as he playfully pinched her bottom. “Loathe as I am to let you go, you need to get dressed and come above deck with me.”

  “Are you going to tell me what’s happening, or leave me to be shocked by whatever I find?” Moira gave him a speaking look.

  He lifted the gown she’d last worn on shore in Wicklow from a peg and brought it to her. Her trepidation grew if she needed to dress as a lady. After she pulled the gown down over her hips, she twisted away from him and crossed her arms.

  “Your sister and Aidan are on the ship you spotted,” Kyle stated.

  “Lizzie? What the devil is she doing on a ship?” Moira wondered.

  “I don’t know yet. It was Aidan who said you should come up,” Kyle explained. Moira nodded but said no more until they stood before her sister and her former lover.

  “What the fuck do you want?” Moira blurted.

  Thirty-Eight

  Aidan grinned, but Lizzie hissed. In turn, Aidan turned to Lizzie and glared. His mistress retreated a step before Aidan looked directly at Moira.

  “You are a matched pair,” Aidan said, his smile back in place. “Your lover greeted me the same way.”

  Moira felt Kyle’s hand brush against hers before they entwined fingers.

  “Husband,” Kyle corrected. They hadn’t legally exchanged vows, but he wouldn’t risk Aidan and Lizzie having heard they were. He suspected Aidan tested them.

  “You haven’t answered my question, Aidan. Do it now, or I’m the one who walks away,” Moira’s steely tone and unwavering glare clearly referenced something in their shared past that Kyle didn’t know about, but he stood beside her with resolve.

  “Your brother met with an untimely end,” Aidan announced.

  “Dónal’s dead?” Moira asked as though she wondered if it would rain. There was no emotion in her voice, no anger and no sadness.

  “I was the one who demanded the alliance with the O’Malleys,” Aidan explained. “Your brother failed to follow through.”

  “You bastard,” Moira hissed. “You made him sell me. You seduced me, abandoned me, swived my sister for years, and left me to raise your bastard. Then you made my brother give me to a man who would have likely beaten me worse than my brother. You knew what Dónal did and never once, not even while you bedded me, stopped him. You are weak and pathetic.”

  “Moira, be reasonable,” Aidan said with a smile.

  “Reasonable? You were a shite lover. Little did I know at the time, but you do not know what you’re doing,” Moira said emphatically. “Why my sister wants you is beyond me. All I can assume is the MacDonnell men aren’t any better than the O’Flaherty. Maybe it’s being Irish instead of Scottish. But you took my virginity, duped me into thinking you loved me, then jumped out of my bed to go to my sister’s. And you want me to be reasonable? I have been reasonable. I haven’t fucking killed you.”

  “Moira,” Lizzie gasped. “Your language.”

  “Sod off, Lizzie. Maybe Aidan keeps playing your games, but I won’t. I haven’t used a word yet I haven’t thought countless times. You’ve mocked me, scorned me, abused me. I have hated you for most of my life, and it feels wonderful to tell you finally. That you didn’t die alongside Dónal will always be Aidan’s greatest error.”

  “You spiteful bitch,” Lizzie hurled at Moira, but Moira just shrugged.

  “Yes,” Moira responded before turning back to Aidan. “You’ve told me you killed my brother. You have my sister, and she isn’t trying to escape. You’ve done what you had to. Sail away.”

  “I’m not sure I care for this side of you, Moira,” Aidan grumbled.

  “Good thing you don’t matter, O’Flaherty,” Kyle cut in. “I, on the hand, do matter. And I enjoy my wife’s spunk. Apparently, I enjoy quite a lot more of her, since I know what I’m doing.”

  Aidan scowled at Kyle but forced his attention back to Moira. “Your clan wishes you to return. I’m taking Sean with me once I return, and they need a chieftain.”

  “The bluidy hell you’re taking Sean anywhere. I’ll have him before I let you breathe long enough to touch him again. He could have just as easily been my child as Lizzie’s, and I’m the one who’s raised him. Touch him, and I will make sure your death is more painful and drawn out than anything the Red Drifter, the Scarlet Blade, the Dark Heart, and the Blond Devil could ever conceive of together. Sean is mine to raise.” Moira snapped her mouth shut. She’d issued a demand that affected Kyle as much as her, and she hadn’t paused for a breath to consider whether he would agree.

  “Sean comes with us,” Kyle confirmed when Aidan opened his mouth to disagree. “Neither you nor Lizzie care for the lad. Moira’s the only real mother he’s known. If he’s Dónal’s heir, then Moira will raise him until he can take his rightful place as chieftain.”

  Moira’s heart thudded in her chest as she listened to Kyle affirm her declaration. But even though she’d heard Kyle say “us,” he’d said Moira would raise the boy. She glanced up at Keith. His firm mouth and set jaw made his expression difficult to read, but she saw the encouragement in his eyes. He would defend her decision, and he would help her gain custody of Sean.

  “I told you, the MacDonnells want you to return.” Aidan didn’t put up a fight for Sean, and Lizzie said nothing. Moira would never understand how a mother could be so ambivalent to her own child, only interested in using him to manipulate men. “They don’t want a child for a chieftain, and since you’re Dónal’s sister and married, your children would be legitimate.”

  “Are you saying they wish for me to be chieftain?” Moira asked in disbelief. When Aidan and Lizzie nodded, Moira snorted. “That’s rich. They wish for me to come back now, so they can continue to use me. The council thinks to control me and use me as a puppet. No.”

  “But Moira,” Lizzie whined.

  “You have no say,” Moira snapped at her sister. “You’re older than me. They could have chosen you, but they don’t want you. From Aidan’s expression every time you open your mouth or touch him, he doesn’t want you either.”

  “What?” Lizzie gasped and spun toward Aidan, catching his expression of disgust pointed toward her, not Moira.

  “If I go back, then it’s as the chieftain with all the power that any man would have,” Moira asserted. “If I go back, my husband comes with me. Otherwise, I sail away with him and Sean, never to look back.”

  “And what? Will the Red Drifter be Lady of Clan MacDonnell?” Aidan snickered.

  Looking bored, Kyle shrugged. “I’m a decent cook, and I’ve been sewing sails and my clothes for nearly twenty years. I can manage a ship. I don’t see why I can’t learn to manage a keep.”

  Kyle gave Moira’s hand three quick squeezes, and she returned them with a long one. She knew he jested about his tasks, but Kyle was serious in his support of her. She leaned past Kyle and looked at Keith, who’d remained silent throughout the exchange. If she went to Dunluce, it meant Kyle would join her. That left Keith to sail alone. He grinned at her, barely able to contain his amusement as he nodded his head. Moira realized Keith’s blessing meant more to her than anything any of her clan’s councilmen could say.

  “The captains have other matters to see to,” Moira stated. “The clan will know my decision after I see Sean. And I warn you, Aidan O
’Flaherty. If you try to take that lad from me, you’d better hope you make it back to Galway and Augnanure Castle before I do. Sail along my coast again, and you will beg my husband to make me stop.”

  “Who are you?” Aidan asked with wonder. Neither Moira nor Kyle missed the lust that flared in Aidan’s eyes.

  “Kyle’s wife,” Moira responded as Kyle asserted, “My wife.”

  “Go wherever it is you’re going, O’Flaherty. Moira and I will go to Dunluce when our other business is through,” Kyle decided. He wrapped his arm around Moira, who welcomed the affection and leaned against him. Neither had to feign the comfort they drew from one another. Moira rested her head against Kyle’s chest and looked back at her sister and Aidan. The jealousy on their faces wasn’t hard to read. Moira suspected Aidan regretted giving her up now that he had Lizzie aboard. Lizzie eyed Kyle with lust. And they both envied the obvious love between Moira and Kyle. Aidan offered a clipped farewell and dragged Lizzie from the bow as he ordered his crew to hoist their sails.

  “Looks like our plans have changed,” Keith called out. “Canna, then Barra, then Dunluce. Moira, I expect a bed large enough to entertain.” Keith offered her a roguish grin and a wink. Moira blinked several times before she burst into giggles.

  “I have my own entertaining to do, brother,” Kyle responded as he lifted Moira into his arms, ordering his crew to get them underway. The couple wasn’t seen until the next day, but every man on the ship heard from them.

  Thirty-Nine

  “Moira!” Senga MacNeil called out in delighted surprise. The woman’s dark braid swished at her waist as she and a strawberry blonde woman hurried to greet the guests. “I didn’t think to see you again.”

  “Hello Senga,” Moira greeted her. She turned to the other woman and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Lady MacNeil.”