Lock (37 page)

“This isn’t such a bad life, Sparrow,” he said. “There’s worse.”

“And there’s better. I can’t live like this, Lock. I’m telling you I can’t.”

“We don’t have a choice right now.”

“There’s always a choice.” She slipped from his arms and disappeared below.

He stared at the moon, remembering that day in the brothel so long ago. “No, girl. Not always.”

“Lock?”

“Thought you were asleep.” Lock sat at the edge of the bed beside Sparrow, his shirt rolled up to his elbows, the front untied.

Sparrow shook her head, her eyes meeting his in the dimness.

He continued, “We’ll go ashore tomorrow. No point now. It’s too late.”

“Good.” She wondered if she sounded as strained as she felt. Ashore. This would be her last night with him. She’d been so angry at him for such a long time that she thought leaving would be simple. Now as she looked at him and knew she’d probably never see him again, she felt mostly sadness. Not average sadness, but a deep, raw ache, akin to how she’d felt when Thea died.
Lock is not dead! He’s just stubborn. And stupid. And… a pirate
. He
had
told her that much from the first.

“What’s wrong? I mean other than the usual you hate me and this ship.” He touched her face hesitantly. She’d pushed him away so often he scarcely ever tried touching her anymore.

“I don’t hate you.”

“No?”

She shook her head. She didn’t. She was angry with him and disappointed he refused to become the man she knew he could be. The truth was she loved him. She knew part of her would love him until the day she died.

She sat up and looped her arms around his neck. He embraced her so tightly she could scarcely breathe, but it was a wonderful feeling. She’d missed him, though they’d been living together at sea for several weeks.

“I thought you did hate me.”

She shook her head. “I love you, Lock.”

He looked into her eyes, the slightest smile on his lips. “That’s good to hear.”

“Do you still love me?”

“What kind of a question is that? Of course I do.”

“Prove it,” she pleaded, taking his face in her hands. “Tomorrow when we dock, leave this ship and don’t look back.” He didn’t reply, but remained with his eyes fixed on hers with confusion, sadness, and guilt. She sighed. “You won’t.”

“What would we do if we left the ship? I have nothing to offer you. No home. No money. No work.”

“We can build a home and find work. Damn it, Lock, I was a
princess
and was cast out of my kingdom with nothing. I survived. You survived in the Archipelago with that bitch of a mother and—”

“You deserve more than just surviving.”

“I deserve to be stuck on a ship full of cutthroats waiting for you to be overthrown like you overthrew Rino? Is that what you want for me? For our children? I will
not
raise a family with a pirate! I don’t care if you have nothing. You’ll have dignity and honesty. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Dignity?” He laughed humorlessly. “You know my life, Sparrow. You expect dignity?”

“For an intelligent man, you have no vision.”

“No…What are you talking about, girl? Vision. I have more visions than I’d like.”

“I’m talking about vision of the future as you make it, not something that comes to you in dreams. Stop remembering what you were and think about who you want to become.”

“I can see the near future.” He kissed her mouth, her neck.

Sparrow didn’t argue, didn’t push him away. Instead she clung to him and kissed him deeply. Her tongue slipped between his parted lips and stroked his. Lock buried his hand in her hair and wrapped his arm around her waist as he tugged her close, tilting her across his lap. Sparrow’s fingers gripped the steely muscles of his shoulders and back. She wanted to memorize every inch of his magnificent body to sustain her for the rest of her life.

Lock took her upper lip gently between his, running his tongue over it before his mouth traveled across her cheek and down her neck. Lowering her to the bed, he began undressing her, licking and nipping every inch of her flesh as it was bared.

His mouth covered one nipple, his tongue teasing the stiff nub with broad strokes. At the same time, his fingertips caressed her other nipple, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger and stroking it with the pad of his thumb.

Sparrow wanted to close her eyes to better enjoy the sensations, but she couldn’t keep from staring at him. She needed to see the muscles of his powerful body as he moved over her, to relish the beauty of his white and brown hair. She wanted to remember forever the expression on his handsome face as his passion built.

“I never thought I’d be so lost to one woman,” he said in a husky voice as he slipped to his knees on the wooden floor, grasped her thighs, and dragged her to the edge of the bed. He lowered his face between her legs and ran the tip of his tongue down each side of her clit. Sparrow shivered with impending desire and moaned softy when his tongue rimmed her pussy lips. The bed itself was low enough to the ground that Lock could thrust into her waiting pussy from where he knelt. He straightened and slipped his thick, hard cock inside her. Sparrow’s eyes closed halfway and her pulse quickened. How she would miss him!

As he thrust, one of his hands stroked her clit while his other played with her nipples, rubbing them in tender circles and gently tugging them. The sensations on so many sensitive parts of her body were enough to fling her headlong into a fiery, moaning orgasm. He continued thrusting and stroking until she lay still beneath him.

He slipped his stiff cock from her body and tugged her fully onto the bed. Stretching out beside her, he stroked wisps of hair from her face and brushed a kiss across her lips.

Sparrow turned to him, searching his face. “What about you?”

“I can wait. Tonight is for you.”

“But—”

“I want to convince you I still want your happiness, Sparrow.”

“Happiness isn’t just about physical love, Lock.”

His gaze held hers and she thought she saw a flicker of hesitation and perhaps regret.

“It’s one way I know I can please you.”

“I’d rather you pleased me less in lovemaking and left the ship instead.”

“Enough talk. We can have another discussion tomorrow. For tonight…” Lock’s mouth devoured hers. Though she knew she should push him away, she also realized it wouldn’t matter. He’d made up his mind, as she’d made up hers.

Lock rolled her onto her back and sifted his fingers through her hair. Brushing the soft mass aside, he kissed her nape then her shoulders. The tip of his tongue ran from the top of her spine to the indentation of her buttocks. One hand slipped between her legs, his fingers fluttering across her perineum then gathering moisture from her pussy. His damp fingers stroked her clit while his other arm snaked around her waist, lifting her slightly. Sparrow rose to her knees, her forearms flat against the pillow. His kisses covered her bottom.

Grasping her hips in both hands, he drew a deep breath as he entered her from behind.

“Oh, Lock,” she panted.

“Tell me what you want, girl.”

“I want you,” she said. In every way she wanted him, but as filled with pleasure as she was at the moment, it was not to last. It seemed the only way she could truly have him was in bed. Sorrow mingled with building desire in the pit of her belly. What else had she expected from a SothSea whore?

Sparrow gasped and moaned, orgasm hurling her into a quivering frenzy. His ragged breathing told her he must be close, though again he slipped, rock-hard, from her.

Rolling her onto her back, he covered her body with his, gazing deeply into her eyes. She stroked his face, trailed her fingertip over his lips and kissed him.

“Tell me what you want,” he whispered. His cock pressed between them and his eyes gleamed with passion.

“I want to feel your pleasure,” she said. “I want you to explode inside me. I want to hear my name on your lips when you come.”

His lips curved upward in the slightest smile before he kissed her. Sparrow reached between them, curling her fist around his thick cock and guiding him to her pussy lips.

In a swift motion, he filled her and began thrusting. Ignoring her own desire to close her eyes as his slow, steady movements rekindled her passion, she watched him. His blue eyes slipped shut, his lips parted as he drew sips of air. He buried his face in her neck and kissed her, his stubbled jaw pleasantly rough against her tender flesh.

Sparrow’s legs entwined with his. The bottom of her feet caressed his hair-roughened calves. Her hips lifted, meeting his thrust for thrust.

“Lock, oh, Lock!” she cried, clinging to him tightly as another marvelous orgasm built deep inside her.

The first pulses of her pussy dragged him along with her and he called her name in a voice raw with passion. Sparrow gripped the heated muscles of his broad back as he surged inside her, his big body slamming hers into the bed.

With a groan, he rolled onto his side and held her close.

She lay in his arms, feeling the rise and fall of his chest against her back as he slept. She didn’t try to sleep. She wanted to remember every moment of that night—the last she would ever spend with the pirate Lock the White.

* * * * *

“Sparrow, wait!”

Sparrow glanced over her shoulder at Ilias who jogged up the dirt road toward her.

He fell into step beside her, panting. “You walk at a good clip. Where are you going? I saw you leave the ship while I was delivering some of the Captain’s supplies.”

“I’m just going for a walk. I was sick of being stuck on the ship.”

“Walk?” Ilias’s dark eyes narrowed at the satchel and water flask Sparrow carried. “With all your belongings?”

“Ilias, just leave me alone, please. It’ll be better for both of us if you go back to the ship. I don’t want Lock getting any ideas.”

“About what?” Ilias looked worried. “I knew it! You’re running from him, aren’t you? He’s never mistreated you, has he? Not that there’s much I could do about it, but I’d take a shot at killing him when he’s asleep—”

“Ilias!” Sparrow shook his shoulder. “I don’t want you trying to kill anybody, least of all Lock.”

“Good, because he’d smash me into shark feed.”

“He’s never mistreated me—at least not physically.” She closed her eyes momentarily, remembering the warmth of his body against hers the night before. If only morning had never come. “I just can’t live on the Lady Fire anymore. I can’t watch him throw his life away and become the same monster he was when we first met. He’s headed on a path of destruction, not only his own, but of anyone who gets in his way. The trouble is, even he doesn’t know where his way leads.”

“Well do you know anyone in these parts? Do you have any money? Anywhere to stay?”

“I’ll find something. I’ve been in a situation like this before. I’ll survive.”

Ilias gently clasped her wrist and tugged her toward another pathway. “Come with me. I can help you.”

“Where are we going?”

“In the market, some gypsies were selling their wares. I spoke with them. One of the women is a cousin of my mother’s. They’ll give you a safe place to stay. If they like you, they might even let you work with them. And they’ll know how to keep you hidden when Lock comes looking for you.”

Sparrow held his eyes. “So you think he’ll follow me?”

“Do cows shit in the field? The man would be insane to let you go…” Ilias blushed. “Sorry, but it’s the truth, Sparrow.”

“I’m really going to miss you, Ilias. You’ve been a good friend.”

“You, too. I wouldn’t take anyone but a close friend to the gypsies—nor would they accept anyone but a close friend of one of their own. We’re a close knit people, as you’ll see.”

“You know if Lock finds out what you’ve done he might kill you. It seems all he’s capable of lately is violence.”

“I think I have to risk it this time. You don’t belong on the Lady Fire.”

“I’ll never forget this, but I think I have a plan. Once you introduce me to your friends, and if they’re willing to accept me, I’ll return with you to the market. You make sure you stay with Lock and I’ll say I’m going back to the ship. That way he’ll have no way of blaming you when I disappear.”

Ilias winked. “I think you’ve been hanging around us pirates too long.”

Far too long for my taste
, Sparrow thought as they continued over the hillside.

* * * * *

“Ilias,” Lock called across the deck.

The crewman approached. “Captain?”

“Sparrow’s not below. Have you seen her? She should have been back by now.”

“Haven’t seen her since she left us in the market this afternoon.”

Lock glanced skyward, concerned. It would be dark soon. Sparrow should have been on board. “Find ten men and come ashore with me. We have to find her before nightfall.”

Ilias nodded and shouted for the nearest crewmen. Lock’s eyes swept the dock, hoping for some sign of her. She’d told him hours ago, she was returning to the ship. What if something had happened to her on the way back from the market? The market was no more than a ten minute walk to the ship, but someone could have robbed her, raped her, killed…
No!
He wouldn’t think of it! Why had he let her go alone? Rhahas was one of the safest settlements he knew. There was little crime, and she said she was sick of him sending Ilias with her like a guard dog wherever she went. He wished he’d have sent the man with her today.