The Devil's Good Intentions (53 page)

Katherine agreed with him on that point, Lord Pennington was a fool to leave her in this man’s care. For one, the French couldn’t be trusted and for two, this man looked more like a pirate than a captain.

She furrowed her brows and gave him a confused look to indicate she didn’t understand him.

“
Forgive me, petite. It is often that I think out loud and my thoughts are in my native tongue.” He emphasized the last word and drew his eyes to her lips.

“
Don’t.” She warned him.

She knew without a doubt that if he stuck his tongue in her mouth she would bite it off.

“
If Lord Pennington has no effect on you, then I can assure that my Husband will.” She said coolly, trying to ignore the fact that she was beneath this man and partially naked.

“
Ah Oui! Monsieur Cresta. True, he and his brothers are a force of their own! I assure you however that you are free to enjoy my attentions.” He replied in a mocking tone.

“
You think so?” She replied with bored curiosity.

“
Oui, your husband will never find you and if you behave I could take very good care of you.”

“
No.” She stated with distaste.

“
Oui” He whispered back before leaning over her.

She gasped as his lips once again came down upon her, this time meeting her mouth while his fingers expertly plucked at her breasts, bringing her nipples to the forefront.

When the shock wore off and she realized what he was doing, she tore her lips away from his with a disturbed cry and turned her face away from him.

He didn’t appear to be disturbed by that. His lips traveled over her jaw bone and down her neck.

“
Stop!” She whimpered out as his lips found her pulse and teasingly licked at it.

“
Don’t do this” She sobbed out, squeezing her eyes shut and trying desperately to ignore his ministrations.

“
I could have you eating out of my hand Cherie if I wished it” he seductively whispered into her ear, right before he sucked her earlobe into his mouth and nipped it.

She could feel the bulge of his sex pressing against her thighs and realized that he may very well disregard Pennington and take her for himself, in fact she was almost convinced that that would be the case.

Should she tell him that she was with child? Would it make a difference? Lord Pennington would probably beat her so she would lose her child - lest it interfere with his plans of annulment, however the captain may let her keep the child and use her until she was so swollen that he was either not attracted to her anymore or couldn’t spend his lust on her because of her size. Of the two, Captain Sebastian was the safest option for her she supposed, but the idea of never seeing Salvador again was more painful than anything Sebastian or Pennington could do to her. She wanted her husband; she wanted to feel the safety of his arms and his reassurance that he would never let anything bad happen to her. Instead she was trapped beneath this French pirate who was very aroused and was taking liberties with her person as though he thought he had the right.

“
Chaton, I can see you are not in the mood and I for one prefer my woman purring with pleasure to a hissing fit.” He announced as he sat back on his heels to look over her.

“
Alas you are correct. I would give up much money if I was to take you from Pennington and I can’t say you are worth the fortune that I would forfeit. Maybe if you were willing?” He caught her eyes and held her in the intensity of his.

“
No.” she managed to croak out between sobs. “Your touch leaves me feeling filthy and degraded.” She tacked on through clenched teeth.

His grin widened and for just a moment she thought she saw mischief in his eyes before they seductively caressed her breasts one last time before lifting himself off of her and off of the bed.

“
To make it up to you I will send you a bath.” He responded and then bowed before turning to the door and knocking on it. Within seconds the door was opened and she was once again alone and locked in what she was considering now to be her cell.

Once again she rolled onto her stomach and cried into her pillow.

~

They were making good time. The winds had picked up and were blowing in their favour. The sails caught the wind and their ship soared across the ocean waves.

Salvador still had not shaken the incredible need to get home but had somehow managed – with Charles help – to stop pacing and get some food into his belly. To pass the time, he did push-ups and used their trunk as weights. Nothing would ease his mind until Katherine was in his arms and he was assured that they were all safe.

When the door opened, he lowered himself to the ground from the last push-up he had done and rolled onto his back.

“
The captain wants to know if you want to be dropped off where he picked you up or if you want to sail straight into Oxford.” Charles enquired from the open doorway.

“
Oxford.” He replied without having to give it a second thought.

Charles nodded and shut the door behind him.

Charles had been his lifeline over the past 48 hours. He had informed the others that he was not well and that he preferred to be alone. In a way it wasn’t a lie, Salvador felt sick to his stomach with anxiety and worry and a bit mad at times when he wanted to claw his way out of the room and pick a fight with anyone - just to take some of the edge off.

They were just short of two days travel before they reached port if the ship kept at the pace they were going and they didn’t run into any storms. The closer they got the more anxious he grew. Oddly enough, the town that they boarded from is miles closer to his estate than Oxford, but his gut was telling him that he needed to keep in the direction of the city. Rather than question his irrational feelings, he went with them and in the meantime tried to stay sane.

Charles had kept himself occupied by sitting with the brothers and going over the blueprints for their new estate. He would have liked to be involved in that discussion but knew he would not be able to concentrate on them. Instead, he opted to continue to punish his body until he was so exhausted that he collapsed into a deep state of sleep.

~

Katherine heard the door open again and decided to act the same as the last time. Stay on her belly and burry her face into the pillow.

She could hear the shuffle of many feet and the random curse from one man or another. Eventually the noise stopped and she was once again locked in her room. She snuck a peek and noted that she was alone. In the middle of the floor stood a tub that took up almost all of the foot space in the room and was big enough for her to sink her body into. She was scared that the captain would time his next return for when she was safely in the tub and considered ignoring the temptation, but the thought of his lips and hands on her made her want to throw caution to the wind and wash him off of her skin. Then the memory of Pennington’s lips on her flashed through her mind and she leapt up and almost fell into the steaming water.

Just as she began to wonder how she was going to manage this, the door opened again. She didn’t have enough time to turn to the bed as the captain strolled into the room and spun her around so her back was to his chest.

She started to protest and then froze when he showed her the knife in his hand.

“
No Cherie, I told you I mean no harm.” He whispered into her ear.

He stepped back from her and then cupped her wrists in his hands. She felt the cold steel against her skin and sucked in her breath.

With speed and skill, he sliced through the rope. Her hands would have fallen to her sides if he hadn’t continued to hold them.

“
Don’t make me regret this” He murmured and then dropped her hands.

She remained where she was, frozen and scared.

She heard him sigh and then the door closing and locking behind him.

Peeping over her shoulder to assure that he was really gone, she let out her breath that she wasn’t aware she was holding in. Immediately she rubbed her thumbs against her bruised wrists and rolled her shoulders, trying to work out the pain and kinks.

Praying that the captain wouldn’t return, she slipped out of her torn nightdress and quickly sunk into the hot water.

She gave an involuntary sigh as the water numbed her muscles. It was probably hotter than she preferred and her skin immediately turned pink as the heat lightly scalded her delicate skin, but she didn’t care. On the table next to her was a towel, soap and within reach were the grapes and the wine.

Reaching over, she grabbed at the soap and scrubbed her skin raw and then washed her hair. Only when she felt that she had sufficiently washed all traces of Pennington and the Captain off of her, did she replace the soap and pull her meal closer to her.

After she finished off the bread and the grapes, she washed them down with the wine and then sunk back into the water.

The heat was getting to her and her stress was finally warring into fatigue. She felt her limbs weakening and her lids growing heavy. With slurred thoughts and groggy movements, she managed to get herself out of the tub without falling. Leaning against the wall, she grabbed the towel and dried herself off the best she could.

Before she turned to her ripped gown, her toe brushed up against something on the floor. Reaching down, she picked up a nightshirt that must have been wrapped in the towel. It definitely belonged to a man and when she put it on, it hung down to her knees and the arms went about a hands length past her fingers. The front of the shirt had the same open V as the captains had with a crisscross of strings to tie it shut if desired. She did desire for them to be closed but decided to do so when she was sitting down and the room wasn’t closing in on her.

She slumped down in an exhausted heap and groaned as her head hit the pillow. Managing to lift her legs onto the bed, her last thought before she let sleep take her was that the tingly feeling in her skin would have felt very nice if she wasn’t so sleepy.

Katherine awoke to the sound of moaning. Her head was groggy and her skin felt as though it was on fire. She heard the seductive moan again and through the fog in her mind she could have sworn it came from her lips. Her cabin was stifling hot and she lifted her hand to wipe off the drop of perspiration that was trailing down her neck. Even her limbs felt heavy and she knew she must be between wakefulness and sleep. She felt a tickle on her inner thigh and then the most pleasant feeling between her legs.

She must have been dreaming of Salvador before the heat woke her, even now she could still feel him as though he was really there. She would have taken off her nightshirt if it wasn’t already off. She must have done that while she slept, which was a good thing since even the sheets below her made the skin on her back burn and tingle. Again she heard the faint moan escape from her lips as the delicious swirl of a tongue played around her bud.

“
Salvador” She whispered out as she tried to slip back into her dream. Even though she knew it was a dream, she would have preferred to spend her time in captivity lost in a blissful dream rather than awake and frightened.

His fingers trailed up the sides of her bare skin leaving a path of fire, causing her to arch her back when the fingers gently caressed her breasts.

Odd that she would dream of Salvador gently making love to her when all she had really known was exploding passion and demanding love making. She briefly wondered if this was her sub-conscience telling her she would prefer slow and sated to fast and furious.

He kissed the inside of her thigh which sent a wave of tingly bliss throughout her thighs and into her already heated core.

Her skin was extremely sensitive and even a drop of perspiration sent waves of pleasure across her skin.

He kissed her bud causing her to flinch and moan and then thought she would lose her mind when he slowly kissed his way up to her lips.

The dream felt so real yet oddly different. Salvador had taken her slow sometimes in the beginning of their love making, but he felt different this time. He wasn’t as heavy and his hands felt alien to her. Whatever he was doing to her felt sinfully delightful, but even that didn’t feel right. She felt an anxious stirring within her and her skin was not of her own. She was sure that if she were to touch herself she would have the same effect.