The Pirate's Jewel (33 page)

“Wait! Don’t.”

Nolan glanced at her over his shoulder. His muscles tensed
at the urgency in her voice. A blush spread across the bridge of her nose and
down her neck.

She took a deep breath, the kind needed for courage, and
stepped toward him. “I want to see you. All of you. And, no, my father doesn’t
know I’m here.”

Nolan let his breeches fall to the floor. He straightened,
turning to face her, letting her gaze at him in the light of the lantern she
had carried into the room. Her words altered his mood instantly. Forget
Bellamy. Nolan’s heart thumped in his chest, and there was only one thing on
his mind. He spread his hands slightly. “Take your fill.”

She found a hook on which to hang her lantern, and then moved
near enough to put her palms on his chest but left enough distance so she could
gaze at his body. Nolan’s blood quickened. For every second that passed, there
was more of him to see.

“I missed you.” She trailed her hands over his arms.

Nolan wanted her with an urgency that had nothing to do
with logic, but some last stronghold of reason warred with him. Her loyalty
could no longer be divided. She had to choose him. He forced himself to keep
his head. “Why did you stay on the island?”

She dropped her hands to her sides. “Oh, I had a choice,
did I? You and my father argue over me like I’m not even there. It sounded like
you two agreed I would stay on the beach.”

Nolan didn’t move. She was fully dressed and angry. He was
naked with an erection. Some men might decide it was time to put on some
clothes, save a little face. Nolan hoped if he didn’t move, she would start
touching him again. “But you’re here now. Aren’t you?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her chin.
“I didn’t like the way you two decided my fate. After my father fell asleep, I
woke Parker and had him row me out to the ship.”

Nolan smiled. He didn’t want to argue with her after all.
That was the last thing he wanted. His body was definitely winning the battle
over reason. “Good thing I left some men to guard you.”

Her tight features relaxed. “I thought they were guarding
the treasure.”

“You mean more to me than that treasure.”

“Is that true?” The moist sheen that brightened the hopeful
expression in her eyes tugged at his heart. That she doubted how much he cared
for her, loved her, squeezed his throat until he feared his own eyes might water.

He glanced down, more comfortable with another form of his
affection for her. “I think that’s obvious.”

He didn’t reach for her. She had to come to him. The way
she looked up at him with her head tilted, lips parted, clearly invited his
attention, but he forced his arms to remain by his sides.

Her gaze slid down him, stopping at his arousal. Nolan
could feel the rush of his own blood expanding his erection with a mindless
urgency that stomped out all other thoughts. He closed his eyes.

When she pressed her hands on his chest, he willed himself
not to move. His patience was paying off. The tension between them today had
reminded him of their wedding night, and he had no intention of repeating his previous
mistakes. This was her seduction, though they both knew she’d had him the
moment she entered the cabin. Still, he’d let her set the pace.

She let her palms graze the contours of his abdomen before
moving lower. “Are we truly not married?”

Once her destination became clear, Nolan found it harder
to follow the drift of her conversation. Every muscle tensed in anticipation of
the slide of her hands. She brushed her thumbs across the hollow near his hips,
and Nolan bit back a moan. He swallowed, not sure if he had a voice to speak. “To
me we are. I’ll marry you again if you want.”

She somehow avoided the very demanding part of him that
craved her touch so much he pulsated, and smoothed her hands over his thighs.
“That means we’re not married. I’m not sure the first time wasn’t a mistake.”

He opened his eyes. Her answer crept rudely into his daze
of pleasurable sensation. What he saw almost made him forget why he’d opened
his eyes in the first place. She had dropped to her knees. Her palms had
slipped to the back of his thighs, continuing on their downward exploration.
Her mouth hovered intoxicatingly close to paradise.

“Why…mistake?” he asked.

She glanced up at him and grinned. Her confident expression
told him she knew what she was doing to him. “I want you to love me more than
you hate my father.”

Nolan exhaled loudly, which sounded a little like an anguished
gasp. He should just tell her what she wanted to hear. Unfortunately, he didn’t
behave that way, not even under this kind of torment. His hatred of Bellamy was
a living thing. It had been growing for years. Just thinking of it made lust’s
strangling grip loosen. “Let me love you. I’ll show you.”

“That’s not what I mean.” She gently guided his hips
forward. Using only the tip of her tongue, she touched him.

This time he did gasp. Strong desire streaked from his
cock, gripping him even tighter than before. His breath came in short gulps.
There was no point in rational thought. His center became the feel of her warm
wet tongue. “Marry me. I’ll make you happy.”

“Killing my father won’t make me happy.” She took him in
her mouth. Nolan had the brief thought that someone had told her to do this to
him, but who that might be was not something he wanted to think about at the
moment.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. His knees
felt weak, but he didn’t want her to stop. Not for anything. He forced himself
to hold still, not to thrust. He didn’t want to scare her. “I won’t,” he said,
not sure if his breathless words were intelligible.

She gripped him at the base with a firm hand while her
mouth and tongue applied maddening attention to the head of his cock.
Apparently experimenting, she alternated between sucking and then licking the
length of him, drawing a wet line on the sensitive underside. Oh, someone had
instructed her, Nolan thought briefly, and it had better just have been
verbally.

“Not enough, Nolan.”

“No.” He agreed, or moaned, which was about all he could
do at the moment. Not enough. Not nearly enough. He buried his fingers in her
hair. The urge to thrust compelled him beyond control, so he slightly rubbed
his aching cock against her soft cheek and into her hair. The sensation gripped
him like a fist and he did it only one more time, pulling away with the
realization he could find release this way in the breadth of a heartbeat.

She kissed his hipbone, apparently aware of how close to
the brink he was, backing off the torment. And just when he thought he could
form a semi-rational thought, she blew on his burning skin, still wet from her
thorough attentions. The new sensation took him to another level of insanity.
“No more fighting. Make peace with my father so we can stay married.”

The need to have her mouth on him again blurred the edges
of his vision. His eyes were hard to keep open, except when they lazily focused
on her mouth so close to his engorged sex. He had to say or do something to encourage
her to do that to him again, just for a minute, just one more time. He tugged
her hair gently to guide her back. She didn’t budge. He stopped before using
any force. “No more fighting…with Bellamy. Yes?”

With exaggerated slowness, she wrapped her fingers around
the base of his erection and guided him into her mouth. Nolan let his head fall
back. He glanced down, watching her sweet lips work to please him. A rush of
lust so strong poured over him he had to fight to control it. He hissed and
jerked away.

She looked up at him. “Did I hurt you?”

He leaned down and pulled her up. “More than you know.”

He stepped back, landing on the bed with her on top of
him. Getting inside her immediately was his only thought. He arranged her legs
so she straddled him. Even before he slipped his hands under her dress, he knew
she wore nothing under it.

He moved his hands up her thighs, caressing her bottom.
His tide of urgency subsided enough to be manageable until she rocked against
his hard flesh, still slick from her mouth. She caught on fast. Too fast. He was
wet enough to ease their coupling, but he wanted her to be closer to his level
of arousal. Once he entered her, he wouldn’t last long.

He sat up, forcing her onto her back. He pushed her skirts
around her waist. Without any coy warning, he nudged her legs apart and licked
her with the flat of his tongue.

She gasped when his lips touched her in an openmouthed
kiss. She was already wet and tasted like pure sex. He tightened his grip on
her thighs, pulling her closer. The soft sound of pleasure that slipped from
her throat sent an erotic shiver across the tight skin of his cock.

He gripped her buttocks in his palms, raising her hips, pinning
her as he focused his assault on the center of her passion. She cried out loud
enough for the crew to hear, but he didn’t care.

With her feet braced on the bed, she angled her hips, straining
to get closer to him. He slipped a finger inside her, matching the rhythm of
her movements. She contracted around him, and he jerked in response. She
teetered on the brink of release, and he needed to be deep inside her when she
shattered.

He covered her, but she pushed on his shoulders, stopping
him. His mind struggled for an explanation. His braced arms supported his
weight, so he knew he wasn’t crushing her.

She stared at him under heavy eyelids. “I want it to be
like before.”

“What do you mean?”

She lowered her gaze. It amazed him that she could still
be shy after what she had done to him with her mouth. “I want to be on top.”

He smiled. “Please, be my guest.”

He moved off her so she could sit up. Watching her unlace
her dress added a drugging dimension to his raging lust. He wanted to help her,
but his hands shook. If he wanted to let her have her way, he had to use all
his will to hold back. He sat on his heels, his erection burning against his
stomach.

She slipped out of her gown and smiled at him. It was a
sly smirk that terrified and excited. “Lie back.”

He did as she commanded. When she crawled on top, he
immediately reached to position her. She grabbed his wrists and pushed them to
his sides. “Don’t touch me until I say. Don’t even move.”

Nolan swallowed hard, hoping he could comply. She guided
him into her slowly, not taking him all the way. He could barely tame the urge
to thrust. She backed off way too soon. He curled his hands in the bedclothes
to keep from pulling her down.

She braced her hands on his chest, her head back, her long
hair brushing his thighs, her eyelids heavy with desire. God, but she was
enjoying this. Her movements were like a hypnotizing dance, and the beat of the
music was his own heart. He closed his eyes, unable to watch. She moved up and
down, taking no more than half of him, circling her hips, pleasuring herself
and torturing him. He wanted to climax. Needed to.

“Jewel. Please,” he managed between wracking grips of
pleasure that made it hard to breathe.

“All right. You can touch me.” She guided his hands to her
breasts. “Here,” she purred. He watched her through half-closed eyes. He
massaged her breasts, gently pinching her nipples.

She undulated her hips, and the movement seemed to please
her, but for him it was just a new form of torture because she still hadn’t
taken him all the way. He increased the pressure on her engorged nipples and
arched his hips, unable to restrain himself. Finally, a moan slipped past her
lips and she slid all the way down his length. There was no way he could stop
his hips from arching against her sweet descent. Her muscles squeezed him from
the inside while her soft bottom caressed him from the outside. He couldn’t
take it anymore.

He grabbed her hips, pulling her hard against him as he
thrust upward. She convulsed instantly. Her contractions milked his last shred
of resistance. He arched back, almost coming off the bed with the force of his
release.

Jewel collapsed against his chest, their bodies still joined.
After he regained his strength, he rubbed light circles across her back. He
hadn’t lost her after all.

He kissed the top of her head and tried to recall what he
had promised to get him here. Memory flooded back, and his exhausted muscles
tensed all over again, but not in a way that promised another round of blissful
release. Unaware that his peaceful reprieve had been snatched away by the
tentacles of reality, Jewel nuzzled her cheek against his chest. Nolan brushed
back her hair and tried to breathe while he convinced himself that a truce with
Bellamy would be worth it if it brought him more moments like this.

Not fighting with Bellamy would be an unnatural act. He
would have to be a saint. But better a saint than a priest. Now, all he had to
do was to keep from getting killed while he walked on water.

Jewel held up a ring topped with a fat green stone,
angling it so the sun pouring through the clearing created by the waterfall
could shine through. The square cut emerald sparkled with life as it captured
the sun and breathed from within. The ring was the most spectacular item they
had recovered yet. At least, Jewel thought so. The others seemed just as
impressed with the growing pile of gold coins the divers had retrieved from the
pool’s dark bottom. Kent’s treasure equaled if not exceeded its rumored value.

“It matches your eyes. If it were up to me, I’d see you
kept it for yourself.”

Without glancing at her father, Jewel tossed the ring in a
basket with the rest of the jewelry. Brooches, pearl necklaces, and a ruby and
onyx-encrusted cross filled the container to overflowing. Parker had excitedly named
the precious stones for her. Jewel had never seen such riches, not even in her
dreams. None was as fine as the ring, but she would rather wear the tail of a
firefly around her finger than inherit her father’s greed. “The treasure’s for
everyone to share evenly.”