Katherine jerked. “What?”
“I do not intend to stop once we leave Whitehall,” Liam said. “I wish to be at sea and en route as soon as possible—by nightfall.”
Katherine stared, speechless.
He smiled, lazy and predatory, at once. “Did not the queen explain? I am to escort you home.”
She could not believe her ears.
“Come, darling, do not look so distraught. I might become insulted.”
“Whatever could she be thinking!” Katherine cried. “Surely you jest—or you lie!”
His glance raked her. “I neither jest nor lie, dearheart. The queen wishes for me to atone for my sins, and as ’twas I who interfered with your voyage home, ’tis only just that I should assist you in completing your voyage.” He grinned.
“I shall not go with you,” Katherine gasped. “You have no intention of escorting me home! You will abduct me….” she faltered, her cheeks red.
He laughed. “And what else is it you think I shall do?”
She gripped the table, about to leap to her feet. The urge to flee was instinctive.
He clamped his large hand upon one of hers, more forcefully this time, so that she could not move. “Katherine, I will take you to Hugh. I am no fool to arouse the queen’s ire—and suspicions—again by repeating abduction. But…” His eyes turned to smoke. And he shrugged.
Katherine’s heart beat wildly. Dare she believe him? That he would take her home—that he did not intend to defy the queen by abducting her a second time? She was stunned; she could hardly think. She supposed she must believe him. Liam would be an utter fool to anger Elizabeth after obtaining a pardon. Katherine felt a touch ofbitter jealousy. Surely the queen had been prettily seduced to have agreed to such madness—to have pardoned a damnable pirate and charged him with escorting her home. Katherine looked into his gaze. She did not doubt that he would continue to attempt to seduce her.
She promised herself that he would not succeed.
Katherine cleared her throat. “The queen approves of my marriage to Hugh.”
Liam did not respond.
“If you trespass upon what belongs to Hugh, you will also arouse her ire.”
Still he made no comment, watching her steadily with silver eyes.
“So you are thwarted, O’Neill.”
Finally he began to smile. Katherine grew uneasy. He did not look like a man who had been denied his prize. “Am I truly thwarted, Katherine?” he asked.
She was wary, refusing to reply. Their gazes clashed, held.
Instinct warned her the time had come to leave the table. She almost jumped to her feet. Too late. His hand gripped her chin, anchoring it in place. Her knees buckled and she sat again. And then he pulled her face forward and his mouth claimed hers.
Katherine’s hands came up and she pressed his shoulders, to push him away. It was futile. Worse, with thumb and forefinger he exerted a subtle pressure and her jaws opened. Instantly his tongue swept deep into her mouth. And with that invasion came another kind. Molten heat pooled in Katherine’s body, condensing between her thighs.
She gasped into his mouth. His tongue moved more disturbingly. Katherine’s body shook. As his kiss continued, she grew dazed. She fought the languor stealing over her body and managed to punch his shoulder. He growled his response and continued kissing her, this time forcing his tongue around hers.
Katherine managed to make a sound, but it was raw and only partly a protest. Somehow her fists had uncurled, and she held his shoulders.
He tore his mouth from hers, unsmiling, eyes ablaze. Wide-eyed, Katherine stared at him, absolutely breathless.
Lusty male cheers and hoots sounded amidst female giggles and whispers. Then the hall was filled with thunderous applause, and the spectators began to cheer them. Katherine started, came to her senses, glanced wildly around. It seemed that a hundred men leered at her, that a hundred women cast covetous glances at Liam. She jumped to her feet. This time he let her go, rising as well, one hand under her elbow. “If I am thwarted, then what, pray tell, was that?”
Katherine met his potent gaze, and feared her virtue would soon be lost.
Somehow, the stakes had changed. Yet she knew not what game they played. She knew only that she was still the prize—and that he was bent upon claiming her.
A few hours later, Katherine was aboard theSea Dagger, which was racing toward the sea. She had hardly spared Juliet a thought in the preceding days, but now she was glad to see her friend, and the two girls embraced warmly. Juliet’s stay upon the pirate ship had been uneventful, but Katherine had plenty to impart, and she told Juliet all that had occurred since Liam had taken her to see her father. Juliet listened, wide-eyed.
