“Margery and I did.” But then she grinned and tried to make light of it, so it wouldn’t sound so unpiratelike, and added, “It was either that or wait forever for the butcher shop to reopen.”
He didn’t laugh. He touched her cheek with the back of his fingers, almost like he was telling her he knew she wasn’t as bad as she pretended to be. It made her uncomfortable when he showed her this tender side of him. It also reminded her that she was lying in the arms of the man she still meant to get even with.
“I think I’m fine now,” she told him, sitting up to lean away from him. “It even sounds like the wind has died down a bit.”
“No it doesn’t. And maybe I’m not so fine now,” he replied as he pulled her back against him and firmly fastened his mouth to hers.
That damn quickly, all of the amazing passion that she’d felt the other night was back to inflame her and push away all of her resolve. She put her arms around his neck and returned his kiss wholeheartedly, and did some improvising of her own, tasting him with her tongue. He was so intoxicating! She even turned slightly, enough to press her breasts hard against his chest. His groan was sweet music to her ears.
It wasn’t long before he stood up, lifting her in his arms, and carried her to his bed. Without pausing once, he seemed not to even think about the shackle. What a cold dousing it would have been if it had still been attached to her ankle and had pulled them back. Nothing prevented him from laying her on his bed and stripping out of his wet clothes with such haste. She certainly didn’t. She was too busy watching him with bated anticipation as each piece of clothing was tossed aside.
This was her first real unobstructed view of his tall, splendid body in all its glory. When she’d bathed him she’d tried not to look so she wouldn’t succumb to her desire for him, and when he’d made love to her before, he’d already been on top of her by the time she realized he was really there bare naked. But now she was amazed at how much it thrilled her to see him like this. He was so lean and muscular. There was no part of him that didn’t ripple with muscle as he moved, from his wide chest that tapered to those lean flanks, to his strong arms. Such long limbs—even his legs were proportioned just right to the rest of his fine, athletic physique. It took her breath away, how handsome he was.
She laughed when he dove onto the bed because it bounced them a few times. He did as well. But then he was rolling them over and he began to swiftly remove her clothes.
She placed a hand over his and shyly reminded him, “Didn’t you promise to remove my clothes slowly?”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of her fingers. “I remember. I’ll try, Gabby, but I have to confess, you make me feel like an untried youth, I have so little control when I get near you. This isn’t the first time. There’s nothing more I’d like to do than savor every delicious moment with you, but my God, you fill me with such passion!”
She felt some of that passion now as he kissed her, again and again. But he tried, he really did, to remove her clothes slowly. He even kissed her arms and legs as they were exposed. He just got rid of her shirt rather quickly so he could fasten his mouth to her breasts, which drove her a little wild herself.
A few times he gasped, “My God, woman, you are so beautiful,” as he gazed down at her breasts, and again when he turned her over to kiss the small of her back and ran his hands slowly up the back of her thighs.
She shivered deliciously. His touch was so gentle, his mouth so hot, such an extraordinary contrast.
“I think you’re beautiful as well,” she said, and he laughed.
What they were doing was even more beautiful. The wonder of his touch dazzled her as he caressed her arms, her neck, her cheek; even her toes didn’t escape his notice. But the passion was there, just under the surface, barely contained. She felt it when he finally gathered her close and kissed her deeply, and it seemed the passion caught up and overtook her before it did him.
It all happened so fast, she had no time to think about anything other than the pleasure that she knew was only moments away. And there it was, exploding around her the very moment he entered her. Good God, so quickly it happened, so sublime, and it lasted so long, she was even still throbbing around him moments later when he stiffened and plunged deep for his own climax.
Her sigh of contentment was almost a purr. She didn’t want to move, didn’t want to think, didn’t want to consider what she’d just done—again.
“Sleep here where you’ll be comfortable,” he said with a kiss to her brow just before he left the bed. “I’ll go get rid of the storm for you.”
Half asleep already, she did hear him and smiled over that whimsical comment. Battle storms just for her, would he? What a silly, sweet man.
Chapter 38
GABRIELLE WOKE TO SUNSHINE POOLING ACROSS THE FLOOR.The storm was over. If Drew had returned to the cabin, it wasn’t to wake her. She had the room to herself and dressed quickly, then immediately checked the door. Still locked.
She sighed and moved back to sit on her blankets, but changed her mind and moved to his bed instead. She made it up neatly first, then sat in the middle of it. Much more comfortable, and why not? Obviously, if he’d thought she was shackled to begin with, he knew better now and wasn’t going to try to restrain her in some other way, well, other than the damned locked door.
Her plan for revenge wasn’t working. How the deuce was Drew Anderson going to go mad with desire for her if she kept letting him make love to her? She was going to have to change her strategy. Never mind making him just want her so much it would drive him crazy, she was going to have to make him love her instead.
It was a daunting thought. It would be much harder to accomplish, she was sure. Lust had been easy. She’d already managed that, just not with the intended results. But was it even possible for a man to fall in love and not consider marriage? Well, yes, a Lothario like Drew, he was probably the only man who could love a woman and not give a single thought to marrying her. And once she was gone, he’d go on to his other women, and with each one of them he’d be thinking of her instead. Perfect! She’d bloody well haunt him for the rest of his life!
But how was she going to get him to love her? She’d wanted it to happen in London, but it hadn’t. Of course, he hadn’t been around often enough to get to know her there. Here, keeping her in his cabin, he’d set himself up so he couldn’t avoid her. So let him get to know the real her? Including giving up her ruse and confiding that she wasn’t really a pirate?
No, maybe she shouldn’t go that far. The ruse still allowed her to be more bold than she would be otherwise. And how much sweeter her revenge would be if he fell in love with her while still thinking she was a pirate.
She hadn’t made a firm decision by the time he returned to the cabin that morning. This time he looked exhausted. Well, he’d been up for over twenty-four hours and then some, and had probably spent most of that time fighting to keep his ship afloat.
The chap who usually delivered their meals followed Drew in and set a large tray on the table. Gabrielle bolted out of the bed and went straight to the tray, which contained two plates filled to the brim with breakfast fixings. She sat down immediately and started eating.
Glancing up, she found him grinning at her. “What?” she said. “You think those few sausages you fed me yesterday satisfied my hunger?”
“That has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
