Her Pirate to Love: A Sam Steele Romance (20 page)

He’d never been so happy to burn.

The small hooks on her shoes confounded him but his bulky fingers managed to loosen the first few before impatience overtook him and he pulled them off. His hand encountered bare leg.

“’Twas too hot for stockings.”

“I wasn’t complaining,” he answered as he set her foot on his thigh and slowly ran his hand underneath her shift, up her calf, over the soft skin behind her knee, and up the trembling length of her thigh. Anticipating her reaction, he dropped his free hand on her other knee and held it when her muscles tensed beneath his palm.

He lifted his gaze to hers. “Give me the chance to show you how wonderful this can be.”

“Just—” She licked her lips. “Just be patient.”

Cale leaned forward, lingered over a kiss. “I’ll be as patient as you need.”

*

Grace’s gasp shivered
through her lungs. Oh, she wasn’t cold. Cale’s touch, and the anticipation of more, kept her body simmering. But the
not knowing
scared her. She’d made herself a promise to be master of her own fate but his caresses and kisses left her feeling as though she were running full speed toward the Cliffs of Moher. It terrified her to think what would happen if she didn’t stop in time.

She trusted Cale. She’d meant it when she told him so, but it was as though something else were taking over her body. Never had her flesh felt so heated, had her heart pressed so hard against her chest she thought it would push through her skin. Her breasts had never been heavier, never craved a man’s touch before. Even now, after being plumped and suckled, they pouted for more.

She wanted the exquisite sensations to stop, yet she didn’t want it to end either. His hands were calloused but not unpleasant on her bare skin. His beard tickled more than it scratched, especially on the tender flesh of her thighs.

Grace gaped as she looked down upon herself. Her shift was gathered below her full and naked breasts. He’d raised the skirt. One more breath and her very core would be exposed. Exposed to the man who lay between her thighs. Her inner muscles clenched. The very last part of her that remained hidden throbbed.

The entire scene was sinful and sensual at the same time. She had no idea what she should do. To try and regain modesty now seemed silly, especially since a part of her wanted him to bare her.

“Lift your hips.”

Her heart about leapt from her chest at his words, but it didn’t take more than a moment before she complied. Together, they shed her shift until she lay before him naked.

“Grace.”

There was reverence in his voice, but it was nothing in comparison to the look on his face, and knowing it was her who put it there. Had she really thought him unfeeling when she’d met him? There was nothing unfeeling in him now. He touched her as though she were the most delicate orchid, kissed her as though she were his last drink of water and he was savoring every drop. He looked at her as though she were the rarest of gems and he couldn’t believe his luck in finding her.

Suddenly, she wasn’t running towards the Cliff of Moher afraid she’d fall over their edge. She was running toward them knowing she’d fly.

“I’ll be wanting to see you as well,” she said. She reached for his pants.

Cale took her hand. “I want to go slow, want to make sure you’re ready.”

“I’m ready.” She shook off his hand, undid the button at his waist, then the next and the one below that. She jumped a little when his erection sprang free.

His lips twitched. “You weren’t the only one who thought it too hot for underwear.”

She laughed but her humor sputtered in her throat and her eyes stretched open when he shoved his pants past his hips and tossed them aside. She wasn’t a virgin but her time with Roche had been in the dark. And her eyes had been tightly closed; she never opened them again until Roche had gone to sleep or back above decks. She fought the panic lurking along the edges of her heart. This was Cale, not Roche. It wouldn’t be anything like it had been before. It wouldn’t be. She refused to let it be. This time would be beautiful. Wouldn’t it?

*

Cale watched the
fear chase away her pleasure and bit back a curse. Not because she was afraid, after what she’d been through she had every right to be scared, but because he should have anticipated it. Instead, he’d gotten lost in his own pleasure and because of his negligence apprehension had snuck in.

Luckily, he knew how to counter it.

He gently closed his mouth over hers. He’d forgotten how much he enjoyed kissing, how nothing felt quite like a woman’s lips yielding to his. He kissed her softly, eased them both off the shore and into the current. When desire once again bubbled and pushed him onward, Cale increased the pressure, taking her along with a flick of his tongue. She sighed into his mouth, dug her hands into his waist.

With one arm braced to keep his weight from crushing her, he caressed her breast with his hand, rolled her nipple between his thumb and finger. Her sigh turned to a moan and he took the kiss deeper. He shifted closer, pressed his arousal against her thigh. He wanted her to get used to the certainty of what was coming.

He jumped, hissing through his teeth, when her fingers skipped across the head of his penis.

“Did I hurt you?”

Despite his thudding heart, he chuckled. “No. You surprised me.”

He shifted slightly, making more room and placed her hand back onto him. She moved onto her side and, facing him, skimmed, flexed and curved her hand around him until the first drops of desire slipped from him. Heavenly as it felt, he wasn’t going to burst into her hand. He wanted to be buried thick and deep within her when he found his release.

Easing her hand away, he pressed her gently onto her back. She opened her mouth to protest but he silenced her when he settled his hand between her legs.

He kissed her again, giving her the time to get used to his hand on her. Slowly, he fluttered his fingers over her folds. She shuddered but his fingers were wet and he knew, despite her tense muscles, her body was responding. This time when he moved his fingers over her, he rubbed his thumb across her sensitive nub. Her hips jerked off the deck.

Cale didn’t give her time to think. She was wet and he was throbbing and he couldn’t think past the clawing hunger. Sliding down her curves, he licked his way down. Her skin was salty and he tasted her from her neck to the apex of her downy curls. Her hips arched again. He knew she didn’t really know what she was asking, but he planned on giving it to her. More than once.

Her fingers flittered from his hair, to his shoulders, to the deck. Sliding lower, he swiped his tongue over her. She gasped again, dug her heels in the deck and lifted herself to him. Reaching beneath her he cupped her backside in his hands, held her against his mouth and ravished.

“Cale! What are you doing?”

They were her last coherent words before his tongue drove her mad. Her moans carried on the breeze. Sweat rolled down his temple as he made love to her. She gasped his name as she crested. He held her for a moment, both their bodies quaking, then set her hips back onto the deck.

Before she could catch her breath, he pressed into her.

He growled as she wrapped around him, as the hot slickness of her covered him.

“Bend your knees.”

She did and he drove all the way in. Then there was no stopping him. It felt too good. His hips rocked against hers; blood raged through his veins. He pumped hard, taking himself almost out before sliding back in.

Skin slapped against skin. Moan met moan. Sweat ran down his back. He reached a hand between them, tweaked her nipple. Her hips arched up met his. And the next time he drove in she rose up. His cock slid against her arousal and she gasped.

“Again,” she begged and matched his increasing thrusts with her own.

He slid a hand under her buttocks, lifted her as his strokes went faster, pushed deeper. She thrashed her head, dug her nails into his shoulders. Her breath was hot against his neck. Around his cock she was molten. He tried to hang on but the pleasure was exquisite and he couldn’t hold it back.

Cale threw back his head, every muscle shaking as his release burst through him. Grace followed immediately, her muscles squeezing him until he thought he’d die of the pleasure.

T
he sweat hadn’t
cooled from his back before Cale knew he’d made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. His heart continued to hammer against his ribs but that wasn’t what frightened him; it was the tremble shadowing the hammering. He’d kissed her. He hadn’t only bedded Grace; he’d made love to her. Like parched soil, he’d soaked in every touch, every scent, feeling more alive than he had since losing Catherine and Caden.

It didn’t matter if sharing himself with Grace—and having her share herself with him—was the purest thing he’d done in years, it didn’t change the rest. She had a child to think of, and she’d be safer without him in her life. Both of them would be.

So he shoved aside the regret, told his fool heart to snap out of it, and ignored the hurt lashing back at him. Because sure as he was lying naked on his quarterdeck looking up at the stars, he was sticking to his plan. He was leaving Grace in Claire’s capable hands the moment they made port in Santo Domingo.

Beside him, Grace stirred. His hands twitched with a fierce desire to reach over and draw her close, settle her head against his shoulder, and promise her the very stars that mocked him from above.

He turned toward her. Womanly curves and dips lay before him like a banquet. Her skin shone like the most priceless pearl and he knew it to be smooth as one as well. The uncertainty on her face told him she was unaware of just how exquisite she was. If he were a different man, he’d cover her with his body and love her again. And again. He’d tell her how beautiful she was, how brave. He’d make promises, say whatever it took to keep her at his side.

But he wasn’t. He’d spent most of his life thinking of only himself, of what was best for Cale. It was why he’d cast Vincent out of his life, why he never took the time to keep in contact with his sisters. It was why he hadn’t been there when Catherine and Caden had needed him most. He wouldn’t do the same to Grace. He cared for her and, because he did, he was putting her life and happiness above his own.

Selflessness wounded the heart and made it bleed.

“We should get dressed before the men decide they’ve had enough frivolity,” he said, rolling to his feet.

He found her scattered clothes, set them beside her then went in search of his own. How had his trousers ended up hanging from the wheel? Feeling her gaze on his back, Cale yanked them on.

He donned his shirt and boots, waited until the rustle of clothing behind him stopped before turning to her. She was fully dressed, his shirt once again keeping her gown as modest as possible. He searched her face and was relieved to see there were no tears gleaming in the green depths of her eyes. Nor was there a smile or a frown upon her face. In fact there was no sign what they’d just shared had changed her, or affected her in any way. Why the devil wasn’t she feeling the same torment that was ripping him apart?

“Why are you frowning?” she asked.

Though it made no sense, he felt better knowing she’d noticed. Perhaps she wasn’t as indifferent as she appeared.

“I feel as though I should be apologizing.”

Her fingers twisted together. “Are you sorry?”

Was he sorry? Only because it could never happen again. He curled his hands around the wheel to keep from reaching for her.

But he wouldn’t lie to her. “No.”

“Neither am I.”

Thank God. His shame would have known no bounds had she said she wished to undo what they’d done. Yet despite her words, she didn’t look happy about what they’d shared either. She looked…unsettled.

“Is your wound paining you? We didn’t—”

“It’s fine. I hardly feel it.” She gestured to the stairs. “I’m going below. I’m tired.” Her words were as wooden as her actions, which seemed stiff.

Damnation. The weight of responsibility settled onto his shoulders. He couldn’t let her go like this, didn’t want her to fret and worry. While he had no future to offer her, he could do better than leave her unsettled and upset.