Pearls of Fire, page 19
Emma’s eyes narrowed as she sat up to study the myriad expressions crossing his face. “Do you think the Lord Governor was somehow involved?”
“No,” he said after a moment. “But he would have taken them once your mother arrived here.”
“That still gives us no clue who actually committed the crime.”
“I don’t know about that. By ruling out Montvey, we can now think of those close to your mother. Who sent off the letter she wrote to Montvey? Who would she rely on to make arrangements for her secret trip?”
“It wasn’t Martine, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Emma curled her hands into fists, obviously ready to defend her mother’s maid. In truth, Martine was the first to come to mind, but Hugh quickly dismissed her as a suspect.
Emma rolled to her knees, her hands still fisted. “She’s the one who told me what my mother had done. She didn’t have to tell me anything. She could have taken the pearls and no one would have been the wiser. Even my father believed the pearls were in the safe and the thieves had stolen them. That’s why he chased after them.”
“I don’t suspect Martine,” he assured her for all the same reasons she’d just spouted. “But there’s something wrong with that story.”
“What do you mean?” She uncurled her fists and tipped her head up to stare at him, now more curious than angry.
“From what I understand, no one in or around Langdon Heath noticed any strangers.”
She nodded. “These blackguards were obviously very careful in their planning.”
He grunted. “Thieves are never that clever. Much as I hate Montvey, he was not in England at the time. Nor were his closest henchmen.” He thought briefly of Nikko, hoping his body was lying at the bottom of the sea along with the Sea Snake. It was a shame to lose a good ship like that. Sleek, sturdy, an eight-gun frigate that could blast just about any vessel out of the water. But if that pirate had been anywhere near Langdon Heath, all the locals would have noticed.
“What are you suggesting, Hugh?”
“The thief was someone close to the family. Someone who was no stranger to you. Someone your mother would have turned to in order to make these arrangements because she trusted him implicitly.”
Emma gasped. “Are you suggesting Sir Robert was involved? Our family solicitor?”
“I’m not ruling out the possibility.”
She shook her head furiously. “No. No. He couldn’t be. He’s been my solid rock of support ever since my mother died and my father ran off. He helped me find you. He told me about the ship that had sailed from England bound for these islands. My father followed on the next ship. It was them… the thieves. My father thought they had the pearls and chased after them.”
“Or Sir Robert planted that information in his mind in order to keep your father out of the way while he figured out where the pearls were hidden. After all, if he’d been the one to open the safe, he would have known the pearls were never there.”
“Hugh, this is lunacy. Why would he send me off after my father?” Her eyes grew wide as saucers. “To get me out of the way while he ransacked Langdon Heath and all our other homes. Oh, heavens! I left him in charge of everything!”
“As he hoped you would. He manipulated you into doing it. He meant to have his cousin, Major Brewster, accompany you to keep close watch on you. Perhaps to make sure you never made it back to England alive.”
“Hugh,” she said in an aching whisper, “then your sailing off without the major probably saved my life.”
He gave a bitter laugh. “An ironic turn of events, isn’t it, my sweet? My rabid jealousy saving you. I would never have allowed that man aboard my vessel. I wanted you all to myself. Unhampered access.”
“You have me now.” Closing her eyes, she leaned close and kissed him on the lips.
He drew her into his arms, wanting to hold her and keep her safe forever. He allowed her to take the lead in this kiss. But he had no intention of sitting quietly for long. He’d never be content to just hold her beneath this palm tree, gazing down at the warm, sand beach and aimlessly watch the waves roll in and out.
He wanted to possess Emma as she possessed him. He wanted all of her. All of her affection. All of her body. He wanted to inhale her intimate scent. He wanted to see her in the throes of passion, her body arching and straining as she sought her release. He wanted to see the hot blaze in her eyes as he brought her soaring to the heights of pleasure.
She was the treasure he wanted.
The only treasure he could never live without.
She molded her body to the hard planes of his chest as she deepened the kiss. He reveled in her innocence. She was pressing her tightly closed lips against his mouth as though that would arouse him. Well, anything she did had that effect on him.
She drew back slowly and cast him a hesitant smile that revealed her vulnerability. She’d never seduced a man before and had no understanding of how to go about it.
He loved her for trying. He loved her for saving herself for him.
He loved her for now offering to give herself to him.
That prim kiss meant everything to him.
Heat surged in his loins like an enormous wave swell about to crash against the shore. It took all his restraint to hold himself back. He’d never bedded an innocent, but Emma was just that and he did not want to hurt her.
He also wanted to make her first time special.
She eased away, her eyes once again closed. “Hugh, I meant to–”
He growled low in his throat and gently rolled her under him, propping his weight on his elbows in order not to crush her. She deserved better than to have her virtue taken on a jungle hilltop by a pirate who would be shot or hanged when the authorities caught up to him in a matter of days. She deserved a noble husband. She deserved a big, comfortable bed.
“Hugh, I want this,” she said, putting her arms around his neck and drawing him down to her when he started to pull away. She must have sensed his hesitation and was having none of it.
Still, he knew this wasn’t right for her.
But it was so very right for him.
She tugged lightly on his hair. “I know what you’re thinking, but you have it backwards.”
“You’re frowning at me. Why? I’m trying to do the noble thing.” Indeed, it was not an easy thing to pull away from her while his blood was on fire.
“No, it is the worst thing you can do for me. Don’t deny me the pleasure of your body. Don’t spurn my love for you.” She tugged on his hair again. “You are the only man I’ve ever loved or ever will love. I want your touch. I want your kisses. I want to know how it feels to have your hot skin against mine, to have our bodies joined as one as we soar together in euphoric bliss. It’s always been you, Hugh. Only you. No matter what happens afterward, I want this moment to share with you. It is something that no one can ever take away from me.”
Another groan tore from his lips. “Ah, Emma.” Then he began to laugh softly. “Euphoric bliss?”
“Yes, you wretch. I’ve read scandalous books. Is it as exciting as it is made out to be?”
He nodded. “With the right person.”
“Good, because you are the right person for me.”
“As you are for me.” He kissed her lightly on the forehead, amazed that he could still form words.
Her smile was so beautifully radiant and tender, as welcome as sunshine bursting through the clouds after a driving rain. “Have at me, Captain Le Brecque. You had better make this moment unforgettable.”
“You’re a demanding bit of goods.”
She nodded. “I’ve waited two years for this moment.”
His blood was now molten lava, scorching a fiery trail through his body. He wanted her with a fierce, reckless abandon, hardly recognizing himself, for he was no schoolboy about to have his first encounter with a woman. But this was the first time his heart was engaged. Hellfire. She had his heart. She’d ripped it out of his chest the moment he’d first set eyes on her. “So have I, my sweet. So have I.”
He proceeded to show her just how scandalous love with a pirate can be.
Chapter Eighteen
Emma held her breath as Hugh untied the lacings of her gown and slowly slid the silk trimmed muslin off her shoulders. She shivered with delight as his warm hands caressed her skin, and shivered again when his hands moved to lower her gown and chemise. He turned her to face him, his smile exquisitely gentle. “You removed those blasted stays.”
“They’d only get in the way.” She tingled at the warm rush of air across her now exposed breasts, smiling in response to Hugh’s quickening breath and the dark heat in his gaze.
His touch was gentle upon her skin, his fingers rough and exciting as they slid down her body and lightly grazed her breasts. He cupped one of her breasts in his hand, seeming to enjoy the way it filled his palm. “Hugh…” She tried to speak but no more words came out. All she felt was the dazzling sensation of his touch.
“I know, my sweet.” He bent his head and took the bud of her breast in his mouth, flicking his tongue across it and suckling it until she moaned and cried out his name. He gave a soft growl to convey his pleasure and moved to her other breast to work the same, hot magic.
“Oh, my heavens.” She wasn’t prepared for the liquid flames that surged through her body. She wasn’t prepared for the aching need in her heart, a need that only Hugh could fill. Every pulse in her body began to beat madly. She clutched his shoulders, loving the taut strength of him. His arms were like iron bands, all hard muscle.
Big, bronze muscle.
These weren’t mere tingles shooting through her body now, but lightning bolts of pleasure. He was going to make love to her. She saw the burn in his eyes, felt the heat emanating off his aroused body as he stretched his big body over her, careful to rest his weight on his elbows, although she liked the light crush of him atop her.
It felt intimate.
It felt right.
He scooped her hair onto one shoulder and began to kiss his way down her body with a slow and sensual determination.
His every kiss conveyed his promise never to hurt her.
She closed her eyes and gave herself over to him, opened herself to each new sensation. The touch of his knuckles against her bare skin, the swirl of his tongue across her breasts, the light crush of his body atop hers.
His breath was warm against her ear as he teased the throbbing pulse at the base of her neck and began to… “Hugh!”
“Hush, my love. Keep your eyes closed and just feel.”
Mother of saints! Her body was ready to shatter, so caught up was she in these new found feelings. “Your skin is hot.” She licked her tongue along his shoulder. “You taste like the ocean, salty and fresh and powerful.”
“You taste of passion fruit and the marmalade scones you had for breakfast,” he said with a light, sensual laugh. “My favorite. You taste like heaven.” He punctuated his words with kisses to that sensitive pulse at the nape of her neck. At the same time, his hands moved lower to slip her gown and chemise the rest of the way down her body. His big hands were warm and comforting as he tugged them off her so that she was now bared to his view. “You’re beautiful, Emma. I knew you would be.”
She’d never been like this with a man before.
She felt the urge to cover herself.
“No, my love. Let me look at you.”
She meant to protest, but the tortured look in his eyes stopped her. He had the look of a man dying of thirst and coming upon a glistening pool of water. She reached out to stroke his cheek. “Hugh, what is it?”
“This. Us. There were times in prison when I felt so hopeless, I just wanted the end to happen quickly. There were times the beatings were so brutal, that I wanted my mind to snap and take me to a place where all sensation was lost forever.” He bent his head and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Perhaps my mind has snapped, for I look at you and believe I must be in heaven.”
He dipped his head and kissed her softly on her mouth before raising his head to look at her again. “I love you, Emma. I promised myself that I would never say those words to you until I’d gained my freedom and cleared my father’s name. I wanted to come to you with my head held high and offer you all that was mine to give. But that time may never come. I might never clear my name. I might never hold you in my arms like this again. But whatever else happens, know that I love you, my sweet Emma. This pirate loves you with all his heart and always will.”
Emma closed her eyes and allowed the bittersweet tears to flow down her cheeks. “I love you, too. It doesn’t seem enough to just say it. Take me the rest of the way, Hugh. If our time is fleeting, then let’s not waste it.”
He nodded and took her hands in one of his, holding them over her head while he explored and teased her body until she was indeed ready to shatter with desire. “Be patient, my love. Open for me.” His hand slipped between her legs and nudged them apart, and then he touched her very core. Mother in heaven. She’d thought her skin was hot and sensitive before, but it was nothing to the fire now raging inside of her. His finger slid along that most intimate part of her, stroking until she was slick and hungry and aching for more of him.
For all of him.
She gasped and arched against him, suddenly overwhelmed by a volcanic heat surging through her body. “Hugh, I’m… something’s happening…”
“I know, my love.” He released her hands and kissed his way lower down her body until… she gasped again. What was he doing? His lips were now on that most intimate spot at the junction of her thighs. And his tongue was… “Mother of saints! Hugh!”
She curled her hands in his hair, at first trying to draw him away. But as she became lost in swirls of desire, she held him close, knowing she would feel incomplete and desolate if he ever did move away.
This intimacy was shocking, but at the same time, wildly pleasing.
She wanted him to know all of her. The feel of her skin. The scent of her arousal. The taste of her body. In that moment when she thought she could bear no more, he replaced his mouth with the hard, male part of him. “I love you, Emma,” he whispered, entering her slowly and with exquisite care until he fully penetrated her and she became used to him inside of her.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Once she grew accustomed to him, he began to thrust, cautiously at first and then more urgently. But every graceful sway and roll of his hips seemed to increase her desire so that she felt carried along on a splendid tide of passion that lifted her higher and higher, closer to ecstasy with each of his powerful thrusts.
She wrapped her legs around him, eager to have him fully embedded inside of her.
“My love, am I hurting you?”
She knew he’d stop if he thought he was causing her any pain. Perhaps there was a little, but it was nothing to the love she felt for him. “No, it’s wonderful.”
Her throat was tight and her heart was pounding hard, so she had trouble forming the rest of the words she wanted to say to him. She opened her eyes and smiled at him, realizing that her smile would be enough.
He released the breath he had been holding, and then his expression turned raw and intense. His eyes glistened with a primal craving. She knew the moment he lost control and allowed his lustful urges to take over.
Soon, they were both clutching and groping and moving with each other and against each other, she clawing his back to draw him deeply into her and mold their bodies into one. Not gentle. Not careful.
Just hot and desperate and wanton.
Emma did not understand these explosive sensations, only knew that she wanted Hugh with all her heart and soul and passion. She opened all of herself to him and he took all, claiming her body as the ocean tide claimed the shore with each fathomless heave and thrust. She was his. He’d made her his own.
Emma’s body suddenly began to soar out of itself and she felt lifted atop a powerful wave of pleasure, carried along on its endless crest and transported to heights she never knew existed. “Hugh!”
She clung to his shoulders and cried out his name over and over, absorbing this big, handsome beast of a man into her. She saw starlight and felt herself floating among the clouds.
Then Hugh gave a low growl of pleasure, the sound a lion might make before devouring its prey. He thrust deep into her core and gave another growl as he joined her among the clouds where she was still soaring. She felt the shuddering pulse of his release and felt his essence spill onto her thighs when he quickly pulled out. She marveled that she had the ability to evoke this powerful response in him.
When they’d both stopped grunting and moaning and their breaths had steadied, Hugh rolled her atop him and held her in his embrace. His tawny chest hairs tickled her nose and she blew on them lightly. “Emma, I was too rough with you. I should have held back.”
She liked the way he’d filled her, as though completing that missing part of her. She now understood the beauty of their coupling and was grateful she’d had the chance to share it with him. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
Emma glanced up and saw that Hugh was still watching her. She reached up and kissed him on the lips. He cast her a smug smile, but it was also mixed with a majestic look of wonder.
She shot back her own smug smile. “I pleased you.”
He laughed. “Aye, lass. This pirate is very well pleased.”
“So am I.” Although she did not have to say it, for he must have known it by the way her body was still entwined around his, wanting and needing him ever closer. Her hands dug into his massively broad shoulders to hold onto him dearly.
“My sweet, sweet Emma,” he said in a husky whisper, his own arms still wrapped around her body as he held her as delicately as one would hold a hatchling just come out of its shell. He was still smiling as he casually brushed the damp, gold curls off her cheek. “Emma, I–”
