Page 50 of Storm over the Caribbean (Storm and Silence Saga #8)

My eyes widened in panic.

“Mr Ambrose! We can’t—”

Before I could get another word out, his arms were around me and his lips were on mine. I forgot all about why we couldn’t. I forgot how to breathe. I forgot my own name.

No. Not my name.

Because with every caress of his lips, with every breath he took, Mr Rikkard Ambrose reminded me of it. Reminded me that I was Mrs Lillian Ambrose, and that I belonged to him. That I would bear his name forever after.

Reaching up with one hand, he caressed my cheek and gazed straight into my eyes, as if unable to resist. “My little ifrit …!”

I smirked against his lips, one of my hands sliding down to my stomach. “Not so little anymore, I think.”

A growl erupted from his throat, and he resumed his efforts to devour me whole with renewed vigour.

I didn’t exactly put up much of a fight anymore.

Pirates? To hell with the pirates! Right now, I was the Queen of Pirates, and the King was about to ravish me!

I felt his hands tangle in my wet hair, stroking my skin, stoking the fires inside me.

“P-please…” The word that escaped my mouth was no more than a whimper. “Please…”

Was I asking for more? For him to stop? For both? In the end, it didn’t really matter. My hormone-ridden body seemed to have a mind of its own, doing anything and everything to get closer to him. If only my bloody, ballooning belly weren’t in the way! If only…

“Allow me,” the rumbling voice of Mr Ambrose cut off my mental rambling.

In a blink, his arms were around me. Hard, muscled arms that were holding me so close not even a breath of air would fit between the two of us.

Apparently, my dear husband had learned from our castaway encounters.

Somehow, in spite of my bulging belly, he had managed to wrap me in an iron embrace, trapped against the cabin walls, in a prison I never wanted to escape from.

My breathing sped as I felt wet skin press against skin, and his icy heart pounding in sync with mine.

“Mrs Ambrose?” The rumbling of his voice set my whole body atremble. “You are being tardy.”

Huh? What?

My muddled brain was desperately trying to decipher his words. But I couldn’t really bring myself to pay enough attention. The feeling of his fiery lips on mine and his icy eyes staring straight into my soul were all I could think about.

“T-tardy?” I managed to squeeze out.

“Oh yes.” His eyes flashed like twin stars in the arctic night sky. “You’re supposed to be changing, aren’t you?”

And, in a blink, he tore the towel off me.

“Now,” he murmured, “that’s much better.”

Then he was on me. His lips were devouring mine, his hands were worshipping every inch of my body.

And when I say worshipping, I mean worshipping.

His hands were so incredibly tender, caressing my skin as if it were silk, as if my abdomen were made of priceless porcelain and filled with the most precious treasure in the world.

And yet, somehow, his gentle touch was more enthralling than my wildest fantasies of pleasure.

I felt my legs go limp as I slowly sank into his embrace.

Blood pounded in my ears. Slowly but surely it drowned out everything.

The murmur of the sea. The mewing of the gulls.

And, most importantly, the protests of my own voice of reason.

Dang it! We weren’t alone on this ship! We shouldn’t be doing this! We shouldn’t…shouldn’t…

His tongue delved into my mouth, driving a spear of desire straight through me. Tingles spread all across my body, setting my skin aflame and my heart on fire.

Shouldn’t…shouldn’t…

Oh yes, Lilly , that darn inner voice of mine screamed. We should! We most definitely should!

I tried to fight it. Tried to get back my reason, which seemed intent on taking an extended holiday. This was bloody madness! Hadn’t we worked long and hard to make sure our true identities remained secret? We were on a ship full of goddamn pirates! We shouldn’t be doing this! We shouldn’t—

“My little ifrit ,” he murmured against my lips. Then his hand slid down to my belly, cupping it with unbelievable tenderness. “My family. My everything.”

My last vestiges of resistance crumbled. I melted into his arms, letting his hands roam wild and his lips scatter searing kisses all across my face. When his mouth returned to mine, he reclaimed it with the ferocity of a conqueror staking his claim.

And yet…

And yet it wasn’t enough. Never enough. Yes, he could kiss me, yes, he could hold me, but there was always a barrier between him and myself. A barrier that kept giving me loving kicks now and again!

A growl of frustration ripped free from his throat. Whirling me around, he pressed into me from behind, his rock-hard muscles somehow feeling better than the softest cushions I had ever touched. Especially one that was nestled right between the cheeks of my…

Oh dear.

I swallowed. Or at least I tried to. But my mouth was far too dry. The only thing separating him and me now was a pair of rather threadbare trousers.

“Mr Ambrose?”

“Yes?”

“Shouldn’t we both change? I think you are also overdressed.”

“Agreed.”

He didn’t hesitate for a moment. In a flash, he had divested himself of his half-open shirt. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw him shrug it off and hurl it into a corner of the room. Then, with a fierce look in his eyes, he captured my cheek in his hand.

“Ready?” he demanded.

Unable to look away, I gazed deep into his dark, sea-coloured orbs. “Since I said yes at the altar.”

His dark eyes flashed with untold emotions and, without waiting another instant, he reached down to his trousers, shoved them down and—

Someone knocked at the door?

“Captain? Captain!”

The both of us froze.

Slowly, very slowly, I turned my face enough to stare at him. Leaning closer, I whispered into Mr Rikkard Ambrose’s ear with an icy voice that even he would have been proud of: “You did lock that door, didn’t you?”

A pause.

“With a fifty percent certainty, Mrs Ambrose.”

“In other words, you have no bloody idea !”

I swallowed.

Any moment now. Any moment now, that door could fly open, and we would be discovered, and, and…

And why the heck does that make me feel hot?

Oh, don’t get me wrong, if anyone actually did open that door, I would scratch their eyes out before throwing them overboard. But the idea that it could happen, that I was having a secret tryst with my pirate captain of a husband that nobody could know about…

A delicious shiver went down my back as I glanced over my shoulder at Mr Rikkard Ambrose.

He was staring at the door with a steely look in his eyes.

In those dark orbs, I could read the future.

If anyone actually dared to open that door, I would not have to do anything.

My husband would eviscerate them and pluck out their eyes before I could so much as blink.

If it was for me, for his family, he would do anything .

Suddenly, feeling hot didn’t seem so strange anymore. Neither did the excitement racing through my veins and the blood pounding in my ears.

“Leave!” Mr Ambrose barked.

“But, Captain, we’ve almost reached the docks, and—”

“I said leave ! I’ll be out in a minute.”

“A-aye aye, Captain!”

Footsteps hurried away outside the cabin. Cocking an eyebrow at him, I gave my dear husband a questioning look. “In a minute?”

His arms snaking around me to hold me tight, he raked his eyes over my naked form. “…or possibly two.”

A wide grin spread over my face.

***

Roughly twenty-two minutes later, the door to the captain’s cabin creaked open and I waddled out onto the deck.

Hey, don’t look at me like that! The difference between 2 and 22 is only an additional 2, right? It’s not a problem to take an extra two minutes. Definitely not.

Especially not if you’re enjoying yourself, right?

Shut up, inner voice! Shut up!

I was spared my inner voice’s response to that when Mr Ambrose stepped out of the captain’s cabin behind me and everyone’s attention abruptly snapped to him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him step up beside me.

He wasn’t wearing his rugged pirate captain outfit anymore. Instead, he was wearing, drumroll…

A white shirt.

A black tailcoat.

A black top hat.

A pair of black trousers.

A black and silver cane.

All brand-new and fitting perfectly.

“So…” Lowering my voice, I leaned towards him. “Did you just become a pirate to get a new outfit for free?”

“Of course not, Mr Linton.”

“Oh?”

“I obtained a lot of other things for free as well.”

“Captain!” One of the pirates dashed towards us and came to an abrupt halt a few yards away. “Where have you been? Woolridge is already getting antsy!”

“I was examining some plans in detail.”

“Plans?”

“Cave exploration,” Mr Ambrose responded, his face perfectly immovable. “From previous probing, I’m fairly certain there’s treasure to be found there.”

I nearly choked on my own spittle.

“Great, Captain! Need any help?”

“Oh no.” Mr Ambrose’s eyes flashed coldly, though the pirate didn’t seem to notice. “This particular cave I shall have to explore more fully on my own. Soon.”

I gave another strangled cough and felt my ears go scarlet. That son of a bachelor! I was going to…

…let him explore your cave? Thoroughly?

Shut up, you stupid inner voice! Shut up!

“But that’s beside the point,” my dear husband continued.

Beside the point? Beside the bloody point?! He just told a ship full of pirates he was planning to roger me!

Hm…yes, he did. Yay!

“Now…enough time wasted. We have work to do.” Mr Ambrose snapped his fingers. “Grant! Smith!”

Two rough-looking men stepped forward. “Aye aye, Captain!”

“Go into that store room over there.” He jabbed a thumb at a door to the left. “In there, you’ll find some clean clothes to change into. When I venture into town to meet our host, you’ll be acting as my bodyguards.”

“ Our ,” I corrected, smiling brightly as I patted his shoulder. “ Our bodyguards.”