Lady Pirate (28 page)

“Untie me,” he rasped desperately, then added, “I think I am coming lose anyway. Just—” Daniel fell into relieved silence as that got a reaction out of her. Shifting, she reached up to check the hand nearest her, and Daniel licked his lips as one breast jiggled gently just a bare few unreachable inches to the side of his face. Then she leaned over him to check the other wrist, and that breast was suddenly an inch above his face. Lifting his head, he licked hungrily at the flesh on the underside of her breast; then he nipped at its peak before closing his mouth over the nipple and drawing it into his mouth.

Valoree had gone still at the first touch, but had not removed herself. Now she groaned as he laved her hungrily, her body trembling as she stretched over him.

“Untie me,” he murmured against her skin. “Come. Untie me.”

Groaning, she straightened away from him, shaking her head. “Nay. You are just trying to seduce me into setting you free.”

“Nay, I…” Daniel paused as she stood, then stepped over him so that she had one foot on either side of his hips. For a moment, he had a view like no other; then she lowered herself carefully, frowning as his splayed legs forced hers out at an awkward angle as she tried to position herself above him.

“You cannot do it with my legs like that. Untie me and I will—” Her sudden grasping of his shaft with one hand to try to position him made him stop and bite his lip again as arrows of sensation shot through him. “You cannot,” he managed again in a strangled voice,
groaning in relief when she suddenly released him and stood.

Retrieving her knife, she moved silently to his feet and freed first one, then the other. Daniel pulled his legs closed as she tossed the knife aside again, then returned to her earlier position, kneeling astride him. Grasping him in her hand, she shifted slightly, peering down as she lowered herself, shifting him as she sought her entrance using his flesh as the probe. Daniel groaned at the combination of her firm hold on the base and the warm, wet flesh closing around and brushing over the tip of him as she played find-the-entrance. Just when she had found it, he muttered her name. She paused to peer up at him questioningly.

“Aye, my lord?”

Daniel nearly laughed at the polite title, then shook his head. “My hands.”

“I will not untie you, my lord,” she asserted, but he shook his head.

“No. My hands. They feel odd.”

Her gaze slid up to his hands and she gasped in alarm. She released the hold she had on his manhood and leaned over him to quickly loosen first one bond then the other. It was not enough that he could escape his captivity, but enough to let some blood back into his hands. Daniel, who had deliberately pulled tight on his bindings to cause such a necessity, immediately licked at any flesh in his path like a starving dog licking the juice from his lord's plate. His tongue roved over her breasts, between them, and at the undersides. Anything that jiggled into his path received a like treatment as she worked. A moan of disappointment slid from his lips as she eased away from him, only to be silenced by her mouth as she kissed him, licking his lips as he had hers so many times, then slipping inside with her tongue to explore him aggressively before receding to allow him to explore in return.

He kissed her desperately, groaning again when she ended the kiss, then sighing as her lips brushed over his chin, his chest, then found and fastened curiously on one nipple. She licked and nipped experimentally as she slid her hand back down to find and squeeze his staff as if testing it for usability. Then she slid down again, settling herself over him, and began to probe herself with the tip once more, wiggling as his flesh rubbed over hers. Apparently enjoying the sensation, she did it again, and Daniel moaned at the exquisite torture. She paused then, peering at him curiously. “Does that hurt?”

“Oh, God, no.” He groaned. “It feels good.”

“Really?” Valoree leaned forward slightly, bracing her free hand on his chest as she again brushed him against herself, rubbing his hardness across her soft, damp warmth. She admitted a bit breathlessly, “I like it too.”

Tugging at his bindings, Daniel closed his eyes as she continued to manipulate him, pressing him harder against herself with each caress, and moving farther forward and farther back each time until he felt his tip nudge against her opening. She paused then, suddenly, and he opened his eyes to see that she was quite flushed, her lips partly open, her eyes sleepy with desire. He knew he was in much the same state, and opened his mouth to again beg her to untie him, but just as he would have, she eased herself slowly backward, wriggling and shifting as she went, easing him into her narrow passage. When the tip met the membrane that proved her innocence, she paused, her gaze meeting his, and Daniel immediately gave up his restraint. He raised his knees slightly behind her and thrust upward, plunging through with one quick push.

They were both still then, and Daniel frowned at her expression.

“Are you all right?” he asked in concern. She nod
ded, but not very convincingly, so he asked curiously, “Did it hurt much?”

She made another face and sighed. “Just enough to dampen the pleasure.”

“Untie me and I will—”

“Nay.” She shook her head abruptly. “Next time, mayhap. I will see this well and truly consummated before I release you.”

“Once the maiden's veil is broken it is consummated.”

Valoree shook her head. “I will have your seed. Just in case you try to claim I was not a virgin and nothing happened.”

Daniel opened his mouth to argue again, but then snapped it shut as she braced a hand behind her on his knee and began to rise off of him. It allowed him to slide partway out of her before she lowered herself onto him fully again. She watched his face as she moved, her expression curious, and Daniel felt self-conscious at first, until what she was doing made him close his eyes. She was driving him crazy. It was slow torture. She raised and lowered herself with a languid deliberation that was teaching him the meaning of frustration. All he wanted to do was rip the damn posts out of the ground, clasp her buttocks, and take control of the speed. He wanted it faster, harder, more, and she was driving him insane with this leisurely ride.

“Untie me!” he yelled in frustration, and she stopped, tilting her head slightly and frowning.

“Am I doing it wrong?”

Seeing the worry on her face, Daniel shook his head. “Nay. I…I would touch you. Untie me and let me touch you.”

“Where?” she asked with interest.

“Your breasts.” He tugged at his bindings. “I would close my hands over your breasts and…” He paused when she glanced down and cupped her own breasts,
peering at them. Still holding them, she peered at him curiously.

“Why do men like breasts so much? Surely you get no pleasure from touching them. Yet nearly every time I have come across my men with the prostitutes they sneaked aboard ship, they always seemed to have their hands on their breasts—no matter what else they were doing. And even you always touch and fondle my breasts first thing after kissing me. Why is that?”

“Why?” He stared at her blankly for a moment, then shook his head. “Because they are beautiful, and they are soft, and they feel good. Do you not like it when I touch your breasts?”

“Aye, I like it when you touch them,” she murmured honestly.

“Well, so do I.” He shook his head wryly. “It is a good thing women carry the breasts, for if men had them, they would be fondling them all the time.”

She laughed huskily at that and Daniel smiled; then his humor faded. She was still cupping her breasts, but that was all.

“Close your eyes,” he said suddenly, and when she peered at him questioningly, he nodded encouragingly. “Go on, close them.” He waited until she had, then continued, “Now touch yourself. Hold your breasts. Caress them like I would and pretend it is me.”

She hesitated for a moment, then closed her own hands over her breasts, clasping them briefly before catching the nipples between her thumb and fingers. As she pinched and rolled them tentatively, a sigh slipped from her lips. Daniel watched her and felt himself swell further within her. As if suddenly remembering what she had been doing before the interruption, she began to ride him again, raising and lowering herself in that excruciating leisurely rhythm as she continued to caress herself. Her hands slid away from her breasts to smooth over her belly, then moved back to
her breasts, up over her collarbone and shoulders, then returned. Her lips parted slightly again, her cheeks began to flush, and her head fell backward. Daniel gritted his teeth, his hands clenching with building excitement, but his mind screaming at the slow, sedate pace.

Which was perhaps why he was so surprised when his excitement suddenly overtook him. It came on him without warning. He felt his toes curl toward the bottoms of his feet and his body tense; then he jerked at his bindings and cried out, exploding inside her with unexpected force.

Eyes closed, heart still pounding in his chest, he felt her lean forward on him to kiss his cheek; then she briefly rested atop him. He had nearly dozed off moments later when finally she slid off. He felt first one of his hands, then the other, go slack as she released him, then heard her move away through the sand. Opening his eyes curiously, he turned his head to watch her walk naked down to the ocean. She waded for a moment until the water reached her knees, then dove in, and Daniel rubbed his wrists absently as he watched her frolic. She did not swim long before turning to shore again.

He watched her rise out of the waves, too far away to see clearly, but was able to imagine the beads of liquid rolling over her rosy flesh. He closed his eyes as she made her way back toward him. Hearing the rustle of material, he peeked one eye open to see her drying herself with a piece of linen, then closed it again when she tossed the scrap of cloth aside and turned toward him. There was a pause before he sensed her kneeling beside him. It took a concentrated effort for him not to flinch in surprise when her cold, damp hair brushed his arm, but then she cuddled up against him. Burrowing her head into the crook of his arm and chest, she laid one hand gently on his stomach, and relaxed.

 

Something was pulling at Valoree's wrist. Frowning sleepily, she tugged against it, her irritation replaced with confusion when she couldn't seem to free her hand. Turning her head, she blinked her eyes open and stared blankly at the rope binding her wrist to a post. Then her head snapped around to find Daniel kneeling on her other side. She instinctively started to lift her free hand from the sand where it lay by her hip, but he caught it easily and smiled.

“Good morning,” he murmured with a sweet smile. The expression turned wry as he began to bind that wrist to the opposite pole, ignoring her attempt to retrieve her hand. “Well, not morning exactly. Midday, I would guess.”

Finishing with her wrist, he straightened and moved down to her feet. Valoree began to scrabble sideways to avoid him, but there was only so far she could go with her wrists tied down. Daniel grabbed her ankle after only a short chase and dragged her back into place to secure her to the post. She cursed herself for having left the ropes in place.

“What are you doing?” Valoree asked furiously, lashing out at him with her free foot.

Catching it easily, Daniel shifted to kneel on it to keep her from kicking him as he finished binding the first foot. Then he turned his attention to tying that one as well.

“There we are,” he murmured as he straightened from his task, his eyes widening with a sudden thought. “You must be hungry. Would you like something to eat?”

Valoree let out a breath, her body relaxing wearily. “What do you want? Is this my punishment for trying to hang you?”

Daniel smiled gently. “I am not angry at you for trying to hang me.”

“Oh, aye. Why do I find that hard to believe?” She glanced pointedly toward one bound wrist.

“I am not,” he assured her quietly. “You did not go through with it, and you were in a tough spot at the time, thinking that I meant to turn you in to the king.”

Valoree eyed him warily. “Thinking that you meant to turn me in? Did you not intend to?”

Daniel shook his head. “Nay. I did mean to sort that business out eventually, but I never intended to see you hanged. Why would I ask you to marry me if I planned to do that?”

Valoree made a face. She hadn't thought of that, but did now and suggested, “Well, it would see that you inherited your grandmother's money, without the irritation of a wife to get in your way.”

His looked surprised. “Now why did I not think of that?” When her mouth turned down in anger and she began to tug at her bindings, he chuckled softly. “The only problem is, I need an heir as well as a wife. I cannot get an heir from a dead wife.”

He stepped over one outstretched leg and knelt beside her on the silky cloth, languidly surveying her, then lightly running his fingers over her flat stomach. Valoree instinctively tightened her abdominal muscles, then raised her head up slightly to peer at him suspiciously. “Why did you tie me down?”

“Because I intend to torture you,” he announced cheerfully, spreading out beside her and bending his arm at the elbow so that he could rest his head upon one open hand.

“Why?” she gasped in amazement.

He smiled and ignored her. “Why did you marry me?”

Her expression went solemn, her eyes again wary. “So that I would not have to hang you.”

“Hmmm. I thought you might say that,” he said pityingly, tracing his fingers lightly over her hip.

Valoree immediately began to wriggle beneath the featherlight touch. “Cut that out!”

Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Do you not like me to touch you?”

“Not like that. It tickles,” she snapped.

“Does it?” He shifted his hand lower so that his fingers whispered lightly up the inside of her thigh. “Does that tickle?”