The Pirate's Jewel (24 page)

She lowered her eyes at his withdrawal. He could sense her
hurt at his curt response, and he vowed to later show her how he felt. This was
to be a real marriage, one that would be consummated. And he looked forward to
consummating it.

***

Jewel plopped down on the hard bunk. Blue evening crept
through the portholes. The lone lantern that had guided her through the ship
did little to brighten the cabin or her mood. If only Nolan would explain the
events that surrounded her father’s death, perhaps she could reconcile the fact
that she was about to bed his killer. What had happened? Had her father and
Nolan fought and he’d won? Had the crew thrown Bellamy overboard or hanged him
from the main mast?

Jewel covered her face with her palms to stop the images
that churned in her mind. Nolan was her husband now, and she longed to trust
him. He said there had been a mutiny. Everything she knew about Nolan told her he
was a fair man, if harsh. Though he had bedded her while keeping such an awful
secret, he had married her promptly afterward. She knew from other, less fortunate
women’s experiences that men didn’t always take that kind of responsibility for
their casual pleasures. Yet right or wrong, noble or devious, Nolan was the man
responsible for her father’s death.

If she still didn’t want him so badly, her guilt might not
have been so awful. But every time Jewel thought of the ache in her belly
created by the sight of Nolan, she was reminded of her father’s death. She
stood and carefully turned down the coverlet. She smoothed out the wrinkles and
fluffed the pillow. Her wifely duty required she give herself to her husband.
Her body craved the union, though her mind screamed out betrayal.

Before her wedding, she had furiously scrubbed the pink
blotch staining the bed. The sight of the blood galled her. It had been spilled
between them, hers and her father’s. Had Nolan run her father through like she
had that young British sailor? Had he stared into her father’s shocked face as
he removed the blade? Had he thought of that moment when he had rolled off Jewel,
her virgin’s blood smearing him?

She shook her head. Of course he hadn’t. She was being
morbid. She tugged at the laces of her dress and slipped into her nightgown.
The warmth of the Caribbean had dried the garment after she washed it with the sheets.
The smell of wind enveloped her, and her thoughts returned to Nolan.

He had been drinking. Though their wedding celebration had
been meant to be a tame affair, every man onboard got an extra mug of grog at
the end of his shift—which had led to a new round of toasts with the sounding
of the bells. Wayland had poured Nolan’s drinks from a special bottle while
everyone else drank from the cask. At four bells, the signal for the late
watch, Nolan’s eyes were glassy. His hungry stares were so blatant, they’d
caused Jewel to blush more than once. She’d barely got a drop of grog down her
own constricted throat and retreated here to her cabin at the earliest
opportunity.

She buttoned her nightgown to her throat. A quick glance
in the mirror showed her tangled hair and drawn complexion reflected the
harrowing events of the day. She tore the ribbon from her hair. This really was
her fault. From the moment she’d sneaked on the ship to the fateful touch of
her fingers on Nolan’s…

Her face burned with shame. Would her father have come back
for her if Nolan hadn’t taken his life? She would never know. She glanced at
her reflection again. In a hasty, impulsive movement, she twisted her hair into
a chignon as Parker had taught her, and secured it with the scattered pins from
that morning.

A hesitant knock sounded at the door. Jewel opened it
before she lost her nerve. Nolan leaned against the frame for support. She
touched her upswept hair and stepped back for him to enter. A tilt of her chin
exposed her neck and jaw. She dared him to comment on her hair. He needed to
know he wasn’t going to dictate her actions. She had been too shocked this
morning to argue. Now, her taut nerves ached for an opportunity to rail at him.
“Do you like my hair?”

He leaned against the doorjamb instead of entering. “You
look beautiful.” His words sounded torn from his throat. He stared around as if
he didn’t recognize the room. His hesitancy was as unsettling as the loud tick
of a clock in a quiet room. She didn’t know what she expected—maybe that he
would fall on her and ravage her like the savage he had hinted himself to be.
But she had never known that kind of treatment from Nolan. She had been trying
to convince herself otherwise to lessen her own guilt, but he hadn’t ravaged
her. He didn’t have to.

She glanced up, irritated by her own longings. “Are you
staying or not?”

He stepped into the room, closed the door behind him, and then
leaned against it. She inched toward the narrow bed, putting space between
them. Sitting down, she drew her legs up under her gown. Even her exposed feet seemed
too provocative in light of his scrutiny. Last night had been so simple. Right
now, the idea of their making love seemed awkward and unnatural. They were truly
strangers. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. She rubbed her shoulders and
shivered with anticipation—and just a little fear.

“I won’t hurt you. You should know that.” He pushed himself
away from the door and stalked toward her.

She glanced up, unable to ignore the way his dark blue
breeches strained with an unmistakable bulge. It seemed to swell further under
her attention. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes.

The tick shifted as he sat next to her. He kissed the exposed
skin on the back of her neck. She shivered. Putting her hair up had been a
mistake. Her impulsiveness would be the death of her yet.

He used his tongue and mouth to plunder vulnerable skin.
Jewel’s breath quickened. He rested a hand on her knee, and slowly it slid
across the cotton gown to the apex of her thighs. Jewel watched with
fascination as he cupped her. His palm was hot through the cotton, and the
added layer sparked an already combustible tension. Almost against her will,
she arched into his touch, the pleasure too great to resist.

To Jewel’s surprise, Nolan rose from the bed instead of
pushing his advantage. “This time I won’t take you half clothed.” His words
were gentle, but the way he yanked out of his coat showed impatience. His shirt
quickly followed. He held her gaze, obviously enjoying her fascination with his
body. She had never seen him bare-chested. It was well muscled, with dark hair
spreading in an inverted triangle. One thing marred his masculine perfection—a
bunched scar above his left nipple. How he must have hated her father for that.

Jewel’s gaze jerked up to Nolan’s face. He moved to the
edge of the bed, wearing only his loosened breeches. He picked up her icy hands
and massaged them. “What is it? You’re too pale.”

Jewel tried to pull her hands away. No matter how strong
her body’s desire, her father’s memory wouldn’t let her forget what Nolan had
done. “You
know
what’s wrong.”

He dropped her hands like hot coals. Getting up, he stomped
the short length of the cabin before turning around with his hands on his hips.
“We’ve already been through this.”

Jewel tried to remain calm in the face of his anger. “We
didn’t go through it. You abruptly told me you killed my father, then forced me
into marriage.”

“You agreed to be my wife, and I expect you to honor your
vows. I won’t have you cowering from me.”

Jewel stood, her shoulders squared. “I’m not cowering. I’m
confused. I’m upset.”

He kept his back to her and ran his fingers through his
hair. “I can’t change the past, Jewel.”

“I’m not asking you to.”

“Then what are you asking?” He turned so abruptly, and
with such violence, all her courage sank into her knees.

“I don’t know.” And she didn’t. What could he possibly do
or say to make the situation better?

His hard gaze softened, as if he knew the impossible divide
he would have to cross to reach her. “I...let me make you my wife. Give it a
chance.”

She nodded, her throat tight with desperation. Despite everything,
the idea that their marriage would end before it began frightened her.

He stepped toward her and reached for the buttons of her
nightdress. She stood stiffly as he undid them, and willed her mind to relax.
Her skin tingled where his warm fingers brushed it. Even the whisper of air
where he opened her gown felt like a caress. He glided his hands back over the
material still covering her breasts, using the soft cotton to tease her nipples.
When his slow trek reached the neck of the gown, he gripped the edges of the
collar, forcing her to tilt her neck at the pressure.

His mouth came down on hers in a slow, gentle caress. He
tasted her in sips. Small, wet kisses persuaded her lips to part. He dipped his
tongue into her mouth and she let him invade her, overwhelm her senses. She closed
her eyes tightly, pushing away thoughts of her father. Nolan was her husband.
Bellamy Leggett was a vague memory who had never really earned her loyalty.

Nolan let go of her gown and grabbed her passive arms, and
he draped them around his neck. She let him maneuver her like a rag doll. She
focused on his touch. The warmth of his skin. She let the spicy smell of him envelop
her while the last traces of thought surrendered to sensation and then,
abruptly, he was gone.

Her eyes fluttered open at the cold air that caressed her
instead of heat from Nolan’s hands and lips. He held her at arm’s length, and
the space between them loomed as deep and wide as any ocean. His gaze narrowed
in the first signs that his anger was returning. “I don’t want to do this by
myself.”

She placed her hands on his bare chest and felt the rapid
thud of his heart. The ache of lust had begun, a slow burning at the apex of
her thighs. Nolan’s eyes drifted shut and he inhaled deeply, apparently satisfied
with her wordless response. He gently rested his hands on the curves of her
hips, but he remained motionless, allowing her the luxury of exploring him.

Jewel replaced her fingers with her mouth. She loved this
man. He was here. He was real. He was all she would ever have, and she had to
make things work between them. Maybe if she let her body guide her, her mind
would follow. She stood on tiptoe, moving her lips over the puckered scar put there
by her father.

Nolan jerked back. “Don’t,” he whispered fiercely.

The fire in his blue gaze warned her that all his patience
had left him. He set her away, grasped her nightgown and pulled it over her
head before she could protest. She covered her breasts with her hands. Without her
long straight hair unbound and covering her, she felt exposed.

She could feel Nolan’s gaze on her, searching her, touching
her. He grabbed her wrists and guided them down by her sides. “I like your hair
up after all.”

He bent down and scooped her into his arms, depositing her
on the bed. Jewel tried not to shiver, tried not to think of the scar that
marred his perfect body or his fierce words when she’d come too close to what
lurked beneath their union. Apparently unaffected by what had just happened, he
yanked off his boots and just as swiftly discarded his breeches.

If she had any doubt of his intention to consummate their
marriage, his body betrayed him. His arousal was thick and much larger than she
remembered. She blushed to think of the way she had caressed him. He seemed
less intimidating when she had been the aggressor. With no help from her
whatsoever, he was ready to take her. She felt as if her participation didn’t
really matter at all. Her mind started churning again. Nolan was a dangerous
man when he was determined, something her father had found out too late.

Nolan fell on her without the slightest indication that he
realized her sudden panic or even cared. She put out her hands to keep him from
crushing her. He scooped her to him, oblivious of her protest. When his head
came down, she turned her face away, exposing her neck. He took full advantage
of the move and nuzzled her nape with openmouthed kisses. His hand captured her
breast, his fingers closing around her nipple. She flinched at the abrupt
pressure, and he instantly lightened his caress.

“Sorry,” he mumbled into her neck.

She shoved at his shoulders. “Nolan. Please stop.”

He braced his arms, lifting his weight so he could gaze
down at her. “I’m going too fast?” The fire cooled in his eyes as he continued
to study her face. “I’m sorry, Jewel. I’ll slow down.”

He shifted again, and she took the opportunity to slide from
beneath him. She braced herself against the ship’s hull and hugged her knees to
her chest as a barrier between them. “This is harder than I thought it would
be.”

He brushed his loose hair from his face. He looked as if
he had just been abruptly wakened from a deep sleep. “Because I rushed you.
After last night, I thought you would be more…willing.”

Jewel massaged her forehead, an ache growing behind her
eyes. “Not that you’ve said anything to encourage my feelings. And last night
was before you told me you killed my father. Is that so strange?”

His compassionate gaze hardened. “What happened had
nothing to do with you.”

The indignant anger in his voice stirred her own. How dare
he sound so wronged? “You knew I was waiting for him to come back and get me.
You took that away.”

Nolan squared his shoulders, and she could see the muscles
in his neck bunch with tension. “Bellamy never was coming back for you. The man
you’re imagining never existed.”

Jewel closed her eyes against his words, knowing they were
true—but that didn’t change the fact that Bellamy Leggett was her father, and
that she’d never found out the kind of man he was for herself. Nolan had stolen
that from her. And worse, he seemed unrepentant of the hurt he had caused.