Water World Warrior: A SciFi Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 1) (17 page)

I nodded.

"I'll see what I can dig up, Freya," I said, feeling tired. There was no arguing with my sister. "I should get back on board. We have to catch the tide and get out of the restricted zone before the police start doing their rounds in the morning."

"Okay. Is Vess coming by or are you going back alone?"

"Alone. He's spending the night in a hotel with his woman. He said he wanted some privacy."

Freya laughed.

"Well, there's little enough of that on a ship," she said. She had spent as much time on The Dream as I had.

We stood up, and she gave me a long hug.

"Give that girl of yours a chance. Let her explain her side of it before you give up on her, Nat," she said as we stepped back away from each other.

"Maybe," I said.

"Find out where she is. What if a shark got her or something?" she said, laughing.

"Don't say that, Freya," I said, feeling fear clawing at my heart, as it had the other night in the hospital. But I shoved it back into my well of bitterness.

"If it bothers you so much to hear me say it, how would you feel if it actually happened? Just find her. It can't be that hard to locate one small pretty blonde human."

ASHLYN

I followed Nathaniel back to the ship, my head reeling from what I had found out. I hadn't caught all of their conversation, but I had heard enough to know that he wasn't just a pirate.

I kept him in sight on the main path, while I followed quietly through the forest. Large trees dotted the land; they were similar to palm trees. In between was a silky, fern that was soft grass. It was easy for me to conceal myself.

I wondered what I should do. I needed to talk to him. But how was I going to get back on the ship? Jumping into the ocean and swimming for it wasn't going to work now that I knew there was a shark in the water.

I looked up to make sure Nathaniel was ahead of me and felt a bolt of fear go through me when I couldn't see him. The sun had set and the night was falling, but it wasn't dark yet. Where had he gone?

I continued to walk as quickly as I dared, hoping to catch up, when suddenly a man jumped out from behind a tree and pinned my arms behind me. I struggled for a moment before I sniffed a hint of his scent.

I'd know the smell of that body anywhere. If I were a dead woman, a whiff would make me rise.

"Nathaniel," I hissed, furious. "Let me go."

He freed my arms and I turned around, ready to give him an earful for grabbing me like that, but his look of surprise startled me.

"How did you know who it was?" he said, baffled.

"You have a very distinctive scent," I said before I could stop myself.

He looked taken aback.

"You knew it was me because I smelled like myself?"

"Yes, you smell like you, okay? What are you doing here?"

A look of satisfaction passed over his face. Then it disappeared, replaced with a glare, anger and resentment in his eyes.

"I might ask you the same thing," he said, scowling. "I thought you left." He pressed his lips together looking hurt and very bitter.

"Left to go where?" I asked, bewildered at this point. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you weren't at my house."

"You checked up on me?"

"I saw the bank transfer. I saw how much money you got for marrying me. I know you married me for the money."

"Am I supposed to feel guilty about that?" I said, feeling irritated. "You only married me to keep your sorry ass out of jail. I was a personal get out of jail free card that you took home and seduced as an extra bonus."

His face grew stormy.

"If you'll remember, I was not the one who started things. I was a perfect gentleman. I thought that was what you wanted."

"A gentleman doesn't lie," I said, getting angry. "A gentleman doesn't pretend he loves a girl and then leave her while he goes off gallivanting across the ocean. A gentleman would have told her he was a pirate."

He stepped closer to me.

"I would like to propose that you, Nathaniel, are not a gentleman," I said. I pushed him back out of my personal space.

He caught my hand.

"What are you, a lady? I'd like to propose that you aren't a lady at all. A lady doesn't sell herself." The bitter resentment was back in his eyes, and I twisted my hand out of his and slapped him as hard as I could.

"You bastard. You don't know anything about it."

I stood there, my breathing coming fast and my cheeks feeling hot. He had gone too far.

"I didn't mean that, Ashlyn," he said, stepping closer again.

"What? You didn't mean to call me a whore? That was an accident?"

"You called me a thief," he said, raising his voice and moving even closer.

"And didn't you steal today?" I said.

"I did," he said, and we were inches apart.

"Well, I guess I sold myself for money, which makes me a whore," I said. "So where does that fucking leave us?"

We were both breathing hard. I was angry, upset and hurt. Adrenaline was pumping through me. I don't know what came over me, but I pushed forward a little bit more and felt my nipples brush his chest.

His eyes dilated, and he grabbed me roughly. We kissed so hard our teeth clashed. I was instantly on fire, my panties wet, my core needing to be filled. Nathaniel was the only man who could do it.

After a minute, he realized we were standing on the main path and he grabbed my hand. He pulled me further off the road into a secluded copse. It was getting dark and there were several trees in a circle, making it private.

When we stood in the center of it, he gazed into my eyes and heat flooded my veins. Without warning, he grabbed me and pulled me close again. I felt his hand tangle in my hair. He tilted my head so he could deepen the kiss. Desperately, I kissed him back. I wasn't thinking. I reacted on instinct.

He peeled my damp shirt and bra off of me, then my shorts, tossing them nearby and pulling off his pants and shirt. He laid me down on my side, facing him in the soft grass, and we kissed. He was sexy, and I thought I would explode then and there. Our legs tangled and I pressed my mound up against his thigh. I needed the stimulation.

His lips left my mouth and kissed down to my chest, where he took one breast in his mouth sucking and licking. He even nipped me gently but by that time I was so crazy with passion that it only drove me higher.

There were no words. There were only touches, caresses, and a burning desire that fueled our actions.

His hand slid down until he glided into my soaking wet slit. He drew in a deep, shaky breath and began to rub me in long strokes up and down. Next, he found my nub and pretty soon, I was at the edge.

At the moment when I thought he would put his finger up inside me, which was what I needed him to do, his hand disappeared.

I made a moaning noise, but I felt him on top of me and something bigger and harder pressing at my entrance. I opened my legs wide, arching my breasts up in an agony of wanting.

He thrust hard, filling me in one swift motion and I gasped at the feeling. He pulled out again and embedded himself to the hilt once more. He continued this for some time until I felt I would go nuts if he didn't speed up.

"Faster," I begged. "Harder. Please, Nathaniel."

I heard him gasp, and he hesitated only a moment before he began pounding into me over and over. I wrapped my legs around him and held on, which changed the angle. I felt him going deeper inside me than he had gone the other night.

I arched in wild response, moving as frantically as he was. That was when I felt it start to build. It felt good, but I knew that to go over that edge would feel even better. I worked to change the angle of my hips until he was grinding against my clit with every thrust.

That did it.

He kept driving into me and after only a few more thrusts, I felt myself let go with the longest, hottest, release of my life. It went on and on, and I rode the waves of sheer ecstasy — my body convulsing and bucking against his.

Once my orgasm began, he didn't hold back. I felt him stiffen and then press me hard into the ground with his hips as he shuddered to completion. My body continued to spasm beneath him as he pinned me until at last I relaxed, and he rolled off of me.

He pulled me against him immediately, and I felt the hurt inside me recede as he held me close and kissed my forehead.

"That was probably a big mistake," he said into the darkness. "But it felt so fucking good."

A mistake?

He was right — both about it being a mistake and it feeling awesome — but to say it out loud immediately after seemed impolite.

"Ashlyn," he said, "I am still angry, and I don't understand everything, but you need to know this."

I waited, holding my breath.

"I never pretended to love you. I do love you," he said and showed me — kissing me until I lost my breath.

"The course of true love never did run smooth," I whispered to myself.

Nathaniel's breath hitched — he had heard me.

"What's that?"

"A quote from one of our most famous playwrights," I said.

He stared at me.

"Do you believe it?"

"I guess maybe I do," I said, still not able to say it.

He sighed, looking away.

"Well, he sounds very smart," Nathaniel said, getting up. "We should get dressed. It was crazy to do this out in the open where anyone could catch us."

I agreed. And it had been exciting because of that, too. We dressed and headed back up the trail, holding hands.

"We're not done with this, Ashlyn, but for now I have to get you back safely to the ship. Then we can talk and see where we're at."

"Yes, safe back on the ship sounds good," I said, shivering a little at the thought of the shark.

"Ashlyn," he said a moment later. "How did you get off The Dream?"

I didn't reply right away, sure now that it had been stupid and not wanting to have to admit it.

"I swam," I said, finally.

"You swam," he said. His voice sounded calm, but his body language suggested otherwise. "In the shark-infested water, in the middle of the wild and without any protection?"

"Yes," I said, quietly. "But I only saw the one shark."

He stopped unexpectedly and I was lost in his arms as he held me so tight I could hardly breathe. When he pulled back, finally I could see there were two silver tracks on his cheeks.

"Look, woman," he said. "I don't care if we break up. Or if you're a money grubber, and I'm a pirate. You're not allowed to die. Is that clear?"

"Yes," I said, and being unable to stop myself, I stood on tiptoe and kissed the tears away.

"Stop risking your life," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me roughly down the trail again. "I can't handle it."

Vess stared at me as I got to the top of the rope ladder and climbed over.

"What are you doing here?" he said, his face impassive.

"I stowed away," I said, waiting for him to react. He seemed fierce.

"What? And you've been sleeping on the floor?" he said, aghast. "You should have told me, little one. I would have hidden you. There's an empty cabin."

I smiled at the kind giant and watched nervously as my husband climbed back onto the ship.

"What are you doing here?" he said to Vess, unknowingly echoing the big sailor's words. "I thought you and Veralia were staying at the hotel?"

"Yeah, but she was feeling sick, so we didn't think there was any point in spending the money," he said.

"Right. Sorry about that, buddy," Nathaniel said, giving him a compassionate look. "You got everything under control here? Ashlyn and I need to talk."

"Sure. We got it."

"Since you and Veralia are back early, can we get out of here right away?"

He thought for a moment.

"The winds and tide will be right in about an hour."

"Okay, then, Vess. The sooner we're out of the restricted zone, the better. You know that."

"Yeah, I know, boss. We'll get out of here as soon as we can. You talk to your girl. And remember what I told you, Nathaniel. If she is your soul mate, you can work this out. You can work anything out."

He nodded curtly at his first mate and gestured for me to go below.

Soul mate?

Nathaniel thought I was his soul mate?

I looked at Nathaniel for a long moment before I turned and went down the stairs. I heard him sigh before he followed me, placing his hand on the small of my back as we walked down the hallway to the Captain's quarters.

The gesture was protective, possessive, and the kind that a man used for his wife.

NATHANIEL

When we got into my cabin, and she sat down on the bed, I had a vision of her. She was on top of me, riding me and coming hard, with her head thrown back and her breasts pushed out.

Focus.

Ashlyn clenched her hands together in her lap and looked at me. She appeared anxious.

I was silent as I thought about what I should say.

"I think we should start at the beginning, Ashlyn. Why don't you tell me everything? I thought you ran off as soon as you got your money, but it seems that you haven't."

"Ran off?" She looked outraged. "You're the one who left me in that gilded cage. And don't tell me it wasn't, I know better than that."

I held up my hands for peace.

"Like I said, why don't you tell me the whole story?"

"If we have to start at the beginning, I guess I need to go way back. My Dad left when I was nine. Mom had to work so we could pay the bills. The housework and taking care of my brothers was left for me to do. I got them dressed in the mornings and made sure they had breakfast. In the afternoon, I made sure they did their homework and had a snack. Sometimes I had to make dinner when Mom worked late."

Maybe that was too far back, but I wasn't going to stop her now. "How old were you?" I said.

"Nine when Dad left. Old enough that I was already helping."

I shook my head.

"To have to do it, day in and day out, as if you were their parent, is asking a lot of anyone."