She clutched the side of her head, hoping to stop the twisting, turning, and circling. It didn’t help. Collapsing to the deck, she retched and retched until she thought she would die and then tumbled to her side and lay still.
“Arianna.”
She opened her eyes to find a blond-haired pirate looming over her. She struggled to move, but her muscles wouldn’t obey her commands.
He kneeled beside her and leaned close. “You have nothing to fear. I am Morgan’s brother.”
“Morgan. Key.” She opened her fist and lifted it toward him.
And then she remembered no more.
Chapter Fourteen
Hard wood beneath her.
Splashing water.
The deck of a ship?
Up and down. Up and down.
Bile rose in her throat. Her stomach clenched into a tight ball.
She shot up. Blackness surrounded her. She sat in the ship’s jolly boat. Lunging for the side, she hung over it while dry heaves consumed her. There was nothing left in her stomach. She had rid herself of its contents before she passed out. When? Tonight? Last night?
A large, warm hand rubbed her back. “You’ll be fine in a while. The rum has to work its way through your system.”
“Morgan,” she whispered, too sick and weak to turn toward him. The creak of the oarlocks grated through her splitting head. She moaned and slid to the bottom of the boat.
The tension in the air and the danger that surrounded them pierced her, and she remembered. Pirates. Shark. A bottle of rum.
“What happened? Where are we?”
Morgan pulled on an oar. “My brother hid you in the ship’s jolly boat. After almost everyone passed out from drinking, he took care of the men who guarded the ship and released me from my shackles.”
She rubbed her aching forehead with trembling fingers. “Where are we? In the middle of the ocean?”
Sand scraped the hull.
“No, an island Harry spotted.” Water splashed as he and another person jumped out and dragged the boat on shore.
His face hovered over her, and then he scooped her into his arms. “I don’t know if they will guess we are here, but there is really no other place we could go. This is the logical choice. There is a good chance they might follow for the ransom I will bring. If we elude them long enough, they may decide I’m not worth the trouble.”
His chest rumbled with his words and shivered into her. “And then what will happen?”
“I don’t know.” He strode up the beach to the beginning of the forest. “We will have to wait and see.” He laid her down.
She missed his soothing, healing heat.
Morgan introduced the other person that accompanied them. “Arianna, this is my brother Harry.”
A young man with curly, blond hair and soft but masculine features stood before her. He looked nothing like Morgan except for his piercing, chocolate brown eyes. She remembered his face floating over her as she lay drunk on the deck but nothing else. “Nice to meet you, Harry. Thank you for taking care of me.”
“Anything for a lovely lady.” A smile brightened his face.
Morgan tugged him away. “We will be back after we hide the boat.”
As Morgan’s muscular form disappeared into the darkness, she realized she had been a failure in her goal to free him. Instead, she had passed out and become another person Harry had to rescue. Morgan hadn’t needed her.
****
Morgan had noticed the smile his brother flashed Arianna. The one he reserved for his special ladies. He refused to allow her to become Harry’s latest conquest. Harry broke their hearts, never staying with a woman for more than a month or two.
He turned in Arianna’s direction and struggled to pierce the darkness, but the night hid her from his view. She would be fine. He would only be gone a few minutes and wasn’t far away. The pirates probably hadn’t realized they were missing yet. She would cry out if danger pounced.
When his brother had released him from the chains and he had spied her lying as still as death in the bottom of the boat, his heart seemed to stop and an icy terror had frozen his soul the likes of which he had never experienced before. And hoped he never would again. There were a lot of sensations he had never felt until Arianna landed at his feet. He had banished all emotion from his life long ago—the depths of despair, the heights of rage and anger, and the all-encompassing world of love—to accomplish what he must and to provide for his family. And because he feared he would inherit his father’s weaknesses. If he couldn’t feel, he would do what was right and not tumble down into the dregs of society where his father had landed.
Since he had met Arianna, his life had become a series of ups and downs and explosions of feelings. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t help himself around her. And he didn’t like that either.
Harry and he carried the boat into the forest and concealed it as best they could in the dark, and then with a branch, swept away their footprints from the sand. If all traces of them had vanished, the pirates might leave.
Her pale face and wide blue eyes loomed out of the blackness as they headed back. His brother had related her harrowing ordeal and all she had been forced to drink. Not much for a man used to it, but an overabundance for a slip of a girl. He yearned to hold her in his arms and comfort her, but they had to move fast to evade recapture.
Morgan dropped to his haunches before her. “We must travel farther inland away from the beach.” He raked his fingers through her short, soft hair, brushing it away from her face. “Can you make it?”
She nodded.
Brave and courageous as always. He stood, and as she unfolded her small body with a wince, he scooped her into his arms.
“I can walk.” She fought to hold her head upright.
He gazed deep into her eyes to grasp the truth. She might be able to force herself to prove her ability, but every step would be tortuous with nausea threatening. He couldn’t bear to watch the struggle. “I know you can, and you want to, and you would, but I am carrying you.”
“We are not on your ship anymore.” She licked her dry lips. “You can’t command me.”
Her small, pink tongue wetting her lips caused him to quicken with desire. “It’s in my nature. I will always be a captain. Do this for me,” he whispered in her ear. “Let me hold you in my arms. Please.” He had never asked anyone for anything, but he wanted it to be fully her decision.
The battle fought inside her between what she wished to do and what she thought was right for her slipped across Arianna’s expressive face. Fumes of alcohol drifted around her, but the lavender scent and one wholly hers broke through. Trouble and danger stalked them and tense long nights and days spread ahead, but his lust rose, hardening a certain part of his anatomy. At least, lust is what he thought it was, but another feeling crept along beside it. His brother shifted from one foot to the other while he waited behind him, but he would give Arianna all the time she needed. Her soft, warm body finally sank in his arms, and she laid her weary head on his chest. “Aye, Cap’n.”
Forging their own path, Harry led, carrying what few supplies they had been able to steal, batting at branches that hung over the trail and warning Morgan of troublesome spots that might trip him, since he had his hands full. They headed toward the hill in the distance, hoping to find shelter or a place to hide, and from the high vantage point, they could spy on the schooner.
The swish of leaves, the hum of insects, and Arianna’s breathing combined with his own filled his ears. He tightened his arms around her as the terrain grew rougher and more treacherous. The sky began to brighten, and he saw his way more clearly, his brother’s back before him. He had a lot to thank him for as well as Arianna. Without them, he would still be in irons. Always the one in charge, the one who rescued, he was not used to being the recipient, and the change caused uneasiness to creep through him.
The ground angled upward, and he dug in his boots, his strong leg muscles working as he started the ascent.
“I can walk now. It is too steep for you to carry me.”
He gazed down into her concerned face. “You weigh no more than a feather. You are no trouble.”
“Nevertheless, I want to make this journey on my own two feet.”
She looked a little better. Some color had returned to her cheeks, and her eyes were brighter. Her determination had slipped back and taken root. He realized she needed to do this. For herself as well as for him. He gently set her on the ground and released her. His arms slowly slipped away.
Arianna swallowed and straightened with care. Her eyes closed and her muscles visibly twitched as she battled to come to grips with the nausea and dizziness that swam over her, trying to defeat her. She would win. She was strong. Arianna took a few deep breaths and then lifted her lashes.
Morgan raised his hand to her, palm up. She stared at it, as if debating the wisdom of accepting his help, and then laid her fingers within. He smiled. Her calluses scraped his skin, and he drew the experience in. It added another dimension to her character.
“Harry, I’m leading. You take the rear in case Arianna needs help.” But she wouldn’t because he would not let go. He would be by her side every step of the way. She had risked her life to help him escape, and now it was his turn.
He firmed his legs and began the climb. Her hand tightened within his as she followed. The ground beneath his feet changed from rotted vegetation to a slippery gravel that slid from under him as the trees thinned. He scanned the area, searching for a spot where the pirates wouldn’t find them.
Morgan glanced at the ocean behind them. His muscles tensed. “A ship’s boat is heading toward the island with what looks to be Turnbull inside. I guess I am more valuable to him than I thought.” His gaze darted to Arianna. “How are you faring?”
Her chest heaved up and down, and she wiped her free arm across her sweaty forehead. He had shortened his stride and pace to match hers, but the climb was still laborious. She nodded. “I’m fine. Let’s keep going.”
Resolute, she would deal with whatever hurtled her way. Strength and determination filled her. Arianna stepped forward and then halted. Her blue eyes squinting against the sun, she raised a hand to shield her eyes. “I think I see a cave.” She pointed to the left. “Over there.”
Morgan narrowed his eyes. He hoped she was right. They needed a place to hide. Even though they were far from the beach, the pirates could move faster than them, and he didn’t want to be caught in the open.
“Let’s check it out.” Her hand still encased in his, Morgan guided her toward the dark opening. He led the way inside, and for a while, the light from outside was sufficient, but soon blackness surrounded them, and the air smelled stale. As Arianna shuffled along behind him in cool silence, her grip tightened.
“Morgan, where are you? I can’t see you,” Harry called.
“Over here. Follow my voice.” The sound of muffled steps drifted to him in the dark, and then his brother bumped into him.
“We can’t go on. We have no light or idea of what lay ahead.”
Morgan raked his hand through his hair. “Unfortunately, you’re right.”
Arianna inched closer. He slipped his arm around her waist, and her shivering shook him. “There is nothing to worry about. I won’t allow them to harm you.” He pulled her against his side.
“They d-don’t s-scare me.” Her teeth chattered. “I am c-cold.”
He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. Her shirt, sweaty from the climb and the cool, damp air in the cave combined to cause her discomfort. “I can’t start a fire and chance the pirates won’t see it, but I can warm you.” He embraced her and breathed in her intoxicating scent.
“The sun can do the same job.”
He pulled her close. “There is that option, but there is also another,” he whispered in her ear. He wrinkled his nose as stray wisps swirled with his words and tickled. “Harry, go outside and keep watch for the pirates.”
He did so without protest.
****
“Morgan, you shouldn’t have…”
Morgan’s hot breath caressed Arianna’s cheek, and her blood surged. The rest of her words faded from her mind. As his fiery, seductive lips slid onto hers, her heart galloped and her stomach pulled tight. She snuggled against him, struggling to get closer, taking in his heat and strength and kissing him in equal measure.
He pulled the hem of her shirt from the waistband of her pants and slipped his knowing, experienced hands beneath it. He caressed her chilled skin, igniting her flesh wherever he touched. Unwinding the strips binding her breasts, he massaged the mounds and tweaked her nipples, causing fire to streak down into the damp area between her legs. Exquisite sensations banished fear, loneliness, and self-loathing.
She needed him and couldn’t imagine a life without him. She hadn’t known him for long, but somehow he had become a part of her. A very essential part.
Morgan released the buttons on her pants and shoved them to her ankles. Before she could protest, his fingers glided between her thighs and delved into the moistness. Her senses heightened and attuned without sight, her imagination and anticipation soared. She squirmed, and her emotions knitted and surrounded, consumed.