He didn’t have to be told twice. Ripping off his garments, he stepped into the water. Arianna scooted forward while he parted his legs on either side of her, and then she snuggled against him, her back to his chest. He heated swiftly, but not from the water, and steeled himself against the desire and passion coursing through him in waves.
Her hands rubbed his thighs. He almost leaped from the bath, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. “Arianna, don’t. We need to decide what we are going to do.”
****
She had to touch him. She couldn’t stop herself. He was with her, behind her, and she wanted to be close to him. Closer than close. Arianna now realized she could never leave him. Grabbing his wrists, she circled his arms around her and was content for the moment. “You are right. We need to talk. I’ve decided I want to be your mistress.” He reared up, but she pushed on. “I don’t ever want to be with anyone else. I will never marry if I can’t wed you. You can come to me whenever you are able.” Her dreams of a complete family disappeared, but Morgan cuddling their child in his arms dawned.
“Arianna, I can’t ask you to go against your morals.”
“I would rather have part of you than nothing at all.”
“I won’t ask you to do that.”
Her heart sank with grief. Didn’t he want her any longer?
His manhood pressing against her back answered her question.
“I love you so much and would do anything for you. We will marry. I’ll explain everything to Susan and support her and my child for the rest of their lives. I’m sure we can work it out.”
Her heart rejoiced and her body sizzled with love until she realized the consequences. “No. I can’t let you do that to Susan or allow you to besmirch your honor in such a way. I know how important it is to you.”
“My honor means nothing if I can’t have you. But my child must always be in my life. Can you accept a child I created with another woman?”
She turned her face to peer up at him. “I love anything that is a part of you, especially an innocent child.”
He captured her mouth in a searing kiss that blotted every thought from her mind.
But when their lips parted, sanity and reality returned and with it, sadness. “I won’t let you do this.”
“I would sail through a hundred hurricanes to claim you as mine.”
His tantalizing, experienced hands rose to her breasts, and the world disappeared in a cloud of passionate pleasure.
****
A pounding on the door burst the erotic dreams floating through Arianna’s head.
“Who is it?” Morgan’s deep voice called out.
Was he really beside her?
“It’s Andrew, and I’m coming in.” He barged into the room, and his furious gaze slammed into them.
Arianna jerked the blankets up to her chin.
Morgan, naked, leaped from the bed. “Andrew, get out. You have no right to—”
“Don’t I? You are marrying my sister in a week, and you’re in bed with Arianna.” He held up his hands. “I know men have mistresses, but she is my sister.” His angry gaze alighted on Arianna. “And you. I thought you more virtuous. I realize he seduced you before you knew the truth. But now that you—”
“I—”
Morgan stepped in front of Andrew, blocking his view of Arianna. “Don’t you dare speak to her in that manner. She is not to blame. If you want to yell at someone, I am right here.” He pounded his thumb into his chest. “I am not apologizing for what I did. We’re in love, and I almost lost her tonight.”
Harry burst into the room, and Arianna yanked the blankets even higher.
Could this get any worse?
“We can hear you on the main deck, and Andrew, your sister is here.” He glanced at Morgan. “Get some pants on. She wants to talk to you.”
“What is she doing here?” Andrew grumbled.
“Get out, both of you, so I can dress.” Raw danger lurked in Morgan’s voice, promising retribution if his order wasn’t followed.
“I am waiting outside this door.” Andrew stalked over the threshold and planted himself.
“I held him off as long as I could,” Harry apologized. “But as time passed and you didn’t appear, his anger grew. When I turned my back for a second, he flew to your cabin.”
“It wasn’t your fault. It’s mine. Now leave.”
His fault. Did he regret his decision and making love to her?
The door closed with a click. She jumped from the bed with the blankets wound around her.
“What are you doing?” Morgan asked as he rummaged in the drawers beneath the bed.
“Going with you. Pull out another pair of pants and a shirt.”
His head shot up. “No. I want you to wait here. Andrew is already angry. There is no telling what may happen when I announce what I plan to do. I don’t want you hurt.”
Arianna laid her hand on his shoulder. “We are in this together. I am going with you.”
He rose, compassion and love spilling from his eyes. “I don’t like it, but when has that ever stopped you.” He handed her the clothes she asked for.
She turned her back to him as she dressed. His statement still bothered her. “Morgan, what did you mean when you said what happened was your fault? Do you regret we made love?”
He spun her to face him. “Never, and I never will. I meant I should have waited until I explained the situation to Andrew and Susan before I touched you again. It wasn’t fair to them or you.”
“But I wanted you to.”
“I am more experienced and should have controlled myself.” His lips turned down. “And I don’t think we should be intimate again until we are married. I don’t want to offer anyone a reason to cast aspersions upon your name.”
She had to trust he knew what was right, even if it would kill her not to feel his hands caress her body, to not touch his fiery skin, to forsake being as one when he thrust within her.
When they finished dressing, Morgan opened the door, and Harry and a fierce Andrew followed them up on deck.
Susan, looking beautiful, paced back and forth, wringing her hands. She halted when she spotted them, and Andrew hurried to her side. “What are you doing here? Did you come by yourself? How could you be so foolish, risking your life and that of the baby like this? It is dangerous enough during the day, but at night…”
She cast Morgan a nervous glance. “Andrew, what I have to say couldn’t wait. And I brought someone with me.” She smiled at a handsome, tall, young man with blond hair and blue eyes, standing to the side.
He crossed the deck to join her. “You told me to wait, but I refuse to let you do this alone.”
Andrew eyed him up and down. “Who is he, and why are you together without a chaperone?”
“If you would be silent for a few minutes, I will explain.” Her soft voice quivered.
Andrew snapped his mouth shut, and his eyes filled with concern.
Susan lowered her lids and stared at the deck. The man next to her touched her arm in reassurance. She looked up at him and their eyes clung. “I’m fine,” she whispered.
“If you would rather I—”
“No. I will do it.”
Silence hovered as she straightened her shoulders and strode to Morgan.
Morgan must have sensed her unease because he told her, “Susan, whatever it is I’m sure it can wait. I have something to discuss with you.”
“No. I have waited long enough.” She clasped her hands together in front of her and drew in a deep breath. “Morgan, this baby is not yours.”
Morgan’s eyes widened.
Andrew rushed to her side. “What do you mean, it is not his?”
“Morgan never touched me. I lied.”
Arianna’s eyes rounded and hope for a normal life with Morgan surged through her. Not that their life would ever be normal.
“Susan—”
“Andrew, please.” Susan laid her dainty hand on Andrew’s sleeve. “Let me finish. I fell in love with a seaman. When word reached me his ship had sunk and all had drowned, I was devastated. Then I discovered I was pregnant. I panicked. I couldn’t have a baby without a husband. Morgan’s mother making us promise to wed was my salvation, but I had to make him believe he was the baby’s father. So when he got drunk, I took advantage of the situation and made it look like we slept together when in reality, we hadn’t. He accepted what I told him as the truth.” She paused and then continued. “Recently, I discovered the man I love didn’t die.”
“Who is he? I’ll beat him to a pulp.” Andrew’s gaze darted to the man beside her. “Is he the one who got you pregnant?” He started toward him.
Susan stood in front of Andrew and pushed against his chest. “Leave him alone. I told him about the baby, and he wants to marry me.”
“He damned well better.” Andrew glanced down at his sister’s face, and the anger seemed to drain from him. “Why didn’t you say something before now?”
“I was going to, but I was frightened. I was searching for the right moment to tell mother. I knew she’d be disappointed in me. And then you came home and dragged me to Morgan’s house. I didn’t know what to do.”
The man Susan loved circled his arm around her shoulders, and she turned into him. “I love your sister. I want to make a home for her and the baby.”
“Andrew, this is James, and he is the nicest, kindest man you could ever meet.”
“I’ll decide that after I have a talk with him. Come with me.” Andrew pulled him to the side.
Susan’s worried gaze followed them before she turned to Morgan. “I apologize for lying and what I put you through. I didn’t mean to cause you trouble. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Of course I can, and I am thrilled for you.” He hugged her.
“Thank you.” Again she glanced at Andrew and James with a frown. “I better rescue James from my overprotective brother.”
Arianna couldn’t believe what had happened. She was ready to burst from her skin with joy as she ran to Morgan. “Is it true? Is it really true? Are we free to marry?” She hesitated. “That is, if you still want to.”
A wide smile played on Morgan’s face. “Of course, I want to.” He fell to one knee. “Will you marry me?”
“I’ve said it before but yes, yes, yes.” He stood, and she jumped into his arms. “I love you.”
Morgan ravaged her lips with a searing, seductive kiss that stole the breath from her lungs and heated her body.
“We’ll have a double wedding,” Harry shouted.
Epilogue
“May I kiss the bride?”
Morgan nodded, but his gaze remained watchful.
Andrew’s lips touched hers and lingered a bit longer than was proper.
“It was supposed to be a quick peck,” Morgan complained.
Arianna laughed. “I didn’t mind.”
“I did.” Morgan swept a possessive hand around her waist.
“Arianna, you are a lovely bride. I’m truly glad everything turned out the way you wanted. And I apologize for what I said that night in the cabin.”
“I understand. Susan is your sister, and you were concerned about her.”
With affection glowing in Andrew’s eyes, he peered at Susan who stood with her new husband. “She is his responsibility now. He seems to be a good man. He’ll take care of her. I just wish he had waited to get married before he bedded her.”
Arianna had discovered that wasn’t always possible. She gazed at Morgan, and he returned her adoring stare. “When you’re in love, it is hard to wait.”
“Morgan, can you forgive me for how I treated you?” Andrew asked.
Morgan slapped him on the back. “You are my closest friend, and nothing will ever change that. You were only doing what you believed was right.”
Andrew grimaced as he acknowledged a person in the crowd. “My mother is calling me over. She is trying to marry me off.”
Arianna and Morgan laughed as Andrew headed in her direction.
“He deserves a nice woman.”
“I don’t know if he’ll ever marry.” Morgan paused. “But he may if he finds the right woman and she seduces him like you did me.”
She slapped him on the arm. “I didn’t seduce you.”
“Oh yes, you did. The first moment I saw you, I fell in love. But I knew I couldn’t have you. And then you…” His lips turned up in a wicked grin. “Do you know I tried to match you with Andrew? I figured if you married him, I’d still be able to see and talk to you occasionally.”
“Is that why you always threw us together?”
He nodded. “Andrew seemed interested—he noticed the same qualities I did—but then jealously reared its head, and I couldn’t let him have you.”
She turned to face him and wound her arms around his waist. His arms mimicked hers. This was the happiest day of her life. Love radiated from every pore. “It wouldn’t have worked. You are the only man for me. But I want him to be as happy as we are. What about Elizabeth for Andrew? She is beautiful, and I’ve seen the way she looks at him.”
“We all grew up together. He still sees her as a child. No more matchmaking. He’ll settle down when he feels it’s right.” Morgan’s gaze roamed her face. “Will you miss working on a ship?”
“Who says I’m not? I still have something to prove.”