She pursed her lips. “I guess we’d better return to strictly business.”
“You tossed that aside forever when you stowed away on my boat. And I can’t go back, either.”
“Then you want to have a secret affair.”
She did. In the boat. On her desk. Even in his bed with those silly candles around them. But did she dare risk facing the day he got tired of her? Even Buck had been amorous in the beginning.
“All I know is I love you, Sadie.”
He loved her. This rugged, handsome, kind, imperfect man loved her. His words made her richer than any paycheck he could have given her.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Let’s see where the tide takes us.”
Why not? She was already out in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. For this man, and him only, she would risk her heart.
Chapter Twelve
Henry and Sadie finally arrived at the city dock in Crisfield. The seafood-producing town resembled Oyster Island, but oysters were the last thing on his mind. Had he really made love to her? With no condom? Hopefully, there’d be no consequences. How was he to know she’d stow away on his boat? When he planned something carefully, it didn’t work, but when he wasn’t expecting it, everything fell into place.
Her bravery in toughing out the stormy seas with him made him love her even more. Her seasickness reminded him she wasn’t any more perfect than he was. Maybe that was why her body felt so right. Sweet and slick, she’d accommodated the length of his cock to the hilt. She wasn’t a fragile doll he had to worry about breaking.
The weather had turned bad again. Wind threw sheets of rain in their faces. When they pulled up at the weathered dock of the company selling the seed oysters, two men scurried out to help him.
The first shot Sadie a sour look. “Interesting choice of deckhands.”
“She’s strong,” Henry said.
“I hope so,” the other replied. “Looks too ugly to be good for much else.”
Henry’s fists clenched. How dare they insult his woman? Even though she wore a man’s clothes, couldn’t they see how beautiful she was? But most people, especially Klansmen, didn’t bother to look past skin color.
After the daylong boat trip in rough weather, he was too tired to get into a fight with these rude men. He just wanted to transact his business and get the heck out of here. Besides, if he fought one or two, a hundred more would take their place. He’d never win the battle.
He hoped Sadie realized it, too, and would let the remark slide off her like a raindrop. When he turned to give her a warning look, her face was frozen except for her eyes. They bored him full of accusing holes. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything.
Inside, he paid for the oysters. While the two hands loaded them onto his boat, the men offered him water. But because they didn’t include Sadie, he refused it. They also told him about a restaurant a couple of doors down where
he
could get a hot meal. An inn was close by, too. His muscles ached, and his stomach was so empty it cramped. A hot meal sounded better than heaven. Spending the night in a dry bed would be even better.
But if Sadie couldn’t share those comforts with him, he wouldn’t enjoy them at all.
“Thank you,” he told them. “But I’ll get something to take with me. I have to get home.”
“In the dark? In a storm?” The man cocked his head toward Sadie. “There’s probably some scraps and an overhang in back for that one.”
A wheezing cough erupted from Sadie’s throat, but he knew she didn’t have a cold. Strangled rage was more likely.
At the restaurant, he bought enough food for two while Sadie waited, shivering, outside. She didn’t utter a word until they boarded the boat and pulled away from the pier. Not far from land, he dropped anchor.
“I got us a feast.” He laid it on one of the side cabinets under the overhang. “Have you ever had Eastern Shore fried chicken?”
She replied with her foot, kicking him square in the backside.
“What was that for?”
Her eyes flashed in the twilight. “For letting them treat me like that.”
“I don’t make the segregation rules. Don’t I get any credit for buying us this meal?”
“No.” She crossed her arms. “Those men called me ugly, and you didn’t say one word in my defense.”
“What was I supposed to do?” He held out his hands. “Tell them you were my woman? We came here to buy oysters, not change the world.”
She pursed her lips as she opened the bag of food and grabbed a chicken drumstick. His stomach growled from the scent of hot food.
“Believe me,” he said. “I really wanted to punch that man.”
“So did I.” She took a ferocious bite of chicken. “I’m really weary of this boat. Can’t we spend the night somewhere on dry land?”
He grabbed a piece of chicken, too, a big, juicy breast. Given Sadie’s mood, he’d probably never get to enjoy
her
breasts again.
“Not unless you want to sleep in a barn,” he said. “I’m sure the inn wouldn’t accept us.”
She plopped onto the bench. “I bet you’re sorry I came. If I weren’t here, you’d be sitting in that warm restaurant and spending the night in a real bed.”
“I’m not a bit sorry.” He sat beside her and kissed her. “I got to make love to you while steering the boat. Today was the finest day of my life.”
“We’ve smeared chicken grease all over each other’s faces.” But her grin told him she didn’t mind. “Are we going to head home now?”
“No, it’s too dangerous in the dark and the storm. We’re going to spend the night right here.”
She set down her drumstick. “Oh God.”
“You’re not feeling sick again, are you?”
“No, but I don’t know if I can take a whole night of this.”
He gripped her cold hand. “We’ll get through it. Together.”
She gazed at him with trust and love in her eyes—love she hadn’t yet told him in words. The sky turned black except for the streetlights in town, reflecting on the choppy water. He lit a lantern and handed her a biscuit from the bag.
“Don’t eat any more after this. The sea will only get rougher.”
She took the biscuit and stared at it. “I thought running Rockfield’s was hard.”
“Nothing in life is worthwhile if it’s too easy. Caleb always tells me that.”
Admiration filled her eyes. “He stood up for Pearl and their love. What a brave man.”
Henry’s appetite washed away, and it had nothing to do with the rocking boat. He’d never live up to his brother. Not in looks, brains, business skills, and especially not in crossing the color line. He’d never forget the crash of Caleb’s candle as it dropped on the floor at Oyster Harbor’s Klan initiation ceremony. Right before he walked out, refusing to join.
The mere thought of competing with those accomplishments tied Henry’s stomach in knots.
While Sadie threw the chicken bone overboard and dusted biscuit crumbs from her hands, he pulled blankets and tarps from the storage bins. She helped him arrange a bed under the overhang and snuggled into it with him. Facing him, she tucked her head between his neck and shoulder.
The sensation of her curves pressed against his body wiped away the storm and their earlier disagreement. His cock hardened against her soft belly, aching to burrow beneath her clothes to bare skin, soft hairs, and damp folds. Now that he’d had a taste of her, he wanted more.
“Henry, I’m scared.” Her lips moved against his neck. “What if we sink?”
“I won’t let that happen.” At least he was a good sailor. Maybe even better than his brother. “Besides, we’re close to land and somewhat protected in this harbor.”
He dropped a kiss into her hair and gripped her shoulders. “Are you warm enough?”
“Yes.” She wriggled closer to him. “How will things be between us when we get home?”
“You tell me,” he replied. “I thought you made the rules.”
“What we did today shouldn’t happen again. I only allowed it because I needed to get you out of my system.”
He grinned in the semi-darkness. “Did it work?”
“No.”
“Me either. Sadie, I don’t want things to end when we get back to Oyster Harbor.”
“If anyone finds out…”
“We’ll be careful,” he said against her hair. “We can’t marry, though. It’s against the anti-miscegenation law.”
A law his brother had flagrantly ignored.
“It’s not that.”
“Then what’s holding you back?” he asked. “Is it the same reason you haven’t told me you love me?”
She kissed the side of his neck. “I do love you, Henry. No one has ever made me feel so special and good. Certainly not Buck.”
The thought of her former husband filled his mouth with a bitter taste. The way he’d treated Sadie had soured her trust for all men. But if the marriage had worked, the two of them would not be here in each other’s arms.
“But?” he prompted.
“You’ll get tired of me someday, even without society pulling us apart.” She clung to him, her nails digging into his shoulder blades. “You’ll sail away without looking back. That would destroy me.”
His breath caught in his chest. In his cottage, Sadie had laid out her nude body before him. As if she’d pulled apart both halves of an oyster shell. She’d just done it again—with her heart.
What if he let her down?
Maybe he should reject her before things went any further. He was bound to mess up eventually, the way he always bungled everything. But it was too late. He’d already hurt her once and swore he’d never do it again, at least not intentionally. Leaving her now might destroy her. Him, too.
If they could survive a night of wild seas, he’d do everything in his power to keep their love alive on land.
“Try to rest,” he told her.
Sleep was the last thing on his mind, though, with her tempting body pressed against him. But it would prevent her from feeling ill. An hour or two later, Henry opened his eyes. He must have drifted off. The wind howled around the boat, and the sea tossed it like a toy. His head hurt. This damn nor’easter was putting even his sea legs to the test.
Sadie flailed against him, knocking him in the ear, and sat up, gasping.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She fanned her face even though the air was cold and damp outside the blankets.
“Not really. Why did you let me eat greasy chicken, for God’s sake?”
“Do you want me to take you ashore?” The sea was so rough now, attempting to dock might bang up his hull. But he couldn’t stand to watch her suffer, either.
“No. I’ll be all right.”
But he knew she lied. He ran through the seasickness remedies in his mind. The horizon was too dark to see, and the boat couldn’t be driven. He grasped her wrist, pressing on the area that would make her feel better. If he could only find something to occupy her mind. Something that could be done inside these warm blankets.
His cock stiffened, full of ideas.
He grasped her hand and pulled it to his trousers. “Put me in your mouth.”
“What?”
“It’ll keep your mind off the rocking.”
It would also keep him from making love to her without a condom again. He wasn’t about to gamble with fate twice in one trip. Had he pulled out of her slick core quickly enough, or had he left some of his seed behind? Natalie’s ghost had weakened, but stormy nights like tonight brought her back to mind. Reminding him of the hugest mistake of his life.
He was so caught up in the past, he hardly noticed Sadie’s hands unbuttoning his trousers. Pulling out his cock. He cried out with surprise when her wet, sweet mouth contacted the head.
“Make it good, sweetheart,” he told her. “Forget about everything except pleasuring me.”
“Yes, Henry.” Her soft, submissive voice made him so rigid, he thought his skin might split open.
When she dug her nails into his balls, he cried out again. Her lush bottom lip brushed the swollen head, pillowing it before she nipped it with her teeth. The sudden pinprick of pain squeezed his groin with grinding lust.
He clenched the blankets in his fist when she sucked his shaft. Her mouth was as deep and generous as her cunt.
He groaned. “So good, Sadie. Don’t stop.”
She sucked, licked, and nipped him until he thought the boat had slipped into a giant whirlpool. The waves only enhanced the pleasure, thrusting him between her tight lips and back out again.
“Do you feel better?” he croaked, his voice raw from panting. “I know I do.”
“Torturing you is definitely keeping my mind off the sea.” She gripped his shaft and squeezed it hard. “I may have to do this all night.”
“Oh…yes…all night,” he muttered, completely senseless.
When a large wave hit, the storm around them converged in his groin. His cock erupted. Too late to warn her.
“Damn it, Henry,” she exclaimed, giving his member a rough tug. “Did you have to do that all over my face and clothes?”
He chuckled as he groped in the darkness for a rag. “I don’t do anything right, remember?”
She laughed, too. His Sadie was sugar and vinegar, and he never knew which he’d get from one moment to the next. Her moods were more changeable than the sea.
Nothing in life is worthwhile if it’s too easy.
Life with her would be anything but easy. He couldn’t wait to see what happened next.
* * *
On Tuesday, Sadie stood in front of her desk and stretched. The last couple of days had been busy. Henry put in even longer hours on the water, planting the oyster seeds, and Mrs. Tucker was out with a cold.
Personally, she’d had enough of boats for a while. She could hardly look at her desk without imagining it rocking up and down. Her seasickness was better, though. Her stomach hadn’t complained a bit while rowing the family rowboat to and from work. Crab Creek on a bad day was nothing compared to being in the bay during that nor’easter.
Had he really made love to her out there or was it all a dream?
He wanted her and loved her. She wished he’d beat up those men in Crisfield for insulting her, but, as he said, he wasn’t perfect. Neither was she. His cock felt perfect, though. Remembering its salty, musky taste hardened her nipples against her bra.
The rough sound of a throat clearing in the hallway sent her scampering back to her seat.
Oh, crap.
The mayor’s son.