Treasured (11 page)

A loud pounding sounded on the door. “Captain Morrow!”

“Come.” He didn’t look up.

Willy tumbled through the doorway, skidding to a stop before him. Murdoch and Boyd came in after him, dwarfing the cabin with their collective bulk. Willy braced his hands on his knees and panted for a moment. “Sir…we…found…”

“Me.”

Shock ballooned in his chest, rocked him to his very core. He squeezed his eyes closed, waiting for the mirage to waver and fade. Madness. She was
gone
. He was dreaming, delusional. When he opened his eyes again, he’d be alone in his cabin. Alone for all the days of his life.

“James.” He loved his name on her lips. Only in his imagination her tone wasn’t usually one of exasperation. His eyes snapped open. Leaning forward, he looked past his men to see her sweet face peeping in at him. “Don’t be upset. My clothes are torn up, but
nothing bad happened
. I’m fine. All right?”

Struggling hard to regain some control, he glanced up and met Murdoch’s eyes. “Gentlemen, give us the room.”

“Aye, sir.” The three of them backed out of the room, murmuring their relief to Rebecca as she stepped over the threshold, holding the front of her shirt together. The door shut behind his men and left them in silence.

Rage snapped through him. “He did that to you?”

He should have protected her, kept her safe from harm. He should have locked her in their cabin with ten guards. He should have kept her by his side. He should have done
something
.

“He ripped my clothes. He didn’t do any real damage.” She met his eyes, and they were open, honest.

God, he loved her. The truth of it wrenched at him, soul deep and undeniable. A band of emotion banded tight around his chest. Thank God, she was all right. Thank
God
.

“Well, then.” A coy grin pulled at her full lips. “I believe you demanded that I wear no clothes in this cabin.”

The remains of her shirt hit the wooden floor, baring the soft curves of her breasts. Dusky pink nipples topped the prettiest breasts he’d ever seen. Everything about this woman was irresistible to him. His body reacted, his cock stiffening until it chafed against his breeches. Desire clenched his insides, twisting tight with all the other feelings she elicited from him.

Sweat broke out on his forehead, and his heart pounded. Her hips wriggled as she let her pants slip to the floor. He wanted to kiss his way up those soft legs until he dipped his tongue into the slickness he knew awaited him. She was always hot for him, greedy. He’d suckle her wet flesh until she screamed his name.

“Can I touch myself, James?” Her small hands cupped her breasts, lifted them before letting them bounce down. Her nipples beaded to tight points. He wanted them in his mouth, wanted to suck them hard. She loved it when he did that. He shuddered, trying to force himself to relax, to remain in control and focus on her.

Jerking to his feet, he backed her against the door and crowded her with his body. Her breasts rose and fell with her soft panting. His hands itched to glide over the curves of her body. Her pink tongue flicked out to wet her bottom lip. He groaned. He could smell her, that soft vanilla fragrance mixed with the scent of her building passion. Lust and love twisted inside him, shredded his resolve. He fisted his shaking fingers. Touching her now would be a mistake.

He wanted to worship her slowly, show her what she meant to him. His intentions went by the wayside as her fingers slipped into the thatch of hair that covered her sex, then slid deeper to stroke herself. His anticipation sharpened, knowing slick heat built there. For him. Everything about her kicked him in the heart and loins. He had to have her, hard and fast and now. This moment.

He gripped her hips, lifting her against the door. Her slim thighs bracketed his flanks, her feet tucking under his buttocks.

She moved on him, and he could feel her heated core through his pants. Need sank claws into him, and he rocked against her.

“James, please. James, James, James.”

Hearing her chant his name only drove him on. He threaded his fingers through her silken hair and pulled her head back to expose her throat. Flicking his tongue over her pulse point, he lightly bit her neck. She cried out, her fingers clutching at his shoulders. He sucked kisses up her neck, along her jaw, then met her mouth. The kiss was feral, animalistic as they fed on each other. He broke away, his breath jerking out.

“Now.
Now
, James.” He smiled at her demand, so typical of Rebecca. She was a woman who stood aside and waited, analyzed. But for him? She went wild under him. He loved it, loved to push her, loved to watch her open for him, loved to peel back the layers of her until he found the wildness she hid from the world.

His hand slid between them to unfasten his breeches and release his cock. He rubbed his knuckles against the hard nub of her clitoris. Her fingers clawed at his shoulder. Her hips moved with his fingers, but it wasn’t enough. He had to be inside her, ride her, feel her damp heat close around him. Shifting his hands to cup her ass, he lifted her on the door to plunge into the hot depths of her sex.

“
James
.”

He dipped his head to suck her nipples into his mouth, first one, then the other. Her back bowed, and she moaned when he bit the tight tips. Her wetness increased, soaking the length of his cock with each plunge. A siren’s smile curved her lips, and she threw back her head to arch against the door and press herself more firmly to his chest.

So sweet, so perfect.

“I love you, James. I love you, love you,
love you
.”

Every shred of civility ripped away and he pounded inside her. His grip bit into her hips, pulling her into his thrusts. He rocked his hips into hers, grinding her at a different angle. She sobbed his name. He couldn’t stop, not even if
The Fortune
caught fire again. A part of his mind stood back and arched a brow that his tenderness had dissolved into the complete lack of finesse of ramming his wife against a door. He closed his eyes and drew in her scent. He could never get enough of her. Only her. Only Rebecca had the power to reduce him to this…no control, no thought other than the overriding need to bury himself inside her.

Her fingers fisted in his hair. “I—I can’t…I…
James
.”

She twisted in his arms, and he felt the muscles of her pussy clench around the length of his cock. Every thought was wiped clean of his mind as he rode towards orgasm. He groaned long and loud, his hips jerking. He went rigid, every muscle in his body locking as he jetted into her pussy. Her arms curved around his neck and her cheek rested on his shoulder. They panted, sucking in lungfuls of air. Long moments passed before his heart stopped racing, before his muscles stopped shaking.

“Rebecca,” he whispered her name, just to hear it again.
Thank you, God
. Living without her now would kill him. He knew it. He could never let her go, not for a single moment. She was here and she was whole and he would die before he saw her harmed. The familiar band of feeling tightened around his chest, robbing him of breath. He ran his hands down her soft flesh, needing to prove to himself again that she was unhurt, that he hadn’t lost her. “My Rebecca. Mine.”

*

Dawn had broken and flooded the cabin with soft light. Becca and James lay on their sides, facing each other. Her knee curved over his hip. His hand gripped her thigh, held her wide for his penetration. After their wild ride against the door, he’d worked her slowly. He’d kissed every inch of her, his touch reverent. She loved it. She also loved the fierce lack of control in their last bout of lovemaking. She shivered as his tongue flicked over her nipple. “I thought you were gone.”

She tried to collect her scattered wits because she needed to talk to him about the switched-at-birth thing. She needed to settle what he meant to do with her when they reached Barbados. She took the easier of the two first. “I won’t stay.”

“Pardon me?” He paused in his movements and she moaned, arching her hips to keep the slow, steady slide of him working deep inside of her.

She rubbed her fingertips over his nipples. “I know you want to dump me off on some plantation on Barbados. I won’t stay there.”

“Haven’t we already discussed your obedience?” His hands left her thigh to catch her fingers, stay their stroking.

Meeting his eyes, she tugged her hand from his grip. “When I’m on board this ship, yes. You leave me on some island and I’ll be on the next pirate ship out of there.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw, ticking. “Pirate ship?”

“I’m a pirate, James. There
are
women pirates.”

His eyes narrowed on her face, but he didn’t seem angry. “Name one.”

She could name about ten, some of whom weren’t even born yet. But that was a discussion for later. “Fine, I’ll be the first
Lady Pirate
. For as long as you’re a pirate, I’m one, too. When you give it up, so will I. Now, whether or not I’m a pirate on
your
ship is another story.”

He must have decided to ignore that last line and instead focused on the discussion of his future lifestyle. “I don’t want to give it up. Not yet, anyway.”

“Not yet?” She arched a brow and smiled. From her studies in the future, she knew he was a pirate until 1720. Right at the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, he’d disappeared. “Well, I think I know when
I’ll
give it up.”

“Oh?” His eyes crinkled as he fought a grin.

She nodded. “Five more years.”

“Five?” He kept moving, and the slow press of his cock into her pussy drove her mad. Her sex clenched on his length every time he pulled out of her.

“Yes. Then I’ll stay on Barbados. If you’ll stay with me.” She pushed her hair back over her shoulder, rubbed her nipples against his chest. Pleasure rippled through her in building waves.

“You want to reform me? Perhaps I’ll let you. Twenty years or so by my side as a good
daily
influence should suffice in reforming me, don’t you think?”

She laughed.
Yes
. He bent his head to nip at the skin on her shoulder. She gasped. He rolled her beneath him, bucking hard to slam deeper than he’d been before. She shivered at the impact and came. Her inner muscles flexed on his cock. Her back bowed as the hot sensations rolled through her, pushed her higher and higher until a thin scream burst from her lips. He pushed into her again and again before he shuddered and came inside her.

The excitement twisting through her dimmed as she recalled the other part of the discussion she needed to have with him. The one where he might just change his mind about keeping her. The one where every seaman’s superstitions might play into him thinking she was insane, or a witch to be burned at the stake. Unease crawled over her skin. He’d never
hurt
her, but he might decide that getting rid of her
was
his better option.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Weren’t we just talking?” The pale blue of his eyes twinkled down at her.

She shook her head, and dropped her gaze. “About something else, something serious.”

“Sounds ominous.”

She pushed at his shoulders until he let her up and then pulled away from him, rolling to her feet. She snagged his shirt off the floor and donned it. Sitting in the chair he had occupied earlier, she finally met his gaze. “James, I—”

He leaned up on his elbow, and his gaze became assessing, calculating. “I know you’re not the woman I married.”

She froze. He
knew
? But how much did he know? “People can change.”

“True, but not as much as you have. Not as drastically. You aren’t her, so who are you?”

“Would you believe me if I told you the truth?”

A smile pulled at his lips. “Yes.”

“Just like that? You’ll believe anything I say?” Since when? James only trusted a few of his crewmembers. Not that she blamed him after what his family had done to him.

He sat up and faced her across the room. “If you swear it’s the truth, I’ll believe you.”

“You don’t trust anyone.”

“I have faith in you, Rebecca.”

She pressed her lips together to still their shaking. She hugged his words to herself. Even if he thought she was insane and burned her as a witch, he had trusted her for this moment and she let the sweetness of it flow over her. James was a man of his time and of the sea, and that meant he was highly superstitious. Smoothing a hand over the hem of the shirt she wore, she tried to brace herself for the inevitable. He was her soul mate. She had to convince him.

“Tell me.”

Toying with the creases in the shirt, she fidgeted in her chair. How could she say this? He was staring at her, waiting for her to drop her little bomb on him.
Just get it over with, Becca
. “All right…All right. I’m not from here, James.”

He frowned and gave his head a slight shake. “I know that. You’re from Hampton Roads. You have the same accent as my wife. And you have her face and figure. But you’re not her. How is that even possible?” His hands rested on his knees. Even naked, he looked far less vulnerable than she felt right now.

She stood and walked to him, kneeling before him to look up at him and meet his gaze. “You’re right. I am from Virginia, but not 1715 Virginia. I’m…I’m from the future. About three hundred years in the future.”

He just sat there, staring at her with an uncomprehending look on his handsome face. Then he jerked his chin to the side and glanced away. “I’m…not certain what to say.”

“I’m not crazy, I swear. It’s the truth.” She slid her hands into his and squeezed tight. Her stomach clenched in dread. Please God, let him believe her. Please God, don’t let her lose him now that she was trapped in the past. Please, please, please.

His Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed, but he met her eyes again. “I know you’re not mad, Rebecca. You’re probably saner than I am. I—I’ve never heard of what you’re speaking of. Selkies, witches, mermaids, yes. Traversing time itself, no.”

“It’s not possible in my time either. After McCrory took me, I went to…heaven, I suppose. I met with a man who said Rebecca and I were switched at birth. That our soul mates were in the wrong time and they needed to switch us back. When I found the dagger, I got pulled into the past. To you. Because we’re meant to be together.” Saying this to him really was insane. He wasn’t the kind of man who listened to destiny or did what other people told him. He was a pirate because he wanted to be, not because he had to be.