He began to close in on her and she tightened her grip on the gun, despite her sweaty palms.
“Don’t underestimate me. I have killed before.”
His step faltered. Surprise and disbelief were visible beneath the black beard and mask.
“Perhaps it’s time you met your maker, Angel,” she said derisively.
“Then we’ll go together, my little hellion,” he replied arrogantly.
In two strides he was on her, his hand squeezing her wrist until she cried out in pain and dropped the gun. He lifted her and tossed her onto the large bunk, then dropped onto his knees to straddle her and pinned her arms to the mattress.
“Remind me to teach you the proper way to hold a gun. Once you’ve mastered that, perhaps I’ll show you how to actually load it and fire.”
“You mean—?”
“That’s right, love. There wasn’t any chance of you killing me with that gun. Ah, I see I’ve disappointed you again. Well, don’t worry. I’ll make it all up to you soon—and I’ll have all night to do so,” he said smoothly.
She felt her cheeks fill with blood at his bold promise. It didn’t help that she was in his bed and he was practically lying on top of her. The contact was far too intimate for her to think properly. “Does that mean you kept your word?”
“I’m hurt that you would think otherwise.”
“Let me go. I want to see her.”
“If you want to see your maid, then I want something in return.”
“You have already asked too much of me! I have nothing else, you selfish rogue.” She struggled underneath him, but with the slightest wiggle, his strong thighs contracted to hold her, and her awareness of his superior dominance intensified.
“What I want is very little. A kiss. That is all—for now,” he reminded her, with a suggestive raise of his brow.
Madelaine groaned, feeling her cheeks redden further. But it was more than embarrassment fueling her emotions now. The weight of him was not unpleasant. His fingers were warm and firm, wrapped around her wrists above her head. She was a prisoner, yet she didn’t feel threatened lying underneath him. A kiss from him wouldn’t be so bad, she thought as she waited for him to take it.
“Well?”
“Well what?” she asked, confused.
“I asked for a kiss. That means you must kiss me,” he explained, barely above a whisper.
Madelaine couldn’t move. She had no idea what a lady was supposed to do in this situation. Not that she had been much of a lady for a long while. And God knows no lady would find herself in a pirate’s bed thinking how he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen and wondering what his lips would feel like on hers.
“I can’t,” she whispered in distress. He watched her with such intensity in his rich blue eyes that she had to squeeze her eyes shut or be consumed by them.
His warm breath caressed her skin a second before his lips found hers. The contact was so intoxicating, she couldn’t hold back her moan of pleasure. His mouth was gentle, surprisingly soft, such a contrast to the natural whiskers on his chin and jaw that scratched her delicate skin.
He coaxed her to return the kiss, his lips slanting against her mouth with more insistence, but she couldn’t let go of her modesty. She suddenly felt overwhelmingly shy. Madelaine was accustomed to force and cruelty from men, not this tender persuasion. And what she certainly wasn’t prepared for was the crushing wave of desire that washed over her entire body as his mouth conquered hers.
She was on the verge of giving this pirate anything he wanted of her—and the realization was terrifying.
He finally pulled back and looked into her eyes as if he was trying to figure out her secrets. With the kiss at an end, sanity returned.
“There. I did what you wanted. I demand to see Olivia. Now!” Madelaine said, struggling against his greater strength.
“I suppose it’s only fair,” he said, releasing her. He rose and offered her his hand to assist her off the bed.
“No, thank you, pirate,” she hissed.
“I like it better when you use my name.”
“Fine. Pirate.”
He laughed as he led her out of the cabin.
“Madelaine!” Olivia cried, rushing forward to meet her. “Are you well? Are you unhurt?”
Madelaine nodded and glanced over her shoulder to make certain they were out of earshot of their captor. The captain had brought her on deck but then had surprised her when he’d allowed her to go to Olivia alone. He was occupied with a member of his crew and didn’t appear to be interested in them at the moment.
“I am fine. What about you?”
“I was so scared. I thought he was going to leave me.”
“I did too. He is despicable to have even thought of leaving a woman in such dire circumstances.”
“Oh, yes. Forgive me for saying so, but I’m so thankful it was you and not me. I just mean I wouldn’t have had the courage to argue with such a frightening man. How in heaven’s name did you get him to agree to bring me?” Olivia asked, her delicate fingers wrapped around Madelaine’s forearm as if she was afraid to be taken away again.
“I…I agreed not to give him any trouble in exchange for bringing you,” she said. She couldn’t bring herself to admit what she had actually agreed to. It was too humiliating—and Olivia would never allow it. She might even come forward with the truth, and Lord only knew what the pirate would do if he found out they had deceived him. “I told him he would need you to take the ransom note,” she said. That part was true enough; she just hadn’t gotten the opportunity to bring it up to the pirate yet. But she would.
“Oh, Madelaine, you are so clever.”
“That means we have to keep up our pretense. I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have to do this.”
“Don’t you be sorry for anything,” she said, clasping Madelaine’s hands in hers. “You have saved my life. I’m sure of it. If you hadn’t been on the Oxford with me, I don’t know what I would have done. I was terrified.”
“I was scared, too.”
“You were? I would never have known. You stood up to that pirate as if he was naught but a pig loosed from his pen.”
“That is how I shall think of him when I next speak to him,” Madelaine said, trying to sound cheerful.
“Do you think you’ll have to see him again before we reach…wherever we’re going?”
“Yes, I’m afraid I will. He will probably question me about the ransom. You and I should discuss a few things, so I’ll know the answers to anything he might ask me.”
“Good idea. Where are they keeping you? I’m alone in a cabin at the end of a dark corridor. It’s clean and tidy, but I hear all the sailors nearby and it’s a little frightening. Do you think he would let us stay together?”
Madelaine looked out across the sapphire water, capped with tiny froths of white. “I don’t know.”
At least Olivia was being allowed to stay alone. She couldn’t tell Olivia she was sharing the pirate’s cabin—or about the devil’s bargain she’d made with him. She felt heat rising to her cheeks as her thoughts were drawn to the kiss he’d given her only a short time ago.
“Come, let’s talk before he decides