“I have no idea what you mean.” Her eyes were wide with alarm and confusion.
“No doubt you don’t, but I suspect you’ve felt in a prison of sorts lately.” When she didn’t answer, he plucked one of the combs from her hair.
A gasp escaped her. The fast flutter of her pulse in her neck indicated her alarm. “What are you doing?” She tried to retrieve the frippery, but he held it out of reach.
“Changing a viewpoint.” With a grin at her scandalized expression, he methodically divested her of the other comb and a few hairpins. The brown mass tumbled about her back and shoulders; the breeze gave her a fresh, windblown appearance that did wonders for her complexion. “Ah, much better.”
“Stop that.” In an effort to retrieve a pin, Elizabeth’s body slanted against his for a few seconds. Awareness of her swept over him as she frantically attempted to gather her locks into some semblance of order. “It isn’t right for you to see my hair undone.”
“Why not?” Brand took away the pin, deposited everything onto her bonnet and then turned more fully into her. When their knees knocked, hot desire streaked up his leg to lodge in his groin. He might be a bounder and a complete rotter, but he couldn’t wait to see her spread on his bed without clothes, her body flushed and sated. “It completely transforms your looks.”
“It’s not proper.” As she lifted a hand to tame the mass, he caught it in his. “Imagine what my brother will say if he finds out.”
“I rather think it’s none of your brother’s business what you choose to do with your own life.” He stared into her face until she blushed. God, how much did he like seeing her at sixes and sevens? With her hair wild about her shoulders, she could be a veritable siren if she glanced at him in a certain way. In short order, he divested her of the glove. It joined the bonnet. “My dear Elizabeth, you must accept the fact you are a vision and should enjoy having attention upon you.”
“Women of the church shouldn’t call attention to themselves.” The words were a breathless affair, for he’d begun to trace her palm with a fingertip. “We’re not as important as the work therein.”
“Such gammon.” Brand put his lips to the shell of her ear while drawing abstract designs on her palm. “Men only say that to keep females downtrodden and hidden. Why, if women could be their true selves in the church or elsewhere, a veritable revolution would occur.” That was the truth. If the so-called fairer sex only knew the power they could wield, both singularly and together, the world would change, and quite rapidly for the better.
But they needed men to believe in them and support them. A tiny niggle of guilt went through Brand’s chest, for he did neither. He used women for his own pleasure, even if he respected them. Damnation, why had a few meetings with this woman made him start thinking?
“What an interesting thing to say.” She turned her head. “Keep on with that and I’ll never want to leave this sloop.” With each word, her lips brushed his.
The scent of apple blossoms teased his nose. That coupled with her loose hair and the tremors that racked her body sent blood rushing into his shaft. Despite the differences between them, he wanted this woman, plain and simple, wanted to initiate her into the world of carnal pleasures. Knowing he’d ruin her and send her back to the church played directly into the rake that he was. Would that encourage her to break from the invisible chains that held her?
“I’m told I’m an interesting man.” He whispered the words that were designed to thrill. Slowly, he pulled back enough that he could caress her arm. Up and down, he moved his fingers, always coming to her hand to tease the sensitive skin there once more.
“That is quite true.” The delicate tendons in her neck worked with a hard swallow as she watched him from half-lidded eyes. “You’re as mysterious as the sea. I knew that as soon as I saw you.”
When he trailed his fingertip along the inside of her wrist, the softest of moans escaped her. His damned prick twitched. “Ah, then I shouldn’t disappoint your expectations.” He’d give the contents of his coffers to know what she was thinking. With the wager sitting heavily in the back of his mind, he leaned close to her and pressed his lips to the side of her neck.
Another tiny moan issued from her, barely more than a sound, but it was confirmation that he’d found a crack in her maidenly armor, and it went straight to his stones. Too much more of this and he’d sport a raging cockstand. “Brand, this isn’t a good idea.”
“Why not?” He trailed his lips to the underside of her jaw. That satiny skin called to him much like the lure of the sea did. “We’re both willing and able.” When he touched the tip of his tongue to the fleshy part of her earlobe, she jerked away with an outraged gasp. Brand snaked an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “As I said before, your beauty has captivated me.” What he wouldn’t do for a quick peek at the slope of her breasts.
“I don’t believe you, especially since you’re quite the rake, if the rumors are true. No doubt you’d bed anyone in skirts.” Yet she didn’t squirm from his hold. If anything, she melted slightly into him.
“Damn the rumors.” His chest tightened. For the first time in his adult life, he cursed his history that made her look down on him. “You’re smart enough to make your own decisions regarding me. Just as I’ve done with you.” This time, he caught her lobe between his lips and teased it with the tip of his tongue.
“Oh, dear.” She shivered. “You’ll corrupt me if I let you.”
That was exactly the plan. “Will you?”
“I honestly don’t know.” A sigh followed the words and she shivered again. “What sort of decision have you made about me?”
Yes, she was intelligent if she persisted in keeping up a conversation instead of giving into curiosity or desire. “You are more suited for heaven while I’m fit for hell, yet here we are, on the cusp of something… highly interesting—together.”
“Oh.” A pink blush stained her cheeks. Elizabeth’s eyes were dark as sapphire pools and her breathing had shallowed. With her hair down and dancing in the breeze, she appeared every inch undone, and damn if that didn’t feed his lust. “I could teach you how to be good.” She sighed when she slid a hand up to cup his cheek.
The soft touch surprised him, and what was more, he craved more of it. “Why bother when it’s much more fun to be bad?” Brand stifled a groan as her gaze slipped to his mouth. “Would taking a tiny little fall with me be so horrid?”
“I’m beginning to wonder.”
“Good. Keep on with that.” He couldn’t stand it any longer. Brand claimed her lips in a gentle, barely-there kiss. As much as he wished to devour her right there, now was not the time, and he certainly didn’t want to spook her, but he needed something, a mere taste. The velvety softness of her mouth cradled his, and for one insane moment, he had the sensation of finding true north.
What a load of rubbish that is.
Elizabeth pulled away and broke their connection. She looked at him as if he’d opened the door to a fairyland she’d never seen before. “You are dangerous, Captain Storme, and if I were clever, I’d steer well away from you.”