Page 19 of The Pirate's Daughter

“Spread your legs for me,” he said, taking the soap from her and adding more to the sponge. The huskiness in his tone was frightening, but his look was compelling and Mia complied. A bit at first, then at his urging more until she needed to lift her legs and hook her heels on the rocks. “So damn beautiful,” he whispered and put the sponge against her skin. He took his time, starting high up on her belly but with each completed circle he got lower and pushed herhigher.

When he at last drew the sponge between those nether lips Mia couldn’t bite back the moan. It escaped loudly. The heat pumped through her body and created lightness in her head. It took a minute before she could focus onhim.

He stood back a bit, watching her. His expression seemed more one of amazement and wonder than anything Mia might understand. When he finally met her eyes his face split wide with the largest grin. Mia wouldn’t have thought him capable of smiling so beautifully. He stood a moment more, stepped up and lifted her down to rinse. He handed her the soap and sponge, turned his back and dunked under the water. When he came up he seemed to be struggling abit.

“Devin?” Mia called as he cupped his hands and splashed water in his face a fewtimes.

“Have you finished your bath?” he asked rather gruffly. Mia wasn’t sure what caused his tone to bite and he mustn’t have been aware it did until he turned his head and saw her looking at him. He sighed then shook his head. “Don’t get your rigging in a knot,” he said and started fishing around in the grass and reeds where he’d dropped hispants.

Mia gave him his answer when she tossed the sponge aside, rolled the soap between her hands before tossing it to the grass and started washing her hair. His brows shot up but he said nothing. She turned her back on him after that. She heard him snort, then spalsh. Suddenly not feeling so comfortable in his presence, Mia hurried to work the soap through herhair.

What caused him to speak so harshly to her this time? Perhaps, like she now did, he realized how completely unseemly her behavior was. Wife or no, married or not, she maybe shouldn’t have allowed, encouraged even, the liberties she did. What decent, well-raised woman let a man put his mouth there? Mia quickly dunked under the water. Just the memory made her sex clench andache.

When she came up she looked over her shoulder at him. He was rubbing his skin with a hard cake of soap. Her eyes followed his hands across his chest, down the flat contours of his stomach, and around his hips. When his hands disappeared below the water, and the motion didn’t stop Mia gasped out loud at how much she wanted to step over and take that chore from him. Like he read her mind he stopped scrubbing at himself and held the soap out toher.

“Come do my back, Mia, return thefavor.”

She swallowed hard as she took the block of curd soap and waded through the water to get next to him. He turned his back to her. Unlike hers, his soap had a strong scent. That spicy one she already associated with him. The scent made her heart race. Her hands trembled a little as she drew the bar over his skin. It wouldn’t lather like her better-quality soap did, so she couldn’t rub it in her hands and touch him directly. She heard him groan and knew he was shifting into hertouch.

“This is poor quality soap, Captain,” she said trying to resist leaning against him when he stretched up so she could reachlower.

“It does the work.” His clipped response killed her desire to slide a hand below the water line and stroke his ass. “Mr. Hong sent me with,” he shook his head before he continued, “with an armload of your clothes. I’m sure he said what everything was but I couldn’t tellyou.”

Mia pressed her lips together. Devin sounded not only a bit stressed, but perhaps a little pained. It wasn’t like he was so familiar with women he could name items of their dress. She felt a frown crease her brow. He was though, familiar enough with a woman to know that putting his mouth in certain places afforded her a pleasure like nothing Mia knew existed. Did it take knowing a good number of women before a man learned this? Why suddenly was she struck with the urge to find those women and pull out theirhair?

“Mia?”

She jerked her head up to see him looking at her in confusion. She shook her head and forced a smile. “I’m sure he knew what to send.” She’d also make sure to ask Mr. Hong why it was she found the idea of Devin being with some other woman so distressing. Devin hadn’t seemed distressed when he thought she’d been with other men. And while it made him careless in the act, he’d made up for it. Now more thanonce.

“Then are you done now?” He waded to the edge and leveraged out of the water, giving Mia a perfect view of his ass. When he turned to give her a hand she got another fine look at that serpent he carried. He easily lifted her out while he laughed at something. “It took you as long to wash only your hair as it took me to wash my whole self.” He laughed again. And as he was bending she got a second look at his ass as well as a peek between his legs. “Here’s the pile he sent me with.” He held out a bundle, but Mia was slow to takeit.

Damn she’d seen enough male forms that the sight rarely affected her. Devin’s body, though, did all kinds of things to her. She rather thought she must look like a starved and drooling dog at the moment because she felt like one. And when he stepped closer, Mia’s whole bodytrembled.

“I’m a lucky man,” he said quietly then bent his head and softly kissed her lips. He stepped back, forced the bundle into her hands, then moved to where his clothessat.

She had no idea why he would say that, but something about it created a warm feeling in her chest. She shook her head to find her focus. “You’re not putting those clothes back on, are you, Captain?” she asked seeing him holding the pants so he could put his leg through. “And you’re soaked.” She rifled through the pile and came up with a large sheet, then a second. Hong always sent two, one for herhair.

Devin pulled his leg back, reached for the sheet and smiled at her, “Damn, I’m a very luckyman.”

Chapter 9

Devin triedto keep his eyes on the sheet he folded as Mia redressed. Most of the items Mr. Hong sent were the underpinning of a proper outfit. Mia would wait until she was back aboard ship to don agown.

He’d not thought about the danger her dress caused her when on the water. If she went in wearing the heavy skirts she’d be pulled down and not able to swim or tread water. Wearing the light frock, which he’d thought a bit indecent as it looked more like a night rail than a day dress, ensured if the long boat carrying her was tipped, a more likely scenario than her falling overboard, she’d be able to keep her head above water long enough to be pulledout.

Again, his eyes traveled to where she stood adjusting ribbons and such, looking closer when she hiked up the skirts and set her foot on a rock so she could buckle her shoe. The skin on her leg teasing him right back to a semi hard state. Damn, what very lucky man hewas.

What he’d accidently discovered about his wife today, he’d never dreamed he’d find in a marriageable woman. His little pirate, for all her innocence in the act itself, was aroused by pain. Certainly not great deals of pain, which meant he could use forms of corporal punishment to keep her in line. But a pinch or a squeeze and she went off like freshgunpowder.

He was lucky too. He’d not ruined her willingness to let him access her body. After his floundering last night Mia, might be leery about letting him anywhere near certain parts. But she’d spread her legs for him as bold as she pleased. And she’d tasted like heaven. It actually hurt to resist taking her here as she tried to bathe. He only did so because he understood she could be hurt, insulted completely, when she wasn’t afforded basic courtesies. He wanted the next time to be something she wasn’t ashamed to have done. Taking her on the ground probably wouldn’t meet thatgoal.

Devin stood and shifted until Mia stopped looking at him and focused on getting her other shoe on. He was quick to reach down and adjust his cock which started to push against the front of his pants, then fold the sheet over his arms holding it to cover the evidence of how much he lusted after hiswife.

A smile touched his lips. A man who could lust after his own wife was indeed a lucky man. He watched her set her foot down, smooth her hands down her hips and turned to look at him. “Are you ready?” Devin asked, bending to lift the repacked basket. “I think I can smell supper cooking fromhere.”

Mia raised her nose to the wind and inhaled, “Smells good,too.”

“Then shall we go?” He held out his arm, but Miahesitated.

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