Page 46 of Paid to the Pirate

Why did shame taste so sweet?

Against my will, my tongue moved, and I couldn’t help but arch into his strong chest to relieve some of the ache in my breasts. I didn’t want Colt to feel what I’d done, but I knew he had when his hips jerked upwards in response. My reaction was to buck forward to escape the pressure of his rod against my rear -- Isworeit was in avoidance -- but it had the unwanted effect of grinding my sex against the flat of his lower abdomen.

Colt’s moan told me that movement did not go unnoticed either.

We tumbled downward to sin in this manner, one reaction from either of us pushing the other into further depravity. The captain and I would descend until there was nowhere left to go.

But hell.

We were unwed. We weren’t even courting. We were nothing to each other but captor and captive. Should I return home despoiled, would Daniel even want me? And what became of a lady who could not marry? The options were limited.

I broke our kiss. “Please,” I pled, turning my head to the side. “Please. No more. It’s sinful.”

I felt Colt’s chest rise and fall against me as he tried to steady his heavy breathing.

“Alright,” he agreed, voice husky. “I’ll demand less sin from your mouth if you start working it toward salvation. Tell me the truth.”

I froze. “I…”

“Don’t you tire of this game, Charlotte?” he asked, weary.

There is no choice,I wanted to scream.Because there is no game.I looked about the waves as if they provided a way out.

“Shall we go farther away from shore?” Colt taunted, paddling us toward the mouth of the inlet. “Deeper? Where the sharks play?”

“No!”Damn him.I clung tighter around his neck.

“Tell me what happened that night,” he said softly, almost pleading. “If I’m to protect you from the men, you have to give me something. Redhands wants to whip the truth from your back. Murdering Maurice might not rile them, half the crew felt as you did. But if he lets them know about the Eye and they put your fate to vote? Give me something to help protect you, Charlotte.”

My stomach knotted at the mention of Redhands and the lash. “I can’t.”

Colt sighed heavily. “Alright, we have a little longer. Tell me something else, instead. Tell me the truth about what you want, Charlotte.”

I blinked. What could I possibly want except freedom?

“I want you to release me. Let me return to my home, unharmed.”

Unharmed any further,I corrected in my head. Although I wasn’t quite sure where to draw the line between Colt’s punishments and his pleasures.

His eyes narrowed. “The truth, Charlotte.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“For as long as you’ve hated me, for as much as you hate me still… you desire me.”

My cheeks flamed. “I – I…”

“Say it.”His order was accompanied by more squeezing of my rear. Every time he touched me there it brought forth memories of the harsher ways he touched my backside.

Turning my head to my shoulder, I whispered with defeat, “I desire you.”

“No. Look at me. I want to see your eyes when you speak.”

The mere command made me shudder. Colt’s wet fingertips found my chin, guiding it upwards. His black eyes were both impenetrable and piercing at the same time -- a shield and a sword.

Imagine such a man as a husband,I couldn’t help but think. To his lady, he’d be exactly that. A shield and a sword.

The thought made my heart beat a little faster.

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