“I’m going with you, Adam.”
Adam grinned down at her, his white teeth gleaming. “You begin to sound like Arabella. No, sweetheart, you will remain here in Naples, safe with your parents.”
“I will not argue with you if you kiss me.”
To close her mouth and divert her mind, he did what came quite naturally to him. He grasped her chin and lowered his mouth to hers and she slid her arms around his back. He knew he would make love to her if he didn’t stop. He clasped his hands about her arms, but she resisted him. Suddenly all that had happened for the past days surged through his mind, the betrayal, the death. He realized he might never see her again. He fumbled with the buttons of her gown and she helped him, her own breathing urgent, her fingers clumsy.
Adam stood over her, watching the firelight play over her. “You are so damned beautiful,” he said. He strode to the parlor door and locked it, then shed his own clothes, leaving them strewn behind him.
Adam dropped to his knees beside her. It was the trust in her eyes as she looked up at him that made him slow.
And when Adam felt the power of her climax, the wild shuddering of her body, he cried out, burying himself deep within her.
Rayna lay quietly beneath him, nearly senseless.
Adam lightly caressed the tip of her nose. “I hope I did not hurt you, petite.”
“No,” she said as she shifted slightly. Adam clasped her to him and brought her onto her side against him. “I am exhausted,” she said as she kissed his throat.
“You should be.”
“Adam, what will you do when you reach Oran?”
“I am not yet certain,” he said.
“There will be danger.”
“Perhaps.” Adam pulled her more tightly against him. “I am a tough lout, Rayna, I will have men with me. You mustn’t worry.” She squeezed him to her with a fierce protectiveness, like a lioness with her cub. “You will stay safe with your parents, love. I want nothing to happen to you.”
“Since I have let you ravage me, I suppose I must trust you to settle with my father.”
“Excellent,” he said, and leaned down to kiss her. He felt her arm tighten around his neck and his kiss deepened. He felt the quickening in her and smiled against her mouth. “You will kill me,” he said. “This time, we will go slowly, very slowly.”
“Whatever,” Rayna said, and tugged him back down to her.
Chapter 16
Captain Risan pushed open the door of the hold and stepped in. It took him several moments to adjust to the dim light, and even longer to accustom himself to the foul air. He heard a thready voice whisper from the corner, “Who are you?”
He saw her then, a wretchedly bedraggled woman crouched against the wall. Allah, he thought, his stomach tightening, he should have allowed the girl time on deck. The way she looked, he wouldn’t have had to worry about his men keeping their distance. He shook his head, wondering at the contessa’s orders to keep the girl in confinement. After she had thrown the bowl of stew at one of his men, Risan had ordered them to stay away from her. Her one meal each day was set just inside the hold door. He knew only that she was a lady, Arabella Welles by name, who had earned the enmity of Kamal’s mother, and was to be made a slave to Kamal, his half-brother.
“I am Captain Risan,” he said in accented English. He walked closer and stood over her, his booted feet spread. “We have arrived, girl. Are you able to stand?”
Arabella had moved in the last two days only to relieve herself. The rats left her alone if she stayed quiet. She struggled to her knees, grasped the man’s outstretched hand, and pulled herself upright. She swayed against him.
“I will feed you before we go ashore,” the captain said. “My orders are to deliver you alive, and you are scarce that now.”
“Must I share with the rats, captain?”
“So you’ve still a sharp tongue, even after six days in your own company. Perhaps, girl, you would like more time by yourself.”
“No.” Her fingers clutched his sleeve, and she nearly collapsed against him. He smiled over her head and hauled her over his shoulder. It was pity she was so ugly, else he would have enjoyed her, despite the contessa’s orders, and tamed her spirit in a way more pleasurable to both of them. He smiled as he carried the girl to his cabin. He hadn’t had a woman in over a week, and Kamal would likely give him one of his lovely concubines for the night, once he delivered this creature to him.
Arabella felt the sting of bright light against her eyelids. She blinked and opened her eyes. After nearly a week in shadowed light or complete darkness, the world of bright sun was harsh and painful. She lay very quietly for a moment, marshaling her strength. A shadow loomed over her and she stared up at a man not many years older than she. He was dark and swarthy, with wide-spaced brown eyes. The white wool shirt he wore was parted to reveal great clumps of black curly hair on his chest. His trousers were loose and sashed at his waist by a wide black leather belt. A huge dagger dangled from his waist.
“Captain Risan?” She forced herself to sit up.
“You like what you see, eh, girl?” Risan laughed.