He kissed her hard to shut her up. She stood up to kiss him back even harder, nearly knocking him back on the deck. Six days of abstinence when she wanted him this much . . .
He stood and picked her up. She loved being in his arms, pressed against his chest, having her arm around his neck. She couldn't resist kissing him again even though they were in full view of anyone walking out his cabin door. She wished he would take her somewhere private where she could do so much more, but they both knew Jeremy would find them all too quickly if they did because he never left them alone for long. But Damon quickly moved away from the lantern light to the shadowed side of his cabin, toward the back of the ship. For the moment, no one would see them there, but they had to be quiet with Jeremy on the other side of the wall.
When Damon put her on her feet, she stopped caring if anyone saw them because he started kissing her and soon whispered, "I know you're comfortable on a ship. I've seen you take the wheel, climb the mast. So you might enjoy this." He turned her around before he added, "Brace yourself, Jack."
She put her hands against the wall without asking why, but gasped when she felt him raise her shirt and pull down her britches and drawers. But she really sucked in her breath when she felt him kissing what he'd exposed, including her derriere. She peeked over her shoulder and saw him kneeling, his mouth moving over her tender flesh. He didn't stop kissing her and caressing her with one hand when he moved his other hand between her legs and slipped his finger inside her. Moving it slowly and then more quickly, he was driving her wild. She gasped as her body trembled, delicious sensations overwhelming her. This is what she'd wanted, needed, for too long! She slapped a hand over her mouth to stanch her cry of pleasure.
///
Damon patted her derriere and stood up to whisper in her ear, "I was right."
God, yes, he was. She turned around, reached for him, and got in one good kiss before they both heard the cabin door open and Jeremy calling her name. Damon quickly helped her straighten her clothes and led her back to where Jeremy could see them in the light from the lantern by the cabin door.
"We thought we heard a whale splash and tried to spot it," she told her brother.
He'd come to the top of the steps outside the cabin and gave her a doubtful look, then grumbled, "No touching, and stay out of the shadows," before he went back in the cabin.
Jacqueline growled under her breath. Her brother had become a mind reader, so uncannily on the mark with his timing. Every single time she and Damon had found an empty spot for some privacy this week, Jeremy would either show up or start shouting her name and looking for her until she showed up. He'd even climbed up to the crow's nest the night she and Damon had snuck out of the cabin, thinking Jeremy was asleep when he wasn't. Quite embarrassing, that, how quickly she'd had to fix her clothing before her brother peered over the side. But mostly, he just didn't leave them alone together. As chaperones went, he was the worst ever. But tonight they'd managed a few private moments. It just wasn't enough!
Damon was softly chuckling beside her. "I'm beginning to regret giving him his freedom."
"It was a wise decision and it worked out beautifully. Even though he is being aggravating now."
"Yes, he was the perfect foil to win the day with only bruises instead of bloodshed." Then Damon took her hand and brought it to his lips before he gave her his form of an apology for his mention of marriage earlier. "I'm still getting to know you, Jack. So some teasing you enjoy, and apparently, some you don't. Can we go back to enjoying the evening now that the stars are out?"
Mollified, she smiled and reached up to touch his face. "Thank you for what you did for me. I wish we could have more fun together."
The sky was pretty, black and star filled-and cloudless. Just one cloud would herald some wind returning, but the calm continued unabated.
"I could just take the beating your brother promised."
"Don't you dare. That won't get him to vacate the cabin."
He took her hand. "One more circuit of the deck before-?"
He didn't finish. The horribly loud sound of a cannon being fired drew them immediately to the back railing on the helm's side. But they hadn't been fired upon. It had just been a warning shot to get their attention. Jack saw a dozen longboats heading their way. They would already have seen them if they had really been looking for a whale behind the ship!
"It looks like our father is paying us a visit," Jeremy smirked, coming up behind them.