In the meantime, Burke snatched Storm by the arm and practically dragged her up the gangplank, down the narrow steps and into a cabin, then slammed the door shut.
“How did you get yourself into that predicament?”
She was about to answer when he advanced on her. She backed away from him, his face looking as if he were in a rage.
“You’re bleeding,” he said and reached for her arm.
She glanced down at her shoulder, the tear made by the whip having gone clear down to her skin.
Before she could explain it was nothing, Burke began pulling off her jacket. She attempted to stop him when suddenly she wondered if she really knew this man in front of her. He was much more in command, much more at home here. And why wouldn’t he be—this was his ship, his command. She was merely a visitor, an observer.
She fought to adjust to the reversal of roles, but not being fully in control did not sit well with her, and she found it difficult, if not impossible.
“It’s nothing,” she said and stepped away from him.
“Bullshit,” he said and advanced on her once again.
She held her hand up to stop him. “Clean cloths, fresh water, and I can see to it myself.”
“It isn’t necessary. I’ll tend to it for you,” he said with a step closer.
“I’ll—”
“You’ll let me see to it. Then you’ll search that chest for an appropriate dress, change and be introduced around the harbor as my wife, Mary,” he said firmly. “We have little time and it would be foolish to waste it arguing.”
She hated to admit he was right, but then he was in command here, and what choice did she really have. They did not have time to spare, not if she were to enjoy a day of freedom.
She stripped off her jacket and lowered the shirt off her shoulder. She didn’t have the inclination to stand bare-chested in front of him. Things had changed since that day she had stripped her chest bare mainly to shock him. She had discovered that she liked the American’s kisses and his touch.
Her glance drifted to the bed, a good size that would easily hold two people with the bedding of fine wool and thickly stuffed pillows. Would they share his bed this night? Would she taste intimacy once again? Would it prove as satisfying and loving as it had with her husband?
Too many questions waiting for answers.
“It looks worse than it is,” Burke announced, cleansing her wound with a wet cloth.
“Surface wound.” She glanced up into his dark eyes and for a moment was caught by his concern. He actually appeared deeply worried, and it startled her. “I’m all right,” she assured him.
“He could have inflicted much more damage.” He threw the cloth in the basin, sloshing water over the sides.
“You arrived in time,” she reminded.
He cupped her face with his hand. “What if I hadn’t?”
“I would have run,’ she answered on a single breath.
“Where?”
In a heart’s breath she whispered, “To you.”
He shook his head slowly, growled angrily beneath his breath, and then ravished her lips as if he had never kissed her before.
That was all it took. They feasted on each other like two hungry lovers long denied. They tasted, took a breath, and tasted some more as if they could never truly satisfy each other.
His hands slipped beneath her shirt and she jumped, startled, when he took hold of her full breast, his thumb playing havoc with her hard nipple.
Good Lord, she wanted desperately to strip off her clothes and his and jump into his bed and forget the world existed for the reminder of the day. They would be two lovers lost in time.
Time.
She pulled away, feeling the loss of intimacy as his lips fell away from hers, his hand slipped reluctantly off her breast, and his warmth faded with each step that separated them.
“We have little time to spare.”
He took a deep breath and nodded. “I will leave you to dress. Meet me on deck when you’re finished. My crew will be aware that you are to be known as my wife. And I’ll explain that the lad is recovering from his whipping.”
Storm nodded, disappointed, but grateful they had tonight together.
Burke walked to the door and stopped after opening it. “You’re right, Storm, we have little time to spare, and I’m going to make certain we don’t waste a minute of it.”
Chapter 20
Burke gripped the railing and stared down at the dock. He didn’t look at anything in particular. He was too busy keeping himself from rushing back to the cabin and spending the rest of the day making love to Storm.
He should be grateful that she’d reminded him that they were here for other, more important matters, but he wasn’t feeling grateful. He was annoyed that he had so little time to spend alone with Storm. They would return to the woods soon enough, and she would once again be an outlaw, but for this brief time, she was his wife. They belonged to each other, and the endearing thought stirred his soul.