"So this earl started on my lips and inch by inch worked his way down my body, treating my quivering flesh to the most delightful licks."
Lucian attempted to shut her out, close his mind to her chatter. He sat on the chair by the stove and worked his boots off, concentrating on every tug and pull. But bits of her tale interfered.
"Warm and wet —"
He yanked one boot completely off and sat it beside the chair.
"Belly and thighs tingled —"
The other boot proved a worthy adversary, giving him difficulty in coming off. He focused on the challenge it presented, tugging and pulling and —
"And long, why I never felt —"
Fury raged through him as he looked at his boot and demanded his mind focus on the stubborn black leather and to hell with the earl's long tongue.
He gripped the scuffed leather, reminding himself it needed polishing, a good, long —
"Damn," he muttered, and viciously yanked the boot from his foot. Instead of placing it next to its mate, he tossed it clear across the room.
"Whatever is the matter?" Catherine asked innocently, knowing full well how her stories affected him. Bonnie had been a godsend. With Bonnie's many sexual exploits Catherine was able to entertain Lucian daily, and daily he would leave the cabin to return late or not return at all.
Guilt had almost caused her to cease her chatter. He had been so good, so caring, and so tender to her when she had taken ill. She had wanted to confess everything to him and pray that there would be a way they could work things out and perhaps, like in fairy tales, fall in love forever and ever.
She had realized before it was too late that only fairy tales had happy endings. This was real life and he was a real pirate and not just any pirate. He was Captain Lucifer.
"Well?" she said, pushing for an answer.
"Nothing," he mumbled, and stood unfastening his breeches.
Catherine averted her eyes, toying with the pearls around her neck. Lord, but they had saved her time and time again. She has grasped them often when fearful of discovery and the smooth white beads had calmed her, protected her, and saved her. They were her shield, her armor, her salvation.
She resumed her tale. "The earl also favored strange places when making love."
Lucian growled beneath his breath and shrugged out of his breeches. He turned his back on her and walked to the washstand, pouring water from the pitcher into the bowl.
"It's cold," Catherine warned, admiring his firm derriere, narrow waist, and broad shoulders. The scars no longer disturbed her. His pain and suffering were in the past and there they would stay. His flesh had healed nicely, now if only his mind could.
"I know," Lucian said, and splashed the cold water on his face, cursing Catherine Abelard to hell for his suffering.
"I found the huge dining table a most desirable and satisfying object to make love on," she continued.
Lucian splashed his face again and again, attempting with great restraint not to strangle her. He thought of the sea, the wind, the sway of the ship beneath his feet, the sway of Catherine's hips beneath the earl's.
He growled again though not so unnoticeably.
"Did you say something, Lucian?"
"No!" he snapped, and grabbed the towel from the brass bar on the wall.
Catherine shrugged indifferently while inwardly she suffered from her own suggestive remarks. The earl she spoke so intimately of was Lucian. She had fantasized the pleasure they could share, using Bonnie's many stories to detail each and every time she had pictured them making love.
"The earl favored the garden, in the warm weather of course. The scent of the flowers in full bloom still stings my nostrils," she sighed.
Lucian held the towel to his face, trapping the rage that threatened to spill from his mouth. He had thought often of Catherine naked in the lush tropical paradise of Heaven, the sweet scent of the island flowers surrounding them as they made slow, passionate love.
"The earl would pluck a rose, a blood red one," she said, thinking of Lucian's hair. "Deep and dark in color and rich with its sweet scent. He would gently crush the flower in his hand and sprinkle the velvet soft petals over my breasts and then —"
"Stop it, Catherine," Lucian ordered, and turned to face her with fury in his eyes. "Don't say another word."
But she did, she had to for she was fearful if he stayed this night with her all would be lost. "I was but sharing —"
"Sharing?" He threw back his head and laughed. "You were bragging, madam. Bragging about your bloody lover, and I daresay a favorite of yours."
Catherine stood and held her chin high. "The earl was my favorite. My very most favorite. He made me feel things no other man could. He touched me like no other man touched me, kissed me like no other man kissed me." Catherine took a breath to deliver the final blow. "And forced pleasurable cries from me like no other man could."