She lifted her creamy shoulders in a shrug. “I’m going.”
-45-
Shelley Bradley
“When?” he barked. “It’s six-thirty.”
“I shall go soon as I finish dressing.” She clutched the blanket closer to her chest. “For that to happen, you must first leave. And stop staring at me!”
She had a real talent for making his temper soar. Unfortunately, his desire to strip her, fill her and feel her dainty nails clawing his back wasn’t far behind.
He crossed the floor and curled his fingers around her arm. “Listen, princess. I said six, not six-thirty. Not when the mood strikes you. You have five minutes to dress in privacy. Five minutes,” he stressed. “After that, I’m coming in, and I haven’t decided if I’ll dress you myself…or undress you.”
Drex closed the door on her sputtering with a smile. Ah, he did enjoy irking her. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman distract you this much, Hancock’s assertion came back to him. She did distract him. And he needed to divert his mind from the spirited minx and refocus it on saving Ryan.
Regardless, he pressed his ear to the door. He heard grumbling, picked up
“brute” and “tyrant” among her mutterings. Then came the whispered rustling of cloth. His imagination burst with images of sheer fabric brushing the silk of her skin and puddling at the floor, leaving her a naked Venus.
In three seconds, Drex felt his cock harden. Adjusting himself, he leaned against their adjoining door with a groan, wondering how he was going to keep himself from storming through it some night when his body craved the pleasure a tempting morsel like her had been created to give.
Perhaps Greg had been right; maybe he should have found a willing wench in London to satisfy him. Too late now. He was stuck on The Dragon’s Lair, just him and Princess Lillianne—and a small door without a lock separating them.
Heaven help him. Images of a nearly naked Lilli assailed his heated brain, and his restraint was already hanging on by a thin thread.
A long minute later, Lilli emerged with golden hair demurely pinned atop her head, revealing her soft nape. Restraining an urge to kiss her there, Drex studied the rest of her. She sported a blue round dress frothed with lace—and a snug, square-necked bodice that did nothing to hide the creamy swells of her breasts.
Drex clenched his teeth. “Don’t you have something else to wear?”
-46-
The Lady and the Dragon
“I packed in a hurry.” When he tossed her a suspicious glare, she added,
“My mother’s condition was worsening. I couldn’t concentrate on something so trivial.”
He eyed her with pure pleasure, knowing his crew would, too. “You didn’t pack anything more…modest?”
“This dress is perfectly fashionable,” she protested. “Besides, I only brought two others with me, and they’re much more revealing.”
And he’d get to see them in the days to come. Not a comforting thought.
“If you’re going to wear that, don’t even speak to the crew.”
She glared at him. “Are you always surly?”
“Are you always willful?”
She glared at him, saying nothing.
Drex led her out the door, and they made a silent journey to the galley. He walked behind her, giving directions…and eyeing the alluring sway of her hips.
When they reached the small sunlit kitchen, a mess of ten men inhabited the room. A chorus of spoons clinking against clay bowls echoed against the wooden walls. No one said a word. In the stiff silence, his crew stared hard at his gorgeous stowaway.
Drex cleared his throat. “Men, Miss Lillianne will help in the galley. She will not help you with anything else. Understood?”
A hodge-podge of nods answered him. “No one is to touch her. Am I making myself clear?”
With that, he slipped a possessive arm about her waist. He felt her turn as stiff as a hurricane gale as she whirled to face him, incredulity widening her emerald eyes.
When she opened her mouth to protest, he knew he had to shut her up.
Fast.
Drex covered her lips with his own. She gasped into his mouth, her small hands making fists against his chest. Aware they had to be convincing, he clutched her to him and took possession of her soft pink lips again. His insides sizzled and blazed like the sun at the equator. He drew back for a ragged breath, saw her stunned expression, then devoured her again a man starved.
-47-
Shelley Bradley
She tasted good, like a sweet mint. He explored deeper, thrusting into her mouth. His blood felt as if she’d replaced it with boiling brandy. The thick liquid sluiced through his veins to collect just beneath the buttons of his now-tight breeches. He pressed his erection against the lush heaven of her curves.
Lilli squirmed and gasped. He redoubled his effort so she wouldn’t give the game away, stroking her back with needy hands and coaxing her tongue to mate with his.
The vision of her half-naked in that sheer chemise suddenly stormed his memory, shooting an erotic jolt through his body.
He inhaled the sultry scents of sea air and the flowered perfume of her skin. She’d probably never soften in his embrace, but for some damn reason, he ached for her to. In a last wishful effort, his tongue swept around hers, even as he filtered his fingers through the tendrils of hair lying in loose gold curls around her face. His thumbs traced tiny circles on her neck.
Amazingly, her body lost its starch, swaying against him like a wind-puffed sail. Her fists uncurled, flattened against his chest…then slowly curled around his shoulders. In a heartbeat, he pulled her right against his cock, not giving a damn how much of his arousal she felt.
Drex swallowed a groan, but he heard one from their audience. What he’d planned as a warning had suddenly become entertainment. Not a wise idea.
With effort and reluctance and a lot of regret, he broke the kiss.
Staring down into his stowaway’s wide-eyed, swollen-lipped face, he tried to convey a warning to hold her tantrum. Instead her expression held a blank stare, as if she were…dazed. Interesting possibility for a pleasure-filled voyage since he had never believed she would respond to him as a woman. But no, she would not assent to sharing mutual pleasure for its own sake, and he certainly didn’t need to lose sight of his priorities because he was busy seducing her.
Everything about her signaled trouble.
Holding Lillianne to him, he bellowed. “Any questions?”
Not a breath broke the silence.
He smiled icily. “Splendid.” At that moment, bells chimed, ringing seven o’clock. “Get to your posts, men.”
-48-
The Lady and the Dragon
With gazes carefully averted, the ragtag bunch filed out, one by one.
Knowing Lilli’s explosion was imminent, he gestured Pauly, the cook, to follow the crew.
She shattered the three seconds of blissful silence with a huffy gasp. “How dare you? Why on earth—”
“To protect your pretty hide, Lilli.”
Flashing green eyes widened with incredulity. “Protect me? By ravishing me while your crew watches?”
Drex gripped her shoulders. “First of all, I kissed you to brand you mine.
Now you have less chance of being, as you so quaintly put it, ravished by another crew member.” He pulled her closer and growled, “Second, if I had been trying to ravish you, you’d already be naked, on your back, and screaming my name.”
Her expressive face displayed a booty chest full of panic—and a sailor’s ration of curiosity. But that minuscule amount of intrigue almost proved too much for his control.
What was it about this hoyden that made him so hot?
Abruptly, he released her with wide-spread hands and retreated a step. “I’ll send Pauly back in to instruct you on the finer points of shipboard cooking.”