The Pirate Lord by Vanda Vadas

Author:Vanda Vadas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Published: 2015-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Eloise woke gradually from a deep sleep to a sense of being reborn, of emerging anew, which had everything to do with Zach.

He’d made love to her.

He’d made her a woman, leaving her sated, in awe of her own body and its reaction to his touch. He’d unlocked for her the secret of pleasure and physical union between a man and a woman.

One hand slid across the sheet in search of his solid strength. ‘Zach?’ Disappointment stung her; the bed was empty and the sheet cold where he’d lain.

‘Zach? Are you here?’ The silence suggested duty had called. It wasn’t fair to begrudge his responsibility to ship and crew. She gathered the blanket around her, breathing in the hints of a wondrous night. She touched a hand between her legs where liquid heat pooled. Her body thrummed with the knowledge of having had him inside her.

Zach. He’d looked so –

She froze. In shock, her eyes snapped open.

There! For a fraction of a second, in less than a blink of her lashes she detected light, like peeking through a key-hole to glimpse a summer’s day. Last night she’d seen his face. So his image hadn’t been a desperate act of her imagination? She threw back the blanket and sat up.

Heart pounding, she took a deep breath, held it, puffed it out, and breathed in again. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat unmoving, staring at the widening scope of light. Dry eyes forced her to blink. Irregular lines and indiscriminate shapes came into view in faded shades of colour.

She waved trembling hands back and forth in front of her eyes. Slender fingers came into focus. She looked down and slid her hands over her thighs and knees, proof she hadn’t imagined the accuracy of sight, movement, and sensation.

She experienced a sudden bout of giddiness. Either returning vision played havoc with her sense of balance or …

Her astonished joy abated, overshadowed by another stark realisation; a thought so disconcerting Eloise could scarce believe it true.

The Justice was on the move.

Water whooshed and slapped along the ship’s hull. A lively wind rattled ropes against the masts, and the creak of timbers had never sounded so loud.

Heavy footfalls echoed beyond the cabin, as did the sound of shouts and exuberant laughter. Objects inside the cabin rattled and vibrated, and the air felt damp on her skin.

She stood, eyes closed, arms outstretched, attuned to the vessel’s unmistakeable roll. Did nausea strike because of the ship’s motion, or because with every passing second it could possibly be spiriting her away from England? She dismissed the latter and sat back on the bed. Zach wouldn’t take her abduction to such extremes. He simply tested a new sail or some such thing, having let the ship sit for too long.

She snatched up the blanket, wrapped it around her nakedness and choked on an excited sob when the cabin presented itself in clear, defined contours. Images became sharper. Objects tangible. Her heart thundered in her chest.

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