This is an excerpt from Maelstrom of Fate, my current WIP. It is unedited and will NOT be included in the Readers’ refuge section until after the book is published. I just finished writing this particular scene and had too much fun with it not to share now. ~ Tamara
Samantha ignored the eerily silent throng of pirates they passed on their way to the captain’s cabin. All the men stared at them with befuddled expressions.
She jumped when Jon-Jon broke the silence. “Quit yer gawkin’ an’ get back t’work, the lot of ye!” he barked at the crew.
A few pirates directed obscene gestures at the tall second mate as the returned to their tasks.
“Aye, I know y’want me, Gannt; but I’m more man than you can handle.” His retort elicited guffaws from a few of the pirates.
Even Sam chuckled, which drew a shocked look from her husband. “What?” she said. “It was funny.”
“Go fuck yerself,” Gannt shot back at Jon-Jon.
“Now Gannt, y’know Sniff is the only one with a cock long enough to fuck hisself,” another pirate joined in the banter. “Poor Jon-Jon’s cock is like a wee babe’s.”
“Belay that bilge,” a commanding voice spoke from near Sam and her companions. “There is a lady present.”
The previously raucous pirates quickly found tasks to occupy themselves with. Sam turned to see who held so much sway over such an unruly crew.
A jolt went through her and rooted her to the spot as she found herself face to face with the very pirate she’d hunted for years.
He towered over her as he glared at his men. He wore his long, straight blue-black hair tied back with the tail draped over his left shoulder. A neatly trimmed goatee and mustache left his cheeks clean-shaven and framed one of the most expressive mouths she’d ever seen; the lips not too thick or thin.
For a brief instance, she experienced her pulse flutter as she imagined those lips on hers.
Though weathered by sun and wind, his skin held the suppleness of youth rather than the papery texture of age. His high cheekbones and the reddish gold of his skin beneath the sailor’s tan put her in mind of an Indian she’d seen once as a child who’d come to trade furs to her father.
The cheekbones also drew attention to his eyes; strikingly green, they seemed to glow with his irritation at his men.
He turned those eyes down to her, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly in a smile which carried heat and dark promises.
“Oh, fuck me.”
(chapter break)
Sam sincerely hoped she hadn’t said that aloud.
The pirate captain’s smile quirked up on one corner. He swept his gaze over her and chuckled before he took her hand and raised it to his lips. They proved softer than she’d imagined. Her pulse jumped when he dipped the tip of his tongue between her second and third knuckles.
“A tempting offer, Madam Westin; perhaps another time. I don’t think your husband would appreciate me seducing you in front of him.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said.
“I know,” he replied. His smile said he thought she really did.
In truth, she wasn’t sure if she did or didn’t.
A raven fluttered to land on his shoulder and promptly cawed loudly in his ear.
“Ow; apparently, neither would Lazarus,” he added with a laugh and rubbed his ear.
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