Heather Graham - [Camerons Saga - North American Woman 02] by A Pirates Pleasure Page B

to relax, thinking that the footsteps would move away again, when the doors flew open.
    And the Silver Hawk stepped into the cabin.
    Skye closed her eyes and hoped that she appeared very small.
    And very pathetic. Then she wished that she had not curled so completely toward the wall, for her back was exposed to him.
    Every fool knew not to expose his or her back to the enemy!
    But she dared not turn, lest he suspect that she was awake. And so she strained to listen, hoping desperately that he would leave her be.
    She heard him close and bolt the doors, and she heard the sounds of his boots against the wood as he moved into the cabin. He paused before the stove, and she could imagine him warming his hands. Seconds later, she nearly screamed, for the bunk shifted as he sat down upon it. His boots clunked to the floor. Then she could hear little, but she was horribly aware of what he was doing. His sodden shirt struck the floor to befollowed by his breeches and hose. She heard the curious smacking sounds as the wet fabric slapped against the floorboards.
    She waited for him to touch her, or to stretch out beside her.
    He did not.
    He rose and silently padded across the cabin. She heard a tinkle of glass and knew that he had gone for the brandy. His soft laughter assured her that he realized that she had been into the liquor already.
    He poured himself a drink, and then there was absolute silence for so long that Skye feared she would scream and slit her own throat with the double-edged blade.
    She heard nothing else.
    She felt his touch. Soft, light, and subtle. It came against her so suddenly that she barely refrained from jerking away.
    His fingers ran over her blanketed shoulder, and down the length of her back. He paused, then ran his hand over the protruding curve of her derriere.
    She bit into her mouth to keep her silence, and she waited, praying.
    His weight came down beside her, and he touched her no more.
    She would wait, she thought. She would wait, and he would fall asleep, and she would have him at her mercy.
    But it didn’t work out that way. Skye tried to listen for his even breathing. It was late, and he had worked hard, surely. No, it was no longer late, but early. The sun was rising. The fire in the stove still warmed the cabin, but light from outside glowed against the draperies. It was day again.
    And still, he moved restlessly. He did not sleep.
    Skye waited.…
    At some point she ceased to wait. Exhaustion, perhaps, or betrayal by the brandy. He did not sleep; she did so, in truth.
    Moments later—or was it hours?—she awoke. Her eyes flew open and she remembered that she lay in a pirate’s bunk with only her hose and garters and a coverlet and a twin-sided blade. She needed to roll and face the pirate and plan her strategy.
    She was already staring straight at the pirate, she realized.
    She had rolled during the night, or so it seemed. She lay on her side facing him.
    He lay upon his back. His eyes were closed, his deep dark hair was tossed about his forehead. His nose, she thought, was long, and very straight, and his whiskers were far more curly than the hair upon his head. He should shave, she found herself thinking. He probably had a handsome face.
    He was a deplorable pirate!
    But this morning there was definitely no denying that he was a pirate in his prime. Even in sleep his stature was imposing. His shoulders seemed to stretch the width of the bed, and like his arms they were heavily laden with muscle. He was deeply bronzed from the sun, and his flesh glistened and rippled even as he slept. His chest was furred with crisp dark hair that narrowed at his waist. Below his waist it flared and thickened again and formed a neat nest for …
    Her face flamed and her eyes widened and jerked from the grandly protruding piece of his anatomy back to his eyes.
    They were open. He was staring at her.
    He smiled at her pleasantly. “Ready to keep your promise, Lady Kinsdale?”
    She flushed furiously,