The Hawk (Highland Guard #2)(26)

She woke to warmth and the gentle sway of being rocked in her mother’s arms. Sighing with contentment, she rubbed her cheek against the fuzzy wool plaid, inhaled the soft scent of myrtle, and snuggled deeper against the hard chest—

Her eyes snapped open. She was no longer a child. Her mother was gone; she’d smelled like roses, not myrtle, and she’d certainly never had a hard chest.

Ellie startled. Her first instinct was to break free, but she couldn’t move from the viselike hold.

“Unless you want to take another dip in the sea,” a deep voice drawled, “I suggest you keep still and not give me a reason to drop you.”

The pirate. Of course. Who else would hold her as if he had every right to touch her so boldly? He had one arm under her legs and the other wrapped around her back, cradling her head to his chest as if she were a babe. But the way his hand gripped her arm … his fingers were dangerously close to brushing against the curve of her breast. And much to her embarrassment, her body was reacting to his nearness. Her ni**les had tightened into hard points beneath the thin linen of her chemise, and she knew better than to blame the cold.

Even worse than the nearness of his hand was that her bottom brushed against a very significant bulge below his stomach. She tried not to think of it, but every time he took a step forward, her body bumped against his in a most intimate fashion. He felt … harder than she expected. But the contact was too brief, and she felt the strangest urge to intensify the friction and snuggle against him.

Her cheeks burned at the betrayal of her body. Though it was still dark, she kept her face burrowed against his chest, not daring to look at him for fear that he would see her reaction. Her awareness was made all the more humiliating by the fact that he probably didn’t even notice the way their bodies touched. No doubt he had women in this position—in many different positions—all the time, whereas she’d never been held this close to a man in her life.

She felt like a silly, blushing maid—which was exactly what she was. But having never felt like this before, it was quite a blow to her womanly pride. She thought herself immune to such girlish behavior. And certainly she knew better than to fall prey to the charms of an incorrigible rogue like him.

But she couldn’t deny the pirate’s appeal. Thomas was right: it was hard not to like him. He was attractive, witty, and certainly exciting to be around. But he’d relied on that flashing grin for so long, she doubted he ever took the time to get to know anyone—or ever allow anyone close enough to know him. Life was a game to him. He took nothing seriously. He would flirt—brilliantly, to be sure—but there would never be anything more.

Yet her body didn’t seem to understand that as well as her mind did. It didn’t make any sense. Undoubtedly she was attracted to his handsome face. But lots of men were handsome—including Ralph—and this had never happened to her before. It was disconcerting to not be able to manage her body’s reaction to him. Thankfully, however, there were only a few steps to shore.

The shallow draft of the birlinn allowed the boat to be beached quite easily and, if necessary, dragged across narrow stretches of land. Like the Viking longship which it had been modeled after, the West Highland birlinn had been built for getting in and out of shallow waters quickly, making it perfect for quick attacks and raids. And for pirates.

She was relieved when he set her down gently on the rocky beach. “Milady,” he teased with a courtly flourish of his hand.

Her mouth quirked at the parody, despite the fact that he was as far from a gallant knight as could be, and that she was furious with him.

Suddenly, her hands went to her wrists. “You removed the binds,” she realized, surprised.

“Eager for me to put them back on so soon? I thought we’d wait until we were a little more private. But if you insist …”

Her skin prickled with a strange heat at the undeniable sensual implication. The only explanation she could come up with for this odd reaction was that she must still be suffering from the aftereffects of being pressed so intimately against him.

Pretending she hadn’t heard the suggestive tone in his voice, she schooled her features into perfect placidity. “Where are we?”

Seeing that she wasn’t going to play along with his flirtatious game, the teasing smile slid from his face. He almost appeared to be scowling. “Somewhere the English won’t hear you if you’re inclined to screech like a banshee again.”

“I don’t—” Realizing that he was only goading her, she stopped. She gave him a small smile that told him he would have to do better than that to get a reaction out of her and took a look around, seeing a crescent-shaped beach butting up against a rocky cliffside. It was all through the veil of darkness, so she couldn’t get much of a sense of their surroundings, but terrain like this could describe much of the western seaboard. She wished she hadn’t fallen asleep; she might have had a better idea of where they were. Her best guess was one of the small isles along the Scottish coast.

She lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Have you brought me to your secret pirate lair?”

His mouth quirked. “Something like that. The people here are loyal to me, so don’t think of trying to appeal to them about your … ah, predicament.”

“You mean my abduction.”

“Call it what you will, but do not defy me in this.” The hard look on his face seemed incongruous with his prior teasing. “Keep out of the way and do as you are told while we are here, and we won’t have any problems.”