April Moon by Susan King, Merline Lovelace, MIRANDA JARRETT Read Free Book Online

Brushing aside the silkymane, he bent to nuzzle the warm skin of her nape. All the while his busy fingers worked the buttons on the back of her dress.
    Straining against his breeches, he dropped kisses on her bare shoulder. Her skin was as warm and sweet as a sun-ripe peach. He savored the taste of her as he finished with the last button and peeled the emerald silk down her arms. One glimpse of the lush, perfect breasts plumped up by her corset and covered only by the thin lawn of her shift was like a cannonball straight to his gut. He might have been some untried, pimple-faced midshipman, Richard thought in disgust, almost doubled over with the lust that gripped him.
    The corset strings tangled under his clumsy fingers. The resulting knots would defeat the most patient sailor, and Richard didn’t lay claim to that particular virtue at the best of times. With a muttered curse, he reached for the dirk strapped to his calf just below his boot top.
    She glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes went wide when she caught sight of the gleaming blade.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Freeing you. Be still.”
    He dug the tip of the dirk under the first lace. A quick upward tug and the stiffened fabric fell away.
    Sarah gulped at his ruthless efficiency. With one slice, the American had freed her from the samelaces Maude had been struggling with when his ship had first swept across the stern of the Linx.
    If only he could free her from the master of the Linx as easily.
    No! She wouldn’t think of James now. Nor of her father or her brother or even Maude. This moment was hers. Hers alone. To savor. To smile privately over at some distant date, in some distant place.
    A dank prison cell, most likely.
    So be it! Whatever came, she would have the memory of his calloused hands raising shivers on her skin as they nudged down the straps of her shift. Of those same hands cupping her bared breasts. Kneading the tender flesh. Teasing her nipples into stiff, aching points. With a low moan, Sarah let her head drop back against his shoulder. He pushed her shift down until it puddled around her waist. The straps caught at her elbows, harnessing them.
    Blake had no such restraints to impede his movement. His hands continued their torment. One caressed her breast. The other dipped lower, skimming her belly, tugging up the hem of her shift, parting her legs to find the slit in her drawers. All the while he put his lips and teeth and tongue to wicked use.
    She was wet and gushing into his palm when he let go of her long enough to yank off his uniform jacket and toss it to the floor. Freed of its constriction, he swept her into his arms and carried her across the cabin. The bed was little more than a cupboard cut into the bulkhead. Sarah could barely stretch out in the cramped space. She couldn’t imagine how a man as tall and well-muscled as Blake would fit in with her.
    He made no attempt to do so. Instead, he dropped into a sitting position on the bed and settled her so she straddled his lap. Her knees folded back on the edge of the bunk, allowing her just enough leverage to lift up when he went to free himself from his trousers.
    She expected him to flex his thighs and drive into her. To plant his hands on her hips and hold her so she would take his thrust. What she didn’t expect—almost couldn’t bear —was the gruff tenderness in his voice when she tensed at the first probe.
    “Easy, lass. We’ll take this slow and easy. I’ll not hurt you.”
    The taut angles of his cheeks and chin told Sarah what it cost him to make that promise. Grateful for his restraint and embarrassed that he would sense her inexperience in such matters, she linked her arms around his neck and forced her muscles to relax.
    He pushed in gently, letting her get the feel of him, the size of him. The first moves were slow, as he’d promised, easy. Then deeper. Surer. Faster.
    Sarah caught the rhythm, almost lost it againwhen he dipped his head and fastened his mouth over