“I think the lads are showing off for you in the garden.” He leans over to peek out the window. “Yes, peacocking at its finest. Starkey’s already shirtless and Bill is out for blood.”
Shiner grins. “I’d like to try my luck.”
Hook makes ahmmsound. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea—oh, hell, Cobweb’s already thrown herself into the ring and is duking it out with Cecco.”
“Woooo!” Shiner jets out of the office.
“I thought you said no bloodshed.” Tiger Lily peers out the window as Shiner joins the fray, the violin music whining faster now.
“No serious bloodshed. Maybe a little for fun.” Hook grins as the brawl grows, though there are plenty of laughs and whoops included in the fighting. “It’s the way of pirates.”
“And of Guardians. I suppose we can let them blow off some steam.” Tiger Lily glides from the room, her long dark hair shining in the lantern light. “I’ll keep an eye on them, make sure no one dies.” She closes the doors to the study, leaving Hook and me alone.
He returns from the window. “We’re all wild things here, I suppose.”
“Definitely.” I’m looking at the wildest thing of all.
He stands in front of me, close enough to touch. Close enough to feel the heat coming off him.
“Why won’t you tell me what you asked the island for?” I look up and try to pry his secrets free from the deep blue of his eyes.
He studies me for a long while, our breaths mingling as our souls seek to find some common ground between lust and curiosity and fear.
“I don’t want to scare you, lass,” he finally says.
“Why would I be scared? Did you ask for Cthulhu or something? Maybe the kraken?”
One side of his lips quirk up. “Something bigger.”
“You did say you were greedy.” I run my fingers along the jewels at my throat. “Treasure, then?”
“Aye.” He moves closer, his hands at my waist.
I’m falling again, his spell wrapping me up in his scent and the need that blooms inside me.
He tilts my chin up, his mouth grazing across mine. “I think you know what I wished for, lass.”
My breath catches when he uses the forbidden word, and for the meaning that lies beneath it.
His lips are so soft against me, gentle and teasing. He’s a man full of ironies, one who I don’t know if I’ll ever fully understand.
“Tell me.” I grip his shoulders, demanding he yield to me. “Tell me what you wished for.” I kiss him, tasting him and biting his lower lip as he pulls me against him.
One of his hands strays through the slit of my dress and goes to my ass, and he lifts me with ease, wrapping his other arm around my back as he kisses me with unbridled fervor.
“Tell me.” I let my head fall back as he kisses my throat, his teeth nipping as he sucks the spot below my ear. “Please, James. Tell me.”
He carries me to the desk along the wall of maps and swipes his arm across it, sending everything to the floor as he sets me down. Then he hikes up my skirt, grabs my panties and wrenches them off, the fabric tearing and falling to the floor as he spreads my legs, his hips between them as he kisses me again.
I run my hands along his chest, my body on fire as he reaches for his belt. I’m delirious from his kiss, and all I can think about is how I want more. More of him.Allof him.
“Tell me.” I whimper as he frees his cock and runs it along my wet slit. “James.”
He yanks my hips to the edge of the table, his cock head pressing at my entrance. “I give nothing back, lass.Nothing.” He presses his forehead to mine. “I’ll never give you up. You are my treasure.”
I press my palms to his cheeks, my entire being focused on him, on this moment. “What did you wish for?”
“I wished for love.” With a thrust, he slides into me. He swallows my yelp of surprise, then pushes himself all the way in. I gasp, my body adjusting to him, to the thickness and the sudden sensation of being filled in a way I’ve never experienced before. “And the island gave me you.”
