“Isabella, no,” he cried out. “Go below. It’s safer.”
Shaking her head vehemently, she made her way to stand in the shelter of the forecastle and stood to watch. She was too faraway for him to read the expression on her face. What was she doing out here?
“Bucket,” Halfred yelled.
There was no time for him to argue with his wife. He had to save her life and the lives of everyone else on the crew. Yet again, he pulled up the bucket, arms shaking with the strain. Then he splashed the seawater on the flames above, and this time, they retreated by a foot.
“Again,” he yelled down to Halfred, lowering the bucket. It was working if his strength would just hold out. But there was no room for failure. Everyone’s lives depended on it.
Five times, he hauled up that bucket before the flames were completely doused. By the end, his arms felt like limp eels, no longer capable of supporting his weight, and yet he still had to shimmy down the mast.
Isabella’s eyes hadn’t left him for a moment as he toiled. Even when he wasn’t looking, he could feel her gaze on him like a brush of heat.
Somehow, he had to force his arms to cooperate one last time so that he could get back down the mast. He could almost laugh. How could he have doused the fire that threatened them all and yet be unable to do this last simple task of climbing down?
Hands shaking, he fumbled at the knot he’d tied, loosening the rope and letting it drop to the deck. Then he forced his aching body to climb down the polished, rain-slicked mast, slipping a little each time he moved. Halfred and Cian stood at the base of the mast as if they could catch him if he fell. But he was still too far up, and he knew it.
Every muscle in his body rebelled as he forced it to cling to the enormous beam, lowering himself inch by inch. The deck was close enough now that he could let himself drop and survive the fall. The temptation to let go was almost too much, but he had to make it down on his own power. Isabella was watching.
After what felt like an eternity, Halfred and Cian braced his legs and told him to let go. He could hold on no more and slid down into their waiting arms, earning himself several splinters in his arms and legs along the way.
Finding his feet with difficulty, he turned to his bride and staggered toward her. Fortunately, the storm had calmed somewhat, and the waves were subsiding, or he might have fallen over.
He must have looked a horror, soaked to the bone and covered in soot and ash. He bled from deep scrapes and splinters earned during his descent.
But all he could see were her wild eyes filled with fire and her raven tresses blowing in the wind. After staring him down for a long moment, she stepped forward and reached out a soft hand, cupping his cheek. “You saved us. Thank you.”
Her touch set him aflame as surely as lightning. He couldn’t move. He could hardly look at her. The temptation to take her in his arms was so great. His gaze dropped to her lips, and he thought he might die of wanting as her tongue flicked out to lick them.
“If you don’t move your hand, I’m going to kiss you.”
She stepped closer, resting her other hand on his waist. “That would be unwise,” she said, but she leaned in closer.
“Very.” He placed his hands on her slim waist, unable to stop himself from touching her.
“A truly terrible idea.” Her lips parted as she held his gaze.
“Indeed.”
Come to me, my vixen. Let me taste your sweet lips.
“And yet…”
She closed the distance, and the soft pressure of her warm lips brushing against his drove every thought from his brain. All his aches and pains disappeared, and the world narrowed to the two of them as he wrapped his arms around her. His fearsomebride melted against him, opening to him exactly the way he’d been dreaming of as he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue.
He deepened their kiss, unable to stop himself from tasting her sweetness and fire. This was everything he’d wanted. The flames he just finished fighting were nothing to the inferno raging within him as their tongues met and entwined. There was a hunger in her kiss that he would never have expected. Was it possible she wanted him as much as he wanted her?
More.He wanted more. And she gave it to him. Their kiss grew desperate, reckless. Her fingers tangled in his hair as he pulled her hips against his own. The friction and heat drove him nearly out of his mind.Dear God, let this never end. Let this madness never stop. Isabella, I’m yours!
And then, as suddenly as she’d embraced him, she pulled away, panting, and he let her go, though it nearly killed him. His whole body screamed to hold her close, but he held himself back. She stood there, and he watched in hungry agony as a war of emotions played across her face. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. She let out a long, shuddering breath and raised her regal head.
“This was a terrible mistake,” she said so that only he could hear, then fled to the hatch, climbing down before he could find words.
A shuddering sigh escaped him as he watched her go. He was so close to winning her, but still, she resisted. God, she was glorious, and if it was the last thing he did, he would make her his.
Chapter Fifteen
What had shejust done? Isabella hurried to the cabin where Pascal still lay unconscious on the pallet. Will and Adelaide still sat in the corner, hugging each other and keeping vigil, but at least no one in here had seen her lose control. If she’d been thinking straight, she wouldn’t have left Will and Adelaide alone together. It wasn’t proper. But then if she’d been thinking straight, she wouldn’t have let terror for her sister propel her up to the deck where the situation was every bit as bad as she had feared, where one man stood between them and certain death, single-handedly battling the flames that could have spelled their doom. One man—her husband.
