A ragged groan tore from his throat, and he dropped his forehead to mine. “I will. I’ll bed you so often and thoroughly you’ll grow tired of looking at me. But not here. Not until I have control of our situation.” His hand shook as he gripped my fingers and slid them away from his erection. “You stand much in need of nourishment, proper clothing, and a closer inspection of the contusion on your head.” He glanced around at the surrounding wilderness. “We’ve moved some distance through the wood, whence we know not. We need our wits about us as we approach the other shore.”
I groaned, dropped my head to his chest, and sighed. “You’re right.”
After another long drink from the lagoon, we resumed our westerly expedition. Other than the chatter of birds in the canopies overhead, the walk was relatively quiet. Until he remembered what I’d said before our hunt for water.
“Harbour Island…” He plodded ahead of me, using a branch to clear away the foliage. “Tell me why you want to go there.”
“Um… Yes, about that… I haven’t been completely honest with you. The day you captured me—”
“You told your crew to wait for you there?”
My knees turned liquid, and I stumbled, catching myself on a tree limb.
“Are you well?” He glanced over his shoulder.
I glared at him.
His lips tilted into a gentle arc at one side, eyes gleaming. “You think I didn’t know that you organized that jump from your ship?”
My mouth opened and closed like a dying fish.
“Oh, Bennett.” His chuckle shivered through me. “I do love to stun you speechless.”
“How?”
“The pirate who pushed you…” He held out his hand, waiting for me to take it.
“Reynolds.” I stepped toward him and gripped his warm fingers. “Priest Farrell’s brother.”
“Yes, well, the poor fellow wore the most dreadful look as he shoved you over. I watched him through the glass, and I daresay there were tears in his eyes.”
“Overprotective idiot,” I muttered. “Exceptional quartermaster.”
“Not just him. When you fell, your entire crew held a collective, horrified breath. They mourned you so deeply I felt it across the water. It was really quite something.”
“Damn those blasted fools. They were supposed to cheer and behave as if the mutiny was real.”
“They quickly pulled themselves together and put on a show of clapping and whistling. My lieutenants believed the ruse.”
“I can’t believe you knew this whole time.” I stepped over a fallen tree, keeping my senses locked on the distant waves. “Why did you let them go?”
“I only wanted you. From the moment you stood upon that gunwale, half-dressed and shouting profanities at His Majesty’s Ship, I couldn’t look away. I was completely taken with you. To hell with everything else.”
“Good lord, I had no idea.” I pushed a twig out of my way, studying him as we walked. “What else did you figure out about me?”
“What else are you keeping from me, you deceitful woman?”
Too much.
“I had some escape plans.” I peered up at him, dreading the conversation about Priest.
“Yes, your siren tactics were strikingly successful. Tore my heart out in pieces when you plundered it. Well done.”
“A much better scheme than the fake pregnancy.”
He twined his fingers around mine and held my gaze. No need to belabor the topic of my infertility. We’d already said all there was to say about that.
My first plan of escape was still out there somewhere, tirelessly hunting me.
As we made our way through the thick brushwood, my stomach tumbled. The sounds of the tide breaking on the western shore grew louder, closer.
I needed to tell him about Priest. I couldn’t put it off any longer. “Ashley…”
“Is that…?” He yanked my hand, dragging me behind him as he hurried through the woods. “Look!”
Following his gaze upward, I gasped at the sight of innumerable oranges. We’d stepped into a grove of citrus trees. Christ, this would feed a village. Unless they shared Priest’s strange affliction to the fruit.
Ashley plucked a ripe one from a low branch and quickly peeled it. After test sniffing a huge juicy wedge, he offered it to my lips, which I ate with a great appetite.
The overwhelming sweetness burst across my tongue, making me moan and nod for more. Within minutes, we greedily devoured four oranges between us.
He gathered as many as he could carry, gripped my hand, and resumed walking. The sustenance in his belly should have raised his spirits, but he seemed deeply reflective, sullen even.