The Pirate

Disappointment colored his voice and frustration was evident in his eyes.

'Maybe you should come back on board.'

He glanced around once more, waiting, watching, then shrugged resignedly. With a knifelike movement, he kicked his feet out and submerged.

'I'm sorry, Griffin,' she murmured. 'But we tried.'

Meredith waited for him to surface, but after fifteen seconds, he still hadn't come up for air. Thirty seconds passed, then sixty, and still he didn't come up.

Meredith leaned over the combing and looked into the water. 'Griffin?' she called. 'Griffin!' The last was a desperate shout, her voice echoing across the width of the river. A clock ticked in her head, multiplying her anxiety with each second he remained underwater.

Suddenly, a pair of wet arms circled her from behind. She screamed and twisted against the embrace. Griffin's deep chuckle sounded in her ear, sending a warm shudder through her body. 'So ye thought I drowned, did ye?'

'Let go of me!' Meredith protested. 'You're wet! And cold!'

He pulled her against him playfully, and she felt the subtle imprint of his body along her spine and backside. She squirmed in his arms until she faced him, then looked up into his eyes. Suddenly, the teasing smile faded from his face.

He bent his head and covered her mouth with his, his kiss swift and intense, his tongue plumbing the depths of her mouth until she felt as if she might lose consciousness.

She returned his kiss in full measure, running her hands along his damp chest and twisting them around his neck. He moaned deep in his throat and drew her hard against him until she could feel his desire spring up against her belly.

He did want her! Her heart sang and her senses whirled with the realization. Whether he was ready to admit it or not, he felt the same passion for her as she did for him! And at that moment, she realized that he had been brought here for a reason-to fulfill her fantasies.

Then, just as quickly as he'd covered her mouth with his, he drew back. He closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. 'Damn, Merrie, you sorely tempt me,' he whispered. 'You must not allow this to happen again.'

'Me?' she asked, breathless. 'I-I don't understand.'

'Do not ask me why, for I am not sure I would be able to explain. Call it a point of honor. I know you've encountered scoundrels in your past and I will not be counted among them. Your reputation will not be sullied any further than it already has.'

'Sully?' Meredith blinked hard and stared up at him, completely baffled by his words. Though she didn't know much about men, she certainly knew that sleeping together in the same bed was worth more 'sully' points than a simple kiss! Sure, he wasnaked now, but his state of undress didn't even enter into the picture. If he was worried about her reputation, he should have stayed out of her bedroom, not out of her arms.

'You are a passionate woman, Merrie, a woman of…worldly experience. And I know this will be difficult for you, but we must not allow ourselves these pleasures.'

'Why not?' Meredith said quietly.

'I must leave you someday. I'm not sure when, but I vow I will not leave you with regret.'

Meredith spun out of his grasp and snatched his trousers, then held them over her shoulder. 'You'd better put on your pants.' After he took them from her, she made her way back to the cockpit. She stared out over the water and considered his words.

If he was truly brought here to fulfill her fantasies, then why was he so determined to push her away? Why couldn't he give in to the feelings that were so obviously growing between them?

They'd almost exhausted their options. Until they figured out what had happened, and why, they were merely guessing at a method to return him to his own time.

Meredith closed her eyes and hugged her arms to her chest. If he'd been brought here to help in her research, maybe she ought to question him, to find out everything she could. Once that was done, maybe he'd be free to return.

And if Griffin had been brought here to make her fantasies a reality, to rid her of her virginity, the fastest way to solve that problem would be to-

She snapped her eyes open and bit back a groan. Maybe he'd been brought here to torment her. For if her work and her virginity were at stake, she wasn't quite sure she'd be willing to give him up for either! Though he wanted to return to exact his plan against Blackbeard, she couldn't help hoping that he'd stay, that he wouldn't find a way back.

Meredith cursed softly. So what was she to do? How was she to know the right course to take?

'Merrie? Are you all right?'

She shivered and rubbed her forearms, her eyes still fixed on a fisherman who was dangling a line off the bridge. 'Are you dressed?' she asked.

'I would not have thought you such a Puritan, Merrie,' he teased, trying to lighten the mood between them. He was acting as if nothing had happened between them at all. 'You show your ankles, and even your knees, in public all the time.'

'That's different.' She turned around. 'You shouldn't have scared me like that,' she murmured. 'I thought you'd drowned. And how did you sneak on board? The boat didn't even rock.'

'An old pirate trick,' he said. 'Serves me well, don't you think?'

She forced a smile, trying hard to return his light-hearted banter, but her heart wasn't in it. 'And have you crept on board many boats, wearing nothing but a smile, to accost women?'

He frowned in mock pensiveness, then grinned, the corners of his mouth curling up in a charming way. 'Many, many women, Merrie-girl. But not a one quite like you.'

Meredith stared at him, her gaze locked on his. She reached out and gently placed her palm on his bare chest, brushing away the moist sheen of river water. A frisson of heat stole though her fingers and up her arm, but she didn't pull away. 'I'm sorry it didn't work, Griffin. Maybe we just didn't find the right place.' But she wasn't truly sorry, for anything that kept Griffin with her could only make her happy.

'Perhaps,' he said. 'Yet I am beginning to wonder if we ever will find the end to this tangle.'

'We will,' she said, not really believing in the truth of her words. Meredith drew a deep breath. 'I'm hungry. We can eat on board or we can row the dinghy to shore. There's an inn that serves dinner and we can spend the night there, if you like.'

'I would rather stay on the water,' he said. 'I feel more at home out here.'

Meredith watched as he made his way back to the bow. For a moment, things had become so simple between them, two people sharing a moment of passion. But then, the past sprang up like a great sea monster, rocking the boat and upsetting the easy balance they'd achieved… and reminding her that, no matter how much she wanted it, there was still a very good chance that Griffin would never be hers.

The first signs of dawn colored the eastern horizon a soft pink, bathing the landscape in an otherworldly light. Distant calls of waking birds echoed across the dark surface of the creek, their songs accompanied by the gentle slap of the water on the side of the boat. Griffin stood on the bow of the small sailboat, his gaze fixed on the twinkling lights from Bath Town, his fingers wrapped around the jib stay.

Merrie was sound asleep in the tiny cabin below, curled up in the port bunk. Though he'd tried, he couldn't sleep. He'd thought about crawling into the berth beside her and pulling her pliant body against his. With her close, maybe he could forget the demons that plagued his mind and find a few hours of rest.

But instead of taking shelter in her warmth, instinct told him to go back on deck, to watch and wait for some sign. He'd even dived in and circled the boat a few more times, hoping that he'd stumble upon a door to the past.

Griffin ran his fingers through his damp hair. The longer he stayed away, the more difficult it became to sustain his resolve. Somewhere, hidden deep in the past, the pirate Blackbeard waited. Yet now, the vision of Griffin's revenge seemed to be fading, as if a thick fog had descended on the past.

He stood on deck for a long time, watching the rising light glint off the water. His thoughts returned time and again to the woman who slept below, to her perfect face and her tempting body. And then, as if she'd been brought