Don’t look. It’s wicked, Martha.
A team of oxen couldn’t have stopped her gaze from venturing lower.
Her jaw sagged at the unmistakable ridge thrusting against the thin fabric and her eyes jerked up to his face.
He was looking at her, his eyes hooded, his expression almost … stern. “What are you doing, Martha?” His voice was low and gravelly.
“N-nothing.”
One of his eyebrows cocked.
“Just looking,” she amended. As if to demonstrate, her willful eyes slid back down to his hips.
Yes, he was still erect.
Martha was trying to yank her gaze away when he palmed the hard ridge and squeezed.
A small whimper escaped her parted lips
The muscles in his forearm rippled as his fingers flexed. The outline of his organ was … well, she knew what it looked like in the flesh, of course, but she thought that maybe she had exaggerated its dimensions in the weeks since seeing it.
She hadn’t.
“Martha.”
She swallowed and looked up.
“You shouldn’t be staring at me like that while I’m trying so hard to behave.”
“B-behave?”
He nodded slowly, his features shifting into something almost feral as his arm flexed and pumped, just once, before his hand dropped back to his side. “Yes, I’m behaving like a gentleman and you’re—”
She snorted. “You call what you just did behaving like a gentleman?”
“I’m trying to behave like a gentleman,” he amended, “but you aren’t making it easy by staring at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want to lick every inch of my body.”
An outraged yelp broke out of her and her face—which was probably glowing brighter than the lantern—scalded at his amused, knowing expression. “How dare you—”
He rolled his eyes in an odious, dismissive way. “Don’t bother to deny it. I recognize desire when I see it.”
For a moment, Martha could only gape, her mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. She struggled for a cutting set-down—or even an un-cutting one—but came up with nothing. And then she looked—really looked—into his dark eyes. The truth struck her like a whack to the head.
“You desire me, too,” she blurted.
He only stared.
“You k-kissed me earlier.”
His jaw flexed, and some unidentifiable emotion flickered across his face. “I shouldn’t have.”
“Why? Do you have a sweetheart in London? Or a w-wife?”
“No. And I don’t want one, either.”
Martha recoiled from his cold look and sharp tone. “Don’t worry; I wasn’t suggesting I wanted the position.”
“Good.”
Hurt and anger roiled in her belly. “Why have you been walking out with me? Just to toy with me?”
“I’m doing it because…”
“Why?” she prodded.
He hesitated so long she’d stopped expecting an answer when he finally said, “Because I like spending time with you.” The words were warm and comforting, but his gaze was … grim.
“If you like spending time with me then why do you look so unhappy?”
“Because what I want can’t lead to anything good.”
“What do you w-want?”
He gave an agonized, frustrated groan. “I want to fuck you, Martha—that’s what I want from you. That’s all I want.”
“How dare you!”
He caught her wrist before she could get to her feet. “I’m sorry, I should never have—” He stopped, muttered something she couldn’t hear, and shook his head. “No, I’m not going to apologize for what I am.”
“You mean vulgar and odious?” She pulled on her arm, but he wouldn’t release her.
He had the temerity to smile, although it was short-lived. “Among other things.” The look he gave her was penetrating and direct. “Listen to what I have to say—don’t run off.”
She ground her teeth, desperate to blister his ears.
But then she recalled that she’d started all this by staring at his body like some sort of depraved person. She heaved an exaggerated sigh and nodded. “Fine.”
He released her arm. “I’m not who you think I am.” His lips flexed into a grimace. “Or maybe I am.” He shook his head, as if to dismiss the comment. “What I’m trying to say, is that I might not have been guilty of the crime that landed me on that ship, but I have done many things far worse than thieving.”
“You mean like what you did to Graybow?”
His dark eyebrows slammed together. “How did you know—oh, Albert told you. Just wait until I see him ag—”
“Please don’t blame him; he told me about it that first night. He said that what you did saved him—and lots of other men, too. So, if that’s the kind of bad thing you meant, then it saved the lives of other people.”
“That’s true, but I didn’t have to kill him to do that. I could have just choked him until he was unconscious.” His jaw flexed. “But I chose to kill him.”
“Albert said that he’d already killed other men—several others.”
“If it had been your father on that ship, do you think he would have killed Graybow, or merely left him stunned?”
Martha opened her mouth, but then closed it.
“I thought so,” he said. “Anyway, that is the least of the bad things that I’ve done. And I will do more after I leave this island. It is in my nature to be selfish, Martha. It was selfishness that made me kiss you earlier.” He lowered his voice. “There is no future for us, Martha. Somebody like you needs—”
“Somebody like me? Just what does that mean?”
He groaned. “Christ.”
“Do not take the Lord’s name in vain in my presence, Hugo.”
“See?” he said, “That’s just one of the many reasons why I can never be the man you want or need.”
Martha scowled, hoping it hid her pain. “You presume too much, Mr. Buckingham. I never for a minute thought of you … that way.”
His lips quirked into a disbelieving smile. “Oh really?”
“Despite what you seem to think, I am not angling after you. I’d all but forgotten about you until you began coming around again.”
“Is that so?”
“It is so,” she insisted, beyond infuriated by his snide, mocking tone.
He snorted.
“I was only being kind when I agreed to walk out with you,” she
