10. Chapter 10

Iknow! Okay, I know! Standing in the middle of what amounts to be a battlefield is not the time to have your bell rung by a sexy pirate ex-captain.

But what kind of romance writer would I be if I didn’t give in to spur-of-the-moment feels from time to time.

Drake’s grip is firm and possessive in exactly the way I like. If he wasn’t holding on to me, I’m pretty sure my knees would have gone weak, and I’d be a puddle of lust and need on the floor.

I’m pulled from my daze by a strange sound. The thumping of wood against wood. As soon as I register what it is, I unsheathe my blade and jump into action. The force of the cutlass hitting my own saber nearly knocks me down even more firmly than Drake’s kisses had but I push back, holding my own.

I look up into the ugly mug of the one-eyed pirate that has come hunting us for my gin distillery.

“You sunk my ship, you wench!” he bites out as he pushes back against the blade, nearly knocking me over.

“You came for mine!” I growl out as I parry and go on the offensive. I’m very proud to say I hold my own against him, even though my strength is quickly lagging. I’ve been fighting for what feels like hours, and this scallywag has more than likely been hiding behind his crew the entire time.

“Everything that sails these seas belongs to me!” he bellows, bringing his cutlass down hard. I bite down hard to stop myself from crying out at the shock it causes in my joints. Both Jack and Drake stare at us, intense concentration on their faces.

My pride notes that neither of them looks particularly worried that I can’t take this big, bad pirate, but dammit… would it be too much to ask for them to jump in and help out?

As that annoying thought surfaces, the redheaded charmer comes storming up the steps to us, shouting at the top of his lungs.

The idiot comes storming in, and I can see Snake-Eye react. It’s like watching one of those bad horror movies. I want to shout at him to stop while simultaneously screaming at myself not to make the idiotic move.

But before I know what’s happening, I find myself jumping in, in front of Pete. I hold my saber in front of me to try to block the blow coming down, but my feet aren’t planted properly.

In the back of my head, I can hear Jasper chastising me for my poor stance, but it’s all too late now. Snake-Eye’s blade pushes me down onto my knees. He knocks the saber out of my hands in another swift move, and just as quickly, his cutlass is pushed against my heaving chest.

“Your ass is mine now, wench.” Snake-Eye sneers before spitting a big gob of gunk next to my feet. My inner girl squirms at the ick of it before I square my shoulders and scowl back at him.

“You can best me in as many fights as you want. My ass will never be yours.” My voice rises with confidence as I see the men who were previously satisfied with just watching spring to action. “Want to know why?”

I don’t give him a chance to answer. I push my leather-clad chest against the blade, not worried about it pushing through before my men come to my rescue. “Because my ass belongs to them,” I shout just as two blades come down on him from behind him in one motion.

Snake-Eye falls to his knee and collapses to the side. Averting my eyes away from his gaping mouth, I take a deep breath and let Pete help me up.

“What the heck were you thinking?” Drake shouts as he storms closer to me. He’s so close to me that our bodies are touching in the most intimate places. And even though that little vein in the side of his face is pulsing with the anger coursing through him, I can still feel that very definite bulge in his pants.

He might be mad. But he’s definitely turned on, too.

“I had to save Pete!” I shout back at him, narrowing my eyes at him. “I wouldn’t have had to if you idiots didn’t just stand there and watch me fight.”

“We knew you had it.” This calm statement came from my unflappable pirate, shocking the shit out of me. “He was good, sure, but you’re better.” Jack shrugs nonchalantly before stepping up closer to us, pushing Drake out of the way. He cups my face, wiping away some random pirate’s blood before bending over to give me a soft, way-too-chaste kiss.

“Until some scallywag came barreling up the steps.” Jack zeroed in on the pirate behind me. “You could have had her killed with your rookie moves, Pete.”

“I didn’t see you two up here with her. All I saw was the big-ass captain with his blade against our temptress. I had to do something,” Pete responds, his voice sounding small. I want to knock him over the head, too, but I never want my carefree joker to sound as helpless as he does now, so I turn around and wrap my arms around his neck.

“Thank you, Pete,” I whisper before standing on tiptoes to kiss him softly. “But don’t do anything like that ever again.”

He nods his agreement to my order, but before I can say anything else, the big brute behind me speaks up again.

“That’s not enough. He needs to learn his lesson.”

Turning to face Jack, I narrow my eyes on him. What is he trying to do?

“Oh, yeah? And how do you plan on doing that, big guy?”

Jack shrugs in response. “I’ll tan his ass, exactly like you threatened him with. And if he still won’t listen, I’ll claim it and see if that wakes him up.”

Wait.

What now?

Am I in for some gay pirate sex?

Beat that, Pornhub.