"Do you need me?" she asked again, her hands sliding down his back and clutching his b.u.t.tocks, her fingers sinking between the globes and pressing, stroking, penetrating.

"h.e.l.l and d.a.m.nation, girl!" he groaned. Her fingers pushed harder and his thrusts became as wild as the slamming of his heart. With a cry of pa.s.sion, she convulsed, her p.u.s.s.y squeezing his c.o.c.k, her hands fierce on his a.s.s.

She moaned, "Do yo-"

"f.u.c.k, I need you!" he shouted as his climax stole what was left of his stubborn self-control. "I need you!"

Lock collapsed on top of her, feeling the slick heat of their skins and their hearts slamming in union. Rolling onto his side, he held her close to his chest.

Though he couldn't see her face, he sensed her smile. "You know, I'm afraid to fall asleep with you. I'll probably wake up tied again."

"No. Never again," he admitted. He didn't want her as a servant. To his dismay, he preferred her as a partner. "But I won't live as a slave, Sparrow."

She turned and faced him, her eyes serious. "I know that. I don't want you to, but there's no other way for us here."

"We don't have to stay here."

"Would you take me even if I didn't want to go with you?"

"Yes."

"Because you want me in your bed or because you don't want me tortured?"

"Both."

To his surprise, she smiled and looped her arms around his neck. "I'll go with you, but on two conditions. We have to wait for Shea-Ann to come back. I don't want her to worry."

"She'll worry no matter what. You're with me."

"But if she knows it's what I want, she'll respect that."

"What's the second condition?"

"I want you to acknowledge any children we might have."

Her insinuation sparked his anger. "I've never had any children. You're the first woman I've ever bedded without ensuring that. If I didn't have any intention of acknowledging our children, I would have been more careful. No son or daughter of mine is going to grow up like I did."

Sparrow smiled and slipped on top of him, her knees smooth against his sides. "I knew you had integrity somewhere in there."

"Way down deep. I mean way down, Princess. Try not to forget it." He wasn't sure why he still felt the need to warn her. Being his woman wouldn't be easy for her. She was so honest and decent. He'd have to make an attempt to live up to her expectations, but he had the feeling he was going to fall miserably short. His spirit was far too wild.

Sparrow smiled as she set the table for dinner. After she and Lock had made love, she'd walked around the farm to see what needed to be done since her absence and was pleased to find he'd kept up with the daily work as well as completed many of the repairs she'd been procrastinating.

She was prepared to help him in the fields, but he told her to return to the house.

"I have to do something with myself until that old witch comes back," he said. "You take care of the house. I'll take care of the farm."

Sparrow felt a peculiar thrill at his words. It was if they were a married couple. Married. Even if they wanted to marry, it would have to wait until they left Begonia. Lock was a slave in this land, and marriage between him and Sparrow would not be acknowledged.

Not that he'd asked her to marry him, anyway, she thought, her smile fading. And did she want to marry him, a pirate? Of course she did. Why else would she have consented to leave Begonia with him? She knew by losing her heart to him, she'd also lost her mind. Only a crazy woman would bind herself to Lock the White.

As dusk rolled in and Lock still hadn't returned, Sparrow began to worry. Had she been a fool to trust him again? Perhaps he'd taken off and left her to face the bounty hunters.

She sighed with relief when he stepped through the door. He reached for her before she could speak and kissed her. She melted against him, her fingers clutching his sweat-damped shirt.

"I'm going swimming," he said. "Want to come?"

Sparrow nodded, grasping a blanket from the foot of the bed.

Together they walked across the moonlit hills to the lake.

"It's a warm night," she said. "I love summertime."

"You'd like SothSea weather. It's always hot."

At the lake, Sparrow watched as Lock undressed and strode into the water, swimming to the middle.

He brushed wet hair from his eyes and called, "Aren't you coming?"

She glanced around the field.

"We're alone, Princess."

She slipped off her clothes, feeling conspicuous. She'd never walked around naked outside before, but she liked the feeling of freedom. She waded in and swam to meet him. His arms slid around her, and she felt cool droplets of water on his lips when he kissed her.

"You must like the water," she said, "spending your life at sea and all."

"I love the water. Lakes are nice enough, but I love the ocean. Have you ever been to sea, Sparrow?"

"No."

"There's no feeling like it. The smell of salt, the sharpness of the wind, the deck beneath your feet. Sometimes when I'm out there, I feel like I never want to dock."

His arms slid up her back, and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressed to his chest beneath the dark water. She smiled, touching her lips to his cool, wet throat. "I'm starting to love the water, too."

"Are you, girl?" His voice rumbled close to her ear. He turned her so he could nuzzle her neck, fondle her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and stroke her c.l.i.t at the same time.

She moaned and leaned against him, allowing him to support her completely. The sensations of his big, callused hands and his soft lips tenderly tugging the flesh of her ear and neck were so pleasurable, she wanted them to last all night.

"Come here." He tugged her toward a smooth, flat stone in a shallow part of the lake. Lock sat on it, his legs outstretched but slightly bent, and beckoned her closer. "Get on top of me and put my c.o.c.k in you."

Sparrow grinned, her eyes gleaming, as she did as he asked. Positioning herself on top of him, she swallowed his hard c.o.c.k with her p.u.s.s.y. He supported her waist, his thumbs gently stroking her hips. Water lapped their skin like hundreds of soft caresses.

"I like looking at you," he told her.

The sensation of his body, the sound of his voice, and the expression of l.u.s.t in his pale eyes made her feel giddy inside. Sparrow took his face in her hands and touched every inch of it. Her fingers smoothed his forehead and traced his eyebrows. She caressed his cheekbones and stroked the length of his nose. All the while, their hips rocked in a motion both calming and stimulating.

"Oh, Lock," she whispered, her fingertips outlining his mouth. His tongue snaked out and licked between her fingers before he captured one with his lips and sucked it gently.

As their bodies heated and their movements became more demanding, Sparrow clung to his neck, leaning back and closing her eyes. His hands gripped her waist and hips harder. Sparrow exploded, moaning and crying his name. With a groan of fulfilled pa.s.sion, Lock erupted inside her as waves soothed them from every direction. Afterward, they lay on the blanket she'd brought. Sparrow curled against his chest as they gazed at the sky.

"Do you think I'll like your island?" she asked.

"Parts of it. I don't want to stay there, though. We'll take my belongings, buy another ship, and move somewhere else."

"Why?"

"I don't want you living in the Archipelago with all those cutthroats. Even with guards on you."

"Guards?" She sat up, a hand on his chest. "What are you talking about?"

"While I'm at sea, it wouldn't be safe for you otherwise."

"So you're not going to stop pirating?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet."

"Couldn't I travel with you? If I learned how to run a farm, I can learn how to sail."

"We have time to discuss all this. Right now I want to go back to the house, eat supper, and f.u.c.k you till you can't walk."

Sparrow's stomach danced as she tugged on her clothes. He was right. They could discuss his redemption later.

"I have to go to the village for supplies," Sparrow remarked the following morning at breakfast.

"I'll go with you."

"Lock, as long as you're living here, when we're seen in public, you have to wear a slave band."

His lip curled. "What?"

"It's the law. I'm sorry."

He muttered a curse in his own language, but she understood every word.

"You're the one who said you'd stay until Shea-Ann comes back," she told him.

"Fine."

Sparrow opened the trunk at the foot of her bed and removed a metal band. She approached Lock and snapped it around his thick bicep, glad she'd chosen the right size. She'd bought it the same day she'd bought him, and she'd hoped he'd live to wear it. Now she hoped for a time when they could walk together as a free couple.

He glanced at the band with disgust.

"I can't control you," she said. "I can only ask you to keep your promise."

"And play the part of your slave?"

She trailed a finger across his chest. "Is that really so bad?"

"I suppose we'll find out."

Every eye in the village followed Sparrow and Lock as they walked through the marketplace. At first she felt conspicuous, then began to enjoy the attention. Lock was a breathtaking sight, so tall, long-limbed, and packed with sculpted muscle. He wore trousers, boots, and a leather vest that left his big arms and broad shoulders exposed, the slave band glistening around one thick biceps. His brown and white hair was pinned back from his face with a plain silver clip and hung in a kinky ma.s.s halfway down his back. He walked two steps behind Sparrow, appearing every bit the tamed servant, and Sparrow relished the envy in the eyes of nearly every woman who saw them together.

She paused at a fruit cart and bought a sack of apples which she gave to Lock to carry, then a sack of wheat which he slung over his other shoulder.

When they pa.s.sed the fish cart, the fisherwoman stood talking with the tall blacksmith, two of the women who'd "inspected" Lock several days ago.

"So, Sparrow, you got your man to behave?" The blacksmith offered a toothy smile. Her arms folded beneath her small b.r.e.a.s.t.s, which appeared more like a man's pectorals. She stepped closer to Lock, her gaze sweeping him.

"How long has he been unchained?" The fisherwoman stared hard at the couple from beneath her fuzzy white eyebrows. "Several cottages were robbed a few days ago."

"It wasn't him," Sparrow snapped.

"He is a pirate," the blacksmith said.

"I know it wasn't him because two nights ago thieves followed me home, and if it hadn't been for Lock, I'd have been robbed, raped, and probably murdered."

"He protected you?"

Sparrow gazed at Lock, resisting the urge to kiss him in front of the entire village. "He's very loyal."

The blacksmith said, "Now that he's tamed, you could fetch a high price for him at the palace in Begonia."

"I'm not selling."

The blacksmith and the fisherwoman exchanged glances and smiled at Sparrow.

"Perhaps you use him for more than farm work." The blacksmith's eyes fixed on the enticing bulge in Lock's trousers. Sparrow knew she was remembering the sight of him naked, and jealousy burned in her gut. "I can understand why you wouldn't want to sell him if that's the case. He's young and strong, and he looks like he's loaded with stamina. How about loaning him out? I'll shoe all your horses for free if you let me bed him."

Lock glanced at the blacksmith from head to foot and said, "Tell her to throw in either a blindfold or an aphrodisiac because that's the only way a man could get hard facing her."

The blacksmith's fists clenched and if Sparrow hadn't stepped between her and Lock, she probably would have hit him.

The fisherwoman glared at him and told Sparrow, "You should cut out his foul tongue!"

"No," Sparrow smiled as she and Lock continued on their way, "his tongue is one of his greatest a.s.sets. And he's also not for sale or for rent."

"Good luck to you!" snarled the blacksmith. "I wouldn't really have paid for that scarred freak, anyway! I just thought I'd do you a favor and free you of him for a couple of hours!"

"A couple of hours?" Lock muttered to Sparrow. "She could probably kill a White Island yak after five minutes."

Sparrow ran a fingertip across his belly. "You might say that about me after tonight. That little trick you taught me with the leather belt and the flower petals, I want to practice more."