Sparrow's legs entwined with his. The bottom of her feet caressed his hair-roughened calves. Her hips lifted, meeting his thrust for thrust.

"Lock, oh, Lock!" she cried, clinging to him tightly as another marvelous o.r.g.a.s.m built deep inside her.

The first pulses of her p.u.s.s.y dragged him along with her and he called her name in a voice raw with pa.s.sion. Sparrow gripped the heated muscles of his broad back as he surged inside her, his big body slamming hers into the bed.

With a groan, he rolled onto his side and held her close.

She lay in his arms, feeling the rise and fall of his chest against her back as he slept. She didn't try to sleep. She wanted to remember every moment of that night-the last she would ever spend with the pirate Lock the White.

"Sparrow, wait!"

Sparrow glanced over her shoulder at Ilias who jogged up the dirt road toward her.

He fell into step beside her, panting. "You walk at a good clip. Where are you going? I saw you leave the ship while I was delivering some of the Captain's supplies."

"I'm just going for a walk. I was sick of being stuck on the ship."

"Walk?" Ilias's dark eyes narrowed at the satchel and water flask Sparrow carried. "With all your belongings?"

"Ilias, just leave me alone, please. It'll be better for both of us if you go back to the ship. I don't want Lock getting any ideas."

"About what?" Ilias looked worried. "I knew it! You're running from him, aren't you? He's never mistreated you, has he? Not that there's much I could do about it, but I'd take a shot at killing him when he's asleep-"

"Ilias!" Sparrow shook his shoulder. "I don't want you trying to kill anybody, least of all Lock."

"Good, because he'd smash me into shark feed."

"He's never mistreated me-at least not physically." She closed her eyes momentarily, remembering the warmth of his body against hers the night before. If only morning had never come. "I just can't live on the Lady Fire anymore. I can't watch him throw his life away and become the same monster he was when we first met. He's headed on a path of destruction, not only his own, but of anyone who gets in his way. The trouble is, even he doesn't know where his way leads."

"Well do you know anyone in these parts? Do you have any money? Anywhere to stay?"

"I'll find something. I've been in a situation like this before. I'll survive."

Ilias gently clasped her wrist and tugged her toward another pathway. "Come with me. I can help you."

"Where are we going?"

"In the market, some gypsies were selling their wares. I spoke with them. One of the women is a cousin of my mother's. They'll give you a safe place to stay. If they like you, they might even let you work with them. And they'll know how to keep you hidden when Lock comes looking for you."

Sparrow held his eyes. "So you think he'll follow me?"

"Do cows s.h.i.t in the field? The man would be insane to let you go..." Ilias blushed. "Sorry, but it's the truth, Sparrow."

"I'm really going to miss you, Ilias. You've been a good friend."

"You, too. I wouldn't take anyone but a close friend to the gypsies-nor would they accept anyone but a close friend of one of their own. We're a close knit people, as you'll see."

"You know if Lock finds out what you've done he might kill you. It seems all he's capable of lately is violence."

"I think I have to risk it this time. You don't belong on the Lady Fire."

"I'll never forget this, but I think I have a plan. Once you introduce me to your friends, and if they're willing to accept me, I'll return with you to the market. You make sure you stay with Lock and I'll say I'm going back to the ship. That way he'll have no way of blaming you when I disappear."

Ilias winked. "I think you've been hanging around us pirates too long."

Far too long for my taste, Sparrow thought as they continued over the hillside.

"Ilias," Lock called across the deck.

The crewman approached. "Captain?"

"Sparrow's not below. Have you seen her? She should have been back by now."

"Haven't seen her since she left us in the market this afternoon."

Lock glanced skyward, concerned. It would be dark soon. Sparrow should have been on board. "Find ten men and come ash.o.r.e with me. We have to find her before nightfall."

Ilias nodded and shouted for the nearest crewmen. Lock's eyes swept the dock, hoping for some sign of her. She'd told him hours ago, she was returning to the ship. What if something had happened to her on the way back from the market? The market was no more than a ten minute walk to the ship, but someone could have robbed her, raped her, killed...No! He wouldn't think of it! Why had he let her go alone? Rhahas was one of the safest settlements he knew. There was little crime, and she said she was sick of him sending Ilias with her like a guard dog wherever she went. He wished he'd have sent the man with her today.

Lock took Sea Storm ash.o.r.e again. He could cover more ground on horseback while the others searched on foot. They would meet back at the ship after dark.

Lock rode through the dock and the marketplace, watching as vendors packed away their wares. He questioned several people, and a few remembered seeing Sparrow earlier that day, but not recently.

He searched the nearby village and traveled the dirt road to the next settlement.

Glancing skyward, he felt fear crawling inside him. The moon had risen and he had to report back to the ship. Maybe Ilias or the others had found Sparrow. In spite of his hope, a feeling of dread made his stomach twist and his heart pound. If anything had happened to her-anything-he'd never forgive himself.

When he arrived at the dock, the men waited.

"She's nowhere, Captain."

"Disappeared."

"Get the rest of the men off that ship! Leave just enough crew to keep guard. I want the rest looking for her."

One of the men raised his eyes skyward and said, "But she's not-"

Lock pulled the dagger from the sheath about his waist and pressed it beneath the crewman's chin. "Do what I tell you or I'll slit your throat. And when she's found, not a hair on her head better be harmed."

Lock mounted Sea Storm and galloped toward the wood, hopeful and terrified of what he might find.

"What's wrong with you? You have to eat more than that!"

Sparrow glanced at the attractive gray-eyed woman seated beside her. Dressed in a flowing maroon dress, her dark hair braided down her back, the woman spoke to Sparrow in her deep, lightly-accented voice. When she addressed the members of the campsite, she used a language completely unfamiliar to Sparrow. It was the old gypsy language, exclusive to their people. Now that Sparrow had joined their group, she was determined to add their language to the vast collection already stored in her mind. At least she hoped studying something new would keep her from dwelling on Lock.

"I'm just not hungry right now."

"You have a fine figure and look like you know how to eat."

Sparrow looked stunned. "I'm fat?"

"Of course not! It's good to see a healthy looking woman! Our people find meat and muscle attractive on a girl, especially one as lovely as you, but you won't stay lovely if you do not eat!"

"I'll be fine. Mita, thank you again for letting me stay with you."

Mita waved her hand. "Ilias's mother and I were great friends as children. He's a nice young man, but if you ask me, he's making a foolish decision by joining up with those pirates. A nasty lot, but I don't have to tell you that."

Sparrow sighed and took a bite of bread, forcing herself to chew and swallow. Mita was right. Why should she starve herself, pining away over a man who'd chosen the life of a criminal over making a home with her?

"I know what's taken your appet.i.te." Mita brushed a loose strand of wavy black hair behind her ear. "It's that man you're running from. Don't deny it. I've felt the same way myself."

"I'm just so frustrated because he can do so much better than the life he's chosen."

"That's true of many people. This pirate of yours has to decide for himself that change is best. He has to want it for himself. Only then can he give you the sort of life you deserve."

"That will never happen. Especially now. And even if he did decide to change, I'm not so sure I want him anymore." Sparrow lifted her chin, suddenly feeling less weepy as anger took hold of her. Because of Lock, she'd been forced out of a home she loved, away from Shea-Ann, the only family she had left. She'd believed Lock when he said they'd marry and make a life. He'd come so far, had changed so much, and one taste of piracy was enough to make him toss it all away. She wasn't sure she could ever forgive him for ruining their relationship.

"Really?" Mita watched Sparrow through her lashes. "So you're getting over the man already?"

"I think so. You know, Mita, this is the second time in my life a man has promised to marry me and backed away because he couldn't adjust to my manner of living." Sparrow stood, her fists clenched, and paced in front of the fire, staring into the flames. "You know what I say? To h.e.l.l with men! Who needs them? They're more trouble than they're worth."

"Here, here!" Mita raised her wine mug.

"They're just overly-muscled, hairy, ignorant goats who think they should be in charge of the whole d.a.m.n mountain!"

Several of the other gypsy women, interested by Sparrow's angry speech, approached the fire.

One of them said, "That sounds like my husband and my father!"

"Hey, woman!" the gypsy's husband snapped from where he sat with several of his friends, drinking wine.

"They think their word is law," Sparrow continued. "They think because they sleep with us we'll bow at their feet!"

"And most of the time they're lucky we even crawl into the hay with them!" shouted a heavyset, gray-haired woman with wrists adorned with heavy gold bracelets.

"Enough of this talk!" Mita's husband, leader of the gypsy clan approached. He glared at Sparrow, his hands on his hips. "If I knew you were a trouble maker, I never would have agreed to let you stay here."

"You keep silent!" Mita stood nose to nose with her husband. "She's a friend of my dear cousin's son and welcome here, by the law of our people!"

"You sit down, woman!"

"You go join your friends or else they'll be no more fine meals prepared in this camp for the next week!" Mita patted her husband's slight pot belly. "See how you like that!"

"Well if you women want to talk foolishness, do it quietly! Some of us want to relax. We have to be up early for hunting in the morning."

"Which means it's up to us women to run the stalls at the market. Again. So leave us alone or maybe we won't divide the profit equally between the s.e.xes!"

"You wouldn't dare lie about money!"

"You watch me!"

Sparrow stepped back, suddenly feeling guilty. She murmured, "I always did talk too much. Now I've started a fight between a perfectly happy couple."

"Perfectly happy?" A slender, dark-haired girl who stood beside Sparrow laughed. "If Mita and Prem don't have at least two good fights a day, we think one of them is ill."

Sparrow released a breath of relief.

"I think you'll get along well in this camp. The women already like you."

"The men probably want to cook me over a slow-burning fire."

The girl laughed. "Serves them right. What you said about them is often true."

"What's your name?"

"Opal. Please excuse me, but I'm going to practice my dancing. I entertain at the village tavern."

"You dance?" Sparrow remembered Lock's dance and her stomach tightened. He'd been so handsome, and now she'd never see him again.

"I learned from my mother and she learned from her mother. It's a family tradition, and you can earn a great deal of money at the tavern. Especially when some of the men get drunk. They just toss coins at my feet."

"Would you teach me?"

Opal smiled. "That's a wonderful idea! Come on. We can..." She stopped speaking as the entire camp focused their attention on a young man who'd just run into the village, dusty from the road.

"Rider approaching!" He panted. "I think it's the pirate Ilias warned us about. The one looking for Sparrow."

Sparrow's heart pounded. "Lock! I have to run. I have to-"

"You're not running anywhere," Mita said.

"But he'll-"

"The hairy goat will do nothing." Opal winked. "He won't even know you're here."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Hide her under the wagon," suggested a boy. "We can tie her to the bottom. He'd never know she's there."

"No, he'll find me," Sparrow said. "Lock's a pirate. If there's one thing they all know about is how to hide something."

Mita narrowed her eyes. "Obviously you know little about us. The man will not find you, Sparrow, and we're not going to hide you under a wagon. Ridiculous idea."