Love's Odyssey Read Online Free Page B

carrier bin next to the bunk, then grasped her shoulder, pushing her backward onto the bed and pulling the cover over them both.
    She lay next to him, wide-eyed, waiting apprehensively. But, although his arm stretched across her stomach, he did nothing more. She heard him begin to breathe deeply, and carefully lifted his arm from her, then turned away from him, squeezing as close to the wall as she could get.
    He'd said he meant her no harm, yet here he was sleeping in her bed! Even with her back to him, every fiber of her body remained aware of his nearness. How gallant he'd been, saving her from John Burnet. Still, that didn't excuse him now. Romell knew she must jostle him awake, force him to leave the cabin, cry out for help if he would not, but she didn't move. Was it the brandy muddling her mind? Or her head injury? Or was it that she wanted him there next to her? Certainly that was the wrong way for a maid to feel—she needed no Sir Thomas to tell her that.
    Tears came to Romell's eyes at the thought of Sir Thomas. If Adrien hadn't helped her escape, would she, too, be dead now? She had no friend other than Adrien. But she couldn’t stay in bed with him.
    It wouldn’t do, even if he slept through the night. He shouldn’t be in her cabin at all. Still, like as not he’d been  awake the whole night, bringing her to London and taking her to the ship. A shame to wake him.
    She was feeling better, so she ought to be the one to leave the cabin. Surely the captain would be able to find her other accommodations.
    Cautiously, Romell sat up. Her head ached only a little now. Perhaps she should try another drink of brandy once she was on her feet. It was clearly impossible to get out of the bunk without climbing over Adrien, but if she was very careful she might not rouse him.
    She pulled up her skirts to get on her hands and knees, then eased one leg across Adrien, trying not to touch him as she felt for the edge of the bed.
    Romell was beginning to shift her weight when her foot slid off the edge and, unable to prevent it, she fell astraddle of Adrien.
    His arms came up to clutch her as she struggled to slide off his body onto the floor.
    "No," she half whispered, "let me go. I didn't mean to wake you."
    "What? Turn down such an invitation?" he asked drowsily, pressing his lips to her neck as his hands slid down to cup her buttocks.
    Romell felt a tingle where his lips met her bare skin and warmth grew inside her, as though his touch were as fiery as the brandy.
    "No," she said, louder. "No, I mean to leave the bed. What are you thinking of? Let me go."
    "I've wanted you from the first," he murmured. "Lovely, my lovely brave girl." He tumbled her back onto her side of the bed and slid her gown from her shoulders, freeing her breasts. In the dim light his gaze caught hers for a moment, and his look frightened her.
    "Let me go!" she cried, squirming away from him, but he caught her before she was off the bed and pinned her body under his.
    "You woke me," he said. "Enough of this coyness, it serves no purpose." As he spoke, his hand fondled her breasts. Despite her alarm, she knew pleasure from the caress. What was the matter with her?
    "What better way to pass the voyage to Amsterdam?" he asked.
    "You must stop," she said, trying unsuccessfully to push his hand from her breasts. "Please don't do that."
    He covered her mouth with his. Romell relaxed into the kiss for a long endless moment, almost drowning in 'the flood of sensation he evoked in her until, with an effort, she turned her face from his.
    "Oh, let me go," she whispered, attempting to wiggle out from under him.
    He trailed his tongue along her neck, lower and lower, until his lips were at her breasts. A wonderful sweetness stabbed her through and through. His hand slipped under her skirts and along her thigh. She stiffened and pushed his head away. "You must not!" she gasped.
    He paid her no mind. Romell, desperate now, afraid of both him and herself, bit his ear