Rogue of the High Seas by Cynthia Breeding

welcomed the bitingly cold air. He needed it not only to cool his blood, but to clear his head. What had he been thinking?
    But the image of her naked, lying beneath him with the cloak covering both of them was all too vivid. Damn it. When her eyes had half closed and those soft, full lips had parted, inviting him to taste her, his cock had promptly sprung to life, and he wanted to savor the juices between her legs as well.
    Hellfire and damnation.
    He almost walked right past the Sea Lassie , but a rational thought managed to wedge its way into his fevered mind. Donald, the quartermaster who stayed aboard, looked surprised to see him as he walked up the gangplank.
    â€œWhat brings ye out?”
    For a moment, Robert couldn’t remember. “Ah…ah, the patch. I wanted to make sure it held since it was so cold when we applied the tar.”
    Donald raised a brow and Robert hoped he hadn’t insulted the man. He couldn’t very well say he needed to cool his heels—and other body parts—and the quartermaster would think him completely daft if he said he was just walking on the quay on such a blustery day.
    â€œAye, ’tis holding,” Donald replied. “It was nae a big leak and I had the lads holding the oil lamps close to keep the area warm until the pitch settled.”
    Robert nodded. He’d have done the same, and from the inquiring look on Donald’s face, Robert suspected the man knew it. “Well, Shane had to take Abigail home so I thought I’d check before dusk fell.” No sooner had he spoken the word, when his thoughts returned to pink or dusky nipples.
    Damn, damn, damn.
    Donald squinted at him. “Are ye all right? Ye look a bit flushed.”
    â€œJust the weather,” Robert replied, settling his cloak on his shoulders lest the quartermaster think him a halfwit as well. “I’d best be getting back.”
    As he turned and walked down the plank, another thought nudged him. One he didn’t like but knew to be true.
    He’d best not be alone with Shauna MacLeod again either.
    Robert had almost kissed her. She’d known he wanted to. She’d seen the burning passion in his eyes. For the first time in her life, Shauna had felt the power of what it meant to be female…to be able to instill raw desire in a man. She’d nearly wept at Albert’s interruption. How long would it be before she could be alone with Robert again? Would he try to arrange a meeting?
    Sleep—or lack of it—had hardly diminished her frustration the next day. She was hard put not to snap at Kyla when she announced that Owen had come to pay a call. Even so, the maid gave her a wary look and made a quick exit.
    Owen was the last person she wanted to see today. At least Abigail was in the parlor when Shauna came down the stairs. There was benefit to Shane’s protectiveness, even though it would also extend to not leaving her alone with Robert, but she’d worry about that later. For now, she welcomed having a chaperone.
    Owen sat lazily inclined on the brocaded sofa, his legs sticking straight out and crossed at the ankle. Shauna marched over to a straight-backed chair by the small table at the window.
    â€œI hope you are not scared of me,” he said.
    Shauna frowned. “Why should I be scared of ye?”
    Owen smiled, but it looked more like a smirk to her.
    â€œYou chose to sit across the room from me.”
    She drew her brows closer together. Abigail was sitting in one of the bat-winged armchairs by the hearth. The other chair was full of books. “As ye can see, the other chairs in the room are taken.”
    The smirk widened. “There is plenty of room on the sofa.”
    â€œI doona think that appropriate.”
    Amusement swept over Owen’s face. “I would hardly take advantage.”
    If she were inclined to outbursts of temper, Shauna would have launched a few choice words at him, but Shane had just come into the