Breathless Encounter

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Aiden hurried toward Sunny’s cabin to give her the all clear. She must be scared out of her mind. He reached her door and knocked on it gently. “Sunny? It’s Aiden. You can come out now. We’re safe and the pirates are gone.”

Nothing. He waited for a few seconds and knocked a little louder. Still nothing. Panic blossomed in his gut along with a sick certainty that she hadn’t obeyed his order to come down here and lock herself in.

He checked the door handle. Unlocked. Swearing forcefully, he barged into her room. Empty. He was going to kill her when he found her. Assuming the pirates hadn’t found her first and—

Oh, God. Snatched her.

He raced out of the cabin, shouting for Steig. He tore onto the bridge, panting. Thankfully, every hand that reached for a sidearm recognized him in time not to blow his head off. “Sunny’s not in her cabin,” he announced. “Has anyone seen her?”

“I assumed she was with Gemma in the panic room,” Steig answered grimly. “When was the last time you saw her?”

“In the salon.”

One of the sailors piped up. “We found a pirate in the salon. Dead from a head wound. Looked like blunt trauma.”

Christ. His worst nightmare come true. A civilian, a woman he was responsible for, hell, a woman he was interested in and attracted to, made a victim because she’d been too close to him. This was exactly why he never got close to other people! Guys in the superhero business couldn’t afford any personal attachments.

Had the pirates seized her to use as a hostage? To ensure a safe getaway? What would they do to her after they were clear of the Nymph? With every new question, his gut twisted a little tighter. This was his fault. He’d gone back to his old ways, been wining and dining the hot chick instead of doing his job and watching out for pirates. When would he learn? Women and work—at least his work—did not mix. Ever.

Sick with worry, he listened as Steig gave terse orders over the ship’s public address system. All hands were to stop what they were doing and search for Sunny.

“How come we didn’t find her when we were hunting for pirate stowaways?” Aiden demanded.

“We’re not finished clearing the ship yet,” Steig replied. “Maybe she’ll still turn up.” But the Swede didn’t sound convinced.

“What’s left to be searched?” Aiden demanded.

“The upper decks.”

“I’m on it. Starting in the salon. I’ll see if I can find some hint there of what happened to her.”

He barreled into the same room where they’d been having a romantic dinner only an hour ago. It was impossible to miss the pool of blood, broken glass and the overwhelming smell of lemon vodka. Clearly, there’d been a fight by the bar. She’d put up a hell of a struggle if the damage was any indication. He spied bullet holes in the ceiling and his heart dropped to his feet. But then he registered that it looked like an uninterrupted trail of holes, as if the fusillade of bullets hadn’t hit anyone in its track across the room.

He worked his way outward from the bar, methodically searching for clues. It was nearly impossible to go slowly, to be thorough. But he dared not miss anything important in his panic. He’d almost finished searching the room when he got to the banquet-style sofa under one of the big windows. He lifted it and leaped back with a shout of surprise. The lid banged shut on whoever was hiding inside.

He grabbed for the pistol at his hip, yanking it clear just as the sofa seat raised up again.

“Jeez, Aiden, did you have to slam the seat down on me like that? You almost broke my nose.”

He jerked his weapon up and away from Sunny and holstered it, sagging in relief. “You scared the living hell out of me, woman.”

“Are the pirates gone?”

“Yes. The ship’s being cleared as we speak. What happened in here?” He glanced over at the stains by the bar.

“I, umm, clobbered a pirate.”

“You killed him.”

“Really? I just hit him as hard as I could.”

“With what?”

“A bottle. Vodka, I think.”

“Effective.” He might be speaking calmly, but his heart was pounding a mile a minute. His legs shockingly shaky, he walked to the intercom and pressed the button. “I found Sunny, Steig. She was hiding in the salon. She’s all right.”

A tinny “thank God” came back over the speaker.

He turned back to her. “Would you care to explain why you didn’t do as I told you and go to your cabin?”

“I tried to. Really. But a pirate was in the hall and then someone shot him and I backed in here. Then I heard someone coming and hid behind the bar and he had bad boots and I knew he was a pirate and I hit him with my bottle and I didn’t know what to do and …”

He pressed his fingers gently over her mouth to stop her babbling, which was becoming more hysterical by the second. “It’s over. You’re safe. The pirates are gone.”

And that was all it took. For the third time that day, she sobbed in his arms. They were starting to make a habit of this. At least this time he wasn’t wearing a shirt for her to ruin with her running makeup. He had to admit it wasn’t all bad having a soft, sexy, sweet-smelling female nestled in his arms as if he was a conquering hero who could defend her from the entire world.

“I was so scared,” she whispered. “And I was so worried about you—” She broke off and took a step back to glare up at him. “What in the world were you doing, jumping overboard like that? You could’ve been killed!” She smacked him across the upper arm with enough force to sting.