I FELT THE TIP OF A dagger at my throat and almost smiled. Tiger Lilly never ceased to amaze me.

“Are you going to run me through?”

I hadn’t opened my eyes yet, and my voice was laced with sleep.

“Give me one good reason not to,” Tiger Lilly pressed the dagger deeper, and I felt the slightest of pinches.

“Giving me a scar will only increase my good looks,” I opened my eyes and smiled at her. “You are so damn beautiful.”

Tiger Lilly growled, “That isn’t a good reason.”

I raised a brow, lips twitching, “No, I suppose you are right. How about this? We need Silver’s scuba diving gear to find the map. Unless you have a way for us to breath underwater? If that is the case, then we shall make our escape now.”

Her eyes blazed for the briefest of moments, before she pulled the dagger away from my throat.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I glanced around camp to see if anyone was paying attention to us. It was early yet. The sun hadn’t broken across the sky.

Leaning in and whispering into her ear, “I was too busy kissing your mouth, tasting your passion, and picturing you naked and writhing beneath me.”

The dagger was back at my throat in an instant.

“Do you think this is a game, Mr. Smeed?” Tiger Lilly looked every inch of the princess that I knew her to be.

“No, my lady,” I answered solemnly. “But I do seem to get my priorities confused when my tongue is tangled with yours. I do most humbly apologize.”

She grunted, it was the most ladylike grunt I had ever heard, and a wide smile split my face. Tiger Lilly lowered the dagger, and I wrapped my fingers around hers at the hilt so that she couldn’t accidentally separate my head from my shoulders.

I had grown rather fond of its current placement.

“I don’t like being the hostage,” Tiger Lilly murmured.

I couldn’t blame her for it. I had been held captive a time or two. Your arms begin to ache after about an hour, and then another hour after that they become numb. The ropes burn into your skin, and you find yourself tugging at them, even though you know full well that they aren’t going to unravel themselves.

“I can’t untie you, Princess,” I whispered into her ear.

She snuggled up under my chin, and I felt the smooth stands of her dark hair caress my skin.

“Try and get some sleep. We have a long walk ahead of us.”

I began to stroke her back, and after a short time, her eyelids began to droop. I laid awake and watched her as the sun began to peek over the mountaintop. Her smooth tanned skin hadn’t a blemish in sight. I loved the way her pouty lips parted as she sighed.

I had wanted this woman for as long as I could remember. But I hadn’t truly gained respect for her until our journey. When you love someone from afar, you tend to gift them with attributes you wish them to have.

Often, the real person isn’t anything like the illusion you have conjured in your head. Tiger Lilly wasn’t a bit like I had thought she would be. The reality far outweighed anything I could have dreamed up.

Her kind spirit and loving nature as she took Ebony under her wing, surprised me. Her valiant heart and strength of character as we merged crews with Silvers, impressed me. But her determination to do right by her people and Neverland, endeared her to me far more than anything else.

Tiger Lilly’s eyes flickered open the moment some of the pirates began walking around camp. I pressed a fast kiss to her lips before sitting up and hauling her up beside me.

In a gruff voice, I said loud enough for the others to hear that I needed to take a piss and that she was welcome to do the same.

I saw her lip curl in disdain. I knew she didn’t like my pirate persona, but I had to keep up appearances. I cut the rope securing her feet together, and we walked away from the group. As soon as I could, I sliced the rope at her hands and rubbed the aching skin as blood flooded back into her limbs.

Giving Tiger Lilly a moment of privacy, I did indeed take a piss. Once I had relieved myself, I waited for her to return. She was moments later with a bright blush on her cheeks. We walked to the stream and washed our hands off.

“I need to tie your wrists again,” I said with regret.

Tiger Lilly didn’t fight me or even complain. That was just one more thing that I had to add to my list of things I admired about her.

The crew broke camp, and we began the hike through the woods to the shoreline. Thankfully we weren’t as far away as some of the other groups had been. After a few hours, we reached the beach and loaded the boats.

Soon we were back aboard the Henrietta. Silver wanted Tiger Lilly to be strapped to the main hull, but I refused.

I didn’t see any reason why she couldn’t be confined to a cabin. That way she wouldn’t have to be tied up, but I didn’t voice this to Captain Silver.

With a grunt, he agreed to my request, and I took her to the room that Ebony had occupied on the ship. It was the second-best cabin, besides Captain’s Quarters.

The moment we opened the door I could almost smell Ebony’s perfume. I loved her, but not as a man loves a woman. Ebony and I were always the best of friends, and I grew up most of my life thinking that she was my half-sister.

It wasn’t until later that I learned she was Silver’s daughter and not Hook’s.

I barred the door and again sliced the bands that held her wrists.

“Thank you,” Tiger Lilly rubbed the sore skin, and I lifted her hands so that I could place a small kiss on the reddened flesh.

“I am so very sorry,” I muttered, hating the way that she flinched when my lips touched her.

A ghost of a smile crossed her face, “It isn’t your fault. You tied the ropes so loosely the last time I could almost slip free of them.”

I felt heat crawling up the back of my neck, “I don’t wish to hurt you at all.”

She nodded, “I know, and I admire you for that.”

The blush spread, and I felt ten times the fool. Trying to impress her, I attempted to swing around the chair and offer her a seat. But the chair, which I should have known, was bolted to the cabin floor. So instead of swinging the chair around, I ended up wrenching my arms and stumbling backward, until I landed on my ass.

“Are you alright?” I could tell that she was trying to hold back her laughter, but there was genuine concern in her eyes.

Grinning ruefully, I answered, “That is what I get for trying to be a gentleman when I am clearly not one.”

A giggle escaped Tiger Lilly’s perfect lips.

“Most ladies would agree, that a dashing pirate is far more desirable than a stuffy old gentleman anyway.”

Her hand rested gently on my head, and I felt her fingers brush through the black curls.

I didn’t think about it or hesitate for even a moment. If she wanted a pirate, she had come to the right place.

I snatched Tiger Lilly by the waist and pulled her down into my lap. Her leather dress split up the side as her thighs stretched out over mine.

All that smooth, perfect skin was more than I could take. And thoughts of being a gentleman had clearly fled my mind.

“Mine!” I growled as I bent to kiss her. But she lifted a finger to my lips to stop me.

Then to my surprise, she trailed the finger down past my chin to the center of my chest. My breath was coming in rapid pants, and I knew that she had to feel the hardening of my cock beneath her perfect ass.

Pressing into my skin, she whispered, “Mine!”

And I was lost.