Curious, I stepped back inside and followed the disturbance through the sleeping chamber, the day cabin, and… Oh. My eyebrows lifted.

Ashley sat at the table, wearing breeches and nothing more. A stout man with crooked legs bent over him, scraping a cutthroat razor along his neck.

“You have whiskers?” I edged closer, squinting at the steel-edged lines of Ashley’s jaw. “Since when?”

“Good morning, Miss Sharp.” He glanced at me sidelong without turning his head. “How’s your foot?”

“Good morning. The foot’s fine. But seriously, I didn’t know you could grow facial hair.”

“Not that it’s any of your concern, but I can, and I do.”

His barber finished and turned away to stow the tools. As he reached for a towel, I beat him to it.

“May I?” I held up the rag and met Ashley’s steady gaze.

He stared at me a moment before giving a stiff nod. “You may go, Sergeant.”

The bandy-legged man lumbered from the cabin with his small sack of supplies.

When the door shut, I sidled between Ashley’s spread knees and sat on the edge of the table. Leaning in, I ran the towel along the strong column of his neck.

His lips parted, and I sucked mine between my teeth. I could still taste his kisses and feel his hard male body wrapped around me. The magic between us hadn’t faded. Every lingering look rushed my blood like a tidal wave bent on ruination.

“I’ve never seen hair on your face.” I dropped the towel to glide my fingers across his rigid jaw and sharp cheekbones. So soft. So impossibly stony.

“It grows slow and comes in patches.” His breathing quickened beneath my caress. “Shaving is only needed once or twice a fortnight.”

“That’s okay.” I floated closer, tracing the satiny skin around his wide lips. “I can’t grow a beard at all, which makes me dreadfully ill-suited to my role as a pirate captain.”

“That so?”

“Truly. Everyone knows that beards incite terror and inspire reverence. You saw Madwulf’s horror when you severed his bug-infested pride and joy.”

“I think…” His majestic blue eyes glimmered as they dipped to my mouth, and lower still, pausing on my chest. “You possess other, more sufficient assets, so as to strike a man with awe.”

I followed his gaze downward, and my heart bounced off the walls. The neckline of the nightgown hung low and gaping in my bent position, offering him a glaring view of my bare breasts.

As I leaned back, his hand caught the loose garment and yanked it down my shoulder. The linen settled at my elbow, exposing one breast entirely. His gaze fixated, his pupils expanding, darkening, and soaking in that bared part of me for the first time.

My flesh ached for the heat of his wet mouth, my nipples tightening with each agonizing second he stared.