“I do hope you’re not going to forbid me from coming,” she said, her voice flinty. “Might I remind you that I am the only one here who knows how to sail?” She crossed her arms over her chest as if that settled the matter. Which, in truth, it did.

Alex snorted in amusement and tried to disguise it as a cough.

“Have I mentioned how much I approve of your wife, Benedict?” Seb drawled.

Georgie sent him a sunny smile.

Benedict sighed in defeat. If they worked quickly, they could be out of there before Johnstone arrived. “All right. Jem, can you act as a lookout?”

“Aye-aye.”

As the five of them crossed the road and headed for the shadowed warehouse, Ben caught Alex’s eye. “Take one more look at her arse in those breeches and I’ll flatten you,” he muttered.

Alex shot him a wicked grin. “Can’t blame a man for looking. Not when the merchandise is so appealing. I’m just appreciating your excellent taste.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. Alex clapped him on the shoulder. “Easy!” He laughed. “Jealousy does not become you, my friend.”

“Maybe one day you’ll get yourself a wife, and then we’ll see what you think of another man eyeing her up.”

Alex shuddered theatrically. “Me, a wife? Never.”

Leaving Jem at the front to keep watch, they slipped into the side alley. Seb and Alex climbed through the same window he and Georgie had used. Benedict caught her around the waist and hiked her up onto the barrel below the window. He meant to let her go, but the feel of her tiny waist beneath his hands turned his brain to mush. Driven purely by instinct, he tugged her forward, and when she planted her hands on his shoulders, he took advantage of her momentary imbalance to capture her mouth.

There was nothing sweet or chivalrous about his kiss. It was hard, brazen, lusty. An unmistakable statement of intent. After an instant of shock, she wrapped her slim arms around his neck and kissed him back greedily, as if she couldn’t get enough of him. His legs almost buckled. He craved her, when he’d never craved anyone or anything before. “Georgie,” he groaned. “You’re killing me.”

Her mouth pressed eagerly to his, warm and delicious.

A laughing cough came from inside the warehouse. “Are you two coming, or shall Alex and I do this on our own?”

He pulled away reluctantly, his legs unsteady and his heart pounding in his chest. “In you go.” She turned on the barrel—which just positioned her delectable arse tantalizingly close to his face. Pure torture. Later, he promised himself. When all this was done, he’d take her back to the Tricorn and make love to her for hours. Days. Weeks.