BOUND TO THE SEA +18

Into the Wolf’s Den

The carriage ride back to the estate had been a silent, freezing purgatory. Lieutenant Jack had sat across from Adelaide, his pristine uniform untouched by the mud, his eyes fixed on her with a cold, disapproving disappointment. He hadn't touched her—he didn't view her as something to console, but as a prestigious family heirloom that had temporarily fallen into the dirt and needed to be wiped clean.

Once inside the high stone walls of her family manor, her brother Samuel had locked her in her bedchamber, leaving two armed guards at the door. “You will stay here until the priest arrives at dawn, Adelaide,”he had barked through the heavy wood. “You have disgraced our name enough tonight.”

But they underestimated the length a trapped animal would go to avoid a cage.

It was an hour before dawn. The torrential rain had slowed to a thick, suffocating mist that hung over the harbor. Adelaide didn't waste time crying. Using the heavy iron poker from her fireplace, she had pried open the rusted latch of her dressing room's narrow window—the one overlooking the high kitchen gardens. Stripping off the ruined, muddy peasant chemise, she threw on a fresh, simple woolen tunic, not bothering with a corset, and slipped out into the fog. Her skin was shivering, but her core felt like a furnace, burning with the memory of the pirate’s calloused fingers against her throat.

She knew where his ship, *The Wraith*, was docked. Every tavern boy knew the dark, jagged frigate that sat at the edge of the forbidden black reefs, avoided by the Royal Navy due to the treacherous shallow rocks.

Adelaide sprinted through the shadows of the docks, her lungs burning, her small leather boots splashing through freezing puddles. When the massive, ghost-like silhouette of *The Wraith* rose from the mist, her heart slammed against her ribs. The ship looked alive, its dark timbers creaking like a warning.

She scrambled up the slick, wooden gangplank, her breath catching in her throat. The deck was eerily quiet, the sails draped like shrouds under the moonlight.

"You have a death wish, Lady Adelaide, or are you simply a fool?"

The voice cut through the fog like a blade. Adelaide spun around, her back hitting the ship’s mainmast.

Thaddeus stepped out of the captain’s quarters. He had shed his heavy leather coat; he stood only in his loose white linen shirt and tight dark breeches. In the dim light of the deck lanterns, the silver pagan amulet against his chest caught the light, and his dark eyes were absolute slits of cold, dangerous fury. The teasing, cocky grin from the tavern was entirely gone. He knew exactly who she was now.

"You brought the Royal Navy to my feet," Thaddeus hissed, stepping down the stairs with a slow, predatory grace that made Adelaide's knees turn to water. "Your brother slaughtered three of my men tonight. And you... the pristine, high-born lady, sat in my lap and pretended to be a common slave to amuse yourself?"

"I did not bring them!" Adelaide countered, her voice shaking but her jaw set in defiance. She didn't flinch as he stopped mere inches from her, his massive frame completely blocking her view of the sea. The sheer heat radiating from his body in the freezing fog was intoxicating. "My brother tracked me. I was running away from him! I was running away from the wedding they are forcing upon me at dawn!"

Thaddeus let out a low, harsh laugh, leaning down until his lips were a breath away from her ear. "And you think running to a pirate’s ship is safety? You think because you are a lady, I won't take what you offered in that tavern?"

His hand shot out, his long, powerful fingers wrapping tightly around the nape of her neck, tilting her head back. His grip was firm, possessive, and so violently hot against her cold skin that a sharp jolt of pure, breathless arousal shot straight to Adelaide's core. Her breasts, completely unconfined beneath her thin tunic, rose and fell heavily against his chest.

"I didn't come for safety," Adelaide whispered, her dark eyes staring directly into his vicious gaze, her pride refusing to break. "I came because you are the only man vicious enough to get me out of England. Take the emerald necklace, Captain. Take whatever price you want. But sail. Now."

Thaddeus’s eyes dropped to her parted lips, his breath hitching as the sheer, unyielding heat of her defiance hit his senses. The betrayal burned in his chest, but the unadulterated lust burned hotter.

"Whatever price I want?" Thaddeus growled, his thumb tracing the sharp line of her jaw with a dangerous, heavy pressure. "You have no idea what a man with a curse under his skin does to a lady who walks into his cage willingly..."