Free The Sea Hawk by Brenda Adcock

leading onto the main deck. She didn't know what time it was and it didn't really matter. She walked to the railing and leaned against it on her forearms, inhaling the cool sea air. She felt a burning need to do something, to do anything. She wasn't accustomed to doing absolutely nothing. There was a purpose to her life, a direction, a goal. Now she could no longer do the work she loved, with no idea what the future might hold for her in this time before cars, planes and trains, before telephones, before computers. She smiled to herself as she considered having to actually hand write her letters. God, what an awful thought. Her life depended on the use of a computer thereby allowing her handwriting skills to deteriorate over the years.
    Her musings were interrupted by the sound of soft music. She turned her head from side to side, attempting to determine the source of the music. As she moved away from the railing, she let her sense of hearing guide her toward the soft dulcet sounds. It was lovely and quite haunting. Soulful, yet filled with a sense of longing and sadness. Moving quietly, Julia realized the music came from above her near the stern. Two steps up the ladder from the main deck, she froze when she saw the fluttering sleeves of a dazzling white shirt. The light of a three-quarter moon provided enough illumination for Julia to see the captain leaning back on a bench on the deck, some type of stringed instrument lying across her thighs. Julia remembered seeing a similar instrument on a weekend trip with Amy. Although the instrument looked somewhat different, it was very similar to the mountain dulcimers Julia saw and heard at an Appalachian museum. She thought then the music the simple four-stringed instrument made was beautiful.
    Simone Moreau is an unusual woman, Julia thought as she settled on a step leading to the wheel deck and listened. She was apparently a woman of some culture. Then what the hell was she doing sailing around the Caribbean in another time? Just my luck. I finally meet an interesting woman, even if it is in a dream, and she is not only out of my league, but has a jealous bulldog bodyguard to boot. Figures. She didn't know how long she listened to Simone play when the music stopped and faded away. She heard movement followed by voices on the wheel deck and quickly moved into the shadows beneath the ladder, waiting until Simone strolled down the steps and walked to her cabin, pausing only to look up at the stars for a moment. Julia wondered if she was making a wish.

    SIMONE STEPPED INTO the cabin and made her way to her desk. The soft glow of a single candle that had melted into itself provided enough light for her to slide the dulcimer on top of her book case. She sat on a long trunk at the foot of her bed to unlace her boots and slip the soft leather from her feet. She felt the bedcovers behind her shift and smiled as Esperanza's warm lips nuzzled down her neck. Simone loosened the fabric ties of her shirt and allowed Esperanza to pull the shirt up and over her head. She looked over her shoulder and smiled back at Esperanza, watching her slender, full-breasted form recline against the pillows at the head of the bed. She knew Esperanza was taking her body in as she stood and removed her pants and stockings. Crawling onto the bed, she moved over the woman's caramel skin and lowered her body, her head coming to rest between Esperanza's breasts. As she felt long fingers stroke her hair and back, Simone closed her eyes. She slowly fanned her fingers over the warm skin beneath her. She didn't need to look at Esperanza. She knew her body as well as she knew her own.
    Finally relaxed, she ran her hands under Esperanza and held her as she rolled onto her back, catching a dark nipple between her teeth and teasing it with the tip of her tongue. When she released it, Esperanza took Simone's mouth with hers hungrily. She was Faucon 's woman and would never permit anyone to come between them.

    CAREFULLY