A mild heat stained her cheeks. “I’m so sorry. It just slip-”

He cut her off with another kiss. His tongue delved into her mouth, and she moaned with pleasure, hugging him closer. “Don’t worry about it,” he murmured against her lips before kissing her again.

Glass crunched beneath his step as he headed for the master suite below deck. Setting her down in a safer area, he cupped her face between his hands and nipped her bottom lip.

Pulling away, he smiled and said, “Give me a sec. Don’t move.”

While she stood still, he crossed the small space. He lowered the lighting of the room to a soft amber glow and then went to a small stereo system in the wall and turned it on. The gentle, sultry melodies of an instrumental love song added a nice accompaniment to the faint splash of waves against the hull outside.

When he returned, he wore a grin. “Now, where were we?”

She grinned up at him, draped her arms around his neck, and pulled him closer. “Right…about…here.”

His lips pressed against hers, his tongue sought entry, and she opened her mouth for his exploration. Slowly, he slid his hands downward, over her shoulders, skimming her arms, encircling her body…

The kiss deepened while he mapped her curves with caresses that left her tingly with longing. She pulled away to regain her breath, and he took full advantage with sprinkled kisses along her jaw line, her neck, at the base where her pulse raged beneath hypersensitive skin.

He reached between them to squeeze and mold, touch and knead her breast, and she moaned softly, encouragingly, as he glided his other palm over her ass.

Snick.

James froze.

Dana was eager for more. She raked her manicured nails gently down his back and up again. “Come on, James. Don’t stop now.” She tried to kiss him again, tugging on his head to lower his mouth toward hers, but he stiffened.

“That’s right, James. Don’t disappoint the lady on our account.”

Dana startled at the deep base sound of another man’s voice. She and James separated, their warm passion doused by cold, hard reality. Whipping her head around to look, she was shocked to discover not one but two masked men blocking the doorway, the only exit from the yacht’s master suite.

Where’d they come from? Stupid question.

And then one man cocked his pistol, the mechanism making a soft, now all-too-familiar snick. Two guns were aimed at them.

She didn’t dare move, though her urge to flee was astronomical. Her heart leaped into her throat, lodged there, a scream impossible. Her body trembled.

Yep, stupid question. Who the fuck cared where they’d come from. All that mattered was they were here, and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Or was she?

Was this part of The Pleasure Club’s plan? Her mind failed her as thoughts scattered…swirled. She couldn’t recall on her list of fantasies any scenario that included being on the wrong end of pistols. She was pretty sure she’d leaned more toward the mundane dangers of secret liaisons, maybe a bit of kink, or a little historical fancy of the swashbuckling variety, but armed men in masks?

“Nice touch with the lighting, by the way,” the more vocal of the two gunmen continued. “But the music could be a little more…raunchy, don’t you think?” The man eased over to the stereo and flipped it off. The immediate silence was deafening. “Come on, James. Don’t stop on our account.” The gunman’s gaze raked over her, and her reaction-one of forbidden interest-unnerved her.

James eased her behind him, a gallant gesture she appreciated but didn’t believe effective. For him to take a bullet instead of her wouldn’t leave her with any brighter future. Worse, most likely.

With the exception of the bandanas covering their heads, the armed pair was dressed in black like some kind of military commando unit on a covert mission. Both men were tall and muscular, one more so than the other, yet physically they fit the look she would’ve expected for soldiers of fortune or mercenaries. She didn’t doubt for a second they were strong enough to take her and James down even without the firepower.

Her gaze collided with the big fellow in the burgundy bandana. His deep green eyes stared back at her, and she trembled. She’d been primed with arousal, which now conflicted with a strong dose of adrenaline.

She should be terrified. They had guns for goodness sake! But that look was…something. It had an odd, unfathomable effect on her psyche.

The man’s lips twitched into a slight smile, which vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. She blinked and wondered whether she’d seen it or if her mind had played a trick on her.

Regardless, she looked away first, her gaze down, her confusion high.

“Afraid you can’t get it up?” the big man challenged.

“Enough! What do you want?” her protector asked with impressive bravado, for an unarmed man.

“Eventually,” the leaner one in the navy bandana began, “we’ll take that shiny ruby off your hand, any jewels the lady has on her, and the contents of your safe. But for starters-”

“Impossible,” James interrupted, making Dana wince. “I don’t have a safe. I don’t know who you think you are-”

“We’re pirates.” The gunman in the burgundy bandana raised his pistol a fraction higher to make his point. “You know, the kind with big guns and no remorse. Now, don’t be stupid. You do exactly as we say, and no one will get hurt.”

Pirates?

She had written about an interest in a pirate fantasy, but she’d been thinking of Johnny Depp at the time. Swords and curses and buried treasure. Sandy beaches and rum…not guns.

Her tummy flipped in excited turmoil over whether the events before her were real or a fantasy turned reality. She had her safe word. Mayday. But if this was the ultimate role-playing adventure, she didn’t want to spoil it.

And if it were real, hollering mayday wouldn’t do a damn bit of good.

Dana watched the two gunmen closely. Mr. Deep Voice held his firearm steady, the barrel aimed dead-center of James’ chest. The weapon looked very natural, too natural, in the stranger’s hand.

“Right,” the other one was saying, his gun also raised and aimed their way. “And if you behave, you might enjoy this.”

Enjoy being robbed?

Her eyes widened when the speaker looked at her and smiled. The man’s blue-eyed gaze slid down her body. She lost all ability to breathe. She clutched at James’ shirt as backup support for her suddenly unsteady legs.

“Look,” James said, reaching for his back pocket. “You can take the money in my wallet and my ring. Just don’t hurt anyone.”

“Save your negotiations,” Mr. Navy Bandana said. “We’ll get to the business of your money and jewels later…including the safe, so don’t play us for fools by denying its existence. We know everything there is to know about you, James. First, like my friend said earlier, you should never disappoint a lady by keeping her waiting.”

“I’m not going to fuck my secretary while you two perverts-”

“Be careful, James,” the man with the deep voice warned in a deadly serious tone.

“James?” Dana took his hand.

He turned his head to look at her over his shoulder.

“Please,” she whispered, “don’t make them angry.” She was ninety percent sure that this was part of her fantasy, since James had stayed within his role as her employer, but that ten percent of uncertainty was enough for her to side with caution.

The chance of real danger also added a unique thrill she hadn’t expected. She didn’t know whether to consider herself crazy or what, but logical or not, the two bad boys in black turned her on.

One of the gunmen chuckled, although she didn’t look away from James to see who it was.

Mr. Navy Bandana said, “Listen to her, James. You can’t win if you fight. You won’t like what happens if you piss us off, but if you play nice, you’ll make her happy.”