HaBO: Sometimes, You Remember Cleavage, Skirts and Hair Best of All

This request is from Erin, who remembers much of the cover, but not the title – which is why we're here, right? 

I'm looking for the book that led me down the path to trashy novels to begin with. While I have no recollection of the author or the title, let me set the scene for you.

My family house has shelves upon shelves of books and I find one with a cover unlike the rest: a long raven-haired heroine stands aboard the hull of a ship hair flowing in the wind and some sort of cleavage-bearing wild-skirted apparel around her. (At one point I may have imagined a tiger at her side, but this is unlikely given the Googling I've done). 

I had to know more.

There was not a lot of genre fiction in my house and certainly no other books like this. I must have sensed somehow that similarly to the cover of the VHS 'Pretty Woman' this was another piece of media I was not allowed to watch/read for my 5th/6th grade self. So it became my secret kept me up at night pouring over pages.

This was circa 1994-1996 and I've never seen it since. I've always wanted to find it.

I want to say the cover was green and it was definitely in trade paperback size (not the pocket mass market paperback size). This was definitely historical romance, but not really Regency. The ship/journey was a central feature and I don't remember how the heroine came to be aboard the ship.

The most juicy major plot point and steamy scene that has stuck in my mind ever since then happens aboard the ship, in a private cabin when said heroine is nursing an injured (soldier? it may have been set during war time?) back to health. In the night things get steamy and she has been washing his wounds and reapplying some dressings.

Also I may be confusing story lines from the numerous novels I have read since but our heroine may have been a virgin to begin with and the metaphor of being “pierced” likely confused me at the time. This is not a lot to go on, I know. Help a bitch out if you can!  

Do you recognize this book, either by the visual or plot description? This is a hard one, for sure.