“I much prefer to fight with pillows,” he said, then dipped his head to kiss her lips once more.
Lorelei’s head swam as much as her emotions at his touch. He had defeated her. It had been years since anyone could claim that, and yet this pirate had swept her sword from her hand with ease.
And now his kiss was melting her control in the same effortless way.
What was it about this man that made her crave his touch so?
It was his charisma and charm, his masculine aura of authority. Like some wild, untamed beast, he fascinated her. Here was a man of raw, unmitigated power. A man who lived by his own terms, not those dictated by others.
He took what he wanted and made no apologies.
Right now he wanted her. And if the truth were known, she wanted him right back.
Terrified by that knowledge, Lorelei pulled away from him. “Please, let me go.”
In his eyes she could see her tiny request gave him pause. He released her. “I can’t take you home, Lorelei.”
“It was worth a try,” she whispered.
“And a noble try it was, too. I’ll certainly grant you that.” The humor faded from his face. “I’ll let this episode be forgotten. But never, ever cross swords with me in front of my men.”
“I understand.” And she did. Her grandmother had told her numerous stories of how important it was for a captain to maintain the respect and control of his crew. That was one of the reasons she had waited until they were alone to attempt it.
Jack retrieved the swords, then locked them inside his trunk. “Who taught you to fight?”
Lorelei chewed her lip as she debated what she should tell him. Deciding the truth couldn’t hurt her any, she sighed. “My grandmother.”
His face was a mixture between disbelief and incredulity. “Your grandmother?”
Savoring his uncharacteristic look of surprise, she confessed the whole of it. “She was Anne Bonny. I’m sure you’ve heard of her.”
He started to laugh, but then something made him change his mind. “You’re serious?”
“Aye, very.”
Respect shone in his eyes. “Did she teach you anything else?”
“Aye, to be wary of pirates, especially those named Jack.”
This time he did laugh. “Well, that certainly explains your daring passion. I bet you’re the perfect image of your grandmother.”
“So I’ve been told.”
“And yet you would marry a British lord. How do you think that would make your grandmother feel?”
“Proud, actually,” she answered. “She regretted the actions of her youth until the day she died.”
“Regretted her freedom at sea?” he asked as if the very thought was inconceivable.
“’Tis what she always said. But in all honesty, I think she loved it more than she ever dared let on. I think what she truly regretted was losing Calico Jack.”
“Your grandfather?”
“Aye. She loved him terribly.” Lorelei sighed, her heart aching for her grandmother’s loss and the suffering her grandmother had endured after she’d returned home to Charleston. “She said she never should have disobeyed her father, that she should have stayed at home dutifully rather than give her heart to a pirate. ’Twas the worst mistake of her life and she paid for it every day.”
Jack’s frown deepened. “I can’t believe she would ever regret her days at sea.”
“I can. I saw for myself the sadness in her eyes.”
“Perhaps the sadness was from the fact she left the sea behind?”
Had she not felt so sorry for her grandmother, she could have almost laughed at Jack’s male persistence. At his inability to believe not everyone loved the sea as much as he did. “Nay, I know better. Had she wanted to return to the sea, she could have. Her father even offered her the opportunity.”
“She refused?”
She nodded.
He crossed the room to stand before her. “So, to atone for her mistakes, you’re willing to make your own?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You can’t marry Justin.”
She looked up at him. “Why?”
“Because he’s not right for you. He’s selfish and cold, and in time that life will devour you.”
“You don’t know him,” she insisted.
“I know him better than you think. I saw the way he treated you. Like a possession to be guarded. He even endangered your life to advance his own career.”
“I was the one who agreed to go to the tavern.”
“But he shouldn’t have asked that of you.” Jack touched her face, his fingers sliding along her cheek in a gentle caress that sent heat tearing through her. How she ached for him in the most improper way! “He should never have exposed you to that rough and dangerous crowd. I’ve seen those kinds of men do things to women that would give you nightmares for the rest of your life. Every time I think about how close you came to peril, I want to beat Justin to a bloody pulp.”
“He wouldn’t have let harm befall me. I know it.”
“But he did,” Jack said, his gaze probing hers. “You’re here with me now. He couldn’t stop me any more than he would have stopped that man who accosted you. Justin isn’t the right man for you, Lorelei.”
There was so much earnestness in his eyes, and something more. Something deeper that called out to her. “I asked you the night of the party what sort of man would you suggest for me, and you turned and walked out. Why?”
He froze his hand against her cheek. “Unlike Justin, I’m honest with women. I don’t promise love everlasting. I promise only what I can deliver.”
“Which is?”
Sighing, he dropped his hand from her face and moved away from her. He stopped in front of his armchair and looked out the windows of his cabin. When he spoke, she could barely hear him. “A wonderful time in my bed, and a note in the morning when I leave.”
How typically male. Her grandmother was right. A woman could never count on one to abide by his word. They would say anything to get what they wanted, then leave the first chance they got. “That is so shallow, Jack.”
“That is reality, I’m afraid.”
“Reality?” she scoffed. “Love is real. Lust is—”
“Liberating.”
“Fleeting!”
He looked back at her, his face and eyes empty. “And love isn’t?”
“Nay,” she breathed, trying to make him see the truth of her words. “Love is wonderful.”
He snorted. “Love is a weapon used to destroy.”
“That’s not true.”
“’Tis more than true. The only one in life you can count on is yourself, and only a fool would allow another person to have the ability to destroy them.”
How could he be so blind? So unwilling to see the truth of life. The truth of love.
“What about Kit?” she asked. “I know you love the child. Do you doubt it?”
She narrowed her gaze on him as she thought of another way to make him see her point. “And what of Kit’s mother? He told me you loved her more than your life.”
In that instant she had an epiphany. “That’s it, isn’t it? You mourn for her as my grandmother—”
“I told you I didn’t know his mother,” Jack inserted, cutting her off.
Confused, she tilted her head slightly as she thought over what Kit had told her.
Jack took three steps until he stood before her. The rage in him terrified her. He was angry and cold, and she had no idea why.
“Let me tell you of love, Lorelei. Kit’s mother was a prostitute in some port I can’t even recall. When I turned her offer away, she asked if I preferred little boys. Her own little boy to be precise.”
She couldn’t have felt any worse had he struck her. Was he serious?
“What?” she gasped.
“I was as appalled as you are,” he said, his lips curled in disgust. “I, who have traveled the world and have seen every nightmare imaginable, was lai
d low by her offer. So I bought him from her for a silver guinea.”
“But Kit said—”
“Kit doesn’t know the truth,” he said as the anger fled his face to be replaced by sadness. “I never told anyone the truth of his mother until now. And for an obvious reason, I would keep the truth from him. I may be a pirate who will sooner or later wind up at the wrong end of a noose, but I sure as hell am better than what his mother had planned for him.”
He swallowed and stared straight at her. “Now I ask you, where was her love for her child?”
“She was obviously deranged,” Lorelei said, unable to believe anyone could do such a thing to a small child, let alone her very own. “My father would die before he allowed anyone to harm me.”
“I’m delighted for you,” he said, his voice cold, empty. “In my world such loyalty doesn’t exist.”
She reached up and touched his face, wishing there was some way she could make him see the world through her eyes. “I’m sorry, Jack. I’m sorry that you believe that, because love does exist.”
“Then believe it if you will. I can only hope Justin, unlike his father, is man enough to honor his obligation to you.”
“Why do you hate the admiral so?”
“My reasons are infinite,” he said with conviction. “And they are my own.”
“And you’re not one to share the intimacies of your mind, are you?”
“Nay.”
Lorelei ground her teeth in frustration, wishing she knew some way to reach him. But he didn’t want to be reached and until he did, there was nothing she could do except make peace with him.
“Then come, my doubting pirate,” she said, dropping her hand from his face and taking his arm. “If I can’t defeat you with my sword, then allow me to capture you with my brush.”
Lorelei placed him back on the bed. He looked perfect in that spot. There was a casual, sensual quality to Jack; even while reclining he radiated power and authority. She didn’t know if she could quite portray that on canvas, but she was eager to try.
Seizing up her palette and paint, she began mixing the colors to see if she had any talent for human form.
And so the afternoon went. Jack lay on the bed watching her intently while she attempted to portray his personality on canvas.
A soft breeze whispered through the cabin while the sounds of the sea and crew echoed through the room. It was strangely peaceful and soothing.
Jack didn’t try to talk to her and he seemed content just to watch her.
She wondered if he’d ever been this compliant with anyone else before and deep inside she knew the answer was no. She’d learned so much about him today, seen things in him she’d never have guessed were there.
But it was his kindness that stayed with her. He had saved Kit when most men would have simply walked away.
He cared for his crew. And if she admitted the truth, she wished that he could come to care for her.
“You’re smiling,” Jack’s voice broke the silence. “What are you thinking about?”
She felt heat rush to her cheeks. “Nothing in particular.”
“You’re lying.”
Clearing her throat, she wiped her brush off on a cloth. “Very well, Jack. I’m thinking of you, if you must know.”
“Me?”
“Aye, I was wondering if anyone could ever save you.”
9
Astern frown creased Jack’s brow as he took her words in. “Save me from what?”
Lorelei shrugged as she dipped her thin brush into the light gold color she’d just mixed, and tried to paint the highlights in his hair. “From yourself.”
His response was a rude snort that reminded her of a wounded boar caught in a trap. “That is the one thing I don’t need saving from.”
“I think you do,” she argued.
“And I think you may be deranged.”
Lorelei inclined her head to him as she swept her brush around the outline of his hair on her canvas. “Perhaps. I’ve been accused of worse.”
Jack shifted ever so slightly on the bed. He raised his head, flexed his wrist a bit, then went back to leaning his cheek against his fist.
His hair fell away from his shoulders and his shirt opened a little more, baring the flesh of his chest almost to his waist. Beneath the stark white linen, bronze muscles contracted and relaxed with each breath he took.
Heaven, but he was a handsome man.
’Twas a pity he was all too aware of that fact. And even more so that she wasn’t immune to those looks.
“What makes you want to save me anyway?” he asked.
Her brush between her teeth, she smudged the paint a tad with her little finger. She wasn’t really sure she ought to answer his question. If she let him know what she truly thought, he would just be after her again like some mad beast in heat.
She took the brush from her lips and looked back at him. He was leaning forward ever so slightly, his shirt accentuating every curve of his muscular chest. His eyes were bright and she saw the burning curiosity there that enchanted her.
Before she could remember her earlier protest, the words came tumbling out of her mouth. “Because I don’t think you’re as bad as they say.”
“Oh?” Jack said as his face brightened into a beguiling smile that showed just how intrigued he was by her observation. “I can name you a thousand men who would say differently.”
No doubt he could, too. She knew three off the top of her head who would call him a loathsome devil in need of a noose. But regardless of what Justin, her father, and Lord Wallingford thought, she could no longer see Jack that way.
Pausing, she sought a way to divert the conversation from this new thread and herself from a line of thoughts that would only serve to get her into trouble. “Now look, you’ve gone and moved.”
Jack dropped his arm and turned to lie fully on his back. He stretched like a languid cat and she did her best not to notice the tight linen that outlined his chest to perfection—or the form-fitting buckskin pants that hid a part of him she found herself strangely curious about.
She’d actually seen a man naked once. Well, Justin when he was ten. Hardly a man, but still, she had seen it.
She’d been out riding with her governess, who had gotten lost in the woods. Lorelei had been trying to find her when she stumbled across Justin and his brother, who were in the process of taking a swim.
His brother had still been clothed, but Justin had already stripped himself and was heading for the water. It had been such a strange sight. That odd little piece of flesh below his waist flapping about like some stubby, overgrown worm. She’d stared at it for several minutes, dying to know what it was.
It was then she’d heard her governess approaching and had quickly taken herself away from the area. For weeks, the sight had haunted her and she’d wanted desperately to ask someone about it.
Too shamed and embarrassed, she’d kept her secret to herself always.
It had been several more years before she understood what that thing was and what it did. That day, Lorelei had decided she never wanted to see one again.
Until now. Now she found herself intrigued. What would Jack’s look like?
An inferno burst across her face at the very thought. Lorelei Dupree, what in goodness sakes has gotten into you! Well-bred young women never, ever, think of such things. Ever! Your father would take a strap to you.
What had gotten into her to make her think such a thought?
Thank goodness Jack couldn’t hear her shameful musings. Instead, he took a deep breath, sat up in bed, and laced his shirt closed.
“Sorry, my sweet,” he said, and to her further dismay the compliment actually warmed her. “I had to move. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I fear all this inactivity has strained even my patience. Besides, ’tis time I made my rounds and checked the crew.”
Lorelei didn’t say anything. How could she? She couldn’t even look him in the eye. Wasn’t sure if she could ever look him in
the eye again after thinking about that.
He approached her easel and paused to look at her work while he retied the leather cord in his hair. “Well, aren’t you the talented one, Miss Dupree.”
Lorelei beamed at the compliment. But still she kept her eyes on her palette lest he somehow intuitively perceive her previous thoughts.
His portrait was better than even she had hoped. Except for his eyes. She couldn’t quite get the shade right. That light, steely blue was almost impossible to portray. Never mind the fire and raw intelligence that flickered deep within his gaze.
“You made a nice piece of fruit,” she said to him.
“Any time you need a piece of fruit, my lady, you may call my name,” he said, leaning forward to whisper against her neck.
His breath fell against her throat, tickling her. Her chest constricted and she feared she would no longer be able to breathe. She could feel him beside her as if he were touching her. She wanted to feel him touch her, if the truth were told.
“That you already are, Captain Rhys,” she said in a breathless whisper of her own.
“Then may I ask that you take a bite of me?”
His shocking words hit her like an icy splash of water. “I beg your pardon?” Without thinking, she looked up to meet his tantalizing smile.
He lowered his gaze to her lips. “I most certainly want to take a bite out of you.” He encircled her with his arms, preventing her from pulling back.
Lorelei trembled in his embrace, knowing that if he didn’t let her go, she might, in fact, surrender to him and to the aching longing that beat inside her. “I thought you had to check your crew.”
“They can wait. But you—”
“Need to clean your cabin,” she said, interrupting him. “I have brushes to soak and canvas to…to…Well, I just have things that need to be done. Right away.”
Ignoring her rambling comments, he brought one hand up to stroke the sensitive flesh of her neck just under her ear. Chills spread through her as her senses reeled from the heat of his touch. He brushed her braid aside, exposing the back of her neck to his gaze. Jack moved his hand to touch her hairline there, and asked for the second time since he’d taken her hostage, “Have you ever had a man kiss you here?”