Black Jack shrugged nonchalantly. “What can I say? It’s a war. We’re a ship leaving an occupied city in the dead of night…”
“How can you find this funny?” she asked, agape at the humor in his eyes.
“Don’t be so afraid, Lorelei. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Death!” she snapped. “Death is most definitely something to worry over.”
He placed his hand over his heart. “Then fear not, fair maiden. For your safety, I shall cast off those demon ships.” He gestured toward the windows. “I shall smite them to the very depths of the ocean where they can never again pose a threat to your most cherished personage.”
He took her right hand in his and bent low over it before kissing the back of her knuckles. His breath tickled her skin and she bit her lip to stifle the strange titillation that such a small gesture gave her. “I bid thee adieu, fair maiden.”
Straightening, he gave her a heated look. “But before I leave and face my most dreaded foe, wilt thou not send me off with a kiss?”
Before she could protest, he stepped into her arms and lowered his lips over hers. Too shocked to protest, she felt his arms tighten about her waist as his lips opened hers.
Her head swam as he explored her mouth with the gift of a master. Surrounded by the scent of man and ocean, and the feel of hard muscles flexing beneath her hands, she was entranced. Never had Justin kissed her like this! Never had he felt like this.
That one kiss went deeper than just her lips, her mouth. The heat of it spread through her body, setting fire to her blood and making her ache in tender places.
Just when she feared she could no longer support her own weight, he pulled back and stared down into her eyes. “Now, if death awaits, I can go happily to my grave.”
“You are insane,” she breathed.
“Nay, my dearest Lorelei, I am merely a man who has sampled the fruit of heaven. And, fate willing, on the morrow I shall sample the peaks,” his gaze lowered to her breasts, which tightened in response.
Then his gaze moved lower. “And valley.”
Heat stung her cheeks as she stepped away from him. “Never!” She gasped.
His smile grew wider. “Never, never, never, never, never.” His hand moved to the top of her bodice, where a row of buttons secured the thin linen over her corset. “Pray you undo this button.”
Her face hot with fury and embarrassment, Lorelei narrowed her eyes at the quote from King Lear. For the first time in her life, she was grateful for her father’s passion that had forced her to learn Shakespeare’s works. “Eyes look your last,” she taunted. “Away you moldy rogue, away.”
He laughed, deep and rich; it filled her ears with music. “You’re mixing your plays.”
She opened her mouth to retort.
A cannon blast sounded outside.
Jack ran for the door, then paused, turning back to face her. “Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you.”
And then he was gone.
Stunned, Lorelei stood frozen in the center of the cabin. She had no idea what to make of this man. On the one hand, he possessed the refinement of a gentleman capable of quoting the great bard and on the other, he was a known killer. His name was synonymous with death.
“Don’t frown so, it’s not so bad here,” the woman spoke as she placed her armload of clothes and such on the table. She approached Lorelei with an air of open friendship. “They call me Kesi.”
“Are you a prisoner here, too?” she asked, wondering why Kesi traveled with a shipload of pirates.
Kesi shook her head. “There aren’t any prisoners on Captain Jack’s ship. I’m the wife of his quartermaster, Tarik.”
Lorelei frowned. “Black Jack Rhys allows you to travel with Tarik?”
“Of course. I am one of several wives on board. You’ll meet the others tomorrow.”
“I don’t understand,” Lorelei said, confused by Kesi’s declaration. “I thought pirates only kept slaves or used women on their ships.”
Kesi laughed. “Don’t ya go listening to those tales, child. Some pirates are like that, but not Captain Jack.” Kesi moved forward and took her by the arm.
“Come,” Kesi said, pulling her gently. “We best be moving away from the windows and turn out the lamps. The British will shoot at anyone they see.”
She led Lorelei to sit on the bed, then quickly extinguished the light. The room was bathed by moonlight as more cannons exploded.
“Don’t worry, child. Kesi will stay with ya.” Kesi sat down beside her.
Lorelei cleared her throat in an effort to dislodge the knot of fear that was almost choking her. “Does this happen much?”
“Not too often.” Kesi took her hand. “Don’t be afraid. No one here will harm ya.”
“That’s what Black Jack said.”
“But still you don’t believe him?”
“Can I?”
“Listen with your soul, child. What does it say?”
“It says I should have stayed home tonight and never, ever left my room.”
The night sky flickered with light as two British frigates gave chase. Jack had ordered the black sails raised, which made it all the harder for the English to see them.
A few minutes more and they would be through it. As he stood near the anti-boarding netting, his thoughts turned to the woman who waited one deck below.
He’d never before met a woman who could quote Shakespeare back to him. But then, Lorelei had probably never before met a pirate, let alone one who could read.
He had Thadeus to thank for that. And he wondered who had taught Lorelei.
Had she been as opposed to learning as he’d been? Or had she embraced it?
Something told him that her tutor had probably had his work cut out for him every bit as much as Thadeus had. He couldn’t see someone as vivacious as Lorelei sitting still long enough to read. Nay, she was the type who would prefer making mischief.
“Incoming!”
He jerked around at the shout.
His eyes used to the darkness, he could see the cannonball silhouetted by the moonlight as it arced for his ship. It seemed as if it moved in slow motion and he watched in shocked horror as it flew straight into the windows of the second deck.
Straight into the windows of the room he’d left Lorelei in.
4
Without thought of the British or the fight, Jack ran for the ladder to the lower decks with Tarik hot on his heels. He skidded down the ladder without touching a rung, then dashed down the narrow corridor at top speed. Their panic seemed to feed off each other as they raced toward the cabin where the two women were.
His heart pounding in terror, Jack pushed open the door, expecting the very worst.
A voice that wavered between ire and incredulity drew his gaze to the sight he longed most to see—Lorelei standing intact in front of Kesi.
“I can’t believe it was a cannonball,” Lorelei said once more.
Relieved more than he cared to admit, Jack paused in the doorway as Tarik entered and swooped Kesi up into his arms to hold her close against his chest.
“Ah, woman,” Tarik scolded. “Ya scared me to death.”
“What ya worrying for,” Kesi said in his ear as she hugged him back. “It didn’t even come close to us.”
Lorelei approached Jack, her eyes large with a glaze of terror. She held her arms out in measurement. “It was this big.”
“I think the poor child has lost her mind,” Kesi said quietly as she stepped back from Tarik. “She started babbling the minute the ball landed.”
“The ball didn’t land,” Lorelei corrected. “It tore down that wall.” She pointed to the wall opposite the aft where the cannonball had splintered a good portion of the sturdy oak boards. It, along with the broken windows, was an ugly scar on his ship, but fully reparable.
“Nay,” Lorelei spoke again. “I take that back. It shredded the wall.”
To his surprise, Lorelei reached up and grabbed his shirtfr
ont. Her soft fingers sliding against the flesh of his neck caused a chill as she clutched the material in her fist. Pulling him down until his nose almost touched hers, she whispered, “Have you ever had a cannonball come so close to you that you could see the maker’s symbol?”
“Actually, I have,” he admitted.
Her eyes widened, then grew dark with anger. “Fine then, you stay here, I’m going home now.”
Releasing him, she started out the door.
“There’s one problem, Lorelei.”
She paused and turned her head to look up at him. “What?”
“The only way home is back through the British.”
Her eyes lost their glaze and focused on him with malice. “I hate you, Black Jack Rhys. I really, really hate you.”
Jack just smiled, too amused and too relieved to take her words to heart. “As long as I provoke some strong emotion from you, I can’t complain. ’Tis apathy I fear, not hatred.”
She balled her fists up at her sides, delighting him all the more.
“Are we through it?” Kesi asked.
It was only then Jack noticed how far back the cannon fire had drifted while they’d been occupied with the women. He looked at Kesi. “It sounds like it.”
“I’ll go make sure,” Tarik said to Jack while he touched Kesi lightly on her arm. “Please, go to our room where ’tis safe.”
“I’m going.” Kesi stopped beside Jack as Tarik left the cabin to return to his post. “Where ya going to put the child now that her room is destroyed?”
Jack considered the possibilities.
He certainly knew where he wanted to put Lorelei. His own bed with him in it. Now, that would be a truly pleasurable voyage. His entire body burned at just the thought.
Her seduction would be easy enough if he could just get her to stay in his room. But that wouldn’t be easy….
Then, an evil thought struck him.
There was one place he could put her that would guarantee she would go running to his room for protection. One place that would be even more horrendous to a woman of such delicate breeding and sensibilities than staying in a pirate’s private cabin.
“The room across the hall.”
Kesi looked stunned. “Ya can’t be thinking of doing that. How’s the child to sleep in that room with all those…those things in there? Ya’ll be giving her nightmares forever. She’ll take one look and run for the door.”
That was the idea.
But he didn’t dare tell Kesi that. Instead, he used logic to sway Kesi to his side. “There’s no place else to put her….” He feigned deep thought for several seconds. “Unless she’s willing to share my cabin.”
He slanted a hopeful glance toward Lorelei and noted her stiffened posture.
He gave a forlorn sigh. “I somehow doubt she’d agree to that.”
“The room across the hall will be quite fine,” Lorelei said, confirming his prediction.
Kesi folded her arms across her chest. “She only says that because she has yet to see what’s waiting for her in that room. You’re being cruel, Jack Rhys. Remember such dreadful things come back to ya tenfold.”
“I hear your warning, Kesi. Now you better take yourself off to your room before Tarik loses any more years off his life.”
“I’m going. But ya better do right by that child, or ya’ll be having a heap of problems to be sure.”
Kesi quit the cabin.
Jack watched the fury in Lorelei’s eyes change to concern as she realized they were once again alone. How he hated seeing that fear there. It was the fire of her gaze that warmed him. The fire inside her that he responded to.
“You had to put me in a room with a big window,” she said, her voice still shaky.
Her ability to see humor in the most dire of situations intrigued him. Most women would be screaming and trembling. But she bolstered herself well.
“Frightened you, did it?” he asked.
Her look would have melted ice.
Jack couldn’t resist taunting her more. “Ah, now, Lady Lorelei, go ahead and admit it. Your blood is racing through your veins and for the first time in your life, you’re drunk with the sense of adventure.”
“I’m quite certain I have no idea what you mean,” she said, lifting her chin haughtily.
He moved to stand before her, then reached out with his hand and gently tilted her chin until she met his gaze. “Aye, you do. Our escape was exhilarating and I’ve seen enough of your spirit to know you appreciate it.”
“Bah,” she responded.
He traced the line of her soft, delicate jaw and he couldn’t help wondering how much softer and more tender the flesh of her bare stomach would be. “Tell me, has your pasty-faced Englishman ever made you feel this alive?”
“Alive? You almost got me killed.”
“Almost never counts. You almost got away from me on the docks, but you didn’t.”
She took a step back from him and crossed her arms over her chest as if to protect herself from him. “You’re an evil man.”
Well, Jack certainly couldn’t argue that point. He was an evil man with a wicked intent where this particular woman was concerned.
He slowly walked around behind her and resisted the urge to draw her close. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Aye, an evil man who has just given you one of the most memorable experiences of your life. One I know you’ll recount dozens of times to your children and grandchildren.”
He brushed a silken strand of hair off her shoulder and noted the chills that sprang up on her arms, the tightening of her breasts beneath the thin cotton of her blouse. Closing his eyes, he imagined how sweet it would be to taste those taut peaks, to run his tongue over them….
“I bet Jason never made your heart pound,” he said to distract himself before he gave way to the raging fire of his groin.
Now that got her dander up again. She shook his touch away and took two steps forward. “Justin protects me!”
He duplicated her pose of crossing his arms over his chest. “I didn’t see Jason protecting you tonight at the tavern. Where was he while you were being pawed by a boorish bear?”
“He was waiting for you,” she said in triumph.
“Well then, I’m certainly flattered to know my capture is worth more than your virtue to him.”
She put her hands up to her ears. “Stop it this instant. I’ll hear no more of this from you. Justin loves me more than his life and you’re just trying to confuse me.”
He took her hands in his and brought first the right then the left up to his lips so that he could place a kiss on her knuckles. “Truth is often confusing.”
She stiffened and removed her hands from his grasp. “Nay, the truth is never confusing.”
“Then tell me, what is the truth?”
“The truth is that you are a black-hearted scoundrel who must be brought to justice. You attack defenseless crews and leave them to die.”
His bitter laughter rang out. He cupped her cheek in his hand and turned her so she was forced to look at him again. “Since when is a shipload of men armed to their teeth considered defenseless? And what of the English navy? Do you consider them defenseless?”
She frowned. “But you—”
“I seem to be the one who has a wounded back, Lorelei, while Justin and his men sprung a trap.” He cocked his head. “Tell me, please, how can a man ambush a ship on the open seas? Do you think me some magician who has a flying ship that can just fall out of the sky?”
“Stop this. I will not listen to any more. I know the truth. You’re just trying to make me doubt Jason.”
“Justin.”
“Jas…” Her voice trailed off as she caught on to what he’d made her say. Her face flamed bright red. “I want you to take me home, right now.”
“Take you home. Back to your safe little world where you may pass judgment on people without knowing the facts. Really, Lorelei, you do disappoint me.”
“Do you think I care whethe
r or not I disappoint you, Jack Rhys?”
“I know you don’t. I’m simply a dastardly pirate unworthy of anything more than your contempt.”
“Exactly.”
“Exactly,” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “Then come, Lady Lorelei, and I shall take you off to your own little room where you may hide from the harsh realities of life. It must truly be nice to grow up so comforted. I personally wouldn’t know.”
And with that, he ignored the angry indignation on her face, turned on his heel, and led her from the room.
Jack didn’t know why it bothered him so that she was so quick to judge him. Before he’d left his cradle, he’d learned to ignore the biting epitaphs people gave him, and as years passed to even enjoy them.
It was just that she wasn’t applying the correct epitaph, he decided. Aye, that was it. She saw him as a pirate when he wanted her to see him as a lover.
Women adored him. They had always done so, and he’d learned to expect women to pander to his whims and moods. But not Lorelei. Her resistence to him was more than just token. More than just annoying.
It was challenging.
And Jack Rhys loved a good challenge.
So long as it didn’t go on too long.
And much longer from her was far longer than he wanted. ’Twas time to breech her prickly defenses and claim the wench.
They crossed the small corridor and he knocked thrice upon a door.
Drawing her brows together, Lorelei took a step back in trepidation. “Who’s in there?”
Jack decided to play up the moment. “No one.”
“Then why did you knock?”
He bent down until his face was level with hers and whispered in a dire tone. “I’m scaring off the spirits so they won’t bother you while you sleep.”
He savored the confusion on her face, then pulled a lantern from its holder in the hallway. He pressed his back against the door, then opened it and walked backward into the room so that he could watch her face.
With every step backward that illuminated the room, her face turned a shade paler.
Victory. Sweet, pleasurable victory was almost his. He could taste it. Or more to the point, he could almost taste her.