by Kresley Cole
And she wanted him, too.
Nicole looked down at the man next to her. In sleep, his face had at last begun to mirror the increased relaxation she’d sensed in his whole demeanor. She thought he’d grown more contented in the last few weeks. As had she. So happy, in fact, that she didn’t believe she could deny Derek if he asked her again to be his mistress.
Should she accept, she would break her word to her grandmother, and the news would devastate her father. She understood this. So why did her heart tell her it was right to be with this man for as long as she could?
What would her mother do? She had always told Nicole to follow her dreams and let nothing stand in her way. Hadn’t Laurel given up everything to be with the man she loved? Hadn’t she lost her own mother over it? Her father would never disown her, but he would wonder why she hadn’t demanded marriage. Nicole wondered herself.
She felt trapped in a curious position. She sensed that Derek was growing to love her. But she couldn’t decide if he was averse to marriage in general, or just marriage to her. Yet one thought recurred. Was she unthinkable as a bride merely because he was an earl and she apparently lacked a title, fortune, or roots?
And if that was the case, why hadn’t she told him who she was?
Chapter 23
The bloody man’s grown larger, Chancey thought when he first arrived in Sydney and found Sutherland. Grown larger and lighter, as daft as that might sound. It was as if some burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Sutherland smiled. Often. Chancey pondered what had happened to him. Then Nicole rushed across the deck, laughing, to be swung up in Sutherland’s arms.
Nicole had happened to him.
The man was their enemy, but she’d obviously forgotten that fact. Surely he couldn’t be seeing her look at the man as if he alone existed for her, as if she loved him! Chancey cursed bitterly. They had to wed. From their closeness, he figured they’d have to wed very fast.
He wasn’t fool enough to go storming the ship, not with Sutherland holding her, with his body language daring anyone to come near what was his. And besides wanting to kill the captain, Chancey had some bones to pick with a couple of his sailors. So he was glad to see that she had been seeing him off. Chancey’s hands clenched when the bastard gave her a long, lingering kiss. But when he pulled her in again to gently kiss the top of her head, Chancey decided with relief that the man wanted her for more than one reason.
He followed behind Sutherland until they were out of earshot of the ship, then strode up to jab at his back. The man turned in a flash, his whole body tensed for a fight. Chancey just made out the slight look of surprise on his face before he concealed it behind a cold mask.
“We’re gonna be talkin’ now.”
In response, Sutherland gave a quick nod.
The captain following him, Chancey ambled to a nearby pub, deserted at this time of morning. When they sat at a back table, he called for two whiskeys. He figured he needed one, and didn’t doubt the man before him did, too.
He asked questions and, after a while, Sutherland loosened up and talked. Chancey learned of Sutherland’s belief that Nicole had poisoned his crew. He listened as Sutherland told him about the storm and about Tallywood. When necessary, he prompted the man with questions about Nicole, obviously his favorite subject, to keep him talking.
When Chancey felt confident that she was safe and hadn’t been mistreated, he relaxed marginally. It occurred to him that he and the captain agreed on a lot of views. If Sutherland weren’t a reprobate drunk who’d seduced Nicole, they might have been friends.
Suddenly Sutherland got that cold look on his face again, and Chancey realized he’d somehow revealed that this conversation was about to change course. The blighter didn’t show a hint of surprise when Chancey announced, “Ye’re marryin’ her tomorrow.”
When Sutherland said nothing, he continued, “I let ye go once when I should o’ made ye marry her, but I’ll not make the same mistake again.”
“As much as I would like to marry her—I can’t.” He ran a hand over his grim face.
“Can’t or won’t?” Chancey ground out as he leaned forward. “I’ll kill ye if ye don’t make this right for her.”
Sutherland didn’t back down, just spoke in a toneless voice. “I want to spend the rest of my life with her.” He paused, a bleak look in his eyes. “But there are circumstances at home that make a marriage to her impossible.”
“Impossible? Nothin’s impossible,” Chancey spat out before he swooped his glass up to his lips. After a deep draw, he added, “Ye’ll just have to get around whatever obstacle stands in the way of marryin’ my lass—”
“Impossible,” Sutherland said, more to himself than to Chancey.
Chancey leapt out of his chair and began pacing by the table to try to get control, but his temper won out.
“Damn it, Sutherland,” he snarled, “the only way that marryin’ Nicole would be impossible would be if—” He broke off, then sucked in his breath as sudden understanding washed over him. His shoulders sagged. He was stricken as much by his own conclusion as by the utterly dead look in Sutherland’s eyes.
With a surge of rage, Chancey heaved him out of his chair and held him by the collar. But Sutherland did nothing. The bastard wouldn’t fight him.
Finally Sutherland spoke. “I want to take care of her. I can give her a house and wealth and everything else she might ever want.”
Chancey hit him so hard his fist vibrated from the force of it. Sutherland didn’t defend himself.
“Blighter! So ye’ll make her yer mistress,” Chancey spat. “Spend two nights with the missus and the children, then a few with Nicole and any bastards she might get by ye?”
“No. It would only be Nicole. I’ve never touched my wife.”
That surprised Chancey, but it didn’t matter. “Ye have no idea how much ye’ve cost her. Seems she hasn’t seen fit to tell ye what she is. But I’ll tell ye that ye’re gonna have hurt more than her feelin’s when all this mess is over.”
“What do you mean?” Sutherland asked slowly as Chancey released him in disgust.
“I mean she had prospects, great ones. I know cause I seen ’em. Better than you can imagine.” Suddenly, Chancey felt very old and very sad. He sat heavily with a great exhalation of air, then took another burning drink. “Ye need to leave her alone. Just pack up and sail.”
Sutherland cautiously sat when Chancey did, but his whole body tensed at the suggestion. “Just leave her? With no explanation?”
“She could forgive herself for lovin’ ye without marriage, but unlike ye, it would kill her to know she’d committed adultery.”
Sutherland winced, but asked, “What do you think it will do to her when I just disappear?”
“It’ll hurt her to be sure. But she’ll get over ye.” Chancey pinned him with his eyes. “Ye have to do this.”
“I can’t—not to her,” he said firmly.
“Ye mean ye can’t do this for her because all ye care about is yerself. What do ye have to offer her?” Chancey abruptly stood again. “Ye’re nothin’ but a shell of a man anyway—and a drunk to boot. And that’s somethin’ for an Irisher to accuse.” He marched back and forth. “If ye break clean with her, in time she’ll forget about ye. She’s young enough to find another.”
Chancey finally made out an unconcealable emotion on Sutherland’s face, and wished he hadn’t. It was as if raw pain surfaced to smother and kill any hope that had been there. It also signaled to Chancey that Sutherland accepted he was right, so he said nothing more.
His face cold again, Sutherland spoke, “I want one more night with her.”
Chancey shook his head sharply. “Not a chance.”
“It’s the only way I’ll agree to this. And you have to take money to settle on her, to make sure she has everything she needs for the rest of her life.”
“Ferget it.” He needed to get this drunken bastard, a married one at that, out of her life as soon as possible.
> The captain stood and turned to walk away. Before he got to the door, Chancey grabbed his arm. “One night. Ye do anythin’ to hurt my Nic, and I’ll gladly kill ye.”
Nicole could easily pass for a princess, Derek thought as he watched her sipping wine across the table from him. In fact, several people around them stared at her as if they thought she was. Their reaction wasn’t simply caused by her beauty. Even among those dining in this exclusive establishment, she stood out as a royal would.
She’d dressed to perfection in one of the gowns he’d given her. The emerald patterned silk brought out her fiery coloring and made her dark eyes take on a green shade. Her ensemble had an oriental feel to it, and in her shining hair she wore the intricately carved jade combs he’d given her to match.
Seeing her at this meal, he concluded she unquestionably would have other prospects. She could make a king fall in love with her.
He’d always been amazed at her perfect manners off the ship. When not shark fishing or kicking villains to their knees, Nicole Lassiter behaved like a spirited member of the nobility. Well, a very spirited member. It was as if the minute she donned a dress, she transformed into a lady. Tonight was no exception. She handled the dinner courses and all their attendant silver better than he did. Where had she learned and perfected those skills?
She was a paradox. In his bed, she was fearless—unhesitant to partake in whatever he suggested to bring them pleasure. And after she’d apparently accepted they would be together, he’d seen a side of her he’d never imagined. When not making love—and sometimes even then—she became playful. She’d tickle him, dance away from him elusively, laughing with as much abandon as she made love.
Now, as he surveyed her across the table, another person seemed to inhabit her body. He believed she could make even his mother feel a tad inadequate at a social affair. He recognized that Chancey was right.
Unfortunately, Derek recognized this after he sensed she had let down her guard and accepted him. He believed she’d stay with him despite the less-than-perfect circumstances surrounding them. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Derek. Just when he could finally call her his, when he had claimed more than her body, he had to let her go.
He was brooding when they exited the carriage, but as he followed her up the gangway, he couldn’t prevent a slight quirk of his lips. One thing about her was completely out of the ordinary, even when she put on her polite facade. He didn’t think she even realized it.
Nicole had the purposeful, exacting walk of someone always at sea, as if unconsciously she expected the ground to tilt at any moment. He smiled to see this seasoned sailor’s trait in a woman. But the smile disappeared when he was reminded that her female body translated that walk into an undulating gait, a hip-swinging sweep that was incredibly erotic.
Later when they fell into bed together, he could feel her damp and ready for him. Instead of sliding into her, he worshipped her body, kissing her closed eyes, the tip of her nose, the small shell curve of her ear. Each part of her had become precious to him.
With the barest flick of his tongue, he kissed her belly and her inner thighs. Soft and lush beneath his lips, her body shook as he savored her, wringing every ounce of pleasure. When he took her, it was with an agonizing slowness, until at last he could no longer resist the feel of her core hotly hugging his flesh in her climax. Never quickening his body over hers, continuing the tormenting pace of pushing and pulling, he allowed himself to pour into her.
As they lay sated, he could feel her tears on his chest. Before she fell asleep in his arms, she sighed, “I love you.”
Her words lanced his heart. He thought of all the months he’d wanted her and wanted her to stay with him. Then, just as she gave in, decided to risk all for him, to trust him, he would leave her. He bent down to press a kiss in her hair, knowing it was the last time he’d breathe in her scent.
He recalled his last words to the Irisher this morning. Derek had turned back and asked the big man, “Why are you so bloody loyal to the Lassiters?”
The Irisher didn’t hesitate. “Because the father saved my life, and the daughter saved my soul.”
Derek had nodded and turned to go with a heavy heart, knowing that without Nicole, his own soul was lost.
Chapter 24
I’m going on,” Jason Lassiter declared on his fourth night in Cape Town.
“We’re going on,” Maria stubbornly corrected as she pushed her spectacles farther up her nose.
“Woman! I brought you this far against my better judgment.” He shook his head. “Never should have stopped in Recife. But, damn it, you won’t leave Cape Town with me.” Grabbing her elbow in frustration, he steered her around a pack of drunken sailors swerving down the docks. He and Maria had come down to check for word of any ships inbound from Sydney, but had gathered nothing.
Maria reminded him, “It’s a simple business matter.” Business was simple. And unemotional. Was that why she worked so hard? Because her emotions careened around this man so badly she needed a constant to ground her? “I paid for passage to Australia—you have no say.”
Letting her go, he scowled, until she reached out to lay her hand on his arm. He calmed a bit. “Jason, Chancey will have gotten her by now. And we have her messages. She wrote that she is very well and told the crew to meet her here if they couldn’t find a way back. And what about the money she sent them? You know the only person she could have gotten that much money from is Sutherland.”
“It’s just that I can’t stand this feeling—he’s got my little girl, Maria.”
She thought her heart would break at his admission, but it didn’t change her decision on the matter. “She’s not a little girl anymore, and I don’t care what your crew says, he won’t mistreat her. I watched them in Recife, and I tell you he’s in love with her.”
“Then why does the crew want him dead?”
She pursed her lips, because he had a point. Then rallied. “You must trust me in this matter—he will take care of her.”
Jason shook his head firmly. “I’ve got to go get her.”
“If you’re going, I’m going,” she said resolutely. “But I think you’re making a mistake. If Chancey left weeks ago, they should be on their way back here to pick up the crew. What if we miss them?”
Sometimes she couldn’t understand this man. She was certain they would pass by Nicole and Chancey in this big ocean. It would be a miracle if they did meet them. She loved Jason, but she could see that often he was far too impatient, and it overruled his better sense.
“Be reasonable, Jason. You know Chancey will protect her with his life. And think of how terrible it would be for her if you weren’t here when she arrived. You know she would wait here for you to return from Australia.”
She sensed she’d won with that argument. Truly, it would be awful to be stranded at the Cape. Nicknamed the Tavern of the Seas, it contained the worst sorts of people—transients, thieves, even pirates. The only nice thing she could say about Cape Town was that it was a good place to do business. There were hordes of the newly rich from the African mines who didn’t know what to do with all their wealth—
Maria’s eyes widened behind her spectacles. Distantly, she heard Jason saying, “I should never have pressured her to go to her grandmother’s. Pressure certainly didn’t work with her mother. And she’s so like Laurel. If Nicole doesn’t want that life, then she doesn’t have to live it. I’ll have to find a way to provide better for her.”
Like a flash, the idea came to her. Cape Town had an abundance of capital, if you knew where to look. Sadly, Jason didn’t.
But Maria did.
“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Nicole asked irritably as she looked around the deck of their unwieldy steamer. Irritability had seeped into her personality until it, and sadness, defined her. This wasn’t just because they hadn’t been able to find a sailing vessel leaving Sydney for Cape Town and had been forced to settle on this coal-hungry monster. It wasn’t even
that she felt awkward and useless at sea when she couldn’t work.
It was because the man she’d fallen in love with had abandoned her.
No one will ever hurt you again. Lies! He’d said the words, said them like a solemn vow. Then clawed open her chest and ripped out her heart himself.
She’d found herself able to go about four or five days without talking about him before the words clamored for release, threatening to strangle her if she didn’t let them out. As always, Chancey was a patient listener. They’d been over this again and again, but she still sounded baffled when she whispered, “He didn’t even say good-bye. Waited until I went to town without you, then…left.”
The tears began, and her chin automatically rose in a futile gesture to forestall them. “Heartless…but he’s a selfish man. I foolishly thought he’d changed.”
Chancey shifted his craggy face from one sympathetic look to another.
“Looking back, it’s as if he wanted to make me fall in love with him. Always trying to get under my skin and to get my attention. To get me to open up to him.” She didn’t bother hiding her confusion. “Then for him to do this? I was just a game for him.”
Chancey looked strange, as if her suggestion had startled him. “No, no, then, that couldn’t be it. He probably woke up and realized that ye deserved more than a drunken wretch,” he said fervently. He’d been acting so odd lately, Nicole thought. Anytime she mentioned that she was merely Sutherland’s cast-off, he defended him.
Chancey frowned and was about to say something. She waited with raised eyebrows, but he coughed and hastily pulled himself up, excusing himself to go to work. He’d signed on as a hand so he could learn as much as possible about steam-propelled ships. He and her father both recognized they were the ships of the future. She didn’t begrudge him the work, but she had nothing to take her mind off those bedeviling memories.
