Your Wish Is My Command

by Donna Kauffman

  It was all too much to contemplate! Never had anywoman been worth this amount of aggravation. He rubbed his temples, then started when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around—and found Jamie standing there before him, still dressed in her work clothes, grinning like a cat who'd just trapped an unsuspecting bird.

  “Finally!” she crowed. “I didn't think it was possible to sneak up on you. You looked a million miles away.”

  “That and more,” he muttered, thinking he'd never felt more unsure and out of place. A definite anomaly for someone living the rather fantastical life he did. One look at her and his entire body leapt in anticipation. Just the reality of her presence both calmed him and sent his heart racing. She hadn't run.

  “Why have you come looking for me?” He ached so badly to touch her that his tone sounded far more tense than he'd intended.

  Jamie's smile faltered somewhat and she shifted under his scrutiny. He did not avert his gaze. If she was to be his this night, he had to know she was doing so with full knowledge and responsibility for the decision. It was the only way he could protect her, shy of leaving her. And that he simply was not strong enough to do.

  “I …” She cleared her throat and stood taller. “I believe you said you wanted … um … wanted to … see me. This evening. I was closing the shutters when I thought I saw you down the street. When you didn't seem to notice me approaching, I ducked across the street and came up behind you.” The corners of her mouth quirked slightly. “Sorry, I just had to do it. Have I ruined the mood now?”

  Had Sebastien not been such a roiling mass of uncertainty, he'd have laughed at her brassy inquiry. As it was, he could not muster even a smile. He stepped closer and shifted toward the building, silently beck-oning her out of the path of the evening's pedestrian traffic. She followed but said nothing more. Under his steady gaze, her smile vanished once again.

  “The mood has shifted,” he said softly, “but not to a lessening degree of need.” He saw the spark of desire leap to her eyes then and finally felt some semblance of his control return. This he understood, this he could deal with. And yet there was so much more driving his desire for her. Was it the same for her?

  He watched with great interest as she mastered her own needs and possible insecurities and looked him straight in the eyes. “Then why are we wasting time here on this sidewalk?”

  Ah, but she was his match. Hadn't he always known that? It seemed so at this moment.

  She went to turn back toward the bookstore, but he stayed her with a hand to her shoulder. She looked back at him questioningly.

  He lifted a long lock of her unbound hair.

  She ducked her chin, then looked up with a half shrug. “You said you wanted—”

  “I know what I said. Thank you.” He let the strands filter through his fingers. “Finer than spun gold.”

  She cleared her throat and laughed a bit nervously. “Is this where I'm supposed to do the clichéd your-place-or-mine thing?”

  “I care not where we go,” he said quietly, not taking his eyes from hers. “Whatever brings you the most comfort.”

  He felt the finest tremor pass through her at his earnestly spoken words. So tuned to his touch was she! Ah, but the ache between his legs—as well as the one in his chest—grew to new proportions.

  “Then I think I'd like to go to your place. If that's okay.” Her voice deepened slightly and took on a rough edge, as did the look of need in her eyes.

  He did not release her. Instead, he turned her fully toward him. “It is more than okay. I would be honored with your presence in my home, and in my bed.”

  Her eyes flared again, and he actually thought he felt a hitch in his knees. Oddly, he enjoyed the sensation.

  “Then … let's go.”

  He lifted his free hand to her other shoulder and pulled her a scant inch closer. Just feeling the strong muscles of her shoulders flex beneath his hands excited him. She was strength and steel, both in body and in spirit. Yes, his match, like no other. He could barely stand still for want to begin their adventure right away. But first things first.

  “There is something I must ask you first.”

  She took a breath. “Okay.”

  Again, the fine trembling registered beneath his fingers. Mon Dieu, but she had him harder than a mainsail mast. He had a scant moment of doubt that his performance would be marred by an inability to control himself, but that only served to make him redouble his efforts to maintain a firm grip upon it. By damn, this would be a night like none that had come before it. He'd let nothing mar that.

  Yet first he must have her answer. “We have discussed at length your reasons for not wanting a liaison with me.” She began to speak, but he spoke over her. “I am accustomed to taking what I want and damn the consequences. I must know that you are fully aware of the consequences of this path we are about to embark upon.”

  “Which consequences?” Then she nodded in understanding. “If you mean am I concerned about your previous partners, well, I did take one little precaution—” She started to reach in the pocket of her shop pants, but he stopped her

  “This is not about our health, although I can assuage those fears. One benefit of my everlasting youth, apparently, is my immunity to disease.”

  Jamie's eyes widened and she let out a short laugh. “Okay. Well, how convenient for you. And for me, I suppose. But I want to use these anyway.”

  “Whatever pleases you.”

  Her eyes went all dark and her smile turned just a bit shy, but she kept his gaze firmly when she said, “Thank you.”

  He nodded. “There are other dangers.”

  “Being?”

  He tapped a finger above her breast. “Your heart. I do not wish to damage it further.”

  Now he saw the flash of temper he had come to adore. “I can take care of my heart, thank you very much. I'm a big girl.”

  “You are a woman who has perhaps given her heart unwisely. And there could be no worse choice than myself.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “Are you trying to talk me out of this? Because, for a man who basically stated this morning that I was his next conquest, you sure aren't acting like the pirate you claim to be.”

  Sebastien did find his smile then. “Trust me when I say my desire to complete this quest hasn't diminished in the least.”

  “Then the answer is, yes, I'm aware you're not future life material. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I realized that is what makes you the perfect match for me? For the moment anyway.”

  That set him back. Not her reason for her change of heart—it did make perfect sense. What set him back was the immediate disappointment he'd felt.

  Absurd! He should be rejoicing. Wasn't his main concern that she not be hurt? For him to feel such asense of disappointment because she wanted nothing more from him than this was ridiculous. And yet the disappointment existed. Damn, but he wanted too much—and even then it was not enough. Perhaps he should be examining his own heart for fear of wounding it, rather than worrying about hers.

  “Was there anything else you wanted to warn me about?”

  When she grinned at him, he pushed aside the remainder of his misgivings and all of his confusion. It was no light load.

  He framed her face with his hands, delighting in watching her smile dip as her eyes came alive. “Just this: The possibilities of this night we are about to share threaten to overwhelm me.” Never had he spoken a truer statement. “But I am eager to explore every one of them.” He dipped his head closer. “And I plan to. One at a time.” He moved closer still, tipping her chin up until their lips were almost brushing. “With great and deliberate thoroughness.” She shuddered, and his body responded in kind. “And I will begin with this.”

  He pulled her tightly against him, heedless of the passersby. “Come here, Jamie,” he murmured. “Take my mouth and teach me how you like to be kissed.”

  Jamie gripped his shoulders, certain that she was about to dissolve into a puddle o
f need right there on the sidewalk. “This is insane. No one has ever made me feel so …”

  “Desired?”

  She shook her head and pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. Suddenly this very moment had taken on enormous proportions, and she refused to rush through it. She wanted to savor it, somehow knowing it would be a moment she would want to look back on many times and recall each and every secondof. “I was going to say that no one had ever made me feel so much a partner.”

  “Perhaps that is because this is not a seduction, but an adventure. One to be shared equally if we are to enjoy it to the highest potential.”

  Any doubts Jamie had about this step she was about to take with him were pushed far into the background. For once she was with a man who wanted to enjoy her company and make damn sure she enjoyed his.

  A slow smile curved her lips. She took enormous delight in the dark need that flickered in his eyes in response to it. She lifted her hands to his face and tilted his head just a bit to one side.

  “This is how I like to be kissed.” She pressed her closed lips to his. “And then I like a little of this.” She moved her mouth over his, delighting in the shudder she felt ripple through him as she slowly opened her lips and pressed her tongue into his mouth. She heard him groan deep down in his throat, but he continued to let her dictate the kiss. And she took full advantage of the opportunity, reveling in how wonderful it felt to know with certainty you were pleasing your mate.

  Mate. Her mate.

  Now it was her turn to shudder.

  And then with a growl, he wrenched his mouth from hers and pulled her up into his arms like she weighed nothing more than a feather. Which she most certainly did not.

  She squealed in surprise, then found herself laughing as he strode down the street and around the corner, impervious to the stares and hoots of approval he was getting from the other pedestrians.

  “You're putting on quite a show,” she said, half amazed that he seemed to expend very little effort inthe task of carting her about. The other half of her was equally amazed to discover … she kind of liked it. Very much.

  “You said I wasn't behaving enough like the pirate for you.” He swung into a shuttered doorway and dropped her feet to the ground. Before she could draw breath, he backed her into a corner and pressed his body full length against hers. Drawing breath became impossible.

  He pushed his mouth below her ear and sunk his teeth gently into her earlobe. “Perhaps ravishment is more to your liking.”

  She wanted to say no and nod yes all at the same time. Surely it wasn't at all politically correct to want him to—

  He tugged her chin around and took her mouth, fully plundering it, much the way he had earlier in the shop.

  It was a toss-up, Jamie decided, with what few functioning brain cells she had left. As much as she enjoyed establishing her mastery over his desires with her kiss back there, there was definitely something to be said for letting the man have his way with her as well.

  “Maybe … maybe we …” she murmured when he drew his lips from hers, only to begin an assault on the sensitive skin at the crook of her neck. “We should … dear God, that feels amazing.”

  She felt him smile against her now damp and heated skin. ”'Tis only the beginning.”

  “I might not last through the next five minutes if you keep doing that. I just realized it might be possible to expire of supreme pleasure.”

  “Then come expire with me, Jamie.” He lifted his head, his dark eyes all but glowing. Stroking one finger down the side of her face, he spoke in French to her. It was better than all her fantasies combined.

  “My French is rusty.” As was her voice at this point.

  He scooped her up in his arms and made his way down the street toward his courtyard with long, confident strides. “Rather than tell you what I just said, mademoiselle, let me show you.”

  Chapter 18

  Sebastien let Jamie's feet slip to the ground so he could open the gate to his courtyard. The inch of space between them now was an inch too much. He pushed the creaky gate open, then held her gaze as he swept an arm gallantly in front of him. “Entrezvous, mademoiselle.”

  Jamie returned his smile and slipped inside the gate. She walked steadily through the courtyard, no hesitation. Sebastien wished he felt her unfettered confidence. He caught her hand as she entered the loggia. It was full dark inside the stone hallway. The open, arched windows let in the night air and heavy scents of the courtyard but none of the moonlight.

  He pulled her to him. Ah, but the lean length of her conformed more exquisitely to his body than the most voluptuous of women. The sensations that ripped through him were stunning. He dipped his head, needing to taste her.

  Jamie groaned and let her head tip back as he trailed his lips along her neck. “Oh, Sebastien.”

  “Mais oui, Jamie. It is me.” He lifted his head and searched for her eyes, despite the darkness. “If I had my way, it would always be me.”

  She stilled at his declaration. It had shaken him as well. He had no leave to say such things. It was badenough that he was thinking them. “We will not dwell upon what the future holds,” he said, as much to reassure himself as her. “We will think only of tonight.” He ran his hands the length of her back and cupped her hips to his. They met and matched. She shuddered, as did he. “Agreed?”

  “Agreed.” Her voice was rough with need, a need he intended to appease.

  She took matters into her own hands, tugging his head to hers. “Stop wasting time.”

  He was laughing as she kissed him. He returned it with equal passion, then grinned at her squeal of surprise when he abruptly ended the kiss and put her over his shoulder.

  After a gasp or two, she managed to thump his back. “What do you think you're doing?”

  “I'm a pirate, you will recall. This is the most efficient way to get our women where we want them.” He made his way quickly inside and climbed the stairs. “Have you a complaint?”

  He expected to be told directly, and in great detail, exactly what she thought of his treatment of her. She surprised him yet again. He thought her muffled noises were swearing, but he soon realized she was laughing.

  “Can't you climb any faster?” she asked.

  His responding battle cry echoed down the stairwell as he took the last several risers in a bound. Once in front of his bedroom door, he swung her around to slide down the front of his body. Their laughter died abruptly as their bodies came into intimate contact.

  “You're wearing way too many clothes,” she managed, finding his eyes in the dimly lit hallway.

  “As are you.” He reached behind him and turned the doorknob, then pulled her into his bedroom. Hemaneuvered her toward the bed, their limbs and lips in a tangle. Her shirt was yanked from her trousers and left behind them on the floor.

  His bed was high, requiring a footstool to climb up onto it. He disengaged himself long enough to lift Jamie onto the bed, then stepped onto the stool so that he stood between her legs. She sunk into the thick down covering, and he wanted nothing so badly as to sink himself right down into her. But he had waited too long to rush.

  The moonlight cast her in deep shadow. He reached over and switched on a small bedside lamp, filling the room with a soft glow. She smiled and reached for him.

  He wasn't sure where his immediate responses tugged the hardest: in his loins—or in his heart.

  And yet he did not accept her bold invitation. “Now that we are here, I find a swift ravishment does not suit my needs. Nor, do I believe, will it suit yours.”

  Jamie quirked her eyebrows, then slowly let her hands drift over her head to rest on the bed. “Is that so?”

  He nodded. Her position was at once that of a supplicant and that of one quite in control of the situation. Her pose strained the fabric of her simple cotton brassiere. Her nipples pressed at the white fabric, beckoning his lips to come and discover the treasure that awaited him.

  “I know,” she said dryly.
“It's not exactly a Victoria's Secret fantasy. But, then, I figured if I'm going to get involved again, this time around I'm going to be myself. So I'm admitting up front, I'm not much for sexy lingerie.

  She thought him unaffected? He smiled at that and lifted his gaze back to her eyes. “I find nothing wrong with your attire, beyond that you are still in it.”

  She smiled then and reached for her belt, but paused. “You first.”

  Sebastien laughed at that. “So bold, and yet so demure.” It summed up her allure exactly.

  She flicked off her shoes so that they dropped to the floor on either side of the footstool. “There. Your turn.”

  “Ah, a temptress, to be sure.” He removed his shoes and socks. “I believe the next move is yours.”

  She slid her belt from her pants and flung it over her head with great abandon. “Next?”

  “Quite the tease, are we? Two can play at that.” He grinned at her and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. He relished the slip of control he witnessed in her eyes. He slid the soft fabric off his shoulders and felt his own body leap in response to her obvious reaction. He knew he had a pleasing form, but never before had he been so aware of its impact. Never before had he so wanted to please.

  “You definitely have far more experience in the teasing department,” she managed.

  “I wouldn't be so sure of that.” He knelt on the bed, his weight sinking him down beside her. He traced his fingers along the edge of her bra.

  “I told you,” she said. “Victoria's Secret I am not.”

  “I do not know this Victoria you speak of, nor do I care to learn her secrets. It is yours I crave to discover.” When she started to speak, he pressed a finger to her lips. “It is not what covers your skin that I am interested in.”

  Again, desire flared in her eyes. Again, he felt the insistent tug of response grow inside him. Merde, but if he were to grow any harder, he'd burst. He unfastened her pants and slid them down her legs. Legs that went on for centuries. She was lithe, finely muscled, and perfectly molded. The very idea of those strong legs wrapped around his waist—