by Renee Wildes
He inclined his head. “M’lady.”
She shivered at his voice, a deep sensual rumbling like a giant tomcat purring. “Captain Reed.” She lowered her own tone and her lashes. “I apologize for the delay. My father should be here momentarily. Would you care for a drink whilst you wait?” She moved to the sideboard. “We have acorn whiskey, or would you prefer wine?”
Her father might hate the mountain clans, but he was not above using their most famous export as a bribe.
“Whiskey’d suffice, m’lady.”
Suffice? Ooh, he was all cool control, the very picture of restraint. A less assured woman might have believed him indifferent, were it not for the crackle of awareness and the scent of desire in the air. She poured them both drinks, straightening her shoulders to pull her bodice a bit tighter across her breasts afore turning, adding an extra sway to her hips as she approached him. “Your whiskey, Captain.” She handed him his glass, not letting go right away when he took it, sliding her fingers over his as she released his glass.
His eyes glinted at her, letting her know he was aware of the game. He wasn’t disapproving, or declining, but he wasn’t oblivious to her deliberate influence, either. Smart man. She wondered what would shake that calm, and her nipples tightened in anticipation. Oh, aye, this one was well worth seducing.
Anuk hoped her father concluded his business quickly.
“I’m sorry about your ship,” she offered.
That surprised him. He inclined his head. “Thank you,” he said. “Visiting the families o’ those lost be the hardest part.”
Her brow creased in puzzlement. “Why would you do that?”
“I lost four men. Men whose wellbeing I was responsible for. Their families trusted me t’ bring their men home, an’ I failed. Two had wives with young children. Two had aging parents. I went t’ give them the news, an’ death-compensation.”
“Death-compensation?” Anuk blinked. What on earth was he talking about?
“One year’s wage t’ the families, t’ give them time t’ find other sources o’ income.”
“With whose money?”
Now it was his turn to frown. “My own.”
“You pay out your own money?”
“I’m without dependents. I live simply.”
All she could do was stare.
“’Tis a leader’s duty t’ take care o’ his own. They were my men, my responsibility. Asides that, ’tis the right thing t’ do.” He took a sip of whiskey. “Would ye have their families starve? What d’ye do when one of yer servants suffers a personal loss?”
Anuk had never considered the families of servants, or the servants for that matter. The servants were there to serve. What happened to them when they disappeared on the other side of the door was no concern of hers. It was their lot in life, their duty, to serve her father and her, not the other way around. “What an odd custom.”
She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until he quirked an eyebrow at her. “An’ what would yer custom be, m’lady?”
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Spiridon apologized from the open doorway. He strode into the room, shimmering with magical energy. A long robe of red silk, adorned with dragons and unicorns embroidered in gold thread, rustled with every step. Anuk was glad for the interruption, and the glint in her father’s eye said he knew it, too. “I couldn’t help overhearing, Captain. Most generous of you, but if you’re constantly paying out money, how do you accumulate more for the next time?”
Reed straightened. “The next cargo, the next voyage.”
Spiridon poured himself a glass of fragrant blood-red wine. “And have you one?”
“Not at the moment. I’m in the market.”
“And this concerns me how?”
Anuk blinked, and sipped her whiskey to hide her surprise. Her father wasn’t wasting any time. “Shall I leave you two to your discussion?”
“Stay,” Spiridon said. “As my partner and heiress, you should be more involved in my business dealings. You’ve no objection, have you, Captain?”
Reed didn’t even hesitate. “Not at all, m’lord.”
Anuk sat in the corner rocking chair. What was her father up to?
Spiridon took a seat near the hearth, Reed across from him. Her father studied the flames in contemplative silence. Reed stretched out his legs and sipped his own whiskey, seeming quite comfortable with no one speaking. Whilst her father meditated, or whatever it was he did, Anuk studied their guest. He didn’t shift his weight, his breathing didn’t change. His aura never flared or wavered. Patient, controlled, comfortable in his own skin—not driven to fill the silence with nervous chatter.
What would it take to break that ironclad control?
“I have amassed a considerable fortune over the years, Captain.” Spiridon at last spoke. “I plan on starting up a trading company, with a small fleet of ships. I might have an opening for a captain who knows these waters.”
Reed sat up straighter in his chair.
“But understand, Captain, I am looking for a man who follows orders,” Spiridon clarified, narrowing his eyes. “If you work for me, you work for me. You go where I say, when I say, and you do what I say, how I say to do it. You would be in charge of the ships, voyage and sailors. I would run the trade missions and all negotiations.”
Anuk sputtered on her drink. Her father never negotiated. He conquered or he destroyed. Such was the nature of the beast. Personally, her beast preferred conquering, but with Spiridon, one never knew.
Reed’s jaw tightened. Anuk recognized the signs of struggle. A man who’d always worked for himself, done things his way, forced by circumstances to answer to another. An utter loss of control sacrificed for the reality of necessity.
“Could I choose my own crew for the ships?” Reed asked.
Spiridon nodded. “In matters of sailing, I bow to your expertise. Your reputation precedes you, Captain. You are both an able seaman and an honorable leader of man.”
Reed straightened just a bit at the compliment.
“I believe we can come to an agreement, but I shall give you time to consider my offer.” Spiridon glanced at Anuk. “You’d be well compensated.”
Of course he would note the undercurrent in the room. She stiffened. Was she to be part of Reed’s compensation? Choosing to seduce the man was one thing. Being ordered to was quite another.
Spiridon rose. “I shall be in my workroom. Anuk, have dinner sent to me. I look forward to our next meeting, Captain.” Typical of her father. Once business concluded, he didn’t linger to chat.
Anuk savored her final sip of whiskey and regarded Reed over her glass. “Are you otherwise engaged tonight? I’d be honored if you’d join me for dinner, Captain. He’ll be busy for hours, and I hate to eat alone.”
He met her gaze. “The honor would be mine, m’lady.”
“Good.” She rose to place her empty glass on the sideboard, and turned to see Reed standing also. She flushed at the heat in his gaze, and shivered as the air in the small room thickened until she could barely breathe. For a moment she let herself get lost in the shifting depths of his eyes, then she shook herself back to sense. She was supposed to ensnare him, not the other way around.
He held out a hand to her, and she eyed it warily. He smiled. “I don’t bite.”
Nay, but I do. “How disappointing,” she teased.
The smoky jade ignited, and he grasped her wrist to pull her to him with a gentle but relentless strength. “Take care, little girl. Your father would not thank me for laying my common seafarin’ hands on his highborn daughter.”
Anuk couldn’t wait to feel those large, work-roughened hands on her. “I’m a big girl, Captain—of an age to make my own decisions.”
He frowned. “Business is business. Best t’ keep it so.”
“Your business is with my father. I’m not parcel to that arrangement.” She slid closer, until her body brushed his. She felt almost petite as he towered over her. “What I do, I do for me, not
my father. I am no whore for him to order to a man’s bed.” But how she tingled at the thought of having this man in her bed.
“Yet did I ask, would ye go?” He slid an arm around her waist. “I know ye’re no innocent. I’d not offend ye, but I’d know if this be but a flirtation.”
“Would you lift my skirts and have me against the wall, Captain?”
His nostrils flared. “Would ye have me treat ye like a common tart, or as a lady?”
“A lady still has a woman’s needs.” Anuk had never known a man to be so resistant to her allure before. “And right now, I’d have you kiss me.”
He cupped a hand behind her neck, stroking the skin beneath her jaw with his thumb. “Would ye have me stop with but a kiss, lady?” he murmured. “What is this power ye wield over me, t’ make me want ye so?”
“And here I’d have thought ’twas the other way around,” she whispered. His lips were but a breath away. Anuk thought she’d perish from the waiting. “What’s your mother name?”
“Gavin,” he bit out.
“Kiss me, Gavin—” His mouth swallowed the rest of her words as it captured hers, his tongue surging to duel with hers until every thought scattered. It was no request, but pure demand. The beast within her gloried in his aggression, and she opened her mouth under his, slanting her head to press closer. She curled her fingers into his shirt, feeling the heat of his body beneath her hands. He tasted of hungry male and dark passion, with the earthy hint of sharp whiskey. Her heart pounded, and she almost forgot to breathe. Never had she felt ravished by a kiss alone.
Gavin reached up to curl one big hand around her breast, thumbing her nipple through the velvet bodice of her gown. Her head spun as she clutched at his shoulders to remain upright. He slid his other hand down to cup her backside, hauling her against him. He pinched her nipple hard. The sharp pain, so sudden and unexpected, made her body jerk. Anuk whimpered into his mouth. He soothed the sting away with gentle circles, dragging his mouth from hers to trail open-mouthed kisses down the side of her neck. She shivered, goosebumps rising from the tickle of his breath on her damp skin. He sank his teeth into her shoulder, biting down until she cried out in shock—and arousal. Again, he eased the pain with a stroke of his tongue.
“I thought you said you didn’t bite.” Her voice shook.
He nipped at her ear, pinned her hands behind her back, bending her backward until she cradled his huge erection with her burning core. “I lied.”
She laughed, dazed and breathless, but her body coiled with tension at the uncertainty of it all. In this position, she stood upright only from his holding her, balanced against his arm. She could break his hold, but the beast within thrilled at his mastery.
Fickle beast.
Gavin raised his head to meet her gaze. His eyes smoldered with lust. “Don’t be afraid, Anuk. I’d not hurt ye.”
She believed him. “When I said stay to dinner, I didn’t mean for you to be dining on me.”
“Liar.” He rubbed her erect nipple until she whimpered again. “Ye’ve been beggin’ for this since ye walked into this room.”
Drek. He was right. Things were not going as she’d planned, but she was more aroused than she recalled ever being in her entire life. Heat pooled low and deep, and her breasts ached for his mouth. “I never beg.”
“Ye will, m’lady.”
She shivered at the dark promise in his eyes as he unlaced her gown enough to free her breasts. He raised her hands above her head and backed her into the wall, holding her wrists with one hand whilst inching her skirts up with the other. “So you do mean to take me up against the wall,” she murmured. The murmur turned to a gasp as his rough fingers trailed up her inner thigh, and she widened her stance to allow him better access.
“That’s it.” His voice was a rough growl. “Let me in.” He stroked her streaming folds with surprising gentleness. Anuk closed her eyes to savor the building pleasure, only to have him say, “Nay. Open yer eyes, little girl. Don’t hide yer passion from me.”
She dragged her eyelids open, shy and vulnerable with him watching her. But the sweet magic he worked with his hand…tension coiled tighter, the blood shimmering in her veins. Her legs trembled as Gavin circled ever closer to the sensitive bud, never quite touching that point of fire until she wanted to scream with frustration—or draw him a map. With a big arrow pointing “Here!” She tensed as he trailed his fingers back through her cream-drenched folds, but relaxed when he rubbed over the puckered flesh between her nether cheeks.
He pinched her backside, right where it curved down to meet her leg. Hard. Hard enough to make her choke and her eyes burn. He bent down to close his mouth over one breast, drawing hard on her nipple, teasing it with the tip of his tongue. Now his fingers returned to the swollen bud, circling once, twice…
“Gavin!” Anuk cried out as she shattered from the pleasure-pain sensory overload. He released her wrists to encircle her waist with his arm, and she lowered her arms to pull his head closer, arching into his mouth. He rose up, silencing her with his lips, his tongue, until she shook in his arms and clung to him for dear life.
Just who bound whom? Anuk slid her hands down his chest to pull his shirt from his breeches, gliding over hot sweat-slick skin until she could cup his erection. Her beast awoke with a vengeance. Part of her yearned to drop to her knees and feast on him, but measuring him with her fingers, she reconsidered. She doubted she could manage without doing him an injury.
Gavin tore his mouth from hers. “Don’t even think about it, little girl. I’ve another idea.” His eyes blazed down at her. “Lie down on the rug.”
Lie down? All he had to do was release her and she’d fall down. On trembling legs she allowed him to guide her back to the rug afore the fireplace, where she sank in an untidy heap at his feet.
“Unbind yer hair,” he rasped.
Wondering why she felt so compelled to obey, she reached up with shaking hands to remove the pins. Unbound, her hair tumbled about her shoulders in a riotous mass of copper curls.
The effect it had on him was unmistakable. “Lor’ ye’re beautiful, lady. Lie back and raise yer skirts for me.”
She did, sprawled before him and the fire like an utter wanton, legs parted, hiding naught from his view. What a sight she must present—the firelight dancing across her bared skin, framed by pearls and sapphire velvet. Too aroused for embarrassment, her beast purred as she writhed on the rug. “Were you just going to stand there looking at me?” she teased. “Or would you care to join me?”
“I thought I’d watch for a bit.” His voice was hoarse.
“Watch what?”
“Yer passion. Touch yer breasts like ye were alone in the dark. But keep yer eyes open for me.”
Her beast had never been shy, but she’d never been so exposed. Anuk took a deep shuddering breath, locked gazes with him and curled her fingers around her own breasts. She tugged at the coral nipples until they were aching points of need, until she whimpered and rolled her hips at him. “Please,” she whispered. Come to me, her beast whispered.
Gavin knelt just beyond reach. He unbuttoned his breeches, freeing his erection for her view. As his hand fisted around the immense length, Anuk groaned. He stroked himself once, base to tip. “I won’t join ye until ye make yerself come. Do it, little girl. I’d have all from ye.”
And I from you, her beast retorted. But Anuk was too close to the ragged edge to turn back. She needed relief, and if he wasn’t going to oblige her, then who needed him? She lowered a hand to caress herself with the lightest of touches, plying the nub hidden within wet swollen folds and copper curls. She was no longer able to hold his gaze, but closed her eyes and threw her head back, losing herself to the rush of pleasure. His heavy breathing was a dark counterpoint to her lighter pants as she stroked herself into wet, quivering need. “Gavin, please,” she gasped.
“That’s it,” he encouraged. “Come for me, Anuk.”
With a scream she did, to find her fingers rep
laced by his lips, his tongue, as he drank in her passion. She moved against his mouth, and he suckled on her. She promptly came again. Her thigh muscles quivered, and she stared down at him, sated and dazed and breathless.
He glanced up, his eyes black with unspent lust. “My turn. Roll over.”
Her insatiable beast roared as she sparked with renewed need. Come to me, she purred. He’s ours for the taking. Anuk rolled over and raised herself up on all fours, spreading her knees as he moved behind her. He grasped her hips and eased inside her, bit by bit, drawing back and thrusting again, slowly, gently. She gasped as he stretched her, as her body shifted to accommodate him. She whimpered as he stroked over sensitive nerve endings, and her body clasped him with reawakened hunger. He groaned and thrust deep, seating himself to her very womb, filling her completely. He reached under her to fondle her breasts, teasing her nipples. They shuddered together as he began to move, hard and fast, the friction a hot, intense pleasure that bordered on pain. Her blood boiled as her beast began her calling, her body sucking on Gavin with every stroke to make him hers. Come to me, give yourself to me.
He came with a rush of fluid, wide open, holding naught back. The beast snared his soul, pulling him to her with each spurt of his body, binding him to her. Anuk cried out with her own release as he filled her to overflowing. The flare of power was blinding, disorienting, a pleasure like no other as she claimed him as hers. They collapsed together on the rug, shaking, panting for breath. He slipped from her body and rolled her under him. She stared up into his dazed, reverent expression, seeing the chains behind his gaze. He was hers. Already she felt the power slipping away from her, like water down a drain. The only way to reclaim it was to do it again…and again. ’Twas a rush more addictive than any drug or spirit, this claiming of souls. Soon enough her beast would push her into taking him again, but for now it was time to rest.
Looking into his smoky jade eyes, forever changed, she almost felt…regret.
Chapter Six
Finora awoke to a heavy arm about her waist and gentle snoring in her ear. Her heart caught in her throat. Had Bran returned? Had he even left? Was it all just a dream? She wriggled, and the arm tightened. A bearded jaw nuzzled her neck. Her eyes snapped open.
