“I can safely assume from your surprised reaction that your lovers were not generously endowed.”
Catherine struggled to find her voice and a response. With speech impossible, she leisurely licked her dry lips not realizing how her innocent reaction resembled sensual hunger.
The captain released that low growl that Catherine had become so familiar with. She had agitated him and if she could continue to do so he would leave her alone. The more aggressive her actions, the more he avoided her.
Determination kept her eyes focused on his manhood, which she thought looked bigger then when she had first set eyes upon it. She dismissed the thought as nonsense, anxious to be rid of him.
She lazily shifted her gaze up to his and casually reclined to rest on her side. She drew back the white linen sheet covering her, careful to keep her own body concealed, and in a whisper, afraid if she spoke any higher her nervous voice would betray her doubt, she said, “Do join me, I’ve never enjoyed a man of your ample size.”
Lucian took an angry step forward and then stopped himself. He stood posed in thought for a brief moment— then he moved. He braced one knee on the bed and descended slowly over Catherine, forcing her onto her back. He braced his hands beside her head as his mouth rushed down on hers.
Shock made her mouth drop open and he took her reaction as an invitation. His lips captured hers and his tongue glided smoothly into her mouth.
She responded out of innocence and surprise, her tongue darting around his. Her hands ran urgently over his chest in thought of pushing him away only to realize his strength wouldn’t allow her an escape. With no choice left to her she hesitantly settled her warm palms against his hard chest muscles.
Lucian cursed his impulsive actions. She teased him like a consummate harlot, her tongue forcing a chase that heated his loins. And her small hands had wasted no time in seeking out his flesh. They rested comfortably against his nipples, causing them to harden against her touch. He couldn’t help but wonder how her small, delicate hands would make him feel if she explored his body further.
His thought shocked him back to reality and he pulled away from her, his teeth tugging at her bottom lip as he left her.
Catherine arched up afraid he would bite her lip clear off.
His hand swiftly moved to her chest and he shoved her back down on the bed. “No more!” he shouted, and threw himself on his back beside her.
The bed bounced and the ropes squeaked from his weight and Catherine released a grateful sigh of relief.
To Lucian’s ear it sounded more like disappointment. “I will not satisfy your lust, madam.”
Catherine gave no thought to a response. She was too busy attempting to calm her racing heart. She had thought for sure that he intended to have his way with her and thus discover her lies.
“Too breathless to speak?” he mocked with satisfaction.
Too breathless with worry, she thought, and sighed heavily, her racing heart having finally slowed.
His manly pride assumed her response meant one thing. “Never experienced a satisfying kiss, have you?”
Catherine felt herself bristle. He had the nerve to believe her a harlot and the gall to assume she was an unsatisfied one.
Lucian rested his arm over his eyes and smiled. “Perhaps that’s why you’ve gone through a string of lovers, none have ever fulfilled you.”
The words rushed from her mouth before she gave thought to the consequences or to the sarcastic tone in which she delivered her remark. “And naturally you think you could fulfill me.”
With his first movement she realized her mistake, but to move a mere fraction from him would show her concern, so she remained still.
Lucian turned on his side, bracing himself on his elbow and resting his head in his hand. His other hand casually reached out and his fingers played with the pearls that lay directly over her breast.
“Yes, Catherine, I could easily fulfill you, but I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction.”
Catherine kept herself from tensing as his fingers brushed over the shirt where it covered her nipple and especially when he carelessly, but she assumed deliberately, dragged the pearls across her breast. She needed a response that would annoy him enough to at least move him away from her. He was close, much too close, and his nearness was causing her stomach to flutter nervously.
“But think, Captain, you could be the talk of London. I would sing your praises, or is it prowess, to the aristocracy.”
Her remark hit bull’s-eye. His fingers released the pearls, tossing them away to fall to her side. He once again fell onto his back.
“I don’t like repeating myself, Catherine, though I will remind you one more time. I don’t plan on giving you the satisfaction. I will leave you —”
Relief ran through her. He would leave her alone once again.
“— To imagine what you have missed in having me as a lover.”
Catherine hid her smile beneath a practiced frown. “You upset me, Captain; I surely shall not sleep tonight.”
“If sleep escapes you this night it is your own fault. Just don’t toss and turn and keep me awake, and stay to your side of the bed.”
Catherine couldn’t believe her ears. He actually planned on sleeping in the bed with her. She wondered if she attempted to agitate him just a wee bit more if it would be enough to chase him from the cabin, or enough to –
She didn’t want to think about the repercussions, and she didn’t want him sleeping with her. She spoke before she lost her nerve. “Very well, Captain, though —” She paused just enough for a dramatic effect, then continued on a sigh. “You overestimate your kissing talent. I have experienced better.”
Lucian had had enough. He turned on her so swiftly that she rolled away from him startled. He rolled her right back and right beneath him and then proceeded to demonstrate just how exceptionally talented he was at kissing.
He took her breath away. She didn’t even have a second to think about what was happening and in only seconds she couldn’t think. His tongue and his mouth took command of her and saturated her with such drowsy sensuality that she lost all focus on time and reality.
As he feasted on her, he caused her to hunger. A hunger she had never experienced, and a hunger that only he seemed capable of satisfying.
He dragged his mouth from hers and trailed wet kisses down along her neck then up to her ear. “Tell me,” he whispered almost breathless himself. “Tell me you’ve been kissed like that.”
His powerful kisses had stolen her ability to speak and if she could she would not be able to tell him anything but the truth. With only the experience of a few stolen kisses from some ardent suitors, Catherine had never had a man claim a kiss such as the one the captain had just demonstrated.
Too long in her response, Lucian once again urged one from her. “Tell me or I will test my skills on you again and this time I will pleasure myself until you cannot stand it any longer.”
She could hardly bear the breathlessness she experienced now. She couldn’t imagine it being worse— or better? She shook her head and whispered the truth. “I’ve never been kissed like that.”
Lucian rolled off her and gave her a persuasive shove to her side of the bed. “Now go to sleep… if you can.”
He turned, reached out, and extinguished the oil lamp, bathing the cabin in darkness.
Catherine could think of no appropriate response, nor did she wish to give one. She turned quietly on her side, tucking her hands beneath the side of her head and pulling her legs up almost to her chest.
Lord, what had she gotten herself into? She didn’t have near enough knowledge of intimacy between men and women to succeed with her plan. She was playacting like a child at adult games and she was bound to get caught. It was only a matter of time.
Again the result of her discovery reared its ugly head and she pictured the captain in all his strength and size looming over her. Yet this time his kisses didn’t frighten her and that thought scared her se
nseless.
Her thoughts continued to race, setting plans, planning escapes, thinking of home and her father. She twisted and turned with each fresh thought until finally—
Lucian’s hand shot out and grabbed her around her waist dragging her back up against him. “Now stay put,” he growled in her ear.
She felt the hard strength of his large body braced against hers, felt her breath catch from the tug of his arm around her middle where it remained, and she instantly stilled.
“Go to sleep,” he ordered in a tone that expected immediate obedience.
Catherine said not a word. His warm breath had fanned her cheek and sent gooseflesh rushing over her skin. She had no intentions of moving and no intentions of sleeping. She would remain still and hope that he would fall asleep quickly, and then she would slip away from him, to the chair, and find her sleep there, alone.
She closed her eyes against her worry, against her strange plight and against her thoughts, and drifted peaceably into a dreamless state, her body following until sleep crept up and unsuspectingly claimed her.
The leather lash struck Lucian for the fourth time and still he made no sound or movement. His body stiffened, his mind closed off the torture he suffered. The lash sang through the air again and caught his already raw flesh. His teeth clamped down, imprisoning the scream that lodged in his mouth, forcing it back to lock deep in his throat. He would not give the captain the satisfaction of hearing him scream. The captain enjoyed the whipping so much more when the men screamed and cried for mercy. He received no pleasure, no excitement, from a victim who remained silent.
The whip hit his back again and again and with each lash he heard the captain scream, “I’ll have my satisfaction. I’ll have my satisfaction.”
“Never!” Lucian yelled, and bolted up in bed and out of his dream.
Catherine jumped up with him, frightened and startled by his scream and by the darkness that surrounded her. Her hand reached out searching for him and ironically for protection. “Captain?”
Lucian felt her nervous touch to his chest. He needed her closeness and protection as much as she needed him. He covered her hand with his, pressing her warm flesh against his chest. “It’s all right, Catherine.”
His thudding heart and damp flesh spoke other wise and strangely she found herself concerned for his welfare. “Are you sure?”
Her voice was soothingly soft and he ached to lose himself in her comforting tone. He wanted to take her in his arms and lose himself within her, make her lose herself within him and shut the ugly world outside away.
Then the ugly world interfered, he recalled her true nature and his years of torment and plans for revenge.
“Captain?” she asked once again.
Her sincere voice lulled his senses, or perhaps once, just once, he wanted to believe someone actually cared about him. He slipped his arm around her, tugging her against him, against his chest, wrapping his large leg around her small one. She didn’t object. She snuggled against him. He gratefully hugged her to him.
“You had a bad dream, Captain?” she all but whispered, doubtful that she should attempt to comfort him and wondering why she should feel compelled to do so.
“Yes, Catherine, I had a bad dream."Would you like to tell me about it?”
“Why would I want to do that?” He felt her shrug against him.
“It might help you to speak about it.”
“I never speak about it.”
“You’ve had this dream before?”
“Often,” he murmured.
“Then you should talk about it. Talking about it will help you feel better,” she advised.
“I don’t think you would want to hear about it.”
“I don’t mind listening.”
“It’s not fit for your ears.”
“My ears have heard many things.”
“I forget how experienced you are. At times you remind me of an innocent angel,” he found himself admitting.
“I’m no angel, Captain.” She cringed against the lie that followed. “I am no innocent.”
The thought angered him. He had fooled himself into believing briefly that the young beauty he held in his arms was naïve and pure. But she wasn’t naïve and her stepfather was the reason his dream plagued him. It was time for her to discover her stepfather’s true nature.
“I dream of a whipping I received while I was a forced crew member of the merchant ship I sailed on.”
“Forced?’ she asked, then added, “And whipped? The captain whipped you?”
“Often and enjoyed doing so.”
“I’ve heard such cruelty existed on some ships and I’ve heard how some men must crew the merchant ships to settle their unpaid debts.”
“I owed no debts, though it was made to appear otherwise,” he informed her with a cool tone.
“You were unfairly sold into service?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s horrible,” she stated angrily. “Who would do such a thing?”
Lucian had waited for this moment and calmly he told her. “Your stepfather.”
Answers to so many questions suddenly became clear and her response was swift. “You’re mistaken.”
His arms fell away from her and she rolled away from him. “I am not mistaken.”
She moved to the edge of the bed. “My father,” she emphasized, “would never sell a man into servitude for an unpaid debt.”
Captain Lucifer’s response was so calmly and forcibly delivered that she shivered.
“He did.”
“Never,” she corrected.
“You have no idea what your stepfather is truly capable of.”
Catherine felt her anger rise. Her hands began to shake and she had no doubt that when she spoke her voice would tremble. “You know nothing of my father, Captain Lucifer. I know him better than anyone.”
He laughed before he responded. “You know him that well? Then tell me, Catherine, how are his kisses?”
It took a moment for his nasty insinuation to thoroughly sink in. Her response was swift. She turned on him and swung her hand full force at his face.
The stinging blow reverberated through the darkness. Silence followed for a moment and then he reacted. He reached out, grabbed her by the back of her head and yanked her face down to a mere inch from his.
She felt his warm breath, smelled the fruity wine scent and sensed his deep-rooted anger.
His grip on her tightened with each word he spoke. “You ever raise your hand to me again and I shall tie you to the mast and whip you myself.” He shoved her away from him.
Catherine huddled to the edge of the bed, hugging the side so as not to fall off. She hadn’t known the reason behind his revenge and now that she did it made her task all the more difficult. No wonder he hated her father so much. To Captain Lucifer the Marquis of Devonshire had been the reason for all the ills that had befallen him. He now planned to have the marquis suffer as he had suffered. The captain was so blinded by anger and revenge that he couldn’t see the truth, the truth about her father, or the truth about herself.
Chapter Seven
Catherine chose to remain silent when she woke the following morning. Her somber mood seemed in keeping with the weather. The sky outside the row of four windows was overcast, promising rain or perhaps a storm.
She felt her own mood brewing beneath the surface. She was upset with her actions last night. She had lost her temper when she shouldn’t have. After all, she had taken great pains to paint herself a harlot, and if the captain thought poorly of her, it was her own doing. His obscene response meant she had succeeded in convincing him of her promiscuous nature. Oddly, she thought that she should be proud of herself.
She wasn’t. Her difficult task had just begun and already another burden had been added to her load. Not only was she determined to find the documents proving her father’s innocence, she intended to make certain Captain Lucifer was made aware of his mistaken notions of her father.
/> She sat up in bed, adjusting the covers across her lap before running her fingers through her tangled hair. She glanced casually around the cabin, aware that the captain sat at his desk, but attempted to appear indifferent to his presence.
A grimace of pain forced her to cease her attempts at combing her hair with her fingers. The pulls and tugs were just too uncomfortable and actually served little benefit in making her hair appear presentable.
“If you wish your comb, ask for it,” Lucian commented with annoyance, and shoved the quill pen into the inkwell in front of him.
“My comb,” she repeated, “Is on the other ship.”
Lucian pushed back his chair and stood. “Your belongings were brought upon my ship along with you.”
Catherine smiled joyously and clapped her hands together like a child delighted with receiving a gift. “How wonderful! Where are they? May I have them brought to me?”
Lucian felt a sudden stab to his belly that raced with lightning speed through his body and stuck in his throat, nearly taking his breath away. Good Lord, she was even more beautiful when she smiled. He wouldn’t have believed her angelic looks could improve if he hadn’t witnessed the transformation with his own eyes.
Her deep green eyes brightened, her cheeks flushed to the palest of pinks, her lips widened with her considerable smile and looked all the more appealing and ready to kiss. Even her hair, tangled and unkempt as it appeared, added to her allure.
He was about to pour himself a generous portion and drink heartily of it when he realized the control of the situation had slipped away from him, forcing him to seek comfort from stronger spirits. He had never allowed a woman to have such power over him and he wasn’t about to start now.
His body lusted after her, but his mind was his to control and his body would have no choice but to follow his dictates. He was in command. He gave the orders. He demanded obedience. She would learn.
Her beauty made no difference, but her gentle voice? He laughed beneath his breath. Her tender voice was nothing more than a mere subterfuge to conceal her wanton nature. She was the master at the art of luring men into her web of deceit. He would not be drawn in by her honeyed ways.
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