by Jackie Ivie
“I think so,” he replied, without opening his eyes.
“You think so?”
“I wasn’t doing a whole lot of thinking, Linna, my love. If we’re not in the stable, we’re close.”
Linna, my love? Her mind ran through the words while everything else felt like it was aglow with rapture. Warmth. Wonder. She was surprised he couldn’t feel it. Or the mare. She watched the horse take another bit of hay from beside his ear. Cord still didn’t open his eyes. Linna slid a fingertip along his shoulder. “How are we going to get home?”
He rolled an answer through his lips. It sounded a lot like the mare would have. “Home?”
“Yes. Home. Our home. Remember? Small place, one bed, a fire-pit, a table?”
“Oh, yeah,” he answered.
“Are you listening to me?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Cordean Raoul Larket!” she punched his side.
“Yeah?” he answered, smiling again.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”
“Me neither, but it’s damn nice. Come here.”
Linna scrunched her face up. She hadn’t moved. “I am here.”
“Then who’s that?” he gestured at the mare, puffing a breath into the hay beside his head.
“At first guess, I’d say a horse. If I spend time examining it, I’d still have to say it’s a horse.”
Cord started laughing, and his arms tightened on her. “Oh, Linna, do you know what just happened?”
“Well enough,” she answered.
“You ever felt like this?”
“I’m a beginner, Cord. I’ve only had you for experience. If I answer that badly, wouldn’t it be your fault?”
His eyes opened, and even in the dimness, she watched his eyes narrow.
“You have another man and I’ll kill him.”
Linna rolled her eyes. “I heard this threat already.”
“It’s no threat, Linna. I don’t make them. It’s the honest-to-God truth. You realize how lucky Drew Fletcher is?”
“I would hardly do this with him. Ever.”
“You’re damn right, you won’t. With him or anyone else. You need a man, you look for me.”
Linna snorted. “Jealous?” she asked.
Cord’s features hardened. “I don’t know,” he answered. “Is this what it feels like?”
“Describe it.”
Cord started stroking a hand down her back, making it difficult to keep her mind on the question. He didn’t seem as aware of what he was doing as she was. He might be actually taking her serious and looking inward. She watched his face as his fingers roved her spine, reached the curve of her buttocks....
“I didn’t know where we were because I was too far gone when I got us here. I have never - and I do mean never - wanted a woman as much as you. I have never reacted like this. I feel like I’ve been turned inside out. Pushed to my limit. Taken to the edge and held there until it was painful.”
“Painful?” she asked.
He glanced sidelong at her. “No, Bebe. Never that…just so damnably intense, it’s pleasure-painful. I’m drained, and I’m not a weak man. I think I lost the ability to move.” He closed his eyes, but a smile hovered about his mouth.
Linna pinched him. “Go on.”
“With what?” He moved his other hand down her back and started kneading the flesh of her upper thighs.
“Explaining how jealousy feels.”
“Oh. That.” The little line came into existence on his forehead as he concentrated. Linna watched it. “It feels like needles in my arms. Not just my arms but my legs, too. No. Not just that, but everywhere. I think of you – doing this – with another man, and I swear I see red. Absolute, blood-dark red. I thought the color for jealousy is green. Why do they call it that, if I see red? Oh. Wait. It must be because what I feel isn’t jealousy. It’s anger.”
“You’re a romantic, Cordean.”
“Oh no. Me? Romantic? Never.”
Linna blew the sigh. Hard.
“You do that again, and I will not be responsible for my actions.”
She lifted her head. “You’re always doing that. Why am I responsible? I didn’t do anything.”
“Right. Care to try again?”
“With what? You’re the one spouting mysteries. You’re a lusty man, capable of bedding thousands of women. How can that be my fault?”
“Who have you been talking to? I hate to disappoint you Madame, but since seeing you, I’ve not even looked at another woman, let alone desired one.”
Linna went still. “Is that true?” she asked.
“Well...maybe I looked,” he replied.
“Cordean!”
“All right. Yes, it’s true, but damn me for admitting it,” he replied.
“You think that means anything? An emotion, maybe?”
“An emotion? Hell, no. It sure does make for wonderful, rampant lust, though.”
“Lust?” she whispered the word.
“You, my saucy wife, were made for lust. Rampant, sensual, carnal lust. I just happen to be man enough to discover and then claim it. I give you my word, Linna, if you are ever with another man like this, as intimately as this, I won’t be able to stop myself. I will go to the gallows, and this time for a reason. You understand what I’m saying?”
“My father didn’t go there,” she whispered.
“Daniels? What does he have to do with anything?”
“He found my mother...with Rex Fletcher. He…shot her.”
“Rex...Fletcher? Fletch? Are you certain?”
Linna nodded. “He was my mother’s lover. My father found them together. He killed her. I didn’t see her afterwards. No one did.”
“Rex Fletcher had a lover? Recently? I can’t believe it. He’s the most cold, calculating son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever met.”
“He’s the reason my mother…is gone.”
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry. But things are starting to make sense. It’s still a puzzle with lots of pieces missing. I could probably figure it out if I cared enough.”
His hands hadn’t stopped exploring, smoothing over, and rubbing exposed skin all along her back.
“Figure what out?” she managed to ask.
“I didn’t take the gold just because I needed it, sweet. I couldn’t let anyone else do it. I had your portrait. It drew me. The flesh and blood version draws me. Hell, everything about you bothers me. Your time away from me bothers me.”
“Hmm. That sounds promising.”
“Why? Because I lust after you?”
“Oh. I think it’s a lot more than that, Cordean.”
He lifted his head to put his gaze a couple of inches from hers. “You just seduced the hell out of me, and you don’t know lust when you experience it?”
“That wasn’t lust.”
“Yeah. Right. You, Madame, are a master at the art. You don’t even have to work at it. You were probably born to it. All you have to do is look at a man with those golden-brown eyes. You know it, too. You’re beautiful. You’ve got the most womanly form, too. You have the roundest, softest ass...nice, high, hand-size breasts. You have liquid warmth oozing from you, and honey-dipped lips—”
“Cord!” Linna’s mouth dropped open.
“You see? Lust.”
“What...are you doing?” She managed to get the question out before he touched a tongue to her upper lip. Then she lost it in his kiss. His arms tightened at the same time. Then he moved to lap at her neck, like she always did his.
“We’re not going home for a while,” he answered against her skin.
“We’re not?” she questioned.
“Oh no,” he answered, and proceeded to mark her.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Fletch appeared to have changed in three months.
A lot.
Cord stood in a luxurious foyer and looked over an array of miniatures on the wall, not one of which he recognized. The wallpaper was fully packed with lit
tle flowers, almost too small to decipher, and covered with little buttons of velvet whenever the vines intertwined. There were gilded oil globes mounted on every panel, and the wainscoting was of hand-crafted wood. It was too annoyingly crowded for his taste, but he recognized the expense. He sucked in on one cheek as he waited.
He wondered idly why a man would want such a riot of feminine-type furnishings, when a very feminine voice startled him.
“May I help you?”
Cord swiveled and looked over the petite woman standing there. Rex Fletcher has come up in the world, was his first thought. Although the woman had some age on her, she was definitely a beauty. She had a mound of graying-blond hair, perfectly curled and coiled atop her head, a cinched-in waist on her expensive satin gown, and slanted light brown eyes that wouldn’t hold his glance. He took a few moments to absorb it. It was obvious she wasn’t used to such a perusal as a dark blush stained her cheeks.
“I’ve come to see Fletcher,” he said, pulling his hat off.
She smiled. “I’ll let him know you’re here. Is he expecting you?”
“Don’t know,” Cord replied.
“Cord! Give the man some room, Liz-Beth, and let him in.”
“Certainly.” She bowed her elegant head and left them. Cord watched the sashay of her hips as she walked. Then he turned back to Rex. He sucked in on his cheek.
“Come in, come in. Have a seat. I haven’t seen you for some time. What’s the occasion?”
Cord followed the older man into a study. A glance showed that it was tastefully furnished and looked well-planned - for anything except a study. He saw pink-striped walls, flowery-type oil globes, four stuffed chairs, and the large desk he recognized. His glance flicked to the missing notch to make certain. His lips curved when he saw it.
“I came to see if you’ve heard anything,” Cord said.
“Not yet. It takes longer to get a message to Canada and a special shipment back, now that there’s war between England again. You should know that. You’re going to have to exercise your patience a little longer.”
“How much longer?”
“Let me rephrase that. How about finding some patience to exercise?”
Cord looked the man over. Something was different, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. And he didn’t much care, anyway.
“Have a seat. I’ll have Liz-Beth get us refreshments. Liz-Beth? Scotch. I know it’s early, but we’re not fond of tea. Thank you.”
Cord glanced at the chairs as Rex spoke at the door. Settling into one of his armchairs wasn’t going to hurt him as much as it would the chair. He considered them, then sat in one.
“Aren’t you even the least bit curious?” Rex asked, when he was seated back behind his desk. It didn’t look remotely like the last time. There was a large, picture window behind him today, he was sitting in a feminine-looking room, dressed like a town-dwelling gentleman, and no pirate-looking fellows like Birdie or Blight, framed either side of him.
“About what?” Cord asked, without inflection.
“My lady. Didn’t know I had it in me, did you?”
“What you call your women is your business,” he answered. “I prefer mine out in the open.”
“You visiting Dominique’s, are you?”
Cord lifted an eyebrow. Rex was very interested in his answer, he could tell. Cord wondered why. “I came to see if you’d heard anything. If the answer is no, I’ll leave.” He brushed off the crown of his hat and put it back on his head.
Rex didn’t blink. “You answer my question, I’ll answer yours. Fair?”
“You have heard something?” Cord tipped the hat back and narrowed his eyes. Trust Rex Fletcher to keep it secret! He wasn’t divulging anything unless it benefited him.
Rex gestured with his hand. “Dominique’s?” he asked.
Cord blew the hair off his forehead and pursed his lips. “Why would you care what I do, or who I tumble? Or for that matter, how many? What’s it to you?”
“Trust me. I care. Are you?”
Cord glared at him. Fletch didn’t move. “You take a good look at my wife?” Cord asked finally.
“I spent some time with her aboard ship, yes.”
“Then don’t ask stupid questions.”
“And that means...?” Rex asked again, motioning with his hand for more.
Cord narrowed his eyes. “Anyone who got a good look at my wife wouldn’t ask who I spend any time with or who warms my bed. They wouldn’t have to.”
“You’ve been seen at Dominique’s.”
Cord kept the surprise from showing. It wasn’t easy. Rex Fletcher was a master at games. But…he was being watched? He shrugged finally, very carefully. “I bankrolled Dominique. I get paid. I check the books and collect my fee. That’s the extent of my involvement. I’ll probably deed it to her once my papers come from Canada, and I get things settled. I won’t have much need of a whorehouse then.”
Rex visibly relaxed. Cord watched him do it. “Better to sell it. Don’t go soft on me now. Best one on four islands, remember?”
Soft? Cord considered that. He’d never been accused of being soft. He wondered if it was true. It seemed like he was soft every time he looked at his wife anymore. He only hoped it wasn’t becoming reality. He still had to deal with his cousin, Marcelle. The last thing he could be was soft. He hardened his mouth and then his voice. “I need to know if you received word and how long it will take. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I came to you in the first place, and that’s why I’ll come again.”
“Finding me doesn’t make it happen, you know.”
Cord shrugged. “I had to come to town today, anyway. I had some errands for the estate. I brought my wife, too.”
“You did? Where is she?” Rex pulled back a bit and considered him.
“Well. She’s not with me at the moment,” he answered.
Rex’s nostrils flared. Cord watched him, wondering again why the man cared. “You don’t leave a woman in her condition loose in this town! Despite appearances, it’s a rough place. Where is she? I’ll have her fetched.”
“Now...why would you go to such a bother, I wonder?”
Rex controlled every reflex. Cord watched him do it. It was almost perfect. Cord could tell how much it agitated the other man though. Until he knew why and that it wouldn’t harm Linna, he wasn’t saying a word. Especially to the man who’d done so much to hurt her.
There was a knock on the door. A moment after being bid entry, the blond woman came in. She met Cord’s eyes for a moment and smiled before turning to Rex. She wasn’t carrying any liquor either.
Cord watched Rex look at the tea tray and grimace. “Liz-Beth—.”
“I know what you said, but tea’s better for you.”
“I don’t need coddling.”
“I know you don’t. I do. Trust me. And you, Mister Cord, will you have tea?”
“I’d be honored, uh...Mistress,” he replied.
“My name’s Elizabeth Fletcher, Mister Cord. Rex is my husband.”
Cord shot a glance at Rex, then rose to his feet for a proper introduction. Rex had gone and wed? Then had the gall to call Cord soft? “Pleasure is all mine, Ma’am. Name’s Cordean. Cordean Larket.” He pulled off his hat again.
She pulled back with wide eyes, before looking over at Rex, who nodded. The smile she turned on Cord was brilliant. Something about her was slightly familiar. He couldn’t place it. Cord smiled back as he puzzled it.
“I haven’t just caught the matrimony bug, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Rex said slowly. “Liz-Beth’s been my wife for over thirty years.”
“Your…wife?”
“You thought you knew my story? So does everyone else. Sorry lad. Some of it was fictional.”
“You did riot against the monarchy then?” Cord asked, nonchalantly.
Rex snorted. “Not exactly. Liz-Beth and I were wed, we had a plantation almost the size of this entire island. Right in the middle of God’s countr
y. Then I made the mistake of taking up with that bastard, Daniels.”
Despite himself, Cord stiffened. Although he’d never met Ryan Daniels, he was still Linna’s father. It felt like betraying Linna for some strange reason.
“I go to sleep one night, everything’s wonderful. I wake up, my house is afire, the British Navy has me in ropes, my wife and children are missing. My life is over. You probably know the feeling.”
“You were innocent. I know,” Cord replied.
“Of course not. I cheated at cards, stole from church-goers, and ravished maidens. Is that what you want to hear?”
The blond woman huffed her annoyance. “What my husband is trying to say, is he’s as vicious and land-grubbing as the next man. He’s not opposed to forcing the natives from wherever they’re squatting. He has lots of faults, just nothing big enough to be sent into what amounts to a life sentence of slavery.”
Cord shrugged. “So what does this have to do with Daniels?”
“Bastard wanted my place. My life. My woman. My land. So he took found a way to take it from me.”
Cord’s frown deepened. “You looking for justice now?”
“No need. Daniels went and got himself killed. New Orleans is a rough town to be drunk in. He should have been more careful. Or he wanted it. I’m going on the theory he was looking for it.”
Cord winced. He wondered when he’d have to tell Linnette. He cleared his throat. “That doesn’t sound like your kind of justice.”
“It’s enough. I had to let it go. All of it. You know what the need for vengeance does to a man? I’ll tell you. It changes him. Makes him hard and mean. I had to do an extra amount of jawing to get my wife to take me back. Trust me. She didn’t like the new me.”
“Not many folks do,” Cord replied.
Rex smiled. His wife made a sound close to chuckling.
“That’s because they don’t understand me.”
Cord didn’t reply. He didn’t know where Rex was taking the conversation, or what it meant. There was a meaning behind it though. There always was.
