Master of Seduction (13 page)

Jack didn’t try to talk to her and he seemed content just to watch her.

She wondered if he’d ever been this compliant with anyone else before and deep inside she knew the answer was no. She’d learned so much about him today, seen things in him she’d never have guessed were there.

But it was his kindness that stayed with her. He had saved Kit when most men would have simply walked away.

He cared for his crew. And if she admitted the truth, she wished that he could come to care for her.

“You’re smiling,” Jack’s voice broke the silence. “What are you thinking about?”

She felt heat rush to her cheeks. “Nothing in particular.”

“You’re lying.”

Clearing her throat, she wiped her brush off on a cloth. “Very well, Jack. I’m thinking of you, if you must know.”

“Me?”

“Aye, I was wondering if anyone could ever save you.”

A
stern frown creased Jack’s brow as he took her words in. “Save me from what?”

Lorelei shrugged as she dipped her thin brush into the light gold color she’d just mixed, and tried to paint the highlights in his hair. “From yourself.”

His response was a rude snort that reminded her of a wounded boar caught in a trap. “That is the one thing I don’t need saving from.”

“I think you do,” she argued.

“And I think you may be deranged.”

Lorelei inclined her head to him as she swept her brush around the outline of his hair on her canvas. “Perhaps. I’ve been accused of worse.”

Jack shifted ever so slightly on the bed. He raised his head, flexed his wrist a bit, then went back to leaning his cheek against his fist.

His hair fell away from his shoulders and his shirt opened a little more, baring the flesh of his chest almost to his waist. Beneath the stark white linen, bronze muscles contracted and relaxed with each breath he took.

Heaven, but he was a handsome man.

’Twas a pity he was all too aware of that fact. And even more so that she wasn’t immune to those looks.

“What makes you want to save me anyway?” he asked.

Her brush between her teeth, she smudged the paint a tad with her little finger. She wasn’t really sure she ought to answer his question. If she let him know what she truly thought, he would just be after her again like some mad beast in heat.

She took the brush from her lips and looked back at him. He was leaning forward ever so slightly, his shirt accentuating every curve of his muscular chest. His eyes were bright and she saw the burning curiosity there that enchanted her.

Before she could remember her earlier protest, the words came tumbling out of her mouth. “Because I don’t think you’re as bad as they say.”

“Oh?” Jack said as his face brightened into a beguiling smile that showed just how intrigued he was by her observation. “I can name you a thousand men who would say differently.”

No doubt he could, too. She knew three off the top of her head who would call him a loathsome devil in need of a noose. But regardless of what Justin, her father, and Lord Wallingford thought, she could no longer see Jack that way.

Pausing, she sought a way to divert the conversation from this new thread and herself from a line of thoughts that would only serve to get her into trouble. “Now look, you’ve gone and moved.”

Jack dropped his arm and turned to lie fully on his back. He stretched like a languid cat and she did her best not to notice the tight linen that outlined his chest to perfection—or the form-fitting buckskin pants that hid a part of him she found herself strangely curious about.

She’d actually seen a man naked once. Well, Justin when he was ten. Hardly a man, but still, she had seen
it
.

She’d been out riding with her governess, who had gotten lost in the woods. Lorelei had been trying to find her when she stumbled across Justin and his brother, who were in the process of taking a swim.

His brother had still been clothed, but Justin had already stripped himself and was heading for the water. It had been such a strange sight. That odd little piece of flesh below his waist flapping about like some stubby, overgrown worm. She’d stared at it for several minutes, dying to know what it was.

It was then she’d heard her governess approaching and had quickly taken herself away from the area. For weeks, the sight had haunted her and she’d wanted desperately to ask someone about it.

Too shamed and embarrassed, she’d kept her secret to herself always.

It had been several more years before she understood what that thing was and what it did. That day, Lorelei had decided she never wanted to see one again.

Until now. Now she found herself intrigued. What would Jack’s look like?

An inferno burst across her face at the very thought.
Lorelei Dupree, what in goodness sakes has gotten into you! Well-bred young women never, ever, think of such things. Ever! Your father would take a strap to you
.

What
had
gotten into her to make her think such a thought?

Thank goodness Jack couldn’t hear her shameful musings. Instead, he took a deep breath, sat up in bed, and laced his shirt closed.

“Sorry, my sweet,” he said, and to her further dismay the compliment actually warmed her. “I had to move. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I fear all this inactivity has strained even my patience. Besides, ’tis time I made my rounds and checked the crew.”

Lorelei didn’t say anything. How could she? She couldn’t even look him in the eye. Wasn’t sure if she could
ever
look him in the eye again after thinking about
that
.

He approached her easel and paused to look at her work while he retied the leather cord in his hair. “Well, aren’t you the talented one, Miss Dupree.”

Lorelei beamed at the compliment. But still she kept her eyes on her palette lest he somehow intuitively perceive her previous thoughts.

His portrait was better than even she had hoped. Except for his eyes. She couldn’t quite get the shade right. That light, steely blue was almost impossible to portray. Never mind the fire and raw intelligence that flickered deep within his gaze.

“You made a nice piece of fruit,” she said to him.

“Any time you need a piece of fruit, my lady, you may call my name,” he said, leaning forward to whisper against her neck.

His breath fell against her throat, tickling her. Her chest constricted and she feared she would no longer be able to breathe. She could feel him beside her as if he were touching her. She wanted to feel him touch her, if the truth were told.

“That you already are, Captain Rhys,” she said in a breathless whisper of her own.

“Then may I ask that you take a bite of me?”

His shocking words hit her like an icy splash of water. “I beg your pardon?” Without thinking, she looked up to meet his tantalizing smile.

He lowered his gaze to her lips. “I most certainly want to take a
bite
out of you.” He encircled her with his arms, preventing her from pulling back.

Lorelei trembled in his embrace, knowing that if he didn’t let her go, she might, in fact, surrender to him and to the aching longing that beat inside her. “I thought you had to check your crew.”

“They can wait. But you—”

“Need to clean your cabin,” she said, interrupting him. “I have brushes to soak and canvas to…to…Well, I just have things that need to be done. Right away.”

Ignoring her rambling comments, he brought one hand up to stroke the sensitive flesh of her neck just under her ear. Chills spread through her as her senses reeled from the heat of his touch. He brushed her braid aside, exposing the back of her neck to his gaze. Jack moved his hand to touch her hairline there, and asked for the second time since he’d taken her hostage, “Have you ever had a man kiss you here?”

“Certainly not,” she gasped.

And then he did.

Lorelei moaned at the unexpected pleasure that assailed her as his lips grazed her neck. He drew his arm tight about her waist and a thousand ribbons of pleasure spiraled through her body.

Pull away
! her mind shouted. But she didn’t want to. She wasn’t even sure if she could.

Jack surrounded her with warmth. It was the most incredible thing she’d ever before felt.

“I want you, Lorelei,” Jack breathed in her ear. “I want to feel your entire body against me, to taste every inch of your bare flesh.”

She didn’t know what to say because right then, she wanted the same thing. He just felt too good. His touch too seductive, his body too wonderful.

Jack moved his lips to her mouth and plundered it like the pirate he was. She savored the taste of him, the smell of ocean and man.

She grabbed his shirt in both fists, clinging to him, needing to press herself closer to him.

Heaven help her, but she wanted this man for her own. And just as she was sure she was doomed beyond redemption, a knock sounded on his door.

“Captain? I be needing a word with you.”

Jack pulled back with a fetid curse that made her blush. He took one look at her and snarled toward the door, “It can bloody well wait.”

Then he was on her again. Lorelei surrendered herself to his touch. She couldn’t fight him. ’Twas more than her mortal senses could do.

“Captain, it be urgent,” the voice insisted.

This time, Jack tore himself away from her. He took two steps back, his breathing every bit as labored as her own.

“Go, Lorelei,” he whispered to her. He doubled over and grimaced as if someone had struck him a fierce blow.

Never one to argue with logic, Lorelei did as he commanded her. She rushed from the room and almost ran over the poor pirate in the hallway.

Muttering a quick apology, she continued on her way without looking back.

Once she was safely in her room, she slammed the door. But as she did so, she made a terrible discovery. What she was really running from was herself.

J
ack trembled from the weight of his need. From the pure agony of pent-up lust and desire. Even now he could smell her sweet perfume clinging to him, feel her body pressed against his, and imagine all too well how much better she would feel naked in his arms.

Gerald, one of the first men who had ever signed on board his ship, stuck his head in. “Blimey, Captain,” he said in a fearful voice. “I had no idea I was intruding.”

Jack clenched his teeth and glared at the man, wanting to tear Gerald’s head off his shoulders and stick it on a pole. “What do you need?” he growled.

“There ain’t nothing I need right now, Captain. Nothing at all. You just go right ahead and do whatever it was you was doing and I’ll just make myself scarce.”

His sight darkened even more. “Why the hell didn’t you do that when I told you to?”

Gerald tore off like a frightened rabbit that had just stumbled upon a hungry wolf pack.

His body still throbbing, Jack crossed the room and slammed the door shut. How he wished to all that was holy a squall would overtake them. He needed a good dosing of ice-cold water to stamp out the painful flames stabbing his groin.

Much more of this and they’d start calling him Mad Jack the Pirate.

“Little vixen,” he snarled, angry at himself for letting her get to him this way. He’d always been the one in control, and yet the scent of her drove him to near madness.

One moment more and he would have forced himself on her.

Why?

She certainly wasn’t the most attractive woman he’d ever seen. She wasn’t the most charming or beguiling, and yet there was something about her he found irresistible. Something that called out to him in the most alarming way.

What he felt for her went beyond plain lust. It was something almost tangible, something frightening and…

It was something he had no wish to confront.

“I’ll just stay away from her,” he said, pouring some water into his basin. He washed his face and splashed the cold water over his neck.

Aye, that was the answer. Avoid her. It would be better to cede defeat on the issue of her seduction than to have her possess any part of him.

How, you fool
? his reason demanded.
The ship’s not
that
big
.

And the temptation of her was just too great.

“I’ll bed the wench and be done with it.”

Aye, that would purge her from his system. A few quick tumbles in his bed and all would be right again.

Wouldn’t it?

“It bloody well better!”

L
orelei ate dinner alone that night in her own cabin. Jack hadn’t bothered to even send word to her. Not that she had wanted him to.

Still, it would have been common courtesy for him to take dinner with her, his captive.

A knock sounded.

Her heart pounded at the thought that he’d come to her room after all. “Enter.”

The door opened to admit Alice. Concealing her disappointment, Lorelei greeted her with feigned enthusiasm.

“We thought you might want to join us topside for awhile,” Alice said.

It would certainly be better than sitting in her room, bemoaning her situation and the fact that Jack had better things to do than waste time with her. If he wanted to do whatever it was he was doing, then fine with her. She would entertain herself.

“I would love to.” Lorelei folded her napkin and placed it on the tray beside her plate. “Just show me where to take this,” she said, indicating her tray.

“We’ll get it later.”

Lorelei followed her up to the main deck where men were lounging about, some of them still eating their meals.

A group of three sailors held instruments in their hands, a guitar, drum, and fife, and they were playing a beautiful ballad while another sailor sang in a deep tenor. Several other groups of pirates were off together playing cards or dice.

It was a rather congenial scene, one which might be found in any small town, she thought as she trailed along behind Alice across the deck. One of camaraderie and friendship. No doubt their shared time and experiences had forged strong friendships between the sailors.

On the poop deck, Mavis and Kesi sat with their husbands and Billy, who was smoking a pipe while he leaned back against a coiled rope.

“There she be,” Billy said as they joined the group. “I told you Alice could get her out of hiding.”

Lorelei blushed at his words. “I wasn’t hiding.”

“He’s just funning with you,” Alice said as she sat down beside him.

“Come, child,” Kesi said, motioning for her to sit to her right. “We’re just watching the sun go down.”

Lorelei sank down beside Kesi and studied the men around her. A few of them appeared truly gruff, but most of the crew were young men no older than twenty-four or so.

“Rain’s coming,” Tarik said as he studied the ribbons of pink lacing the dark blue and orange horizon.

“How can you tell?” Lorelei asked as she looked out at the beautiful sunset.

“I can feel it in me bones.”