Master of Seduction (17 page)

Mavis laughed. “We know. He is a man, after all.”

“Aye,” Kesi said, joining the laugher. “I’ve never seen a man yet what didn’t chase after a woman.”

Alice directed a piercing gaze to Lorelei. “But the question is, do you wish to be caught?”

I
should say not,” Lorelei answered emphatically as she placed her cup on her saucer, then returned them both to the table.

“Phew,” Alice said with a smile. “That be a lie and well we know it. There’s not a one of us here who hasn’t done her fair share of staring at that man.”

All of them blushed.

“Well?” Alice insisted. “Haven’t we?”

“He is a handsome devil,” Mavis said.

“Handsome and charming as sin itself,” Alice agreed. She leaned forward over the table and again turned that piercing stare to Lorelei. “Now admit it. You have thought about him at great lengths.”

Heat stung Lorelei’s cheeks. “This topic is completely inappropriate.”

Alice smiled and tilted her head as a mischievous gleam shone in her eyes. “Maybe, but haven’t you ever wished you could ask a woman what it was like to be with a man?”

If her cheeks got any warmer, Lorelei was sure they would explode. “I know the details,” she said primly. “Thank you very much.”

“Really?” Mavis asked.

Lorelei nodded.

“You’ve been with a man?” Kesi blurted out indelicately.

“No!” Lorelei gasped. “My grandmother told me what…” She cleared her throat. “Well, you know.”

“Your grandmother,” Alice said with a laugh. “I bet she didn’t tell you—”

“Alice,” Mavis said with a warning note in her voice as she came to Lorelei’s rescue. “I think you’ve embarrassed the girl enough.”

“All right,” Alice said, taking a sip of tea. She looked back at Lorelei. “But I tell you this. If I’d had a chance to see Jack in his altogether before I met my Billy, I most certainly would have taken it.”

That was it, Lorelei was definitely going to burst into flames. Alice’s words brought forth an image of Jack lying in his bed that she couldn’t banish, and with it came a burning deep inside her for him that was most overwhelming.

“If you’ll excuse me, I think I should retire to my room,” Lorelei said, quickly pushing herself up.

She needed to get away from them and from horribly inappropriate images that were terrorizing her. Well, the images that should be terrorizing her, but the most horrific part of all was the fact that none of it was terrible. She actually liked thinking of Jack that way.

Liked thinking of Jack taking her into his arms and…

She shut the door to her room and collapsed on the bed. “Stop it, Lorelei!” she breathed sharply to herself.

Think of Justin
!

She mentally summoned an image of him in his uniform. Aye, he cut a dashing figure. Tall, proud and…

Boring.

Really, Lorelei
, she could hear Justin’s stiff accent in her head as he chastised her yet again.
Do you not find me pleasing
?

Yes
, she thought in answer.
You are quite pleasing
.

But
? he asked again.

But he wasn’t Jack. His presence didn’t make her feel hot and cold at the same time. Around Jack she felt alive and vibrant. Alive and completely feminine.

Against all her arguments and sanity, she wanted her pirate more than she had ever wanted Justin.

“No, no, no!” she insisted. It wasn’t true. Justin would come here soon and rescue her, then all would be as it should. Jack would be out of her life and she would be thrilled over it. Yes, yes she would.

Yet her body reacted of its own accord. Her hand reached out to the sketch pad on her mattress and pulled it to her. She flipped to the page where Jack was and she studied her progress.

Aye, his back had just that curve. And sunlight had added a golden sheen to his skin.

His long hair draped down his strong neck. His hips…

She just couldn’t get his buttocks right.

Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine it.

It was no use.

Even more frustrated now, Lorelei set her drawing aside. She needed to get another look at his buttocks.

Lorelei! What are you thinking
?

“I’m an artist,” she whispered to herself. “I just want to paint what I see.”

Only she hadn’t really seen that part of him. That part had been hidden by the spread.

She heard Jack leaving his cabin.

Before she could think better of it, she tiptoed to her door and eased it open. Jack had just passed her door and she poked her head into the hallway to watch his…

He stopped, then to her horror turned around.

She was caught!

Embarrassed and horrified, she opened the door wide as a sudden thought came to her to explain her behavior. “It squeaks,” she announced as she swung the door back and forth. But the dreaded thing didn’t make a single noise.

She abruptly stopped the idiotic movement before it gave her away completely.

Jack cocked a brow. “The door squeaks?”

“Mmm,” she said, glancing at the hinges. “I was wondering if I could fix it.”

“With charcoal?” he asked as he dipped his gaze down to her hand.

She clenched the charcoal in her fist as she tried to think of a believable lie.

You’re caught
!

Refusing to yield victory, she lifted her chin. “Why, yes. It’s the latest thing.” She opened the door wider, then pretended to oil the hinge with her charcoal.

Jack took two steps closer, a half smile hovering on the edge of his lips. “Why are you flushed?” he asked and by the gleam in his eyes, she swore he knew what she’d been doing.

She swallowed. “It was…”

Think of something
!

“Hot in the galley.”

“Was it?” he asked.

“Very hot,” she finished.

Hotter than he could imagine.

Jack folded his hands behind his back and looked up at the hinge she pretended to grease. “Would you like me to fetch some lubricant for the door?”

“Uh…no. I think the charcoal worked. See.” She swung the door back and forth again. “No more squeaking.”

Just a whole lot of squirming as those steely gray eyes delved into her own.

“Very well then,” he said, his eyes laughing at her. “I shall leave you to your…matters.” He turned and walked away.

Lorelei dropped her gaze to his buttocks.

Ah, there was the curve she’d been trying to capture. The muscles were tight and his derriere was—

Not moving.

Lifting her gaze, she saw him looking at her with an amused smile on his face as he stared back at her over his shoulder.

“Do you like what you see?” he teased.

She stiffened. “There’s a stain on your breeches.”

He twisted around so that he could look. “Where? I don’t see one.”

“Oh, it must have been the way the light was striking it.”

“That must be it.” He mocked her with his tone.

Embarrassed to the very core of her soul and with her face burning as sharply as if she stood before a raging inferno, Lorelei gathered what little dignity she could muster. “Good day, Captain.”

“Good day, Miss Dupree.”

Lorelei turned and walked with as much grace as possible into her room.

Once the door was safely closed, she threw herself on the bed and curled up into a tiny, mortified ball where she laughed out her humiliation until tears fell.

“He caught me,” she breathed into the pillow. Could anything be worse?

He knew she’d been looking at his…

Oh, if only someone would kill her now and get it over with.

J
ack was smiling as he crossed the deck. So, the little wench was interested in him after all.

Now how was he going to play his next hand?

Lorelei still hadn’t finished the portrait of him. That was one way to lure her into his room.

Nay, he wanted something more subtle.

More subtle, hell. All he really wanted to do was call her to his room right this instant and quench the fire ripping through his loins. If he didn’t take her soon, he was going to go mad from the need.

All right, Jack
, he said to himself.
When it comes to seduction, you’re the master. What would you do
?

Dinner. That was the key. He’d pay Klein and the boys to play a little music on deck while he left his windows open. She liked to dance and he was going to show her dance steps she’d never before known existed.

Aye, tonight she was his.

“Kit,” he called, seeing his son bothering Pierson while he worked on repairing the sails. “I have a mission for you.”

Kit ran to him. “A mission, Captain?”

“Aye, I want you to deliver a message.”

L
orelei closed the door behind Kit. So, Jack wanted her to eat with him tonight. It had been awhile since he last made that request. And she remembered all too well the last time they’d shared a meal.

That stupid wager! Make him fall in love with her, indeed. What had she been thinking?

Well, tonight she had another plan. Forget their wagers. What she wanted was to finish her private drawing without him knowing about it. And she knew just the way to render the mighty captain helpless to her whims.

Tonight was the perfect opportunity.

Chewing her lip, she went back to the galley. Luckily all the women were still there and talking.

“Kesi?” she asked from the doorway.

They all turned to look at her.

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Lorelei said as she shifted in the doorway and prepared herself for yet another dreaded lie. Never in her life had she stooped to such measures! “I think I’d like to try that sleeping syrup you were telling me about.”

“Want to get some sleep, do you, child?” Kesi asked.

“Yes, I really do.”

Kesi excused herself and Lorelei led her back to her cabin. Lorelei went to where she kept the bottle in her chest and pulled it out. Holding it up to the light, she noted it was a rich reddish brown that should blend nicely with a cup of wine. “How much do I take?”

“Just a spoonful. Anymore and it’ll make you sick.”

Lorelei turned the bottle in her hand, trying to see the thickness of the liquid. “Does it taste terrible?” she asked, knowing if it did, Jack would know her game immediately.

“’Tis sweet-tasting actually. Mix it with wine and you’ll hardly taste it at all.”

Thank goodness.

“Thank you. I shall put it to good use this night.” Lorelei felt terrible over the partial lie she offered Kesi, but if she told her the truth, she’d never have given it to her.

Then again, Kesi might have.

She didn’t know why, but the four women seemed somehow determined that she and Jack should like each other much more than was proper.

Kesi took her leave to go order a bath drawn for Lorelei. And Lorelei began making preparations for dinner, or more to the point, preparing her concoction for Jack.

h
ours later, Jack was ready for his conquest to begin. The table was set with the best china, silver, and crystal. The windows were open and already the men were playing. He looked quite dashing in his best clothes.

All that was missing was Lorelei.

Satisfied with himself, Jack clasped his hands behind his back and glanced to the door that separated this room from his cabin. He smiled.

He’d scented his sheets in expectation of her surrender. There were a few candles strategically placed around the room for lighting, and in a few hours he would be feasting on her like a starving beggar.

A timid knock sounded.

His body reacted instantly to just the thought of her entering his web. “Come in.”

And she did. Like the fly to the spider.

Jack crossed the room to greet her. She wore a delicate cream gown that highlighted her skin. Her hair was caught up into a becoming halo of auburn curls that hung down over the column of her throat.

He bowed low before her. She raised her hand, which he brought to his lips for a kiss. “Rose again?” he asked as he inhaled the sweet, seductive scent.

She smiled warmly. “You said you liked it.”

Take her! What are you waiting for
?

Patience, he reminded himself. Now was not the time to pounce.

Though he wanted to. He really, really wanted to. And it was taking every ounce of his control not to force the issue with her.

“Dinner is already served?” She asked aghast as she looked at the food on the table. “Am I late?”

He shook his head. “You’re right on time. I just didn’t want us to be disturbed.”

“That makes two of us.”

Her words took him by surprise and ignited a slow burn in his blood.

“Careful, Lorelei. ’Tis a dangerous game you play. Don’t make an invitation unless you want me to accept it.”

By the light in her eyes, he could tell she had another flirtatious remark hovering on the back of her tongue, yet she withheld it. And deep inside he found himself wishing for a moment he was Justin. That he could spend time with an unguarded Lorelei who wasn’t afraid to let all her charms be seen. How much more enchanting would she be?

Then again he decided it was best she withheld herself lest he truly lose control.

Jack took her to her chair and held it out for her. The silk of her dress rustled as she moved and the soft feminine sound struck a chord in him. Never before had he been so attuned to a woman.

But this one…this one he could feel with all his senses and she set fire to each and every one.

Even though it was the last thing he wanted to do, he left her at her seat and took his chair at the opposite end. “You look beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you,” she said as she folded her linen napkin into her lap. “I would return the compliment, but I think you’re well aware of how well you look.”

“You think so?”

“You’re too arrogant not to.”

He laughed as he folded his own napkin. “I was wondering how long you could carry on your facade of being nice to me.”

Lorelei frowned.

“Is something the matter?” he asked.

“No…. Yes.” She looked up at him, her gaze puzzled. “I don’t know why I act the way I do around you, Jack. It’s never been in my nature to torment people and yet when I’m around you, I can’t seem to help myself.”

He could feel a tick begin in his jaw as he thought about her words. “If it makes you feel any better, my mother always told me I brought out the worst in people.”