Master of Seduction (24 page)

Jack declined his offer.

“Now don’t get that look,” he told Ben as the man’s face fell. “There should be a British Navy ship headed this way and the last thing you need is for them to find out you harbored me. I dare say, I might not be here to pull your neck out of the noose next time.”

Ben’s face visibly paled. “That is a most excellent point.”

“I thought you’d see it my way.”

“I shall send word out to Morgan immediately. Several of your crew have taken rooms at Regina’s.” Ben glanced out toward the docks nervously. “A British ship, you say?”

“Aye, and no doubt armed to the teeth.”

Ben pulled his gloves back on. “Morgan should have warned me.”

“He most likely didn’t think about it.”

“Yes, well, I have plans I need to make.” Ben gave Lorelei a curt bow. “I bid you good day,
mademoiselle
.” He mounted his horse, then headed away from them.

“Did you really save his life?” she asked as Jack led her down the street.

“Aye.”

“You are the most remarkable man.”

“Hardly.” Jack pulled her in the opposite direction.

The streets were fairly crowded with every kind of rough-looking sort. Prostitutes and peddlers constantly approached them, begging their indulgence.

“This isn’t a very nice place,” Lorelei said as she sidestepped a drunken man who was making his way past them.

Jack pulled her away from the man. “It was named the Island of Lost Souls for a reason. Just stay with me and no harm will come to you.”

Well, she certainly had no intention of leaving his side. No, she thought as she watched two men break into a fight, no intention whatsoever.

Jack led her into a large building at the end of the dirt street. It had been blue at one time, but the paint was in bad need of repair.

“Don’t worry,” Jack assured her. “The inside’s much nicer.”

And it was, too, she realized as she entered the foyer one step behind him. Expensive gold embossed wallpaper decorated the narrow hallway. Before them was a large, winding staircase.

A huge dining room was to her right and a salon to her left. Jack led her into the salon, which was decorated in the latest style. The chairs and sofas were Chippendale pieces covered in brown and maroon tapestry. Ornately carved tables were set around the room, which was occupied by even more rough-looking men and women, several of whom paused in their drinking and card playing to look up at her.

“Well, well, Jack Rhys lives,” came a deep, sultry feminine voice.

A plump woman of about thirty came in behind them. Her dark hair was piled in braids atop her head and her face was beautifully exotic. Her gown was a modest brown color that only emphasized her strange tiger-like eyes. And Lorelei didn’t like the way she was looking at Jack one little bit.

“Regina,” he said, with that charming smile that made Lorelei ache to kick him in the shin.

The woman called Regina crossed the room and gave him a large hug that was just a little too long and a little too tight for Lorelei’s taste.

“My sweet,” she breathed in his ear. “You look dreadful. It’s not like you to take after these dogs.” She gestured widely to the men in the room.

At last, Jack pulled away from her. “What can I say? I have had a rough couple of days.”

Regina cupped Jack’s chin in her hand and licked her rouged lips suggestively while she focused her gaze hungrily on his mouth. “You shall have my best room and I will order Davis to draw you a bath and give you anything you need.”

Jack removed her hand from his face. “Thank you. I would appreciate that.”

It was only then that the woman’s eyes slid from Jack to take in Lorelei. Regina arched one finely plucked brow. “Gracious, I thought
she
was one of your men.”

Lorelei took a step toward her, intending to let the wench have her full wrath.

Jack took her arm and gave a warning squeeze. “This is Lorelei Dupree. Daughter of
Sir
Charles Dupree, and at present she’s my hostage. I shall need clothing and supplies for her as well.”

“Ah, Jack,” Regina purred. “How I wish you’d take me hostage.”

“Another time perhaps.”

Lorelei felt her jaw go slack. That was it. She was going to poison the man the first chance she had. Or better yet, strangle him in his sleep.

Regina beamed. She looked back at Lorelei, and the smile instantly vanished and was replaced by a withering glare. “You know where your room is, Jack, and I have a special place for your hostage.”

Jack shook his head at Regina, then cast a skeptical look to Lorelei. “I’m afraid she will have to share my room. I don’t dare give her any opportunity to escape. She’s quite cunning, you know.”

And
she
was getting very tired of being spoken of as if she weren’t present. Another urge to kick him shot through her.

Regina poked her lips out into a becoming pout. “If you insist.”

“I do.”

“Very well. Davis will be up shortly.”

Jack excused them, then took Lorelei back into the hallway and up the winding staircase.

“‘I have a special place for your hostage,’” Lorelei mimicked as he led her down a paneled hallway to the last bedroom on the left. “I’d like to show her a special place. Who does she think she is?”

Jack opened the door for her and she walked into a clean, well-kept room with a large four-poster bed.

His eyes were alight with mischief and humor. “Why, Lorelei. I’ve never heard you carry on this way before.”

“Oh, just you wait. I’d like to strangle that woman. Not to mention you’d better hire a taster from now on when you dine with me, you randy knave.”

Jack closed the door. “May I strongly caution you against any inclination to confront Regina. She isn’t above sending
you
a cup of poison if you anger her.”

Lorelei paused. “What?”

“She’s extremely vicious when crossed.”

“Then why did you bring me here? Was it to flaunt your mistress at me?”

He burst into laughter. “My what?”

She saw red. “It’s obvious by her greeting that you two are intimate. I really don’t appreciate this, Jack. Not one little bit.”

“I can’t believe it. You’re jealous.”

“Yes, I am, you cad.”

He cupped her face in his hands and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. “There’s nothing to be jealous of. I came here because it’s the only hotel in town where prostitutes aren’t soliciting business in the lobby. Regina may be irritating, but she keeps clean beds and the food is almost edible. And as for being intimate with Regina, please give me credit for having some sense.”

She looked up at him suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

“I was raised in a brothel, Lorelei, and I learned early on the number of diseases a person can contract from promiscuous women. I’ve been very careful about my partners, and I can assure you bedding community property such as Regina doesn’t appeal to me.”

Lorelei curled her lip. “That’s so crude.”

“Crude or not, it’s the truth.”

Not sure if that knowledge made her happy or not, she walked stiffly to the other side of the room and took a seat at the table by the window. “Why do you keep telling everyone I’m your hostage?”

“Because the world is an ugly place and if I introduce you as anything other than my hostage, people will judge you harshly.”

And that thought bothered him. Greatly. She could see it in his eyes, in the rigidity of his body. And there was only one reason she could think of for him to be like that. “Is that what happened to your mother?”

Though she would have thought it impossible, he became even more rigid. “Aye, she didn’t start out as a whore. She actually had a decent family and a gentle upbringing.”

Jack sat on the bed and ran his hands through his unkept hair before he tugged his boots off. “Her father was a major who adored his only daughter. There are times when I’m trying to go to sleep at night that I can recall him. Or at least an image of him.”

Lorelei moved to help him pull his boots off. “What happened to him?”

“I don’t know.”

She gave a deep “umph” as his boot came free and she lost her balance.

“I don’t understand,” she said as she righted herself and placed the boot by the bed. “If your grandfather loved your mother then why did she—”

“She fell in love with a young naval officer who had the misfortune of already being married. He took advantage of her, and when she became pregnant, he swore to her he’d never let her suffer.”

He handed her his other boot.

Lorelei placed it by the first, then took a seat on the bed beside him. “But your father didn’t keep his word.”

“He did for a time. My grandfather had an estate in Northern England where we stayed. I heard people whisper dreadful things about my mother, but at the time I didn’t understand. For all I knew my parents were married and my father was off at sea like any other naval officer. Whenever he could, my father came to visit.

“It was on his last visit that everything changed. He told my mother that he was going to leave his wife. He wanted us to run off with him and leave England. We were supposed to go to America, where no one would know us and start our life together.”

“How old were you?”

“Five. I can still remember him carrying me out of the house in the middle of the night. I felt so safe and I was foolish enough to think he’d never hurt us.”

“But he did.”

“Aye. ’Twas all lies. He didn’t take us to America. He headed out to the West Indies and rented a small room at an inn. He told my mother that he was going to shed his uniform and buy us passage to America and that he would return shortly. He never did.”

Lorelei closed her eyes as pain for him washed over her. She couldn’t imagine how horrifying it must have been for the two of them. “What did your mother do?”

“She tried to find him, only to learn he’d set sail with his ship. He left us no money and no way home. She was devastated.”

Her throat tightened and she started to reach out, but something told her not to. That he wouldn’t welcome her comfort right then. “And you?”

“I’ve hated him every day since,” he said, curling his lip. “I watched my kind, sweet mother become an embittered shrew who hated me with every breath she took. And she was right—had I never been born she would have had a perfectly respectable life.”

Lorelei frowned, and in spite of her common sense, she touched his hand. “It’s not your fault.”

Jack shrugged her touch away. “I know,” he whispered. “But it doesn’t stop it from hurting.” His eyes burned into hers. “I don’t want to hurt you, Lorelei,” he whispered again. “God knows, I don’t ever want anything like that to happen to you.”

“It won’t.”

He sighed. “I wish I could believe that.”

A knock sounded on the door. Jack sprang to his feet so quickly, she nearly tumbled from the bed.

With a shake of his head, he fell back into his role of pirate and opened the door. Several servants entered carrying a washing tub, soap, water, towels, clothes, and food.

Once everything was in place, they left them alone.

Jack stared at the tub with lust gleaming in his eyes. “You go ahead and take your bath. I need to find my men.”

“We can share.”

“Don’t tempt me.” His smile was dazzling. “So long as we’re with people who aren’t loyal to me, I need to protect your reputation as much as I can.”

“Bully that,” she said flippantly. “I would rather have you.”

“And I would like to have you over and over,” he said, his gaze dipping to her breasts. “But unfortunately, it will have to wait.”

He pulled the key from the lock of the door. “I’ll lock you in. It’ll make it look more authentic.”

And with that, he was gone.

Bemused and disappointed, Lorelei stripped her clothes off and submerged herself in the hot water as she thought over what Jack had told her. She couldn’t envision what his mother must have gone through to have been so betrayed by the man she loved.

How she longed to give Jack the love his mother had denied him. To show him that she would never betray him.

“Oh, Jack,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

If only there were some miracle that could erase his past and give her hope.

I
t didn’t take Jack long to round up his crew. Only Tarik and Billy were missing. Both of them had gone with Morgan to look for him.

His men had been bursting with questions about what Jack had planned for their future, and of course he’d told them he’d buy a new ship.

But in truth all he wanted to do was find some quiet, safe haven where he could be with Lorelei.

Stow it, Rhys, you’re used to disappointment
.

“Captain!”

He turned at Kit’s shout. With Alice and Kesi escorting him, Kit ran down the stairs, through the salon, and launched himself into Jack’s arms. Jack stumbled back as ninety-five pounds hit him like a cannonball.

“I knew you’d make it,” Kit shouted in his ear as Jack hugged him close.

It was only then Kit realized what he’d done. Clearing his throat, he quickly extracted himself from Jack’s arms and straightened up like a rough and ready pirate.

He gestured to Kesi and Alice with his thumb. “The women didn’t think you’d survive. But I told them otherwise.”

“That he did,” Kesi said, ruffling Kit’s hair.

Kit bristled under her attention and stepped away from her. “Is Lorelei with you?”

Jack stifled his humor at Kit’s discomfort. “She’s above, changing into new clothes.”

“Glad to hear it. I wasn’t so sure she’d make it, being a girl and all.”

“Like her, do you?” Jack asked.

Kit shrugged. “She’s not bad for a woman.”

“Well, if you’ll excuse us,” Kesi and Alice said. “We’ll go visit with her.”

Once they were alone, Kit looked up at him. “Are you going to marry Lorelei?”

“What?” he asked, momentarily stunned by the unexpected question.

“I overheard Alice telling Kesi you’re in love with her. Are you?”

He didn’t know how to answer the question. “Love has nothing to do with it, Kit.”

“So, you’re just bedding her.”