The Elusive Flame (17 page)

An urgent knock sounded on the door, drawing a startled gasp from Cerynise and a sharp groan from Beau. He passed a hand across his brow, silently cursing the one who had been callous enough to intrude upon them at this most untimely moment.

“What do you want?” he snarled, rising up on an elbow and casting a glare toward the portal.

“Sorry, Cap’n,” Billy Todd called contritely through the barrier. “Mr. Oaks sent me down ta tell ye there be
a man from the magistrate’s office what’s come aboard ta see yer papers an’ check yer shippin’ dates. He says till ye’ve settled yer dispute with Mr. Winthrop, he an’ his men’ll be keepin’ a close eye on the
Audacious
ta make sure ye don’t try ta skedaddle.”

Beau was sure he could have committed mayhem upon Alistair Winthrop right then and there if the man had been within reach. “I’ll bring the papers up in a moment.”

Cerynise drew the sheet up to cover herself as Beau heaved a laborious sigh and swung his long legs over the side of the bunk. He sat there in deep frustration with an elbow braced on a knee and his forehead propped against his hand. He couldn’t believe that he had come so far to be forestalled at the very threshold of pleasure.

Turning on the bed to face Cerynise, he kissed her with undiminished passion. “Wait for me here,” he whispered against her lips and then smiled down into her eyes. “I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

Cerynise searched his face, not knowing what to say. The knock on the door had done more than startle her. It had awakened her to the realization of what she had nearly given him. He had, after all, made no pledge for the future, and although they were married now, he would undoubtedly want his freedom upon their arrival home. And if he asked for it, she entertained no doubt that she’d give it to him, for she would never dream of holding him against his will, no matter how deeply she might be hurt.

Better to keep him at arm’s length,
prudence whispered.
Then you needn’t worry that he’ll leave you with child.

Cerynise felt rather brazen watching her new husband dress, but if there was nothing more to be gained from their marriage than these small, intimate moments, then she would reap as many as she could before she closed the door in his face. That was coming soon enough.

“W
HAT DO YOU
mean, you’re not going to bed with me?” Beau railed at his young wife. “You were there just a little while ago. So what has changed since I went on deck?”

Cerynise had winced at each word he had shouted and couldn’t help but tremble before his glowering stare. She had anticipated his rage when she stated her position, but she hadn’t imagined that it would come in such thunderous tones. “Will you please lower your voice, Beau,” she begged. “You’ll have the whole ship knowing our business.”

In a vivid display of temper, Beau snarled and sent his log sailing across the cabin. It hit the corner of the locker, sending sheaves of papers flying helter-skelter before it plummeted to the floor. “I don’t give a damn if the whole world hears us, madam. All I want to know is what happened to make you change your mind while I was up on deck talking to that dolt of a constable!”

“If you’ll lower your voice, I’ll tell you,” Cerynise quietly assured him. “But if you continue shouting at me, I’ll leave this ship and let you sail to the Carolinas without me.”

Beau snorted cantankerously and stalked to his locker, where he knelt and began gathering up his receipts and documents. When he had left the cabin some moments earlier, he had felt as if his entrails were being drawn out through his belly, so caught up in the heat of passion had he been. To say that he was now acutely disappointed with his wife’s declaration would have vastly understated his distress.

“I know that you don’t really wish to be married, Beau,” Cerynise began nervously and abruptly quailed at the glare he tossed at her over his shoulder. Gathering her courage, she forced herself to continue, but now there was definitely a shakiness in her voice that she could not subdue. “If I allowed you to have your way with me and, as a result, got with child, your freedom would be jeopardized. I don’t ever want you to feel as if you’re tied to me simply because you may be pressed to do the right thing by your offspring. Therefore, if you’re still willing to take me to Charleston, I believe it would be better for us both if there was some distance between us. If I could have another cabin…”

Beau had the greatest desire to throw his log again in roweling frustration, this time to the opposite side of his cabin, but he restrained the urge to vent his wrath upon the already battered book. Instead, he unleashed it upon his winsome bride. “Damnation, woman! Didn’t I tell you before there’s not one left in this whole ship that isn’t stored neck-deep with cargo?”

Cerynise wrung her hands, knowing she wouldn’t be able to resist him if he plied her again with his persuasive wooing. He could steal her will away with no more than a soft, nuzzling kiss. “I’ll need only enough space on the floor to spread a blanket and a place to wash and dress.”

Beau mumbled a foul curse, and then, without saying a word, he marched to the cabin door, yanked it open and roared through the passageway, “Oaks!”

From there, he went to his desk and slammed the log down flat on top of it. His eyes seething with fury, he
gave her a withering glare that clearly conveyed his rampant disgust with the situation in which he found himself. Then he began to pace about with fists tightly clenched, his wrists folded one over the other behind his back as he awaited his second-in-command.

Cerynise watched him warily. In the nine years he had been on his own, Beau Birmingham had changed in ways she was just beginning to fully comprehend. Only the superficial traces of the boy whom she had remembered so well now remained. He was a more determined man than she might have once imagined he would become, one who had only to glance at her to make her keenly aware of his ire. He had grown accustomed to his authority and to issuing orders that were readily obeyed. By agreeing to marry him, she had entered an area under his control. As her husband, he had an absolute right to keep her ensconced in his cabin and make love to her if he so desired. Except that she had balked, and now he was having to deal with something that closely resembled mutiny in the ranks.

Footsteps swiftly descending the companionway brought their attention to bear upon the open portal, where a brief moment later the panting first mate appeared.

“You bellowed, Captain?” Stephen Oaks asked with a jocular grin.

“Aye!” Beau answered caustically. “Set some hands to removing the cargo from the cabin next door.”

Oaks seemed suddenly dumbfounded. “Where shall I put it, sir?”

“Anywhere!” Beau growled, throwing up a hand in a gesture of impatience and irritation. “Preferably in the other cabins if there’s room.”

Stephen Oaks was still perplexed as he inclined his head toward the accommodations next door. “What do you want done with this one once it’s cleaned out?”

“Outfit it for my lady’s comfort.…”

“Your lady…?” Oaks’s jaw sagged as he glanced from one to the other in confusion. “You mean…your…your wife, sir?”

“Is there
another
lady on board?” Beau questioned sardonically, settling his fists on his narrow hips.
“Of course, I mean my wife!”

Oaks was sure his hearing would never be the same. “But I…I thought—”

“Don’t think, dammit! Just do as you’re told!”

“Aye, Captain.” Looking extremely nervous and befuddled, the mate stumbled from the cabin with admirable speed, managing enough presence of mind to close the door gently behind him.

Cerynise almost felt sorry for the man, except that she was far more worried about herself and what might be forthcoming from her husband. She waited in trepidation as Beau pivoted about and stalked to the gallery windows, as if he couldn’t bear to look upon her another moment. Gazing out upon the river, he clamped his hands behind him again and stood with his long, darkly garbed legs splayed in a rigid stance, his polished boots planted firmly apart as Cerynise quietly began packing her belongings for her move to another cabin. She started as Beau’s voice broke the silence.

“You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it, too,” he challenged without turning. “You would have let me make love to you if not for the intrusion.”

Cerynise knew only too well that he was right, but she held her tongue, seeing no advantage in discussing how completely she had been swept away by his ardor.

“What didn’t you like about it?” Beau continued stoically. “Were you averse to touching me?”

Cerynise opened her mouth to deny the possibility and then clamped it closed, realizing she would only be giving him incentive to press for her submission if she let him know how thoroughly she had enjoyed caressing him.

“You refuse to say anything about what happened between us?” he rumbled.

“I dare not,” she meekly replied, facing his stalwart back. “I can only say that I found no displeasure in what we did together. It was quite delightful, in fact, but we
both know the consequences I would eventually reap by allowing you to have your way with me. Until I’m certain there is no doubt in your mind about wanting me as your wife, not only now but in the years to come, then ’tis best I withhold myself from you until our marriage is annulled.”

“So, you lay your trap for me like all the other women who wheedle men into marriage,” Beau accused snidely. “You give me a little tidbit to savor and thereafter dangle the sweetmeat on a string before me until I am besieged with anguish and finally consent to yield you everything you want if you would but give me what I seek in return.”

Cerynise could feel her temper rising at his callous conclusion. “Sir, may I remind you that marriage was your solution to leaving London with me
and
your ship.” She glowered as he faced her and continued on, her temper undiminished. “A titular arrangement was
your
idea, sir, but now you whine and bemoan the fact that I hold you to your proposal. Don’t give me any of your sniveling excuses about how difficult it may be for a man to be around a woman. That’s the price you’ll have to pay for wanting to return to your bachelor status once we reach Charleston! I haven’t asked you for anything more than what you’ve already given, and I urge you to be gentleman enough to do the same.”

With one last scowling glance, she strode to the door, yanked it open and made her departure in a decided huff.

“Dammit, Cerynise, come back here!”

Ignoring his gruff command, she seized her skirts and fairly flew along the corridor and up the stairs. She could hear his rumbling curses and his running footfalls in hot pursuit, but they only served to put wings to her feet.

She was breathless and flushed by the time she neared the last step. One glimpse at her gained the curious attention of nearly everybody within close proximity of the companionway, but what Cerynise hadn’t expected was a pair of young, stylishly garbed gentlemen who were just crossing in front of the stairs as she bolted to the deck. Their resulting collision caused her to reel haphazardly,
prompting one of the gallants to gasp and grab her arm in an attempt to halt her fall. At once, the man found his own wrist seized in a steely grasp.

“Take your hands off my wife!” Beau commanded, having leapt up the stairs three at a time in his haste to catch her. The jealous rage he had felt at seeing another man touch his wife nearly caused him to launch a fist into that one’s face.

“Your pardon, sir,” the gentleman apologized hurriedly as he loosened his grip on the lady and stepped back. “She seemed in danger of falling. Otherwise, I would never have been so bold.”

Mollified, Beau bestowed a stiff smile upon the man. It was the best he could manage at the moment, for he was still enraged with Cerynise for having fled. He caught her hand, and because he promptly sensed from the icy look she tossed him that she was determined to reclaim her freedom, he tucked the captured hand out of sight behind his back, where he held it firmly. Directing his gaze toward the man, Beau finally managed a verbal response. “I’m sure my wife is grateful for your assistance, sir. Thank you, gentlemen. Now, if you will excuse us, we were discussing a matter of grave importance.…”

“Are you the captain?” the second gentleman asked, seeming suddenly hopeful.

Beau gave the man a stilted nod. “Yes.”

The two strangers exchanged relieved smiles before the second one spoke again. “Your mate said you were indisposed, Captain, but we’ve traveled some distance to discuss a matter which should be of great interest to you. We have in our possession some rare artifacts which a merchant, who knows you, said might intrigue you since you’re a collector of beautiful art.”

“Just what are these rare artifacts?”

“Paintings, sir,” the first gentleman answered. “We’ve brought one with us so you can see the quality we’re talking about. Might you be interested in looking at it, sir?”

Beau could have chosen a better time than the present to give his attention to what they had brought, especially since Cerynise was still trying to get free of him, albeit surreptitiously, but he gave his consent, tenaciously hanging on to the slender wrist. In a moment the second gentleman, who had hastened to leave the ship, came back carrying a framed canvas wrapped in a soft cloth.

“Wait until you see this, Captain,” the first one said with a buoyant smile as he glanced at Beau. He awaited the unwrapping of the piece with close attention and then, as his companion turned the painting toward the captain, he swept his hand in a flamboyant flourish before it. “Have you ever seen anything so magnificent, sir?”

Cerynise gasped, recognizing one of her own paintings. It was a scene of a woman carrying a child and a basket of food to her working husband, who was holding his arms out to take the curly-headed youngster. Seeing it again under such circumstances, Cerynise had the greatest desire to laugh. Although the two men were oblivious to the compliment they had given her by claiming it was a rare artifact of highest quality, she squelched her amusement and leaned near Beau to murmur. “Dearest,” she cooed for the benefit of the two, “could I speak with you in private for just a moment, if you wouldn’t mind?”

Beau was confused by her endearment, but he made their excuses. In presenting his back to the men, he was forced to free his wife’s hand but he was instantly gratified when she slipped it demurely into the bend of his arm. After moving away a significant space to where they could talk privately, he faced her. “What is it, Cerynise?”

“Beau, I really think those men are trying to dupe you.”

He frowned in bemusement. “What makes you say that? The painting is very fine. It has a quality about it that I rarely see…such as the masters have painted in the past.”

Cerynise beamed brightly as she gazed up into his face. “Thank you.”

The truth struck Beau, but his amazement was swiftly compounded by his admiration of the piece. “You painted
that?
”

She responded with an eager nod. “Aye, and it sold for nearly five thousand pounds.”

“I never dreamed you could paint that well,” Beau admitted, feeling in great awe of her talent. He slashed his hand as if to negate his statement. “What I mean is that after you told me what your paintings usually sold for, I was expecting something far more commendable than my first notions of your ability, but I
never
expected talent worthy of a Rembrandt.”

“Oh, Beau, what a lovely compliment.” She smiled gently and lightly caressed his hand, all thoughts of anger expelled from her mind and spirit. “That’s the nicest compliment I’ve ever,
ever
had.”

“’Tis simple truth, my dear girl.”

Cerynise coyly played with a button on his shirt, causing his heart to lurch rather strangely in his chest. “Then you’ll tell those two you’re onto their schemes and that they’d better fly before you throw them overboard like you threatened to do with Alistair?”

Beau raised a hand invitingly toward the companionway. “Why don’t you await me in my cabin, my dear? I don’t wish you to hear our discussion. It may well burn your ears.”

“Yes, of course,” she replied, feeling immensely sorry for the men all of a sudden.

Beau waited until he heard the cabin door close behind her before approaching the two. “Gentlemen, I’m very interested in this painting you’ve brought and am wondering if you may have others painted by the same artist.”