Your Wish Is My Command (27 page)

He traced a finger along her cheekbone and looked at her with such … She couldn't bring herself to form the word, even in her mind.

“Why am I not working today?” she managed finally, through a throat suddenly tight with emotion.

“I called Jack,” he said idly, still stroking her skin, pushing her hair from her face. “He agreed to cover
for you today. I hope you do not mind my interference.

Mind? If it wasn't for the heavenly feel of his touch on her skin she'd have gotten up and done a victory dance right there on the bed. But no sense in giving him too much of an edge. “Um, no. I suppose that's okay.” Her nonchalance was totally ruined a moment later by the wide, satisfied grin that split her face.

“Thank you.”

He grinned then too, and she squealed in surprise when he suddenly rolled to his back and tugged her on top of him. She straddled him easily, her body already naturally aligned to his after just one night. “How could things be this perfect?”

It wasn't until he answered her that she realized she'd spoken out loud. “I'm uncertain of this myself. Perhaps all the stars in the night sky managed to find the perfect alignment. I do not question these things.” She squealed again when he rolled her beneath him. “Especially when they work in my favor.”

Jamie laughed, then moaned as she felt him insistently pushing against her thighs. Her hips shifted automatically, seeking once again what he had so generously proved he could give.

“Let me have you once more this morning, Jamie
amour.”

“Only once?” She didn't even care how pathetically needy that sounded.

Especially when he laughed and said, “Greedy wench. I think you're my perfect match.” He nudged inside her, prompting her to agree with him. Wholeheartedly.

“I cannot ever imagine a time when once will be enough,” he murmured into her ear. “I have plans for us today, but I find I cannot leave this bed without once again feeling your body tighten around mine.
”

Plans. Jamie wanted to ask him what plans, but then he was inside her, and all she could think was that a lifetime of this would not be enough.

“Sailing? Like, on a boat? With sails?”

Sebastien laughed as he held the car door open for her. They had enjoyed their walk back to the store. “I believe that is why they call them sailboats, mademoiselle.”

The sun was high above the horizon now, but the breeze was light and the temperature perfect. He could not recall a moment when he had been happier or more content. He had thought that moment had come only when he was deep inside Jamie and newly spent. But he was discovering that this contentment had little to do with physical appeasement. His soul was appeased just having her with him, her sunny smile aimed in his direction, her quick wit matching his so effortlessly, her—

“I don't sail, Sebastien.”

He laughed. Her sharp tongue, never too shy to tell him her thoughts. Yes, he loved even that.

“Ah,
mon amour,
and I am about to correct that sad state of affairs.”

“I'm perfectly happy with that sad state of affairs.”

Sebastien merely stood with his hand on the open door. Jamie grumbled, but she climbed into the driver's seat. He closed the door behind her. Even the prospect of folding his body into this small car and allowing her to propel them headlong down a crowded roadway did nothing to dampen his spirits.

She said nothing for several long minutes, then finally he heard the low sigh. He smiled and relaxed. “It won't be so bad as all that. I promise.”

“I didn't see anything wrong with what we were already doing today,” she mumbled.

“Ma chère,
have you ever made love on the deck of a sailing ship, the water rocking beneath you?

Jamie took another corner at a speed that had him grabbing for the dashboard. But it was the wicked smile she aimed his way that had his heart rate spiking.

“Maybe sailing does have one or two things to recommend it, after all.”

Sebastien laughed and settled back in his seat. As much as he could, anyway. “I do not understand why you choose a conveyance of such narrow parameters.”

“Now who's grumbling?”

“They make larger vehicles, this I know. You were gifted with genetics that made you tall and strong. I simply do not understand why you chose—” He was forced to swallow the rest of his words as she swerved into the parking lot of the marina they'd visited before. His hand was still pressed to his heart even after she turned off the ignition.

“Big baby.”

He looked at her. “The same might be said of your fear of sailing.”

“I never said I was afraid.”

“I don't believe I mentioned fear either. Merely my discomfort with the size of your car.”

She reached over and peeled his hand from the dashboard. “Uh-huh.”

He tried to think of a snappy retort, but wasn't fast enough. “Okay, I'll strike a bargain with you,” she said.

Amused—which he could afford to be now that his life was not in immediate danger—as well as intrigued, he lifted a brow. “Oh?”

“You feel this need to get me on a sailboat.”

“I just wanted to share—”

She lifted a hand, stalling him. “I agreed, don't push it. Now, since I'm making the supreme sacrifice
of abandoning all my principles of speed” —she pretended a shudder—“for sailing, well, I think it's only fair you make a sacrifice too.”

“I believe I got into this automobile willingly this morning. Is that not sacrifice enough?”

She smiled but shook her head. “I think you would be far more understanding of why I chose this car if you knew how to operate it.”

Sebastien opened his mouth, then closed it again. Thankfully, since he'd most likely have embarrassed himself.

“I will sail with you, if you'll let me teach you how to drive my car.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Come on, a big, bad pirate like you? What have you got to fear for?”

“My life?”

“Well, your immortality will come in handy, then, won't it”

She was out of the car before he could respond. Would that he could have.

His immortality. It was the first either of them had spoken of the improbability of this newly forged bond working for any length of time. But she had done so jokingly. And although he had to admit now that those fears had been hovering just below the surface of his consciousness since the moment he'd awoken this morning to find her still beside him, her hand folded within his, he would not give it a foothold in his mind. Not now. Not today.

He climbed out of the car, watching her as she walked into the rental office. The sun glinted off her hair as it swung across her back. Her long legs, beautifully showcased in her white shorts, handled the sway of the dock with certainty. She turned just then and waved at him, then curled her finger, beckoning him, her smile an obvious taunt. His heart swelled painfully
in his chest. No, he would not think beyond today. He could not bear to.

He crossed to the docks, idly wondering if he kept her out on the water long enough, she might forget about the second part of their bargain.

As he stepped onto the dock, she tossed him her car keys. “Here, hold on to these. You'll be needing them later.”

He laughed then and once again accepted his fate. This time, far more willingly.

Jamie leaned back against the prow and unabashedly watched Sebastien man the wheel. The wind had unbound his hair long ago and plastered his shirt to his chest. She felt something tender and raw fill her as she continued to watch him. This was his home, this was where he truly belonged, mastering the water with his own strength and power. She knew this because she saw the joy in his eyes. For the first time she felt as if she was seeing the man. Not the pirate, not the genie, but who he really was. Her eyes watered and she tried to blame it on the wind, but she knew differently.

He chose that moment to look at her. He motioned to her with a toss of his head. “Come on, it's time you learned her feel.”

Jamie laughed. “I'm feeling her just fine right here.” She'd be the last to admit it, but she did feel the power of the water and the movement of the boat—and she liked it. It was more elemental, less man and machine against the water, more man and boat moving with the water.

And she
was
dying to try the wheel. The only reason she was still sitting here was because she wasn't sure she could manage it without embarrassing herself.

was entranced enough—both by the effect the boat had on her, as well as the one Sebastien was having on her—that she didn't want to do anything to alter that perfect balance. The whole day was perfection; why ruin that?

“Now who's being the big baby?” he called out.

Well, okay, so there were some things she couldn't ignore. She stood and made her way toward him. The pitch and roll of the boat was very different from the ones she'd grown up on or raced. But it wasn't unpleasant. Not at all.

“Enjoying yourself
mon amie?”

She tilted her face up, squinting in the sun. “Yeah, I guess it's bearable.

He laughed and pulled her in front of him, positioning her hands on the wheel, keeping his hands on top of hers, his chest pressed to her back. She quite liked this little setup, but she'd be darned if she'd tell him.

He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck. “Do you like the feel?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

He grinned against her skin. “I mean the boat.”

“Handles just fine.”

He took his hands from the wheel, and the whole boat suddenly took a violent pitch to one side. “Whoa!”

Sebastien's laugh could probably be heard over the water as far back as the dock. He covered her hands again and quickly had the boat back under control. “A bit of a challenge?”

“Shut up.” But she was smiling. “I'll get the hang of this. Besides,” she leaned back against his chest, “if sailing means we can stand here like this, I'm all for staying out here as long as it takes.”

He chuckled and kept his hands next to hers on the wheel. Keeping his voice low and in her ear so his
tone matched the gentle swell and pull of the water, he explained how to work the wheel, how to feel the water and gauge the wind. Jamie felt lulled and energized at the same time.

“I guess I have to apologize.”

“For what,
ma chère?”
,

“For assuming speed equaled power.” She felt the wind and the water pull at the sail and shifted the wheel accordingly. A thrill of accomplishment filled her. “I felt it!”

“Yes, just like that. It is a good feeling, is it not? Instead of man against the elements, it is man working with them.”

“I was just thinking that earlier, while I was watching you.”

“What else were you thinking?”

“That you belong out here. I could see how much this meant to you, and I'm sorry I gave you a hard time about coming out here.”

“No need to apologize.” He was quiet for a moment, then said, “I missed this.”

“Seeing you out here, I can't imagine you stayed away.” She craned her neck around to look at him. “Why did you? If you were near Pontchartrain for this many years?”

She felt his shrug. “Perhaps I could not bear it. The longer I put it off, the less I allowed myself to think about it. Then it seemed as if that time in my life was meant to stay in my past.”

“I don't think I could have stayed away,” she said quietly. She hadn't thought he'd heard her over the wind, but he lowered his head to kiss her neck again.

“Would that I had found you sooner, ma chère. I believe all things happen for a reason. Perhaps we were meant to make this rediscovery together.”

She said nothing for several long minutes, then finally spoke what was on her mind. “Were you afraid?

Afraid that sailing again might make your … your new life harder to bear?”

There was a long pause and she felt him stroke her hair. “Perhaps.” He stroked her hair again, and again.

“And perhaps you understand me better than I do myself.”

She shook her head. “I think we are a lot alike, that's all. When I gave up racing, it was a long time before I trusted myself to take a boat out.”

“You feared the water would lure you back to life on the racing circuit?”

“Exactly.”

“But there is no life for the water to lure me back to. This is no longer the man I am.”

Jamie smiled. “You might not be a privateer any longer, but that doesn't mean you're not a sailor. That can be in your heart forever.”

“Maybe. I suppose I simply felt as if fate had yet again told me to leave one life for another. Maybe it was easier to just make a clean split of things.”

“Or maybe keeping this bit of yourself would have helped you make the transition.”

“Transitions. I have had enough of those. I suppose I have always felt as if I were cast in a role not of my own making. I've learned to make the best of what life has handed me, but to be truthful, I've always felt somewhat …”

Jamie let the sentence dangle for several moments, but when he didn't continue, she shifted around until she almost faced him, letting him command the wheel. “Somewhat …”

He looked down into her face. “Misplaced.
Oui,
that is as best as I can explain it. As if I have never truly had a home but have merely fostered myself in the homes others have provided. Or forced on me.”

“Have you ever gone home?”

“I'm not certain I truly have one.” He looked beyond her, out over the water. “Maybe you're right, though, about the water. Maybe this is as close to feeling at home as I can imagine.”

“I meant home to Corsica, to … I don't know. Find your people, your relatives, your real family.”

Sebastien kept his gaze on the water. There was a very long silence, and Jamie's heart ached inside her chest. “I'm sorry,” she said softly. “I wasn't trying to make you feel bad.”

“I cannot find my family,” he said, his voice rough.

“There are all kinds of sophisticated search engines now that help—”

“Non,
Jamie. I cannot find them, for I do not know who they are.”

“What do you mean? How?”

He turned her back around and pulled her close to him before taking the wheel in both hands again. “Valentin is not my own family name. It was assigned to me by my first captain. His cabin boy before me had been a Valentin, and it was simply easier for him to remember.”