The Captain of All Pleasures (12 page)

“I've never done this before.”

“You should have,” the woman confided. “It drives men wild.”

“Ah, that
tickles!”

“Stop squirming, Nic.”

Derek, his teeth grinding, heard a pause, and then the more sharply commanded, “I mean it!”

“You should have more sympathy. When was the last time you had it done?”

“I do it to myself. I could teach you if we had more time.” Christ, just what were they talking about?

Nicole sounded wistful. “I wish I did. I miss it here,” she added before she began giggling.

“We miss you t—Nic, I can't continue until you can stop your belly from quivering like that.”

Enough. His blood boiled. Jaw clenched, he yanked open the door and sucked in a breath, loudly exhaling as the scene before him unfolded. A fully, though scantily, clothed Eastern woman bent over a half-clad Nicole. Luckily, the woman snatched her hand away just as Nicole bolted up or, as he now realized, she would have had a streak of red henna going straight up her neck.

A feeling of acute relief washed over him. The woman was decorating Nicole's body with henna in the traditional Indian
mehndi.
His lips crooked up in a grin, which wasn't surprising, considering his intense satisfaction at finding her, and finding her innocently uninvolved. Maria, he thought with an inward laugh, had gathered exactly what he wanted.

“Sutherland! What are you doing here?” Nicole cried out. Could she know what her open shirt and hennaed skin did to him?

“I could ask the same of you. I was certain I'd see you again—I just didn't expect it to be in the home of a madam,” he replied. Then he hitched in a breath as he got a full glimpse of the braided vine design drawn on her creamy skin. It circled her waist like a bracelet, and then, in a pattern of swirls and buds, crawled up her torso to meet in a point between her breasts. In an instant, he knew the memory of her wide eyes and wildly decorated body would stay with him his whole life.

She was too astounded to do anything but gape at him, until she saw his heated stare assessing her body. Her hands flew up to grab the sides of her shirt to pull it closed.

“Oh, no, you don't,” the Indian woman, Sasha, commanded in a stern voice as she swiped at her hands. “The last bit isn't dry yet.”

She gave the woman an oppressed look and moved to the side of the bed. In a huff, she turned herself from him to button her shirt.

She stopped when she received a cuff to the ear from Sasha. “I'm sorry, Nic. But you won't do anything to ruin this
mehndi.”

The woman turned to Derek, her large flattened earrings chiming as her doe eyes flickered over him. Then she gave a pointed, amazed look to Nicole. “He is Sutherland, the man you spoke of?”

Nicole grimaced at the question, and a furious blush stole across her face. Derek was surprised but extremely pleased that she'd spoken of him to this woman. And obviously to Madam Maria, too.

Nicole glanced down. Evidently, she thought she'd covered everything important, so she whipped around to face Sutherland. But not before flashing Sasha a look that screamed,
Are you happy now?

Sasha looked back at Derek and gazed at him in awe, muttering something about powerful magic. As Nicole watched Derek, her expression changed rapidly from wary bemusement to outright exasperation, until she finally jerked her glance to the woman.
“What
are you talking about?”

“The
mehndi
is very powerful. It is already working.”

“Already working?” Nicole choked out. “You said it would bring me luck and ward off evil. But on the contrary, Sutherland's arrival is unlucky and
he
is not being warded off, so I'd say this stuff”—she looked down her chest—“is definitely not working.”

Sasha arched an eyebrow at her. “No, no, Nicole. Don't you see the lotus here?” She tugged up Nicole's shirt and pointed out a finely drawn, lacy flower on her flat belly. “I drew that for fertility and love. And then your mate just happens to walk through the door! It is most definitely working.”

Nicole's jaw dropped. “Sutherland is not my mate! A-and you can count on the fact that we won't need any luck with fertility, because there won't be any—any—”

“Planting?” he added helpfully as he bit back a grin.

“Planting?”

She was angered that he played with her, but he couldn't help it. He found he enjoyed teasing her.

“Again, what are you doing here?” she demanded.

He'd watched the whole scene between Sasha and Nicole in grinning amusement. But his grin was wiped off his face when the lapel of Nicole's shirt brushed a hardened, pink nipple just visible under the linen. Fascinated, he hardly trusted himself to speak intelligibly, so in response he smiled down at her, hoping it didn't look as predatory as he felt, and answered her question with a question. “What do you think I'm doing at a brothel?”

“Oooh, get out!” She threw a silken pillow that he easily dodged and didn't notice when her shirt gaped open even wider. “You have no right to be in here. This is private! If you came here to cart me away, you'll soon realize that won't be happening.”

He might not have come here expressly for that purpose, but carrying her away was exactly what he'd been thinking of. For her to presume so…His half-smile was replaced by a sneer. “Don't flatter yourself, princess—I did not come here for you.”

She blinked up at him, and he could swear he read a look of regret in her eyes before she turned to the bewildered woman. “Sasha, please go get Berto and see that this man is dragged out of here. Violently!”

“I'm afraid we can't do that,” Maria said as she swept past Derek into the room, her silks and exotic scent trailing delicately behind her. At a nod from her, Sasha quitted the room, and Maria continued to them, “We'll have to come to some kind of agreement until he decides to leave. You are my little
bella,
but he is a good customer,” she said as she pinned Derek with a pointed look.

He nearly flushed. To change the subject, he said, “Maria, I would like an explanation as to why Jason Lassiter's daughter is in this place. Now.”

“This place? You make it sound awful. Though you certainly never complained before.”

It riled him to see Nicole trying not to smile at Maria's set-down.

“An answer!”

Maria replied in a casually conversational tone, “She is a daughter to me.”

 

Maria looked at Sutherland's dropped jaw and bit back a laugh. This was going to be too much fun.

“Daughter to you?” he managed.

“Yes, I have known her for fifteen years.” She paused before she asked, “How long have you known her?”

Sutherland gave her a tight, impatient look.
“How
do you know her?”

Maria looked to Nicole in question. Nicole responded, “I don't care.”

Still Maria hesitated. It was only partly her story to tell. Plus, she doubted she could conceal her feelings for Jason if she spoke of him. But what did it matter? Nicole knew. It seemed as if everyone knew. Except Jason.

And Maria sensed Nicole wouldn't mind Sutherland learning more about her. Reluctantly, she began, “I was reading here one night when a messenger brought me an urgent request. An American captain was losing his wife in childbirth.”

She paused and swallowed. “No one, not even the one doctor here, would help them because a couple of cases of yellow fever had come in on an American ship the week before. I was afraid as well, but the thought of some poor woman…Well, I had no nursing skills, but in my business I've certainly helped birth a number of children. It was what the American thought when he sent for me.”

Maria encountered the familiar sadness as she continued, “When I arrived at the ship, the screams echoed along what would have been silent docks. I hurried on, but when I saw the woman, I knew it was too late. She'd lost far too much blood. Jason Lassiter, of course, was the captain. I'd never seen a human being who was so beside himself in misery.” Her voice had lowered to a whisper.

Moving to Nicole's side, she looked down at the girl she had come to love as a daughter and smoothed a curl behind her ear. In a stronger voice, she resumed, “He didn't care that I was a madam. All he cared about was his young wife. We struggled all night, and finally a baby girl was born. But they were too weak and within the hour both had passed away.”

She paused when she saw Nicole's watering eyes. Sutherland saw, too, but he looked surprised, as though grasping how little he understood about Nicole and possibly Jason. Dragging his eyes back to Maria, he commanded, “Continue.” She only raised her eyebrows at him until he reluctantly added, “Please.”

“Jason became…inconsolable.” She recalled that fateful night so well, it was as if she could still hear him yelling, weeping, smashing anything within reach. “None of his crew could restrain him.”

She absently stroked Nicole's shining hair. “My heart hurt for them, the little mother so brave and the husband so in love. I began making arrangements for her and her baby's burial. Just when I was about to leave, Nicole, such a beautiful child, ran after me. She was terrified and crying, and when I picked her up and quieted her, she clung to me as if she'd never let go. I told a crewman I was taking her and bullied him until he let us go. She fell asleep in my arms that night, and I have loved her since.”

Sutherland paused, seeming to digest all she'd told him, but then a muscle pulsed in his jaw. “This visit's over,” he said abruptly as he strode over to Nicole and grabbed her arm. “You're coming with me back to the ship.”

“Maria!” Nicole called, trying to twist away.

“Anything you have to say to Nicole can be said here,” Maria said in an authoritative tone.

“Maria, please! You're not allowing him to stay! This man hunted Chancey and me down in London, offering outrageous rewards—”

“You knew that, damn it?” He ran his free hand through his hair. “Why did you hide from me?”

“Why? Do you think I'm daft?” she asked, finally wrenching her arm out of his grasp. “You were out for revenge.”

“Is that what I was looking for?”

“What else could you want from me after that night?”

Maria watched the two interacting and knew what Nicole had just said angered Sutherland terribly. Surely if the man offered rewards for her after their brief acquaintance, he wanted more from her than that. Looking at her lovely Nicole and seeing the way the two sparked off each other, she didn't see how he could be unaffected.

Yet instead of telling her that, he simply looked her over slowly. “Yes, that would be the only conclusion.”

Meu Deus, perhaps I made a mistake hoping for these two.

“Of course it is. See, Maria…” Nicole turned beseeching eyes toward her. “He wants to get me back for that night. You can't let him.”

“She doesn't have any say in the matter,” he snapped.

“Of course I do, Captain,” Maria countered. “If I call, guards will come here and stop you. Or you can be civilized and speak with her here. But I warn you, if you so much as raise your voice, you are out for good.
Compreenda?”

He looked from her to Nicole, and finally gave a quick nod.

“Well, that's just fine,” Nicole fumed. “He can choose to stay here, but I don't have to. Let go of my damn arm, you beast.”

“You didn't think I was a beast that night in my cabin….”

Maria studied them as they argued back and forth. She'd never known two people so right for each other.

Or two people so completely ignorant of that fact.

The coldness in the captain's heart wouldn't be able to withstand his unrelenting desire for Nicole. And he wouldn't try to diminish her passion and fire because he craved it. Nicole, so full of impulse and mischief, needed the reassurance of strength of a iron-willed man. She also needed his dark sensuality to sate her.

As she had thought, the man hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. That, coupled with Derek's behavior with Juliette, rendered her decision settled.

Backing toward the door, Maria smiled. “I think, my little
amantes,
that I will just leave you two in here and let you work it out for a bit.”

She slammed and locked the heavy oaken door.

Y
es, sweet, she's left you unattended, and I assure you I'll take full advantage of that fact.” His lips curled as he slowly moved closer to her. “Unlike you, I could not be happier with our circumstances,” he said in a low voice.

She couldn't believe it. He'd just satisfied his lust with one of the women next door. He'd admitted that he'd come here to visit the brothel—not her. Just how many times could a man be with a woman in a single day?

She'd be damned if she would find out this way. She could just imagine him comparing her body and face to the beautiful courtesans inside the bordello. She would fall far short.

“Stay away from me. Let me pass to the door.”

“Let you go? As easy as you please?” he scoffed. “I don't think so…. I've waited for a month to touch you again.” He reached out and stroked a stray curl. “Do you know how much I've thought about our night together?”

Before she could stop herself, she stammered, “Y-you have?”

“Of course I have. I want you.”

She came close to asking whether he'd just had a good enough substitute, but she did not want him to think she was jealous. “Why can't you leave me alone? I don't want this.”

He surveyed her with hooded eyes. “You might think you don't want this, but your body is telling me something different.” He ran his hand over her breast, just a swift, fleeting brush, and heat bloomed inside her. She jerked away from him, stifling a gasp.

“Damn you, Sutherland. Just leave me alone.”

“I can't seem to do that,” he said slowly, as if he surprised himself by his admission.

“Well, you'll have to. Even if I were attracted to you—which I'm not—I could never let down my guard with you. We're opponents. Although this race means nothing to you, it means everything to my father and me.”

“I know the race is important.” He ran his hand through his hair. “That ass, Tallywood, has the lead.”

“What?”

“I found out this morning. I know I should leave and go catch him, but for some reason, where you're concerned…” He trailed off before grabbing her wrist and pulling her to him. He bent down to give her a light kiss on her neck, a bare flick of his tongue that made her tremble. “In fact, even though I know I should sail soon, I'm still spending the rest of the afternoon in bed with you.”

She couldn't stand this. Thoughts of the race, of Tallywood leading, dissipated with each of Sutherland's slight touches. She imagined what they could do together for an entire afternoon.

What kind of wanton was she? The bastard had just finished making love with someone else; yet he was kissing her a few minutes later. Hadn't she learned the first time that she was merely one woman out of a long line of many? It infuriated her because she knew, she wasn't sure how, she simply knew that she wouldn't experience the same wonder and fire with another man. Whereas he probably enjoyed those feelings every night.

She made herself remember that if she won the race, if she defeated the man holding her now, she secured her future, as well as her father's and Chancey's. She needed to get that animosity growing between them again, because she couldn't trust herself to hold firm against him.

She backed away from him, glaring at his hand firm on her wrist. He scowled and released her.

“Are you navigating your ship?” she asked abruptly.

He looked nonplussed. “Of course.”

She swallowed, then said arrogantly, “Excellent. It will be that much sweeter when I beat you.”

“Are you insinuating that you're directing your ship?” He gave a quick, humorless laugh, then added snidely, “No wonder you lost your rudder.”

Her blood boiled again, fortunately this time from fury. “I won't be there to clean up your careless calculations again,” she taunted. “You'll be lucky to get out of the harbor.”

“Those were rough…” His words lagged as his expression turned to realization, only to be replaced by one of annoyance. But his eyes never stopped showing hunger.

“Your ploy won't work with me, Nicole. The fact that you have to contrive a fight tells me you want me as much as I want you.”

She shook her head in weak denial. His long arm shot out to secure her again.

No thought, she just reacted.

Grasping a chair beside her, she simultaneously leapt away from him and yanked the chair between them. The spindle of the chair back caught him squarely between the legs.

His jaw clenched as his eyes slid closed, and he stood motionless as if waiting for the pain to set in. When it did, his eyes opened to a murderous glare. Just before he dropped like a rock.

“Oh, my Lord!” she squealed as she sank down beside him. “I'm so sorry…. I only wanted to get away.”

This only aggravated him even more. He groaned out with effort, “You…will…pay…”

Nicole did not have to linger to know what he was about to say. She whirled to the door and hammered it with open palms. Immediately, the key turned in the lock.

Just before she walked out, she turned back. He was right. She'd created a fight, but she hadn't intentionally hurt him. She wanted to apologize again, but convinced herself this was just as well. Finally she said, “I'm not unaware of the pain you're feeling…. I wouldn't have done it on purpose.” She wanted to say more, but made her heart hard. “Good luck with the rest of the race, Captain. You
will
need it.”

 

Derek winced as he took another swig of brandy. He couldn't draw deeply because of the ache in his groin, acute even after two hours. Nicole had definitely given him something to remember her by.

When he'd been able to walk steadily again, he'd searched for her in Maria's home. He approached the bordello, but learned that Nicole had never been allowed inside. Word must have spread about him, because the women in the brothel became openly antagonistic when he demanded to know where she was. A pack of wolves wouldn't defend its cub that fiercely.

So the little chit was navigating. Before, it'd been important only to see her and finally take her as she'd wanted him to in London. Now, with her arrogant taunts, he had to best her.

With halting steps, he walked across the deck to meet the Recife port official, who'd just completed inspecting the ship for any exports. The rough-edged but prospering little port of Recife was unswerving in searching for and taxing goods. Derek had heard once that Maria Delgado was responsible for the port's aggressive taxing and collection initiative. Knowing her business acumen, he didn't doubt it.

When the man finished the record of the
Southern Cross
's docking and inspection, Derek said, “That was quick,
senhor
. Not that I'm complaining of course,” he added jovially. He'd already decided to garner some information about Lassiter's crew from the self-important little man.

“Yes, I know you are in the Great Race, so I thought I might hurry you along,” he said in a magnanimous manner as he handed the papers to Derek.

“My thanks.” Derek paused before asking, “Have you already checked the
Bella Nicola?”

“Not yet.” Twirling his perky mustache, he leaned closer to add conspiratorially, “I also hurry to go see Captain Lassiter's daughter.”

Derek forced a benign look onto his face even though he wanted to throttle the man simply for his interest. Apparently, Miss Lassiter had admirers everywhere she traveled. He schooled his features as a thought occurred to him. “She is beautiful, isn't she?”

After listening to the inspector's enthusiastic agreement, Derek remarked, “You know…you might want to be extra kind to Miss Lassiter.”

At the man's quickening interest, Derek shook his head sadly. “Yes, it appears that the girl developed quite a
tendre
for me. But when she made her interest known, I had to set her down. Pretty girl, but with my being an earl—well, of course, men of my title and status can't go around marrying commoners, you understand.” The man nodded as if he completely understood the myriad trials of being an earl.

Derek had a hard time keeping a sober face. “She was very distraught. So much so that she swore to me she wouldn't wait but would marry the next man who proposed to her.”

“Truly?” the official asked in a voice gone higher with excitement.

“Truly. I think she might play hard to get because of her experience with me. But the fact is, the girl greatly desires to be married. And as her father is desperate to get her off his hands, I know he would be only too happy to speak at length about her substantial dowry.”

“Thank you,
Capitão
. Thank you,” the official said fervently. He took Derek's hand and shook it with irritating zeal.

After Derek had finally extracted his hand from the man's grip, he added, “And,
senhor
…Miss Lassiter greatly admires strong, I daresay, domineering men—men who aren't afraid of charting a course and following it unwaveringly. Be warned, the clever girl might try to test your dedication.”

“Many thanks. I go now to see Miss Lassiter!” He confidently saluted Derek.

As the man marched away, Derek could swear he heard the official chanting to himself,
“Forte, bravo, dominante!”

Derek took satisfaction in the thought that Nicole had no idea the hounds of hell had just been unleashed, and merrily sent panting in her direction.

 

“The nerve, the utter arrogance of that man! He wanted to make love to me, Maria. As if I would ever. I wanted to slap him. I will win this race, just so he will lose—”

“Nicole! If you could stop cursing the captain for just one moment,” Maria began over Nicole's tirade, “I would like to tell you something.”

Nicole shut her mouth, frowned, and poured tea. “Very well…” she mumbled.

Maria took the offered cup. “I've been trying to tell you all the way from the house that Captain Sutherland did not touch Juliette. After only a brief kiss, he told her he couldn't be with her.”

Reaction exploded in Nicole's heart; thoughts roiled in her head. He hadn't made love to Juliette? Why couldn't she tell he hadn't just been with another woman?

She'd been comfortable as an adversary to the rake, especially when she thought of him with Juliette. But now that Maria had told her the truth, her emotions catapulted to the other extreme. She replayed that last ill-fated meeting between them, imagining that she'd done everything differently. Hadn't wounded him so badly.

How could she wait until after the race to tell him how sorry she was?

“Oh, God, Maria! I have
feelings
for the captain!”

“Muito bem
. Very good.” She smiled. “I'll give you my professional opinion. The captain behaved as he did because he is already in love with you.”

Nicole absently swished the end of her braid against her mouth. “No, it can't be love on his part.”

“Trust me. There is something very strong between you. You two would do well together. It won't be easy, but love seldom is.”

Love from the captain? Nicole shook her head. “He probably hates me now. Did you forget I assaulted him this afternoon?”

“He'll recover. You could help him with that when you next see him,” she said, and chuckled.

Nicole's eyes went wide. “Maria, I need to talk to you about…all that. You have to tell me everything, so I won't make a fool of myself with him next time.”

“Ah,
bella,
it's simple.”

Nicole leaned forward in her seat.

“There's one rule. All you have to do is—”

A knock interrupted her. Nicole scowled. “What is it?” she called out.

Chancey ambled in. “Ye got a message, and the port official's here to sign off.”

She rose in a huff, took the message, and tossed it on her desk. “Maria, I'll be right back. Make some more tea—I have so many questions for you.”

She hurried out the door to meet the official. He was a stout little man, trollish and brimming with condescension. Even after she'd signed the papers, he lingered, hovering about her.

“Yes?”
she sniffed in her haughtiest tone. She was dying to get back to her cabin and hear the one rule.

“Miss Lassiter—I wish to speak with you about your recent unfortunate affair.”

“My what?” She froze.

“Your heartbreak. I know of it, as well as your plans to marry. I have come to offer myself.”

“Sir, I have no wish to marry anyone.” She strove for calm. “I'm sorry, but you should leave now.”

Unaffected, he twirled his moustache. “Ah, yes, now you play hard to get. But I will overcome you.”