The Surrender of a Lady (14 page)

She did as told because she wanted to concentrate on the moment and to stop thinking about what she gave up in ending their contract.

“Close your eyes and arch those pretty breasts toward me.”

As she leaned her head back against the wall, his mouth trailed hot kisses over her flesh. He shifted, and with his weight no longer pressing into her, she raised her head to see what he was about.

He retrieved a few lengths of silk, giving her that warm smile when he noted her curiosity. It was his boyish, naughty smile. Where the dimple in his left cheek winked at her.

“Do you remember our first night together?”

As if she could forget. All that had gone through her mind that night was a hope that he didn’t recognize her. Blindfolding her was a game they’d played often—until she’d finally removed her veil for him.

He wanted her helpless. Did he feel helpless when she refused to show her face? If he couldn’t see her, she wouldn’t be permitted to see him. It was that simple. Her price for shielding her true identity.

“That is how we will start the evening. You were so abandoned to your sense of duty that night. Will you free yourself to me again?”

She’d been some wild creature living in a fantasy that night, but managed to say, “Yes, anything for you. You know that.”

A few more hours and she’d leave her heart in his hands. She wondered if he had other games planned. Regardless, he would have to live out the last of his fantasies—she’d lived out all but one of hers.

Loving him. What was love anyway? There was no love here. Not for her. Love played naught in this game.

This was Lord Rothburn’s last session. His last night in paradise.

What Griffin would give to know Jinan’s mind right now.

He could see her thoughts scattering to the wind; her eyes were expressive enough to show him the truth of her state. Her gaze was distant, unfocused, and looking beyond him to the window.

It was in the way she no longer watched and anticipated his next move. The haze of the drug he’d given her was gripping her mind. Dragging her under. He hated that this was the only way to keep her. Hated himself for reducing her to his mercy, making her so helpless. But it was necessary.

No matter how often he tried to convince her it was better for her to leave this place, she refused his assistance. He could help her. Though she might not think he did just that after tonight. He was drugging her to remove her from the island. What did that reveal about his character? Aside from his being an ass?

He watched her bear down on the material around her wrists. Those dark eyes of hers focused on him again. They were cloudy, sleepy, the pupils dilated for reasons other than arousal.

Sure that her mind no longer wandered, he said, “Spread your knees farther apart.”

She complied, of course. She always did. Very rarely did she disobey a direct command. He wished she would, just to give him a better idea of her willfulness. In the coming weeks she was bound to fight him, but to what extent?

Her eyes slid shut for a brief moment, and he thought she might be holding back a moan as his fingers slid between the lips of her sex. Did she realize her whole body trembled when she fought to control her desire?

She looked him full in the eye. Her gaze seemed sad, melancholy. Did she regret this being their last night? He should feel guilty for what he planned. Though he wouldn’t forget any time soon that she’d been the one to refuse the renewal of their contract in a year’s time when she stood on auction again.

Drastic measures for drastic times.

Hadn’t he made it clear that he could not let her go? Hadn’t he warned her there was more than a contract between them?

“Close your eyes and arch those pretty breasts toward me.”

How did she bury her past so easily? Everyone had hardships to overcome in life. He’d been in his own personal hell and back; he knew all about it. He’d tried explaining that on more than a few occasions. Tried to open up to her. Not once had she admitted to the truth of how she’d ended up on this island.

Sometimes, he was sure she longed for something deeper between them. It was in her gaze, her touch.

She didn’t realize there was no giving her up. Not for anything in this world would he do such a thing. He’d always been a one-woman man. Even in the arms of other cyprians over the years, his mind was never far from this one woman.

Could she comprehend what a reprehensible act he was willing to commit to have her? How he hoped her hate would abate after a few days in his company. Time would tell, he supposed.

He hated doing this to her. He was selfish enough to steal her away from this life whether she genuinely liked it or not. He’d prove to her, somehow, that a life with him was better than this place could ever be!

He stood up from the divan. He’d bind her eyes; pretend this was like any game they had played in the past. Really, enjoyment was impossible, so overpowering was the disgust and anger he felt toward himself. Anger against the act he was forced to commit in the name of the woman he loved.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as if that would relieve the stress clouding his mind. He retrieved the silk strips hanging over the chair he sat on earlier. It would be easier on him if he didn’t have to watch her eyes cloud under the hazy hold of the drug. He turned to see her studying him with an avid eye. As avid as her drugged mind could be.

Silently cursing his stupidity, he managed to ask, “Do you remember our first night together?”

It was there in her expression. Such an easy woman to read.

It was easier to pretend a repeat of their first night than to reveal the depth of his deception. It was for the best, he had to keep telling himself that. She’d forgive him in the end. He had so much more to offer her than did this gilded whorehouse. This sad, low life. If she’d asked, he’d have given her the world. She never had. And he had to know if it was because of fear from living on this island with her owner. The only way to do that was to take her away from this place. He’d make it up to her in the end. He promised himself that.

Strange, though, there was still that niggling feeling he shouldn’t deceive her this way. That he should take her away from the island without the cloak of lies he was relying upon. It was too late now; there was nothing that could convince him this wasn’t better for her . . . for him.

In the long run, better for their future.

Because he wasn’t willing to part from her again.

In a few days she would be free from this place. Free to live the life she was meant for, and in time, any fear from being a slave should dissipate. Never had she given him reason to believe she’d been abused here. Not once had she shied away from his attentions, nor had she ever cowered in the presence of her owner. What was unfathomable was her wanting to live out the rest of her days here.

His plan was simple: give her a few weeks to adjust to life outside the harem, then take her back to England. How he was to reintroduce her into society, he couldn’t guess. But he was resourceful enough to find a way.

Tying the silk around her eyes, he watched the last of the daylight rays filter through the window. Dusk wasn’t coming soon enough. His hand smoothed over her stomach in a soothing, coaxing motion; anything to make the drug-induced state come on quicker.

She started to nod off. Her head sagged to one side and then jerked back up as she tried to fight off the tiredness weighing her down. She must never have been under the influence of opiates; she didn’t put up much of a fight as the drug pulled her beneath the surface of consciousness.

Pressing her legs closed, he braced his thighs on either side of hers in support. Her body finally giving out with the tincture, she slumped, her wrists tightening in the truss he’d slung her in. Pulling her against his chest, he loosened the knot easily and stretched her out on the divan.

The eunuch stood waiting on the outside of the room. The bribe had been negotiated a week ago. Griffin didn’t care what reasoning the eunuch had for his deception against Amir. This was his last chance to take Jinan out of here.

Tucking her body into his, he watched the entryway. He didn’t move until the eunuch’s hand appeared under the silks in the arch of the alcove. Griffin was given the count of five. He was off the divan, had shrugged into his coat, and had Jinan in his arms before the eunuch’s hand reached one and then lifted the silks aside.

Sliding under the material, Griffin nodded when the eunuch came into view. He kept to the wall until he hit the exit. There was only one exit out of the Pleasure Gardens, and Griffin had chosen the alcove closest to that door so he could make a quick and easy escape. Amir kept a tight watch on his harem girls. How the eunuch had rid the entry of the other guards he wasn’t sure, nor was he inclined to care.

Very few people wandered around this room after indulging in their sexual escapades. It was just after the dinner hour now, only a few hours of light left. This was the quietest part of the day here—so far as he had noticed. Amir had warned him this was his last night and that he wasn’t welcome until the next auction.

It was that simple for Amir.

Not so simple for Griffin to give her up.

He had paid handsomely for Jinan.

It was better this way. No use dragging out an inevitable conclusion. Anger faded in time.

Once in the main hall of the palace he found his way. His sense of direction was faultless. The eunuch took him to a servants’ entrance, seldom used when the palace wasn’t full of patrons, and led Griffin through a private garden.

The only room that looked out this way was Amir’s, and he was currently occupied in the inner harem. Or at least Griffin hoped the man was busy elsewhere, as he had been for the last three weeks.

Situated at the far end of the gardens, the door was well hidden by the shade of tall flowering trees. It opened to reveal the rocky embankment of the beach. There was no hope of safely making it through the main exit undetected; that area would be crawling with servants and guards alike.

Outside the palace walls, Griffin almost breathed a sigh of relief.

Not yet. They were not out of harm’s way yet.

He turned and looked at the eunuch. Jerking his head to the right, he motioned for the man to follow. Griffin had left Jinan a week ago and arrived back at the island yesterday, bringing his fastest ship with him. He had a feeling he was in for a race to escape Amir’s attempts at recapturing Jinan, the favorite harem girl. Or so Griffin was led to believe. She was his favorite girl, and he had so much more to offer than Amir.

Two days and he’d be at his private villa. Two days, and he could release Jinan from the servitude of this life. No one would look for him there, since he rarely set foot in his Brindisi villa; he’d seen it for the first time when he’d inherited it from his uncle. He preferred his own villa outside Florence, where the weather was more hospitable.

He carefully made his way down the stony terrain of the coastline. It was a difficult path to descend but this rock facing proved to be the only place to hide a skiff. Finally making it to the water, he saw the first mate lying in the bottom of the boat.

“Lord Rothburn.” The boy sat up quickly and took the oars in hand. He couldn’t be more than fourteen years.

Griffin nodded, deposited Jinan in the bottom, and turned to the eunuch. The man’s hand rested on his scimitar. Griffin pulled the emerald from his pocket, a five-carat family heirloom he’d had removed from a necklace. He held it toward the eunuch. It was pinched from his hands, pocketed so fast he didn’t see where, and the eunuch turned and trudged back up the rocky ledge.

Griffin stumbled down into the skiff and took the other set of oars. There was no sense in dallying. They needed to move.

“We move as fast as your arms can carry us, Jimmy.”

“Aye, my lord. We’ll be on the
Belladonna
in a jiffy. Timed it meself how long it was. Not more than a hundred pulls to get us there.”

Griffin looked down at Jinan. There was too much skin exposed, her belly and thighs visible. Why hadn’t he thought to wrap her in a blanket before making his way down here? Though the boy tried not to look at her, he was blushing a furious red seeing so much female flesh. Griffin clenched his jaw and cleared his throat. The boy tugged at his neckerchief when he caught Griffin’s angry expression.

“You’re sitting on the
ferace
and yashmak. Hand it to me, boy, and look toward the
Bella
.”

Griffin clenched his jaw, angry for the furious outburst toward the youth. But he didn’t want anyone looking at her. She was so much more than what she appeared. What did it matter? Once she was dressed in English fashion, no one would know she’d ever been brought so low.

He released the oars and snatched the muslin out of Jimmy’s hand. Pulling the silk robe, made for this occasion, over her head, he settled her more comfortably between his legs and put the yashmak in place over her existing veil. The less everyone saw of her, the easier it would be for her to adjust to her new life. He longed to be in the privacy of his villa. Clothes awaited her, both in Turkish style and English. He wasn’t sure what she’d choose.

He picked up the oars and put all his weight into pushing the skiff faster through the unsteady water. The sooner they were on the ship, the closer they came to reaching safety. When they hit the side of the
Belladonna,
ropes came down to haul them up.

In passing the captain, he informed him, “We sail to Brindisi as fast as you can.” He hadn’t taken any chances by telling anyone his plans, except his man of affairs, prior to abducting Jinan.

“Aye, me lord.” The captain seemed at a loss for words as he looked at the wrapped package carried in his master’s arms. The captain’s jowls wobbled, then he seemed to think better of saying anything and turned on his heel, barking out orders to raise the sails.

Griffin wasted no time in taking Jinan belowdecks to his own quarters. Sequestered there, she’d be safe from having to reveal her identity to anyone but him. His crew probably had figured out at some point today that he planned on bringing a mistress home since he’d had Jimmy placed ashore out of eye’s view.