Deceptive Lord (Lords of Bondage) (6 page)

He paused, seemingly lost in thought.
“
I don’t know.
What you do is your business.”

She didn’t understand why his views differed from the rest of Flourdan society.
For his sake, she hoped he would find a mate who would desire no others.
She
relaxed while the boat rocked with the waves.
After a couple of hours, the lords
indicated they
were hot and would
need to
take a swim.
She watched
Lord Woodcock, Vane, and Julian
as they
jumped overboard wearing their short tunics.

Audrelia looked longingly at the ocean.
“I want to get in the water.”
She pulled off her long outer tunic, which was made of a heavy material.
She turned to Eden.
“If you wish to get in the water, you’ll have to get rid of that outer tunic.
The weight of it will drown you.”

Eden nodde
d and removed her outer tunic.
Her short tunic made of
a fine
linen would not hamper her while swimming.
She knew how to swim, but she had not
spent as much time
in the ocean
as Audrelia
.
She joined Audrelia in the water, but was unprepared for the waves, which sent her under.
She emerged sputtering and she watched while Audrelia swam further out into the ocean.
She could hear Jules on the boat yelling for Audrelia, telling her to stay closer to the boat.
It appeared that Audrelia wished to ride some waves.

Eden swam a few feet to reach the group of lords in the water.
She couldn’t help but notice that Lord Woodcock was staring at her
with an odd expression.
“What is it?”

“I’m not used to seeing ladies in the water.”

My, he really had a sheltered existence.
“Ladies do swim, you know.”

“The ladies do not swim with the lords, however.
Trust me, Kane.
None of us are used to seeing the ladies in the water.”
Julian’s laugh waned as his attention became diverted.
“Is that a ship
I see
in the distance?”

Eden
squinted
h
er
eyes and saw
the
shape of a large vessel.
It sported
a yellow flag with red stripes.
“That’s not a Flourdan ship.
”

“
It could be a merchant vessel and nothing to concern ourselves with, but I’ll let Jules be aware of it
,
”
Vane said.

Lord Woodcock
looked at Eden.
“We should get closer to the boat, just in case.”
She nodded and they swam
toward the boat.
Vane had replaced Jules in the boat and was helping Audrelia out of the water.
Jules appeared to be swimming further out to get a closer look at the vessel in the distance.
Lord Woodcock
swam toward the back of the boat to reach the small ladder hanging off the side.
“Let’s get back on the boat.”

Eden climbed up the ladder and waited for Lord Woodcock.
She shivered in the breeze and glanced toward the area of the boat that contained her clothing.
It was lying where she
had
left it at the front of the boat.
However,
Audrelia was presently sitting in Vane’s lap and they were locked in a passionate embrace.
Kissing a lord was definitely not permitted, but Audrelia did not look like she cared that she was violating that rule.
She stood watching them, indecision weighing on her mind regarding whether or not to interrupt the couple.
They could both wind up in a great deal of trouble if caught, but Nefertiti wasn’t around to catch them.
Lost in thought, she had forgotten Lord Woodcock was
behind her until she felt him bump into her.
She moved forward a few steps to allow him to get onto the boat.
She turned to face him.
“There’s something going on over there.
Should we say something?”
He remained silent and his stare grew more intense.
She noticed his eyes flash and turn a dark reddish color, which was odd.
“You’re not listening to me, are you?”
She
needed
him to help her figure out what to do about Audrelia and Vane
, but he seemed to be preoccupied with his own thoughts
.
“I’m thinking maybe we should stay here for a few minutes and give them some privacy.
What do you think?”

He glanced at the couple.
“Yes, let’s stay here.”

Eden glanced toward the front of the boat again.
Vane was trying to free himself from his tunic and Audrelia’s tunic was already pulled up to her hip.
Going at that rate, the couple would probably be getting some action in less than ten minutes.
She
turned facing away from the other couple and
laid
down in the boat, hoping the sun would dry her tunic.
Lord Woodcock
sat down beside her and
she could feel the weight of his stare.
She
tried to ignore her nervousness.
She
closed h
er eyes
and tried to relax
.

A few minutes later, they were joined by Jules, who uttered an expletive when he saw the kissing couple.
He stalked toward them and
yanked Audrelia off Vane’s lap.
“What the hell are you doing?”

“What the fuck, Jules,” Vane complained.
“Why don’t you mind your own business for once and go take a swim.”

“You’ve lost your mind, Honeybone.
You cannot hope to do such a thing and avoid discovery, and you know that Nefertiti would be unable to handle this kind of betrayal.
She would try to have both of you killed,” Jules said.

Audrelia shot him a look of defiance.
“I don’t need your protection, Jules.”

“He’s just using you for a simple fuck,” Jules said.
“He doesn’t care about you.”

“I don’t require caring.
I’m only interested in the hard thing beneath his tunic, and
for once, you can stay out of my affairs.”
She rushed forward suddenly and threw her entire weight into his body, trying to push him overboard.
He caught her and held her while she struggled.

“You need to cool off,” he said as he threw her into the water.
As a barrage of curse words were hurled at him, he dove into the water and swam after her.

“Fuck Jules,” Vane complained.
He stood and paced within the boat, clearly agitated.
Judging from the state of his tunic, which was tenting, it appeared that Jules had put a stop to
things before it had
a chance to
progress too far.

Eden had stood when the commotion started and she watched as the events unfolded.
Jules was angry and she realized
he would
probably never let them accompany the
lords
on any future outings.
When her eyes met Vane’s, he stopped pacing and star
ed
at her intensely.
His hungry look made her feel naked,
then
it finally dawned on her that she probably looked that way.
She looked down at herself and noticed that her wet tunic hid nothing.
Her eyes slid toward Julian and she noticed that he was looking at her in a similar fashion.
She supposed this must be the reason why the lords and ladies didn’t fraternize with each other.

She walked toward the opposite end of the boat
and stretched out, hoping that her tunic would dry faster if she laid flat o
n the bottom of the craft.
She was absolutely drenched.
If she tried to put on her outer tunic now, she would be stuck with two wet garments.
She hoped that the wet tunic concealed her body well enough, but she had a feeling that it did not.
Lord Woodcock sat down beside her and she felt burned by the heat of his gaze.
“Stop staring.
It’s not gentlemanly.”
He
ignored her and
continued to stare.
His gaze lingered on her chest, which made her all too aware of how her nipples protruded through the thin wet cloth.
She found it harder to take a deep breath.
“You could afford me some privacy.”

“I could, but I still haven’t learned those qualities you spoke of earlier, like obedience.”

Flustered, she closed her eyes and tried to block all of the lords from her mind.
Her eyes opened when she felt his hand at her knee
.
“What are you doing?”

“You do realize that you are naked, right?”
Her tunic reached a couple of inches above her knees, leaving her lower thighs and legs bared.
His hand slipped between her knees, parting them
.
With his other hand,
he
fingered the
bottom part of her tunic.

S
he looked into his eyes, which appeared to be
subtly
sparking red flames.
“
It’s not an invitation, and
anyway,
I’m not naked.”
She could feel his hand on the inside of her thigh.
She knew that she should stop him, remind him of the inappropriateness of his behavior.
Looking into his unusual eyes made her feel mesmerized, trapped and held immobile.
He pressed his hand against the wet cloth of her tunic, pinning it to the floor of the boat and effectively anchoring her in place.
That hand
of his was centered between her thighs, and although it did not brush against her bare skin, she was keenly awa
re of its presence.
The intrusion of his hand against her tunic had
stretched the wet fabric tightly against her
feminine
center.
He
appeared to be intensely studying the private details of her anatomy
, which
he had to
realize
was extremely inappropriate.

He leaned closer to her.
“I want you.”

He could not possibly have said such a thing to her.
He was not acting as a Flourdan male should; it was not even close.
He looked as if he wanted to ravish her.
It made her wonder what it would feel like.
She had a feeling he would be naturally skilled in lovemaking and would leave a woman utterly satisfied.
She shivered as one of his hands inched up her thigh.
He leaned his body closer to her and his expression was of a carnal nature.
She opened her mouth to tell him to stop, but instead gasped when her body quickened with arousal
.
Her
mouth felt dry and she licked her lips, staring at him helplessly.
She saw his eyes darken further and he
placed his mouth near her ear
.

“You said that the ladies didn’t take lovers, but your friend seemed willing enough.”

Her friend
Audrelia had clearly lost her mind when she had allowed Vane to kiss her.
The
countess
would not tolerate her ladies encroaching on her territory.
All of the males belonged to Nefertiti
, and that included Lord Woodcock.
Since the
countess
was the head of
Eden’s
family, she could order her to be executed for her impropriety.
“It would be far too dangerous.”

The sounds of splashing water and
raised voices interrupted them.
Jules and Audrelia had returned.
Jules shot Lord Woodcock a warning glance, causing him to move slightly away from her.
Lord Woodcock looked at Jules.
“Did you find out anything about that other boat in the distance?”

“It wasn’t Roman, that is all I could determine,” Jules said.

Eden
watched Jules and Audrelia move to the center of the boat,
then
she returne
d her gaze to Lord Woodcock.
His eyes were
gleaming
an unnatural color.
“What is wrong with your eyes?”

He closed his eyes briefly.
“I have a condition of the eyes.”

She had never seen eyes in such a condition, which suggested
it
was a
n
uncommon
one.
R
are conditions were
often
serious and
she wondered whether he was in danger of losing his sight entirely
.
“I’m so sorry, Lord Woodcock.
Do they pain you?”