Desire In His Eyes (10 page)

Land. As the sun set Juliette could see the pale blue outline of the shore in the distance and her heart nearly burst with happiness. Although she loved her time aboard the
Sea Minx
, she had never been so glad to see anything in her life. She looked forward with great relief to the time she could once again place her feet on solid ground.

She stood on the deck near the forecastle and gripped the railing tightly. The billowy white canvas sails of the foremast, mainmast, and mizzenmast floated like clouds above her as the
Sea Minx
flew across the waves. This was it. She had finally arrived in the United States. A little thrill raced through her at the thought. She had never been a studious girl and had shunned most of the academic books her father had pressed her to read in the bookshop, but she had picked up enough information to know that she had more in common with this young, innovative, and daring new country than she ever had with England.

Suddenly not sure what to expect when she arrived, she experienced a brief moment of panic. What if America did not meet her expectations and proved just as disappointing as London? What if all she had done was for nothing? She shook her head and took a hearty gulp of sea air. No, she would not think negatively. She could not, would not, fail now. Not after everything that had happened to her.

Harrison’s arms wrapped around her waist and he kissed the top of her head. Juliette sank back against him, breathing in his now familiar scent. He stood behind her, his head resting over her shoulder. A strong breeze blew around them, ruffling the skirt of her gown and causing her hair to whip around them.

“We’ll be docking by morning,” he whispered low in her ear. He pointed out toward the land. “We’ll be coming up near Sandy Hook where a pilot schooner will meet us and guide us in through the Narrows to the East River and to a berth at South Street in New York. Your little journey has come to an end, Juliette.”

“It’s so thrilling!” She squeezed his hands, which rested comfortably on her waist. “I cannot believe that I am finally here in America.”

“Well, you are not quite there yet,” he teased.

“I know that!” She playfully swatted his hands. “But now that I can actually see land, I know that I am close and at last it all seems more real.”

Harrison held her tighter. The strength in his arms sent a jolt of desire through her.

He said, “I had originally intended to send you back to London on the next ship.”

“And now?” She asked, her heart suddenly pounding an erratic rhythm. He couldn’t still mean to do that to her, could he? She could not go back to London. Not now, not yet, anyway. Oh, of course someday she would go back home, after she had lived a little and had had a taste of life on her own.

Stowing away on the
Sea Minx
had been a grand adventure so far. While being with Captain Harrison Fleming had proven to be a most wonderful adventure as well, one that Juliette had not anticipated when she had first climbed aboard. Their intimate relationship had been an eye-opening experience for her. She felt more sophisticated and like a mature woman of the world. She had dallied with a man, with no thought of marriage or the future. She had behaved scandalously and it was very freeing. Admittedly she had grown fond of Harrison. Her heart constricted a little at the thought of leaving him, but the idea of having to return to London immediately made her nauseous.

“Your family must be overcome with worry about you. We should inform them at once that you are well. I will send them a cable to let them know you arrived safely and are under my protection.”

“And then?” She held her breath.

“Then what?”

She could barely utter the words. “Are you going to send me back home on another ship?”

As if weighing his options, Harrison did not immediately reply. “I should.”

“But you won’t, will you?” She hated that her voice squeaked when she asked that question.

He thought for a moment before giving his response, increasing her tension. “If I had any sanity left, I still should send you home. Your behavior has been dangerous and reckless.”

“I cannot go back yet, Harrison,” she said decisively, pulling away from him. “I simply cannot.”

“Then tell me, who is he?”

“Who is
who
?”

“Juliette.” He sighed heavily and drew her into his arms again, forcing her to look at him. “Things between us have changed.”

She blinked. “I am not sure what you mean.” But in her heart she knew exactly what he meant.

“Don’t act the fool,” he snapped. “It doesn’t become you.”

She attempted to break from his hold, but he held fast. She stilled and stared up at him. “Nothing has changed, Harrison. When we dock, I will be on my way and you need never worry about me again.”

He grimaced ruefully. “If only it were that easy.”

“But it is.”

“You’ve spent practically the entire last week in my bed, Juliette. We have to make it right. You know as well as I do what that means.”

“It means naught, if we don’t share that information with anyone.”

“My crew is not stupid. They all know exactly what has been going on between us.”

She gave a slight shrug. “I don’t believe that they care, do you?”

“I care.” His steely eyes pinned her in place.

“Don’t play the white knight to my virtue now, Harrison,” she said heatedly. “It’s too late for that.”

“What if you are carrying my child?”

What if she were carrying Harrison’s baby?
That thought had worried her, but she had pushed it to the back of her mind. She did not wish to consider the consequences. Juliette turned away.

He called after her. “Juliette!”

She came to a stop but did not face him. Her back went stiff.

Harrison came up behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders and spun her around. His mouth came down hard upon hers and he kissed her with a possessiveness that sounded alarm bells in her head.

He released her suddenly. Her head spun but she managed to focus her eyes upon his. He stated in a very low voice, “You have no choice in this, Juliette. I am not asking, I am telling you. I am marrying you as soon as we get to New York.”

Before she could utter a response, he kissed her again, weakening her resolve. Her traitorous body melted under his touch and she found herself responding to his kisses passionately. In one powerful movement he swept her into his arms and carried her to his cabin.

Juliette smiled to herself at Harrison’s typical behavior. He simply thought he could tell her what to do and that she would do it. He believed that he could pick her up and have his way with her. He certainly had a lesson or two coming his way. No, sir. Harrison may be used to being a captain and giving orders and being obeyed, but she was not going to allow him to order her about for the rest of her life.

Well, maybe he could this time. This one last time. For she simply could not resist his incredibly sensuous mouth and the feel of his mouth on hers. And his wickedly skilled hands…Juliette melted against him.

For just this one last time.

It felt good to be home again, back in the city he loved. There at the dock at South Street on the East River, Harrison was back where he belonged. Even after he had traveled around the world, nothing compared to being in New York City.

As usual, Harrison rose before dawn that morning to oversee the massive responsibility of the docking of the
Sea Minx
and unloading his precious cargo of glassware, fine china, and cutlery, as well as French wine. He left Juliette sleeping soundly in his bed, positive that she would sleep until at least midmorning, since they had been up most of the night. Just before they fell asleep, they had made plans for Juliette’s first day in New York. Reluctant to leave her but not wishing to wake her, he had kissed her cheek softly before going up on deck.

Once he had taken care of the business of unloading the ship, he would take her into the city. There was so much he wanted to show her while she was here. He wanted to bring her to a theater in Union Square to see a play and to hear one of the concerts at Central Park. It would even be fun to take her to see a New York Mutuals baseball game at Union Grounds. He wanted to show her his office building. He found that he looked forward to showing her the sights. And of course, they would get married.

Harrison became so absorbed with his work that he hadn’t given Juliette another thought until it was close to noon.

“Have you seen Miss Hamilton at all this morning?” he asked one of his sailors.

The man shook his head. “No, Captain. Should I have?”

Harrison went down to his cabin, thinking he would have to resort to dragging Juliette’s pretty bottom out of bed to get her to wake up. Instead he stared at the rumpled bed. He glanced around the empty room. Juliette was not there. And neither was her little satchel of belongings.

Harrison could barely suppress his panic. He raced to the deck and called to his crew, “I want the ship searched for Miss Hamilton.”

Even as he said the words, Harrison knew they would not find her. He sensed without a doubt that she had already left the ship. Sickened, he turned to look at the city. In the dazzling sunlight, he squinted at the buildings along South Street and beyond to Wall Street, now bustling with people, horses, carts, and carriages. He could see his own building, where the offices of H.G. Fleming and Company were located.

He could not believe that Juliette had left him.

She had left him and ventured into an unknown city on her own. Harrison was momentarily stunned, his mounting anger tempered by an overwhelming concern for her immediate safety. Did the stubborn wench even know where she was going? Or how dangerous it was for her to be alone in a strange city? Was what they had shared together on the
Sea Minx
meaningless to her?

Of course, he knew where she went.

Fortunately for him, Juliette had left her things strewn about his cabin so he had seen the letters from her friend Christina Dunbar and noted Fifth Avenue as the address. Now Harrison knew he had to go after Juliette, if only to wring her neck for taking such a terrible risk and to assure himself that she was well.

Then…then the little baggage could be on her own, if that was what she wanted so desperately. He would wash his hands of her. Not only had she scorned his offer of marriage, she had fled from him. No woman had ever done that to him before! Torn between irritation and wounded pride, Harrison stormed across the deck of his ship.

“Captain!” Robbie Deane ran up to him, out of breath and his expression anxious. “I’m sorry, Captain. I thought it was okay, because Miss Juliette said that you knew, but now I see—”

“What is it, Robbie?” Harrison asked, his heart pounding.

The young man spoke hurriedly, his freckled face full of contrition. “I’m sorry. I guess while you were in the shipping office, Miss Juliette asked me to get a hired carriage for her. I just figured she was going to your house, so I helped her. That was a couple of hours ago. Now you have everyone on the ship and the dock looking for her, as if she were missing. So I thought I should tell you that it is all my fault that she’s disappeared. I’m sorry, Captain.”

Harrison shook his head in disbelief. “Don’t worry, Robbie, I have a pretty good idea of where she went. I appreciate that you helped her.” Harrison’s heart turned cold at the confirmation of Juliette’s disappearance.

Robbie shook his head. “You mean she just left us?” The wounded expression on the young boy’s face must have mirrored the one on Harrison’s own.

Hearing the harsh truth said aloud almost brought him to his knees. He gave Robbie a sympathetic look. “It seems that way.”

With a sickening feeling in his gut, Harrison gave some brief instructions to Charlie and left the
Sea Minx
in his first mate’s care while he went ashore.

He found the house of Christina Dunbar easily enough, since he was quite familiar with that particular neighborhood. It was a grand five-story brownstone on a very fashionable section of Fifth Avenue near Thirty-fourth Street, almost as impressive as his own house. He stared up at the front door, feeling something of a fool. He had followed a woman who did not want to be followed. A woman who obviously did not want him, after he asked her to marry him. What could he say to her now? Nothing. He just prayed that she had arrived without mishap.

Harrison took a deep breath and climbed the stone steps. Lifting the brass knocker, he rapped on the door.

A weary looking butler answered his knock. The distinct frown on the man’s face signaled his displeasure at being disturbed so early. “May I help you?”

Harrison stood quietly, wondering how to word his question without sounding as if he were a crazed lunatic. “I apologize for intruding. This is the Dunbar residence, is it not?”

The man nodded his head. “Yes.”

“My name is Captain Harrison Fleming, of the clipper ship the
Sea Minx
, and I…I was wondering if a young lady had arrived here this morning.”

The butler eyed him skeptically.

“Miss Juliette Hamilton traveled from London on my ship. We docked this morning and she left, without waiting for an escort. I just wished to be certain she arrived at Mrs. Dunbar’s safely.”

The man relaxed at Harrison’s explanation. “Why yes, sir, a Miss Hamilton did arrive just a short time ago. She is upstairs with Mrs. Dunbar now. Shall I inform her that you are here, Captain Fleming?”

Harrison shook his head. “Thank you, but no. Now that I know she is here and safe, I shall be on my way. Good day.”

With a heavy heart he returned to his ship, which seemed strangely empty without Juliette on board. His crew eyed him carefully as they finished the final unloading and he gave them leave. Later that afternoon, he had a telegram sent to Lucien Sinclair, informing him that his sister-in-law was safe at the home of her friend. He did not wish for her family to continue to worry about Juliette.

Then Harrison threw himself into his work, attempting to block Juliette Hamilton from his mind. For two days he worked nonstop in his office at the H.G. Fleming & Company building near South Street, where he could see the beginning efforts of the construction of the caissons for a new suspension bridge being built from New York across the East River to Brooklyn. He rescheduled meetings he had missed, brokered deals for his shipping line, checked on the status of his steamships, met with investors and merchants, and took care of correspondence, including a long letter to his sister Isabella in Boston.

On his third day in New York, he made plans to travel to his estate in New Jersey. He had put off seeing Melissa for too long now and he needed to get home to her. He also had to oversee some of the new construction on his estate.

While he sat at his desk, a knock on his office door caught his attention. “Come in,” he called, expecting his assistant to enter. Harrison did not look up from the letter he was writing to a gentleman who wished him to invest in a device that could transmit speech electrically. The idea intrigued him.

“Well, if it isn’t my old friend Harrison Fleming.”

Startled, Harrison glanced up to see Lord Jeffrey Eddington standing in front of his desk, and he dropped his ink pen in surprise.

“So they sent you after her, did they?” Harrison asked, assuming that Lucien Sinclair was searching for his sister-in-law.

“No one ‘sent’ me after Juliette,” Jeffrey said easily, but his expression remained anxious. “I offered to find her. And here I am.”

Harrison grinned lazily. “Well, it’s nice of you to visit me for a change.”

Jeffrey gave him a tense look. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not here to visit. Where is she?”

“She’s perfectly fine and in remarkably good health. I’ve already sent a cable to Lucien informing him that his foolhardy sister-in-law arrived in New York three days ago. So sit and have a drink with me.” Jeffrey, visibly relaxed at his words, sank into a leather chair beside the desk, mumbling his thanks to God in a faint whisper.

Harrison poured them each a shot of bourbon. He handed a glass to his relieved friend and sat in the chair behind his desk, pushing the papers he had been working on to the side.

Jeffrey took a drink, and so did Harrison. The reddish liquid burned his throat in a familiar way and it surprised him how much he needed it. He glanced back at Jeffrey.

“I cannot even imagine how worried Juliette’s family has been.”

Jeffrey shook his head. “No, you cannot.” He took another sip and stared at Harrison intently. “Did you know she planned to run away with you?”

“No!” Harrison laughed at that possibility. If he had known Juliette Hamilton was aboard his ship that night he set sail, he never would have left London. “Does anyone know what wild schemes Juliette is planning in that crazy, clever head of hers?”

A wry smile crossed Jeffrey’s face. “I see you have gotten a chance to know our darling Juliette quite well during the voyage.”

That is a vast understatement
, Harrison thought to himself, as images of all he had done with Juliette flashed through his head, but even when he thought he knew the woman who had enchanted him, he had not known her at all. More was the pity for him.

“We discovered her onboard that first night, after we had already set sail,” Harrison explained. “She had hidden in a storage room. When she was brought to my cabin, I was half tempted to turn the ship around and bring her home right then.”

“Why didn’t you?” Jeffrey questioned, his eyes narrowing.

“Because I was angry. I was already behind schedule as it was and I have some pressing family issues to take care of. I could not afford to be inconvenienced and delayed because some reckless, stubborn girl decided to have an adventure. In the first place, she was not invited nor welcome aboard my ship, and in the second place, she was not my responsibility.”

“Point taken,” Jeffrey acknowledged reluctantly. “But still, as a gentleman, you might have—”

“As a gentleman, nothing. I figured she was hell-bent on getting to America one way or another and was just crazy enough to stow away on someone else’s ship. At least if she stayed with me, I could keep her safe until—”

Harrison stopped speaking in midsentence, as his words hit home. Had he kept Juliette safe? Had he not taken advantage of her innocence? No, he had not quite kept her safe for he had not been a gentleman with her. Even when they docked in New York, he had tried to do right by her, but then she had fled from him, without even a good-bye. His heart began to thump loudly in his chest. He ignored it.

“Keep her safe until…?” With one eyebrow raised in question Jeffrey prompted him to finish his sentence.

“Until other arrangements could be made for her.” Harrison declared, finishing the rest of his bourbon and setting the glass back on his desk with a louder thud than he had intended.

“And now that you are here, I leave all future arrangements to you. Juliette Hamilton is your responsibility. I officially wash my hands of her.”

“Where is she now?”

“She is staying with that friend of hers who lives on Fifth Avenue.”

Jeffrey nodded his head. “Ah, yes, Christina Dunbar. In the letter Juliette left her sisters, she mentioned that she would be going to see her friend. That was to be my next stop after I checked in with you.”

After a thoughtful silence, Harrison asked, “Who is he?”

“Who is who?” Jeffrey’s puzzled expression gave Harrison pause.

“The man she came to New York to be with. Do you know who he is?”

“Juliette came here to be with a man?” Jeffrey moved to the edge of his seat and appeared utterly incredulous.

“I’m asking
you
that question.” Harrison kept his irritation in check.

“Did she tell you that?”

Harrison recalled all the denials Juliette had given when asked the same question. He had refused to believe her. Uncomfortable now, Harrison stammered. “Well, not exactly, no. But what other reason would a beautiful woman have to run away from a loving family and a wonderful home to travel to another country to…?” His voice trailed off at the sound of Jeffrey’s laughter.

Jeffrey’s loud guffaws echoed through the office. “Maybe you didn’t get to know Juliette that well after all!”

“What do you mean?”

“I have grown quite close to Juliette over the last year. If you haven’t noticed, she’s not like other women. I’m probably her closest friend and I would wager that I know her better than even her sisters do. I can tell you this with the utmost certainty: Juliette Hamilton never does anything to please anyone other than herself. And she would never do anything to try to win over any man.”

Harrison felt a strange pang of uneasiness in his chest at Jeffrey’s words, yet he said nothing.

“Juliette has threatened to leave London for as long as I’ve known her. Her friend gave her an open invitation to visit so I suppose that proved to be too much of a temptation for her to resist. To add to that, her mother had expressly forbidden her to go, which was probably just the same as sparking a match to a powder keg. Your ship simply provided her with an opportunity she waited a long time for. Juliette lives in the moment and takes chances. She has a mind more like a man’s, despite having the face of an angel.”