Enchantress (17 page)

“Well, you can keep your offer. I want never to see you again.”

His glance became irritated. “You don’t mean that, Brittany. You are only hurt because I will not marry you.”

“Do you think you bring me honor by asking me to become your mistress, Captain? The sultan would have given me much more than that.”

“Yet you ran away from him.”

She placed her hands on her hips, her eyes filled with disbelief. “The more I come to know about men, the less I like them. Women are far more superior in intelligence and understanding than your sex.”

“I don’t believe that is true of all women, Brittany, but it is so in your case.”

She tossed her hair so it became a rippling curtain of black. “I do not want your flattery.”

“I don’t flatter you, Brittany. I want to be with you. Not just now, but for years to come. I could care for you.” His voice softened. “I would make you happy.”

She drew in her breath and looked into his blue eyes. Her heart was beating so fast she could scarcely breathe. “We would not be good for one another, Captain.”

His voice had edge to it. “Must you call me, ‘Captain?’ My name is Thorn.”

“I…will not call you by your name. To do so would be a mistake.”

His hand dropped to the front of her gown, and he toyed with the ribbon there. With a quick yank, he untied the ribbon and when she did not try to stop him, he unhooked the top hook.

She could not speak for the lump that had formed in her throat. He pushed her gown aside and softly laid his hand
on her breasts. He then moved forward and pressed his lips in the sweet-smelling hollow between them.

“Please, no, Thorn. This must not happen again.” Even as she voiced her protest, she knew this was what she really wanted.

Thorn’s eyes flashed with triumph, and he picked Brittany up in his arms and carried her to his bed. “So, at last I am Thorn.”

When he lay her down, she sat up quickly and pushed against his chest. “No, Thorn, I will not do this.”

Her plea fell on deaf ears. His eyes were swirling with passion, and he gently pushed her backward and followed her down. With tenderness, he kissed and caressed her, all the while pushing her gown to her waist.

Brittany’s eyes were no longer pleading for him to stop. Her lips parted under the hot thrusts of his tongue, and she clung to him.

Thorn raised his head and stared at her. He was astounded by her delicate beauty, and he could not look away from her creamy breasts that seemed lighter in color than the rest of her body. His hands moved over her silken skin, and he had a difficult time controlling his need for her.

“Brittany, tell me to let you go, and I will,” he challenged.

She drew in a deep breath, and her voice came out in a throaty whisper. “That is unfair, and you know it. I…came here to—”

His hand trembled as it traveled down her arm. “Then, if you have no objections, Brittany, I will have you.”

All thoughts of objection were gone, and she reached up to touch his ebony hair. She was sad because this would be all they would ever have.

“I will surrender to you, Thorn. This will be my parting gift to you.”

“We will give to each other,” he whispered. “Each of us
has our own gift. I have given more of myself to you than I have ever given any woman.”

Her eyes were shimmering with unshed tears. She turned away quickly so he would not know how much she was affected by his words. She did not like to be reminded that he had been with other women before her.

Thorn tugged her gown over her hips and dropped it onto the floor. With raw impatience, he removed his own clothing and lay down beside her.

Brittany’s eyes softened. “I remember the first time I saw you. I thought you quite the most handsome man. I also thought you were arrogant and unbending. I was right on all three assumptions.”

He arched his brow at her. “And when was the first time you saw me?”

“The day Simijin invited you to the palace. I watched you behind the latticework at the top of the stairs. Neither you nor Simijin knew I was there.”

With a lean finger, he traced her jawline. “Did you now?”

“Yes.”

“So you heard me tell Lord Simijin I would not take you to England?”

“I did not know he was making arrangements for me that day. It was not until later that I learned the truth. Then there was no time to think, for I had to flee.”

“Had I known then what I have come to know, I would have taken you anywhere you wanted to go.”

She looked at him, wondering if he was teasing her. It was hard to tell because his eyes did not always show what he was thinking. “You have said often enough that you will be glad to see the last of me.”

“Right now, all I can think of is the green of your eyes and the softness of your skin.” He ran his hand down her neck, and he gently cupped her breasts. “If one could hold on to a moment in time, I would choose this one.”

Blood ran hot in Brittany’s veins, and she gravitated toward him, her lips parted, her eyes shining.

“You do so sorely tempt me,” he said, touching his lips softly to hers. Then he moved back and allowed his eyes to take in every curve of her face. “I want to love you, my little dancer.”

Raising her arms, she lay back inviting him to her. “I know,” she whispered. “It is the same with me.”

Thorn shook his head, trying to clear it. She was becoming too important to him, and he had to exorcise her from his mind. He would make love to her, and when it was over, he would put her out of his mind as he had with so many other women before her.

He clasped her satiny body close to him, and with a smooth motion he sunk into her, his body throbbing, his breath coming out in sharp gasps. Never had he been so affected by a woman. Never had he felt so alive as when he held Brittany in his arms.

Thorn had been tormented by the memory of that night he had made love to Brittany. He had tried to put her out of his mind, but it had been useless. With a gentle caress, he conveyed his deepening feelings to her.

Thorn filled Brittany’s body while his hot mouth ravished her lips. She closed her eyes and allowed the wonderful feelings to wash over her. This, she thought, was the moment out of time that she would have chosen to hold on to for eternity.

Now Thorn’s lovemaking became more intense. Burning passion had fused their bodies together and left them both breathless.

On gossamer wings, they soared the heavens, as sensation after sensation held them together by the thread of desire.

Suddenly, Brittany’s whole body seemed to erupt with wave after wave of pleasurable feelings. Was it love that she felt for this man? she wondered. What else could make her want to be with him throughout her lifetime?

When her heartbeat returned to normal, she stared into dancing blue eyes. “It was good between us, just like before, Brittany.”

“Yes,” she murmured, burying her face against his chest.

“You will be mine alone, Brittany. No other man will ever touch you.”

She turned her head away from him. “No, Thorn, I cannot make that promise. I can never belong to you.”

His voice had an edge to it. “Is it because of Lord Simijin?”

“In part,” she admitted, twisting away from him and moving off the bed. As she pulled her gown over her head, she presented her back to him, hoping he would not ask any more questions. She was startled when he came up to her and hooked her gown.

“I am trying to understand what you feel for Lord Simijin that prevents you from reaching out to take the happiness I offer you.”

She turned back to him and stared at him in disbelief. “You do not offer me happiness, Thorn. What you offer is a life where I will be shunned by respectable people. If you love me—”

His eyes were burning, and his voice was scornful. “I said nothing about love, Brittany. Love is for fools and dreamers, who don’t know better. What we have between us is preferable to that puny emotion people call love.”

Her green eyes were cool. “Are you saying you prefer animal lust?”

He laughed and pulled her into his arms, but she twisted away. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “All right, Brittany. If the only way I can have you is to make you my wife, you win.” He caught her hand and pulled her into his arms. His lips touched her ear, sending shivers of delight dancing on her spine. “I will make the ultimate sacrifice and take you as my wife, if that is the only way I can possess you.”

Never had Brittany known such anger. Her voice trembled as she shoved him away. “I do not want your sacrifice, Captain Stoddard. After we dock, we will never meet again. Just leave me alone!”

“I wish to hell I could.” He shrugged. “Take care Brittany, that you do not tell me to leave you alone once too often
and I start to believe you. A man can soon tire of pursuing a woman if she does not know her own mind. You tell me no, while you pull me to you.”

All the fight seemed to go out of her. “There is some truth in what you say, Thorn. Sometimes I do not know what I feel,” she said in confusion.

She would have moved away, but the look in his eyes held her spellbound. She came to him, and when he held out his hand, she placed hers in his warm clasp.

“You are trembling,” he observed. “Is it anger, or are you feeling what I feel inside?”

“I…yes.”

“You are not afraid of me, are you?”

“No.”

“If this is to be our last night together, let us make the most of it.”

She looked into his eyes as he unhooked her gown once more and pushed it off her shoulders, where it fell to the floor.

“Come to me,” he whispered, pulling her into his arms with a triumphant smile.

His lips were hot and seemed to drain all the resistance from her. He went to his knees and carried her with him. His hands were stroking her into submission, and when he lay her back against the floor, she was only aware of his hard body pressed against her soft curves.

Like a person drowning, Bittany knew that if she didn’t save herself, she would be lost forever, but his hands were working magic on her body, and his lips smothered her futile protest.

Gently, he spread her legs apart and stroked her until her breath became trapped in her throat. Her soft groan told him that she had surrendered completely.

“For this moment, you are mine,” he murmured in a velvet-smooth voice. “We both know that.”

She looked into blue eyes that burned with the flame of passion. “Yes, Thorn, yes.”

Brittany heard Thorn’s breath come out in a hiss. “I will drive all thoughts of Lord Simijin out of your mind. You will no longer think of him.”

Brittany pressed her body tightly against him, not understanding his words. His lips covered her mouth with a burning kiss, and she ached for him to possess her once more.

“You are in my blood, Brittany.”

Brittany was tormented, and she ached to feel him inside her, but he seemed to be in no hurry.

“You want me,” he murmured, kissing her neck, her eyelids, and then her mouth.

Her mouth opened between his gentle probing. Her body was on fire, and he knew it.

“You were made for a man to love, Brittany,” he whispered hotly in her ear. “You get inside my mind, and all I can think about is holding you like this. You know you are torturing me, don’t you?”

“No,” she breathed, thinking he was the one who was tormenting her.

When his lips moved to her creamy breasts, Brittany groaned with pleasure.

When he moved away, she protested, but he was positioning her hips, and he drove deep inside her with a thrust that left them both breathless. His body trembled as he rested deeply inside her velvet softness.

Brittany clamped her lips together tightly, fearing she would cry out from the beauty of their coming together. It passed through her mind that Thorn had control of her body. With the touch of his hand, he could make her surrender to him.

Opening her eyes, she stared into the blue depths of his eyes. “Damn you, Brittany,” he muttered. “What are you doing to me?”

She blinked her eyes. “I do not understand.”

But suddenly she did understand. There was no mistaking the naked desire that flamed in his eyes. He was as much affected by her as she was by him.

She smiled at him sadly. “I know,” she said in a choked voice. She gently touched his cheek. “There is nothing we can do to stem the passion that flows between us, Thorn.”

She moved her hips forward, and he whispered her name just before his hot mouth covered hers. She moved beneath him, and he threw back his head in an ecstasy of delight. She had the power to make him forget everything but her.

Thorn moved deeply inside her, his rhythm building up a tempo in her blood. There was pleasure and there was pain, and there was the feeling that after tonight she would never be alive again.

Brittany was sure her heart would burst from the wonderful feelings that Thorn had awakened in her body. He was the perfect lover. He had gentled his movements so she would feel the full pleasure of his lovemaking. She was overcome with sensuous feelings, and she could not remember why she had ever objected to his touch.

Long after their bodies had cooled down, they lay together as if neither of them was willing to break contact. The
Victorious
swayed gently on the waves, while her captain closed his eyes and pulled his lady tightly into his embrace.

At last, he said, “I don’t want to, but I must leave you for a time. It will be my watch. Will you wait here for me, Brittany?”

She pressed her lips against the hollow in his throat. “After tomorrow we will—”

“It is already tomorrow,” he said, reminding her of the lateness of the hour.

She placed her hand over his lips. “Two more days, and we will go our separate ways.”

“Yes,” he said, not really believing she would leave him. “No matter what happens in the future, I will keep the memory of tonight with me for a long time to come.”

She raised up on her elbow and looked down at him. “Thorn, I have always felt a great uneasiness in you, but I do not know what it is. Before we are parted, I would like to help you. Can you tell me what it is?”

He rolled to a sitting position. “You ask a question that I am unwilling to answer, but yes—there is something in my life that was left unfinished.”

“Does it concern a woman?”

“Yes, in part.”

She came to her feet. “We both have secrets to keep, don’t we.” She smiled regretfully. “It’s a pity our lives have been set on separate paths. Let us just say that we were like passing ships that touched, and then sailed away. But I do wish you happiness wherever you go.” Her eyes were misty with sadness. “Whatever is driving you I hope is brought to a favorable conclusion for you.”

He pulled on his clothing, and she watched as he poked the tail of his shirt into his trousers. He then turned to her and held out his arms and she came to him.

“We will not say good-bye, Brittany, because I have a feeling it is not over between us.”

His lips were warm against her trembling mouth. Suddenly, he released her and moved to the door. He smiled slightly. “It could be that I would have made you a good husband, Brittany. But we shall never know, since you refused my suit.”

She had a strong desire to tell him that she would be his wife, his mistress, or anything he wanted her to be. But, no, that was never to be.

Brittany watched him leave, knowing there was some force that was controlling his life, just as she had a destiny waiting for her in Philadelphia.