In Deep (12 page)

There were too many ifs in that thought. Things were as they were. The situation guaranteed there was no future for them after that. Feelings would only hurt them both. Her guilty conscience wouldn’t allow her to view their relationship as anything but a business agreement, regardless of any affectionate emotion she might develop or already have for him.

A quiet rap on the door tore her out of her musings. Once the door opened, Jaidyn saw a young lad enter, scrawny, pimpled, and blushing when he saw her. He looked down and shuffled his feet. “I’m supposed to get the table ready, miss. Dinner is on its way here.”

Jaidyn jolted, immediately turning in her seat to look out the huge windows. Good Lord, how long had she been sitting here? The boy scurried to light a few lanterns and Jaidyn grimaced. She’d been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t noticed dusk settle.

Now she remembered Connor mentioning something about their first dinner aboard the
Coraal
as he’d reached for those leather straps on the desk. He’d said Mr. Parrish would join them. She was glad the first mate would be there with them; it meant she wouldn’t yet be alone with Connor.

Mr. Parrish seemed to be a pleasant enough young gentleman. He was slightly shorter than Connor, and his brown hair was lightened to blond in places by the sun. She liked the way the small bend in his nose from what she assumed had been wild younger days took him from boyish good looks to a more mature attractiveness.

She was looking forward to getting to know him better. There had been something a little hesitant in his soft hazel eyes when they’d met, but Jaidyn couldn’t blame him for being a little wary of the captain’s sudden change in plans.

Plastering a smile on her face, Jaidyn rose to let the boy set the table.

_____________________________

A
fter dinner, Connor was impatient to be alone with Jaidyn. Maxfield wasn’t welcome here in the captain’s cabin now or in the next few hours.

The first mate turned in the doorway, throwing one last glance at Connor. “Shall I help pull the folding doors, sir?”

Connor shook his head. “Thank you, Mr. Parrish, but that’ll be all.”

Jaidyn rose from her chair with a genuine smile. “Thank you for having joined us for dinner, Mr. Parrish. I enjoyed our lively conversation very much.”

Maxfield returned the friendly gesture, bowing to her. “My pleasure, Miss Donnelly. Good night.”

The quiet click of the door’s lock told Connor they were finally alone. He unlatched the folding doors while Jaidyn stood by the cushioned chests under the windows.

She seemed to freeze in place as he pulled back the door to reveal the dormitory. He didn’t miss the sudden stiffness in her shoulders or the bobbing of her throat when she swallowed hard. If Connor didn’t know better, Jaidyn wanted to be anywhere but here with him.

Was she scared of her own wants?

Walking toward the coat hooks, he carefully hung his frock. Maybe he should stop thinking so much and just seduce her.

Except that pushing her skittishness aside wasn’t an option. For the games he had in mind, he needed her trust, which meant he first had to earn it and then ease her into his favorite brand of depravity, show her there was nothing wrong with it despite it being …
nontraditional
.

With a few quick flicks of his fingers the necktie came undone. He let it fall on the bed. It might come in handy later. Then he tugged at his shirt while kicking his shoes off. Sitting on the bed, he rid himself of his silk stockings before pulling the shirt over his head. When that was done, he slid back on the bed just far enough for his shoulders and head to be braced against the timbers.

A strange stillness spread through him again. He exhaled slowly. It was like a steady glow, or more like an unwavering hum in his body. He became attuned to her every move and each nuance of her body that would clue him in on her feelings.

She was fussing with a fold in her skirts, trying to avoid eye contact. Connor assumed it wasn’t shyness but something else entirely. Something she didn’t tell him. He’d known from the start she was a woman with secrets, but some obviously weighed heavier on her mind than others. Whatever those secrets were, he’d get them out of her eventually. At least for the moment, time was on his side.

Time was actually the only thing on his side.

And if he really thought about it, even time wasn’t on his side. He had just about a week with her–and then some very hard decisions would have to be made.

But until then he’d stick to his course. If this was the trip to his personal doom, he’d make it as wickedly pleasurable as his green-eyed goddess could make it. And what he’d shown her so far was just the tip of the iceberg. There were many more pleasurable things he’d introduce her to step by step in the days to come.

Jaidyn appeared to be absolutely fascinated by the tips of her shoes peeking out from under the hem of her moss green day dress.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and he half expected her to announce once again that she’d been instructed on what he expected and to ask him what he’d have her do, like she did when he first met her. She’d been temptingly innocent then, and in a way, she still was.

Hitching back her shoulders, Jaidyn threw her head up and plodded toward him. Her steps were hesitant, but she put one foot in front of the other until the folds of her skirts brushed against his kneecaps.

Connor let his eyes explore her, leisurely traveling up and down those wrappings that hid her delicious body. His fingers itched to take off each layer, revealing the gift that was her. Jaidyn must have seen the desire in his eyes, because the pulse in her throat leapt.

“You’re staring at me.”

Leaning his head to the side a little, he looked his fill before answering, “I’m staring, Jaidyn, because you’re ravishing.”

Slowly he lifted his upper body off the bed, like a predator ready to pounce. “I’m staring because …” Connor heard his own voice had become low and husky. “I’m thinking of the wickedest ways to make you come again and again once you’re out of those garments. In fact, I haven’t thought of much else all day.”

His gaze latched onto hers and locked her in place. Her breath caught and her eyes widened. Then, as the air left her lungs slowly, she nervously chewed on her lower lip.

“Why don’t you pin up your hair?” His suggestion apparently took her by surprise, because she furrowed those elegant ginger eyebrows.

“I’m sorry?”

“Pin up your hair, Jaidyn. There–” He indicated with his chin that she should sit at the rolltop desk.

Half turning there, she halted. “I … I don’t want to.”

“You don’t want to? Or you can’t?”

Anger flared in her eyes for an instant.

“Well,” he said and stood, reaching for the brush on the washstand. “Just sit down and I’ll do it for you.”

“You?” she sputtered, looking down to his hands wide-eyed.

“Yes.”

In spite of wrinkling her nose, she padded toward the desk. Once seated, she turned on the stool. Connor felt her gaze tickling the skin on his back as he walked toward one of the heavy chests by the windows. He promptly found the small box with pins and a few small leather bands.

Setting the box down on the top of the desk in front of her, he began to brush her hair in long, deliberate strokes until he felt her melt into the seat.

“I–” Her voice croaked as she began, so she cleared her throat and started again. “It seems like ages since I’ve had my hair put up properly. I’ve hardly gone out since I arrived in the Caribbean. And then it’s too much effort and I’m not very good at doing it right on my own, I’m afraid. Most of the time it only comes down again as soon as I move my head.”

Connor hummed, totally absorbed with brushing those beautiful, straight copper strands. He’d need to plait it tightly so it would hold.

“Why do you want my hair up anyway?” Tilting her head back, she looked up at him.

Parting her hair, he began plaiting the first thick wisp of hair.

“I want to have an unobstructed view of your body …” He stopped to lock his eyes with hers. “When you strip for me.”

For a moment Connor saw her pupils dilate, nearly swallowing all of her amazing emerald green irises.

“Hand me that leather band, will you?” He reached for it and when Jaidyn held it up for him, he wrapped his fingers around it. A visible shiver started at the contact point and skittered down her body.

Wrapping the leather around the braid, he started plaiting the second strand of hair.

“I enjoyed dinner.” She was fiddling with another small leather band. “Mr. Parrish seems to be a nice fellow. The ladies must think a roguish young man like him infinitely charming.”

“Perhaps, but remember Mr. Parrish has a fiancée waiting for him in Boston.” Connor had a feeling Maxfield was engaged to the wrong woman, but that wasn’t really any of his business. Maxfield was his first mate. He was reliable. He was inquisitive. He was devoted. He was submissive. That’s all Connor needed to know.

“Oh?” Again she looked up at him working on her hair. “Has he met his spouse yet?”

“What? Of course he has!”

“Yes,
of course
,” she murmured.

Connor halted in mid-motion. “In this modern age you don’t buy a pig in a poke anymore without seeing it. Proxies are barbaric. But I know some still make use of them. To each his own, I always say, but I’d never sign a proxy in my life. Hand me another leather band, if you please.”

She held it out for him over her head. “You do have deft hands.”

Connor smiled to himself. If Jaidyn only knew what else he could plait–even swifter than her hair. “Surprised?”

Tilting her head back, she grinned up at him. “Astonished is more like it.”

Playfully, Connor nudged her head forward and set out to braid the last strand of hair. He noticed she started opening the desk drawers, one after the other, peeking inside.

Oh, she was curious. Connor liked that. He hoped her curiosity would get the better of her in other situations as well.

“What’s that?” She was pointing at the brass disk in one drawer.

She wasn’t just curious, she was genuinely interested in his nautical instruments. Connor liked that–a lot. “This is an astrolabe. I use it to determine local time by the positions of the sun, moon, and stars.”

He reached for another leather band and tied the third braid.

“Fascinating …” The rough slide of another drawer could be heard. “And what’s that? Looks like a pair of compasses.”

“And that’s exactly what it is,” he said as he plaited all three braids at the back of her head, then rolled the braid up. While reaching for several pins to secure the bun at the back of her head, he explained, “It’s used to measure distances on the map.”

“I see.” Wood screeching on wood told Connor she was trying the skewed drawer that held the magnetic compass. Once she had it open, she closed it. Apparently she knew about compasses enough to go on.

“And this?” Jaidyn pointed at the wooden octant with ivory scales and a brass index arm that lay tied and secured under the drawers.

“I use the octant to determine our location during the day.” Connor reached forward and opened the wooden box right next to it. He carefully took out the brass sextant. “Now this is a sextant. I don’t use it as often as the octant and mainly during the night. This instrument is very sensitive. One tiny shake and the mirrors are out of adjustment.” Connor held the brass sextant up for her inspection. “Both the octant and the sextant are used for navigation.”

“By the looks of it, that sextant must also have cost a fortune. I see why you’d rather use the wooden octant.”

Connor smiled at her practicality. “Yes, but it’s more accurate than the octant. When we have bad weather and I can’t see the sun, the octant is useless, so I use the sextant instead.”

He placed the instrument back into the box and closed it, opening a drawer she hadn’t tried yet. Reaching in, Connor took out the marine chronometer. “And do you know what that is?”

Jaidyn leaned forward, giving the chronometer a cautious perusal. “It looks like a very large pocket watch.”

“It does, doesn’t it? But it’s really a chronometer, helping me to determine the longitude at sea.”

“That tiny thing is a chronometer?” Jaidyn leaned closer to look at it from all sides. “I’ve seen one before, but that was nothing like this. It was big and heavy and … well, it looked more like a samovar.”

Connor smirked. “Actually there’s a bit of a funny story there. Last time I was in London, I spent the night playing cards. A young man joined our table. He introduced himself as William Harrison. Soon he had no money left, but he was so convinced of his next hand that he placed the chronometer in the betting box. Will piped,” Connor raised his voice to imitate the young man’s way of talking, “
This chronometer is actually my father’s. It’s a prototype. Once I’ve tested it at sea, my father will win the twenty thousand pounds the Board of Longitude offers
.” Connor cleared his throat and continued with his usual voice. “What more can I say?”

Shaking her head, Jaidyn laughed. The sound had Connor’s heart speed up.

“He lost.”

“Aye.” Connor beamed with pride. “He lost. I found out this chronometer is remarkably accurate. If only Will’s father knew.”

“Well,” Jaidyn suggested, “you could tell him in a letter.”

Connor chuckled. “I already did.”

Jaidyn laughed some more, and the endearing jingle was what heavenly harps must sound like. Connor cupped her cheek. “I’ve never heard you laugh before.”

Her eyes widened at that. The next instant, all merriness in them died. She looked down, her eyelids fluttering as if she’d just now realized he was standing there with nothing on but his breeches. Her pale cheeks flushed a little.

Connor grabbed the small box with pins and stored it away in the chest he’d taken it from. Aware of Jaidyn watching him once again, he closed it and lay on his side on top of the padded lid, one knee up, braced on his elbow.

He remained still, feeling that purring calmness settle over him again. When he looked back at her, he willed her to come to him with his gaze only. “Tease me, Jaidyn. You know you want to.”