Moonlight Lover (31 page)

Sin-Jin was oblivious to the people who were milling around the docks. Their business didn't concern him. Only she did. "You."

"Why?" Just beyond, she watched The Charleston taking on cargo. The vessel would be putting out to sea again within the next two days, bringing much needed supplies to America. Cloth and dry goods bound for the Carolinas she'd been told. She wondered if Duncan
would encounter it and if the ship would be safe from him
if he did.

This wasn't the place to talk about what was on his mind. Too many ears about, including Franklin's, though Sin-Jin had his suspicions that Franklin knew very well what was transpiring between Rachel and him.

Sin-Jin shrugged good-naturedly. "Because you seem to take such joy in the simplest of things."

And because he remembered the way she had been last
night. They had done nothing but lay together, her head
nestled against his chest. They had fallen asleep that way,
with Sin-Jin believing that the sweetest gifts of life had been granted to him.

Rachel arched her brow as a smile played on her lips.
She could almost read his mind. The darling blackguard.
"If it's yourself you're referring to by saying 'the
simplest of things,' I' d say that you were getting ahead of
yourself, Lieutenant."

Franklin didn't allow himself to be stifled by social
amenities. He now felt that he knew Sin-Jin as well as he knew Rachel and that and his advanced age gave him the
right to be privy to their secret. His eyes twinkled in merriment as he tapped his cane on the ground. "She has you there, lad."

Yes, Sin-Jin thought, Rachel had him. There was no doubt of that as far as he was concerned. Had him in the
palm of her lily-white hand. And he would have wanted it
no other way.

They were lovers now, Rachel thought, though they had done the deed but thrice, they were lovers in every sense of the word. It was a state of mind, of soul, more than of body that made them so. Rachel understood that she was irrevocably his. The fact that this was so gave her some pause.

Though she knew in her heart that she loved Sin-Jin the way she would have never believed she could love any man, Rachel honestly didn't quite know if she liked the idea that she belonged to him. The situation gave her no freedom, no choice in the matter. She had not looked at Sin-Jin and said, "I choose you." She hadn't chosen. "It" had chosen her. It, the feeling, the desire, the need to be with him, united as one. It had chosen her. She had not had a single word to say in the final analysis.

Just as he had prophesied not that many months ago.

The cabin boy returned with a driver and carriage just as another carriage bearing five dignified-looking men approached the wharf from the opposite direction.

"Ah, how timely," Franklin declared as they drove toward him. He retained the driver of the first carriage and handed the cabin boy another coin for his trouble. "Rachel, Sin-Jin," Franklin beckoned, "follow me."

The older man trudged carefully across the dusty street, then paused, waiting as the august entourage climbed down and gathered before the carriage.

"Gentlemen, I am honored." Franklin inclined his head to the group of men.

The tall, elegant man who had appointed himself spokesman for the others stepped forward and smiled his welcome.

"Monsieur Franklin, you have arrived on the date you stated you would. The others," he indicated the men with him, "they had their doubts, but not I. You have proven to be a man of your word time and again. And when you say you arrive on such and such a date, I know that it will be so. So I urge our friends to come and provide a suitable escort for you back to Paris. The days we will travel, the evenings, rest and discuss events." He placed his hand in Franklin's. "How goes it, old friend?"

"Splendidly. I would like you to meet someone." He gestured toward Rachel. "Messrs. Harlow, James, Den-nison, Monsieurs Henri, Dubet, I would like the extreme pleasure of presenting Mademoiselle Rachel O'Roarke to you.”

There was a murmur of greetings. Dubet, the dapper, gray haired man who had greeted Franklin first, took Rachel's hand and kissed it. Within moments, his dark eyes had taken complete inventory of all the young lady's observable charms and found them pleasing.

"Enchanted, mademoiselle." Straightening, Dubet cocked his head and looked quizzically at Franklin. "Yours, mon ami?" There was envy and admiration in his deep voice. Franklin's reputation was well known on both sides of the Atlantic.

Franklin chuckled and feigned ignorance of Dubet's intent. "She was once my ward."

Dubet's thin, aristocratic lips peeled back in a smile. He looked at Rachel once again with more than a little interest. "Ah, then I am free to—"

Sin-Jin easily placed his body between Rachel and the aged diplomat. "—travel along with us on our trip to Paris, just as you have offered." The smile on his lips was wide, guileless, as he took Rachel's arm.

The look in Dubet's eyes frosted as he regarded the third member of the American party. "And you are, sir?" he inquired formally.

Franklin saw a problem arising and was swift to avert it. "My attache."

"And Rachel's intended," Sin-Jin added in the next breath. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and felt her reaction to his words as she stiffened.

"Intended what?" Rachel asked in less than a whisper as she stared at Sin-Jin.

"Never mind, we'll discuss it later. Gentlemen, since the journey is a long one, I suggest we begin immediately." Sin-Jin nodded at the others, then hurried her along to their carriage. The driver had just finished loading the luggage on top.

Rachel didn't like decisions being made for her. She liked being cavalierly herded along like a mindless wench even less. With an annoyed huff, she jerked away from Sin-Jin and threaded her arm through Franklin's. "Whatever possessed you to bring him along?"

If ever two people were meant for one another, Franklin mused, it was these two. "Whimsy," he answered Rachel, keeping a solemn expression for her benefit. But his eyes gave him away.

"Lunacy would be more the way of it," she murmured as she stepped into the carriage.

The second carriage traveled in their wake.

A third of the words that were spoken within the tapestried walls of the vast, stuffy room where she sat were completely lost to Rachel. Their sound buzzed around her ears like summer bees around the garden. The chief French negotiator spoke predominately in his native tongue. When he tried to fit it around the English language, his accent was so heavy, his pronunciation so ponderous, he might as well have continued speaking French.

Despite the drawbacks, the language barriers, the long hours seated in uncomfortable chairs, the continual breakdowns in negotiations, Rachel found it all exhilarating. Here was history, forming right before her eyes.

But even the formation of history, at times, was tiring to witness. The men at the table had been arguing, in French and English, for hours. Rachel tried not to be too conspicuous as she attempted to stretch her weary body. She saw Sin-Jin raise an intrigued brow in her direction just as the chairman declared that the meeting was adjourned until the following morning.

Rachel rose quickly, grateful to be able to move about once again. She gathered the various notes she had made together. Sin-Jin took her arm and they made their way out the door. The sound of men arguing followed them all the way out.

A carriage took them to the inn where they and Franklin were lodging during the negotiations. The inn was blissfully bright and warm in contrast to the dismal evening without and the hall where they had just been.

"I'm finding it difficult to believe," she said to Sin-Jin as they entered, "that a preliminary treaty has already been signed by all parties concerned."

He was glad they hadn't been a party to that as well. It would have been an ordeal if ever there was one. "Almost six months ago," Sin-Jin recalled.

She didn't understand. What was the problem? Men always made such mountains out of dots of dust. "Why don't they just re-sign it and be done with it instead of spending the rest of the summer arguing?"

He laughed at her solution, though there were times when he was wont to agree with it. "I'm afraid it's not as simple as that."

She sniffed, expecting nothing less from him. After all, he was a man. "Apparently men like to make things difficult." She took up her bound papers again.

"Men?" Sin-Jin raised an amused brow. Women were the complicaters as far as he was concerned, always picking a thing to death.

She didn't care for his mocking tone. Sarcasm entered hers. "Yes, men. I saw no women at the bargaining table today."

And thank God for that. He fell into step next to her as they approached the stairs that led to the rooms on the landing above. "If there were, it would take years instead of months to sign the final treaty."

"If there were," Rachel corrected haughtily, "it'd take days."

"Ha!"

She whirled on him just short of the first step, her hands fisted on her hips. "And pray tell, just what is the meaning of that sound?"

He loved seeing the firelight in her eyes. "It means that women can never make up their minds about anything quickly."

They'd been here a week and in that time, she had made up her mind. He came to her each night, though they primly kept two rooms and took pains so that none would suspect their dealings. She had reviled him the first time she had laid eyes on him. Now she couldn't imagine living without him. Strange how some things evolved.

Rachel's eyes glided along his face. "Oh, we can about some matters."

He didn't misread her meaning. Sin-Jin laced his fingers through her hand. "Tell me more."

Rachel lifted her chin, feigning disdain. "And run the risk of swelling your head?"

His grin was nothing short of wicked and whirled
through her soul like a hot, summer wind along the coast.
"It wasn't my head I was thinking of at the moment."

A blush dashed up her cheeks like a streak of lightning,
ending in the roots of her hair.

"Heathen," she whispered, looking around and hoping that no one had overheard Sin-Jin.

He knew what she thought he meant. "It was my heart I was referring to, not another part." As if to give credence to his claim, he took her hand and placed it on his chest. She felt the steady, strong beat beneath her fingers. His eyes narrowed as desire entered. "God, but you are a lusty lass."

Rachel pulled her hand away indignantly. "I'm nothing of the kind."

He stole a kiss before she had a chance to avert her face. "I know better." His whispered words warmed her cheek.

Rub her nose in it, will he? She'd show him. Rachel raised her skirts and turned to ascend the stairs. "You'll be knowing nothing."

Sin-Jin caught her by the elbow, then quickly swept her into his arms. Before she could protest, he kissed her again, long and hard, melting her resistance away like snowflakes in the April sun.

"Then teach me."

Knowing when she had lost, and in losing won, Rachel
laced her hands around his neck. She shook her head. "We'll be seen."

He began to walk up to the first landing. "Not behind closed doors."

It wasn't seemly to be carried around like some woman
of ill repute. She wiggled a little for form's sake. But her
heart wasn't in it. "But someone will see you carrying me
to my room."

He saw right through her. At bottom, if it interfered with what she wanted, Rachel cared not a fig for public opinion. "And I'll be the envy of all concerned."

As he came to the landing, a door opened and an elderly woman stepped out. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the pair and her raised brows disappeared beneath the bonnet she wore.

Sin-Jin smiled at her calmly. "My sister sprained her ankle." He nodded down the hall. "I'm taking her to her room."

His words were lost to the woman. A barrage of words,
all French, followed them as Sin-Jin made his way to Rachel's room.

"Sister indeed," Rachel muttered, attempting to keep a straight face. But there was laughter in her eyes as she snuggled closer. "I've brother enough in Riley, thank you very much."

Pushing the door open with his shoulder, Sin-Jin walked into the room. He shut the door with his foot.

Sin-Jin set Rachel down on the floor and began to slowly slip her shawl from her shoulders, savoring each moment like a man unwrapping a precious gift. "Well, then I'll just have to think of another way to relate to you."

Chapter Thirty-two

Rachel sighed as Sin-Jin's kiss wound its way deep into
her soul. If it was sinful to want a man like this, then she
was eternally damned. And glad of it. Heaven would be no
place for her without Sin-Jin or this wondrous feeling that was coursing through her veins.

Her arms still wrapped around his neck, Rachel leaned
back and studied Sin-Jin with eyes that were half closed. He made her feel lazily content and wantonly excited at the same time.

Her smile was inviting, sensual. "I take it that you've already been thinking of a different way to relate to me."

Sin-Jin removed her hands from his neck and turned her around. "I have. I think I might have stumbled upon a way to both our liking."

He began to undo the intricate lacings at her back. It seemed as if she was sewn more tightly into her clothing
tonight than usual. Or perhaps it was the desire pounding
in his veins that only made it seem so.

"God, woman, why are there always so many ties to your clothes?"

Rachel turned her head and looked slyly at him over her shoulder. "Might it be to be giving you time to repent, perhaps?"

"I'll serve my time in hell if that's what's necessary." He stifled the urge to cut through the last of the lacings, loosening them instead. "I'd burn for you for all of eternity anyway."

Finally!

The dress parted and Sin-Jin slipped it from her shoulders. The straps of the chemise beneath followed. The material pooled to her waist, leaving her partially nude and completely exposed to his gaze.