Of Noble Birth (46 page)

Nathaniel left her lips to
trail kisses down her throat, stopping only when her hands delved
into the thickness of his hair to pull him back for more. The
unforgiving muscle of his body, the unique smell of the sweat
glistening on his torso, and the budding desire to know him in a
way she had never known a man created a heady mixture that put
sanity safely out of reach. How long had she imagined this moment?
No matter how many times she had tried to force away any thought of
Nathaniel making love to her, such visions had encroached on her
dreams, slowly ensuring her heart won the battle with her
head.

His large hand cupped her
breast, circling below it and lifting it for his examination as
though he saw some magnificent work of art. He traced its swell
from her collarbone to its very tip, then his mouth lowered to take
her nipple between his lips and to tease it with his
tongue.

Alexandra’s stomach did a
somersault, and she arched toward him as he moved from one nipple
to the other.

Pulling her dress down to
her waist, Nathaniel’s eyes followed his hand along the flat planes
of her stomach.

Alexandra felt a moment of
self-consciousness and was tempted to cover herself, but something
more powerful wanted no barriers between them. Reaching out, she
fiddled with the buttons of his breeches, and his hand quickly
moved to help her.

He slid his pants off his
lean hips, and Alexandra gasped at the sight of his maleness. Never
had she seen a man without his clothes; the sight nearly melted her
bones.

“I don’t know what to do,”
she whispered, hearing the wobble in her voice as his hand began to
seek out the most private parts of her body. “You’ll have to guide
me.”

“Everything will come
naturally,” he said, but her words seemed to give him pause. After
a moment he lay without moving, as though trying to rein in his
desire.

Finally he rolled away,
his face set. “We can’t do this.”

Alexandra stared at him,
willing herself to feel something besides a longing so powerful she
almost reached out to pull him back to her. The quiet, safe
existence she had always wanted seemed less important than having
Nathaniel fulfill the promise his body had already given hers. “I
want to feel you inside me,” she whispered. “Don’t
stop.”

He closed his eyes,
breathing deeply through his nose, but didn’t speak.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you
want this?” she asked.

Moving beyond touching
distance, as though he feared the slightest contact, he sat on the
edge of the bed with his head bowed. “I’m wanted by the
authorities. It’s bad enough that I must leave you in London on
your own. I won’t deflower you as well. What if I leave you with
child?”

Alexandra tried to slow
the pounding of her heart by taking several carefully measured
breaths. She almost said that she didn’t care, that she’d welcome a
child of his. But she knew he was right. How would she care for a
baby? She had no job, no home. And would she want to bear a child
that would never know its father? It was only a matter of time
before the duke—or the constabulary—caught up with Nathaniel to
take him away forever.

She watched him scrub the
whiskers on his face with his hand and nearly drew him back to her,
in spite of everything, when a knock sounded on their
door.

“Where’s my money, wench?”
the innkeeper shouted through the panel.

“Open up!”

Nathaniel reached for the
pistol he’d left at the side of the bed, but Alexandra motioned for
him to lie back and be silent. Coming to her feet, she threw the
covers over him and quickly repaired her clothing before crossing
to the door and cracking it open.

“I don’t know why my, er,
friend isn’t here yet,” she said, hearing the breathless quality to
her own voice. “I’ll send a messenger to fetch him right
away.”

The innkeeper scratched
his crotch. “Ye got an ‘our.” He tried to peer around her. “I
thought I ‘eard voices.”

“I’m alone now, but I
won’t be for long. My friend should arrive any moment.”

“That’s what ye said
before.” He sniffed, apparently reluctant to go. Only when
Alexandra shut the door in his face did he finally lumber
away.

She turned to face
Nathaniel, suddenly embarrassed and uncomfortable in light of what
had just transpired between them. “I’ve got to find Trenton. Do you
know where Marley House is?”

Nathaniel threw the
blankets back, and Alexandra looked away as he set his gun on the
table and began pulling on his clothes. The blackness of his mood
showed in the scowl on his face. “That man needs to learn some
respect.”

“But you are not the one
to teach him. We definitely don’t need you shooting someone right
now,” she said.

He fumbled with his
trousers. Guessing how difficult buttons would be with only one
arm, Alexandra nearly moved to help him, but she dared not get so
close again.

“The next time he speaks
to you in that tone, I’ll shoot him for good measure,” he grumbled,
but he gave her the directions she needed.

Alexandra smoothed her
hair before the mirror. She could see Nathaniel in the glass and
felt a sudden impulse to go to him and kiss his brow. Instead, she
crossed to the door. “Just be good, for once, all right? I’ll be
back as soon as I can.”

With that she headed out,
but Nathaniel called her back. “Perhaps you should take this.” He
groaned as he reached for the gun. “I don’t want you out on the
streets alone. It’ll be dark soon.”

“I wouldn’t know how to
use it anyway.” Alexandra waved the pistol away. “I’ll be fine,”
she insisted, and closed the door behind her, grateful that the
obese innkeeper was absent from his post behind the counter when
she passed through the lobby.

* * *

Nearly two hours passed
before Alexandra returned to the inn with Trenton. The trip to
Marley House had been quick and uneventful, but Trenton had been
gone when she first arrived and she’d had to wait.

“So there ye are,” the
innkeeper said when he saw her.

“Yes, I’m back. And I’ve
got your money.” She stepped aside so Trenton could pay for the
room.

“Ye got yerself quite a
business goin’.” He watched Alexandra closely. “The bloke in yer
room can scarcely move, ‘e’s so tired.”

Trenton shot Alexandra a
questioning glance.

“You didn’t disturb him,
did you?” she asked, fear knotting her stomach once
again.

The man dangled a key in
front of her face, and Alexandra assumed it was the master key to
her room. “Took a peek, is all. I knew ye ‘ad someone in
there.”

Evidently reading the
concern on her face, he added, “But don’t worry, I didn’t bother
‘im. ‘E’s sleepin’ like a babe, ‘e is. I’ll tell ye somethin’,
though. I’ll not stand for ye to entertain one gentleman after
another under my roof”—he thumped his huge chest between breasts
nearly the size of Alexandra’s—”without some kind of compensation.”
He eyed Trenton as if expecting an objection from that quarter, but
Nathaniel’s first mate only scowled.

“How much?” Trenton pulled
a wad of notes from his pocket, obviously eager to dispense with
the man so they could get to Nathaniel.

Alexandra hurried to the
room ahead of Trenton. Throwing the door back, she rushed inside,
calling Nathaniel’s name.

He stirred.
“Hmm?”

Alexandra let out a sigh
of relief. “Trenton’s here, but first let me check your bandages.”
She maneuvered Nathaniel gently to his side to check his wounds,
which looked fine, then let him roll back as Trenton
entered.

“Nathaniel.” Trenton
strode across the room to clasp Nathaniel’s hand.

Nathaniel smiled. “Am I
glad to see you. How’s my crew?”

“They’re a sad lot without
their captain. They all blame themselves for letting Rat escape,
but it was my fault. I was in charge. I should have kept a closer
eye on him. I’m sorry, my friend.”

“You had no way of knowing
what he’d do.”

Trenton smiled sheepishly.
“Or that you’d stay in London so long.”

“Something here caught my
fancy.” Nathaniel shot a glance at Alexandra. “Where’s the
Royal Vengeance?”

“Waiting in Calais. I
thought she’d be safer in France.”

“Good. And what about the
guns?”

Trenton shrugged. “I’ve
kept up with the rent on the warehouse. We just have to go pick
them up. I heard from the Lord High Admiral just yesterday. He
wants to see the rifles for himself.”

“When?”

“Next week. But without
witnesses of some kind, besides ourselves, I doubt we can convince
him.”

“We’ll find witnesses. I
doubt we discovered the only shipment, which means there are
probably others who know about the guns. If we can get the Lord
High Admiral to start an investigation the whole thing should
unravel.”

Nathaniel smiled. “And if
that happens, my father had better enjoy his days as a free man,
because he won’t have many of them remaining.”

* * *

That night Alexandra slept
on the bed beside Nathaniel while Trenton snored in the chair by
the window, but she got little sleep. She was too aware of the
pirate captain, and she knew he wrestled with the same desire she
did.

Once, as she lay facing
the wall, she felt him touch her hair. She squeezed her eyes shut
and lay perfectly still until he shifted in the bed and turned
away. She longed to feel his arm around her, but at the same time,
she knew they’d never be satisfied with that alone.

When morning came
Alexandra’s eyelids felt as heavy as lead weights, but she forced
herself to rise early. She didn’t know how long Nathaniel would
give himself to heal, and she wanted to take advantage of the time
they had together.

She crossed to the
washbasin and splashed her face with water.

“Will you take me to a
drapers?” she asked Trenton, who was beginning to wake as well.
“Nathaniel and I both need clothes.”

“That will take a long
time,” he objected. “We should be leaving in a few days, as soon as
Nathaniel is strong enough.”

“I’m a seamstress,
remember? I’ll sew us something in no time.”

Alexandra paused near the
bed to see that Nathaniel had finally fallen asleep. But he stirred
restlessly the moment she moved away.

“Trenton and I are
leaving,” she told him. “You try and get some more rest. We’ll be
back in a couple of hours.”

“Where are you
going?”

“To get some fabric. I
don’t know about you, but I’d dearly love some clothes that fit
properly. So far since I met you, I’ve worn your stepsister’s gown,
your own clothes, a maid’s uniform, and Mrs. Tuttle’s niece’s
castoff.”

Nathaniel grunted and
rolled over, and Alexandra wondered about the pain his wound must
be causing him. At least the stripes from the lash were beginning
to heal, she thought as Trenton followed her out.

When they returned, both
Alexandra and Trenton had their arms full of small bundles: white
cotton for a full dress shirt for Nathaniel, serge for Nathaniel’s
trousers, brocade for a waistcoat, and a pretty blue and white
calico print for Alexandra’s dress. Her undergarments were not new,
but they were still serviceable, and under the circumstances, she
knew she’d be lucky to finish the projects she already had
planned.

Nathaniel roused again
when they entered, and cocked his eyebrow at the paper-wrapped
fabric. “How long do you plan on staying here? Through the
winter?”

“I’ll be finished before
you’re ready to go anywhere,” she retorted, pulling the chair
closer to the light that streamed in at the window.

Alexandra worked the
entire day and late into the night. She felt Nathaniel’s gaze on
her whenever he was awake, but he slept most of the time, and she
was glad he was allowing his body time to heal. Trenton remained
with them, serving as an unlikely chaperone.