Once a Mistress (14 page)

Alex sealed his lips against the sharp retort that hovered there. Too many ears listened, and too many eyes watched them. With the grimness of a man forced to perform an execution, he yanked on the laces. He ignored Diana’s soft gasp as the garment tightened around her uncorseted middle and threaded the laces through the holes with grim precision. Each time his fingers brushed the chemise, he could feel the warmth of Diana’s skin through the thin material. He gritted his teeth and kept going. When his knuckles slid over her spine, she made a soft noise, and blood rushed to his loins. The woman was a menace, he reminded himself. She was a spoiled, willful child.

If only she weren’t so bloody beautiful.

Her hair curled over his wrist as he slipped the laces through the last holes. Impatiently he brushed it over her shoulder, only to have the wind blow a few strands back at him. The errant tendrils gleamed with lively fire and drifted over his lips and nose like a spider’s web. He’d be damned if he let himself be ensnared, though. He performed this charade to protect Diana from his lusty crew, and for no other reason than that.

Certainly, he didn’t enjoy it.

“There.” He tugged the laces hard and tied them off quickly, then stepped back from her. She turned to face him, a smile on her lips, and smoothed the skirts of her gown.

“Why thank you, captain. You are most kind.”

Her saucy tone irritated him. “In that you are wrong, my dear. I am not a kind man.”

She laughed, a melodious sound that clashed with the snap of the sails and the slosh of the sea against the hull. Her society airs did not belong here. And neither did she.

“I believe you have wasted enough of my time,” he said low enough for only her to hear. “Either amuse yourself elsewhere, or you will pass the rest of the voyage below decks.”

She stopped laughing, a flash of hurt streaking across her face before she concealed it. “Must you be so harsh, captain?”

He leaned closer. “I know what you are about, mistress. And your coquette’s wiles have no effect on me.”

She tossed her fiery curls and propped her hands on her hips. “Indeed? I am beginning to believe that you are not interested in women at all!”

Alex stared at her. She laughed in his face, a deprecating sound that was at odds with her flirtatious mien of before.

“Do not look so surprised. Indeed, you must think me completely naive, sir. Pray, do not forget that I grew up in Port Royal, one of the wickedest cities in the Indies. Or that I am the daughter of a rather blunt-speaking man. I am not so innocent of the world as you would believe me.”

Birk recovered from his shock before Alex did. “The captain’s no bloody catamite!” he spluttered.

She eyed Alex from top to toes and arched her brows. “Perhaps.”

Alex gave her a predatory smile. “Just because I do not see fit to bed
you
, my dear, do not assume that I do not enjoy women as much as any other man.”

Her cheeks flushed. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

He laughed and yanked her against him. Enjoying her discomfiture, he slid one hand down her back to gently caress her bottom. She struggled, but he held her fast. “Now, now, my sweet. Let us not give the game away. You
are
supposed to be my mistress.”

She would not meet his eyes. “Let me go,” she muttered.

“I do not choose to.” She jerked her gaze to his and glared. He laughed again, long and loud. “So fierce, my sweet? You would lure me with a girl’s pouty looks and teasing comments when ‘tis a woman I want in my bed.”

“All you will find in your bed is rats,” she snapped. “Now release me.”

He let her go so abruptly that she stumbled. “Only little girls tease a man and then pull away in virginal fear. Go play with your toys, little one, and leave the seduction to the women who can handle the reality.”

She straightened her spine and raised her chin in that way that he knew meant a challenge. “I am woman enough for you, El Moreno, if only you were man enough to take what is offered.”

She turned her back on him before he could answer and took off in a flurry of yellow satin. Birk looked at Alex, shook his head like a man disappointed, and followed Diana’s path.

“I am more than man enough for you,” Alex murmured to himself. “That is indeed part of the problem.”

“That man is entirely too involved with himself,” Diana declared as she stormed across the deck. Birk caught up with her and took her arm, slowing her to a walk.

“Easy, lass,” he murmured. “Keep yer voice down now.”

“I don’t want to keep my voice down.”

“If it gets about that ye’ve quarreled wi’ the captain, ye might find yerself in a bit o’ difficulty.”

“What are you talking about?”

Birk jerked her to a stop. Holding her gaze with his, he said softly, “Ye’ve brought a bit o’ attention on yerself, lassie, no all o’ it good. No every man aboard is as honorable as the captain.”

“I have my own opinion of the captain, Mister Fraser, and I assure you that it does not include honor!”

“Now there, hen.” With a gentle but firm hand, Birk guided her to a private place at the rail. “Dinna be so severe on the man. It’s naught but yer pride speakin’.”

“He is so infuriating!” Diana clenched her hands on the rail and turned to look out over the ocean. “How can I seduce a man who does not want me?”

“He wants ye, lassie. More than he would like.”

She glared at him. “He called me a child.”

“He disna like what ye make him feel.” Birk sighed. “He’s no the same man that first went after Marcus. I’ve kent him many a year, and the change in him disturbs me.”

She frowned. “How so?”

Birk’s expression grew troubled. “He disna think beyond makin’ Marcus hang fer his crimes. He forgets that he has a life tae live after that.”

“A fine life indeed if he does away with his greatest rival,” Diana scoffed. “The seas will be his to plunder.”

“There’s more tae it than ye ken,” Birk murmured. “Still, an obsession can be an unchancie thing. It consumes a man ‘til there is nothing left.”

“Your captain is well up to the task,” Diana retorted.

“Ye’re a hard-hearted lassie.” Birk crossed his arms. “Can ye no find a bit o’ kindness in ye fer thon laddie?”

She felt a twinge of sympathy, but her own goals remained firmly fixed in her mind. “The only kindness I can afford is for my father. Alex will not even consider the possibility that Papa is innocent. I need to make him listen to me.”

She glanced across the deck at Alex. He stood with feet firmly planted on the smoothly rocking deck, looking dangerously handsome in his trademark black. Sunlight gleamed off the mane of dark hair falling to his shoulders. She remembered how silky that hair had felt tangled around her fingers when he had kissed her yesterday. And how much his rejection had stung today.

“Ye can make him listen, lassie. It might take a bit o’ time, that’s all.”

“I don’t have a lot of time.” She tore her gaze from Alex to look at Birk. “Each day that passes brings my father closer to the hangman. And El Moreno is the only man who can help him.”

“There’s nae certainty in that,” Birk reminded her. “Ye dinna ken what yer askin’ o’ him.”

“All I wanted was for him to help my father,” she whispered. “To at least try.” Her confident mien cracked, opening the floodgates of humiliation. She recalled how easily he had deflected her attempt at seduction. She felt so helpless, something she had never experienced before. She took a breath that ended on a sob, and regained control with effort. She was strong, she reminded herself. And the hurtful words of one man would not defeat her.

“He thinks me a child. Well, I am no child.” She started over to where the men sewed sail.

Birk hurried after her. “Where are ye off tae?”

“I do not play with toys, Mister Fraser,” she tossed back over her shoulder. “And no longer will I play games with your captain. From this moment on, you will find all of my time better spent.”

Birk sighed as he caught up to her. “Leave it tae a woman tae toss pepper in the stew,” he muttered.

“Did you say something, Birk?”

He gave her a look of total innocence. “Just a wee prayer, that’s all.”

“Say one for your captain,” she retorted. “He needs it the most.”

Chapter Ten

“Dat’s a fine woman you got, captain.”

Alex slowly turned to face the speaker. He had to look up, since Mister James, the boatswain, stood nearly a head taller. The enormous black man watched Diana attempt to mend sail with the crew. His face reflected true admiration, and his dark eyes gleamed with respect.

“Thank you, Mister James,” Alex said curtly.
 

“Real pretty.”
 

“Yes, she is.” Alex glanced at her, admiring despite himself the way the sun gilded her hair with fire. He was painfully aware of how lovely Diana was.

“And smart.”

“I know.”

“Sweet.” Mister James smiled, revealing strong white teeth that gleamed almost as brightly as the two silver earrings in his left ear. He slapped Alex on the shoulder with one huge hand. “You one lucky man.” Without another word, he turned and stalked off across the deck.

Alex surreptitiously flexed his shoulder to ease the sting. Mister James was the third crewman to compliment him on his mistress. A mistress in name only, he thought sourly.

He scowled at the turn his thoughts had taken. He freely acknowledged that he would like to bed the wench, but he knew she would only agree in exchange for him helping her father. And as much as he wanted her, he would rather have his genitals rot and fall off rather than allow duty to bring another woman to his bed.

Despite all that, no matter how many times he reminded himself of that distasteful thought, he still found himself responding to her physically. At first he had hesitated because of her innocence. Now her father stood between them. He wondered what would happen if she were to offer herself to him out of mutual desire. Would his convictions remain strong, or would they crumble beneath the power of his attraction to her?

Carefully keeping an entire deck between them, he watched her laughingly hand the seamer palm and the needle back to one of the men. Though she had given it a mighty effort, she hadn’t the physical vigor to push the huge needle through the heavy canvas sails. But she had shown strength of character in lowering herself from her higher station to sit with his men and try to forge a bond with them. And that, he realized ruefully, was much more attractive than any of the flirtatious mannerisms that she practiced with such skill.

Birk was there to lend an arm as she got up from the deck and shook out her skirt. Laughing, she waved to those still mending and strolled with the physician to where three men sat cleaning the fish that had been netted that morning. She watched with a smile of pure delight that he found curious.

He folded his hands behind his back. She seemed to sincerely enjoy what she was doing. Her enthusiasm enchanted his battle-roughened crew. The one-eyed sailor that she now spoke to treated her in a most respectful manner, never once touching her or even looking at her in the wrong way. So it had been with all the men.

Alex frowned. If he wasn’t careful, he too would soon be ensnared in the spell of his own mistress.

“Ye take well tae life aboard a ship,” Birk observed.

Diana flashed him a smile and turned her attention back to the three crewman efficiently filleting the morning’s catch.

“I have always loved the out-of-doors,” she replied. “Papa often allowed me on board his ships when I was a child, but as I grew older he decided it would be more prudent if I remained at home.”

“Aye, I can see the wisdom o’ that.”

“As can I. But I do miss the privilege.” She lifted her face to the sun and smiled as the breeze stirred her hair. Inhaling deeply of the salty, fish-scented air, she opened her eyes to meet the brooding gaze of El Moreno.

He watched her from across the deck, hands clasped behind his back, his face grim in the way of a man who considered a baffling puzzle. She held the eye contact for a moment, then deliberately turned away.

“I used to fish with my father when I was a child,” she said to Birk. “Indeed, I believe he oft mistook me for a son rather than a daughter.”

“He wouldna make that mistake now,” Birk said. “Yer a fine woman, lassie.”

She blushed at the sincere admiration in his voice. “You are too kind, Mister Fraser.”

“Birk Fraser disna lie.”

She gave him a wry smile. “Would that others shared your opinion.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, she squatted beside one of the crewman and admired the way he deftly filleted a fish. He tossed the scraps in a nearby barrel and dropped the fillets into a basket to be brought to the galley.

“Watch yerself now,” Birk warned. “That’s dirty work.”

She grinned up at him. “This was always the best part, Birk. I wonder if I still remember how.” She glanced at the seaman, a grizzled oldster with one eye and missing teeth. “May I?”

The sailor glanced uncertainly at Birk. Before the physician could answer the unspoken question, the captain’s voice interrupted.

“Let the lady try.” A mocking smile spread across Alex’s face as he crossed the deck. He stopped several paces away. “She has an affinity for sharp objects.”

She stiffened. His sarcastic tone indicated that he expected her to back down or fumble with the blade. She raised her chin. Taking the proffered knife from the old man, she picked up a fish.

Her hands remembered the motions even as the memories crowded her mind. As if it were yesterday, she relived happier times with her father as they had fished in the river near Covington Hall. She could feel again his larger, adult hands guiding her smaller, child’s hands as he taught her how to slit the fish from tail to gill and how to clean the guts from the cavity. With practiced strokes learned from her sire, she sliced upwards along the head, down the length of the spine and then deftly flipped the fillet over to slice the meat from the skin. She repeated the procedure on the other side of the fish, remembering the first time she had done it, and the mouth-watering flavor of her first catch. Though the fish had tasted delicious seasoned with lemon and precious pepper, she had savored her father’s pride even more.