Once a Mistress (21 page)

“She tried to kill me!” Rosana looked around the room in a plea for support, but no one stepped forward to lend credence to her words. She stood alone in her lie. “So,” she snarled, her features contorting with fury. “This is how much our time together has meant to you. You would toss me aside for this skinny she-dog!”

“I treated you with respect, Rosana.” He gave her a contemptuous look. “Obviously more than you deserved.”

Rosana stiffened, inhaling sharply. She glanced from him to Diana, her dark eyes a mirror of seething rage. “You will see,” she spat, pointing at Diana. “You hold Moreno in your arms now, but soon he will leave you alone in your cold bed while he visits his rich
puta
on the hill! Then you will be alone…as I am.”

Alex clenched his jaw and reminded himself that Rosana had no idea she had just insulted his mother. “Rosana,” he warned.

“Do not deny it, Moreno,” the Spanish woman hissed. “The whole island knows that
la patrona
is your true love, that someday you will return with a ship full of gold and marry her.” She sent Diana a hard look. “Until then the rest of us are just bodies to warm your bed.”

“Enough.” He paused, weighing his words. “I told you that our association is at an end. I think it is best if you leave the island. Mister McBride will see to it.” He gestured, and Mister McBride stepped from the crowd.

Rosana paled. She sent a pleading glance around the room, but no one would look at her. Eyes shining with tears, she straightened her spine, tossed her black mane and swept towards the door. She paused in the doorway and looked back at Diana.

“Beware,
inglesa
. Do not give your heart to him. His is already given.” She turned her back and flounced out of the tavern.

Alex gave a brief nod at the door, and McBride hurried after Rosana.

Birk’s voice shattered the quiet left in the tavern after Rosana’s exit. “Would ye be needin’ me tae tend the lassie? I can fetch my tools.”

“Nay, Birk. I shall tend her myself.” Alex gave him an angry look. “See to your own wound, my friend. Then you can present yourself to me tomorrow morning and explain why you disobeyed my orders.”

“Aye, captain,” Birk sighed.

Alex swept Diana into his arms and resisted the impulse to crush her to him. He could have lost her. God love her father for teaching her how to defend herself, for she would have been no match for Rosana without that precious knowledge. Tonight’s incident only reinforced his decision to leave her behind while he went after Marcus. With Rosana gone, she would be safe.

Holding her close, he carried her out of the tavern and into the night.

The warm silence of the night enveloped them as if they had stepped into another world. The sounds of the tavern faded, drowned out by the crunch of Alex’s footfalls as he picked his way along a narrow path through the tropical vegetation.

“Where are you taking me?” Diana asked.

“Hush.” Her heart stopped at the tender smile he gave her, then sped up again at his intimate whisper. “I’m taking you to a secret place.”

She laid her head against his shoulder and enjoyed the way his muscles flexed beneath her cheek. His heart pounded against the hand she rested upon his chest. She knew he was displeased by what had happened at the tavern and did not look forward to whatever scolding awaited. But his gentle care pleased her.

Perhaps now he would see that she could take care of herself, she thought, nuzzling her face into his shirt. She had defended herself against Rosana and won. Maybe now that she had proven herself before the entire crew, he would reconsider his decision to leave her here.

The path they traversed abruptly opened into a clearing. Diana stared, her mouth falling open in delight. Vegetation surrounded the clearing on three sides, crowding up against a craggy hill that rose high above their heads. From somewhere atop the rocky formation a stream of water snaked down to empty into a quiet pool at the hill’s base. Moonlight shimmered off the mirror-like surface of the water.

“What do you think?” His quiet tone blended with the trill of insects calling to their mates and the soothing splash of the water.

“‘Tis beautiful.”

“I knew you would like it.”

He walked into the clearing. His footsteps grew muffled by the softer ground near the pool. Diana looked around with awe. ‘Twas an enchanted place, the air heavy with the scent of hibiscus, the trickling sound of the water blending with the whisper of the breeze through the trees to create nature’s music. The world beyond the clearing seemed far away.

Alex stopped at a boulder near the edge of the water. He released Diana, guiding her so that she slid down along his body. She was breathless by the time he stepped away from her.

“Sit down. I must see to that wound.” She sat on the boulder, and he caressed her cheek with his fingers before turning away.

Her heart tripped into double time as he stripped off his shirt. Moonlight played off the sculpted sinew of his chest and arms as he ripped two strips of material off the bottom of the garment.

“What are you doing?”

“Making a bandage.” He smiled. “Fear not, my sweet. I have other shirts.”

She watched him as he turned away from her, his breeches pulling tautly across his trim backside as he crouched beside the pool. The muscles of his back rippled as he reached down to soak a strip of cloth in water. Her palms tingled as she longed to stroke them over his bare back as she had done the other night in his bed. He rose and came to kneel before her, his head almost at a level with her own.

“I need to see that wound.”

Still absorbed in the flush of awakening desire, she presented her arm. He shook his head. “No, the sleeve is in the way.” Meeting her gaze, he gave her a lusty grin. “You will have to remove the gown.”

A quiver vibrated along her spine. An air of danger blended with the obvious desire in his eyes, exciting her. She knew he would never hurt her. But there was something thrilling about the way his passion seemed barely under control.

“Diana,” he said softly. “Take it off.”

“Very well.” She kept her eyes on his and reached behind her to fumble for the laces. After a few moments with no progress, he chuckled and reached around her.

“Allow me.” His fingers brushed hers. She dropped her hands to her thighs, bunching her skirt in her fists as a familiar hunger slowly grew. She could feel his hands plucking at the laces. The bodice loosened. He tugged at it until her upper body remained clad in nothing more than the smock-like chemise. For a moment he just looked at her. She followed his gaze and realized that the shadowy nipples of her breasts were visible through the thin white material. She started to raise her hands to cover herself, but then he turned his attention to her wound. After a moment’s hesitation, she dropped her hands to her lap again.

He rolled up the elbow-length sleeve of the chemise until the wound was exposed. Dabbing at it with the damp scrap of cloth, he said, “‘Tis not a deep cut. Your gown seems to have taken the brunt of it.”

She took a shaky breath. He curled the fingers of one hand around her bare arm as he cleaned the slash with the other. His touch made her tremble.

“Better to have taken a death blow,” she quipped, trying to control the craving flowing through her veins. “‘Tis the only gown I have, and not even one petticoat to speak of.”

 
“I would not mourn the lack.” He used the other scrap of cloth as a makeshift bandage and tied it around her arm. Then he looked up at her, and the hunger in his dark gaze made her heart skip a beat. He smoothed one hand along her thigh. “I do not miss those many layers between me and your soft skin.”

“Alex.” Even she heard the undisguised longing in her voice.

He took her hand and stood, pulling her to her feet all in one fluid movement. “Come, let us bathe.”

“Together?”

Her scandalized gasp made him laugh, easing the tension between them only a little. “Aye, my sweet. Together.”

She blushed at the teasing note in his voice. Then she squealed as he expertly stripped the gown from her, letting it crumple to the ground in a pool of saffron silk. He overrode her exclamations of modesty and pulled the chemise over her head. He crouched down to tug the slippers from her feet, leaving her naked before him.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered, looking up at her. Without rising to his feet, he reached out and caressed her stomach. “Your skin is glorious.”

“So are you.” She touched his shoulder, his hair. “You are the most beautiful man I have ever seen.”

He rose. “I thank you, my sweet. But ‘tis not just your fair looks of which I speak. ‘Tis your courage. Your spirit.” He pulled the ribbon from her hair and then lifted a lock to his lips. “Your excellent fighting skills.”

She laughed. “You may thank my father for the last. ‘Twas he who decided a young woman living so close to Port Royal needed to know how to defend herself. Truth be told, the knife is the only weapon I wield well.”

“Never forget your tongue,” he teased. “It is indeed deadly.”

“To other men, but not to you.” His sincere admiration encouraged her to be bold. She pressed herself against him. “I understand that you, too, wield your weapon well.”

“Indeed.” He wrapped his arms around her and lowered his head. “Come here, wench, and I will demonstrate.”

Some demon within her made her slip from his grasp just when his lips would have met hers. “Alas, kind sir, I cannot. My captain has ordered me to bathe.”

“Mayhap your captain has other orders for you as well.” His heated gaze followed her movements as she slowly waded into the pool.

She sent a flirtatious glance over her shoulder. “Then he will have to catch me and tell me so.”

“Prepare to be caught, nymph.” He quickly stripped off his clothing.

Her laughter echoed through the clearing as he waded into the pool after her. She backed away as he approached with determined strides, though all she wanted to do was to throw herself into his arms.

“None of your foolishness, sir! I have not bathed properly these two days past, and I desperately need to do so.”

“Of course, my sweet.” She squealed as he grabbed her about the waist and pulled her to him. “Allow me to help you.”

Her pulse jumped at the warmth of his body against hers. He held her pressed to him with one hand while he scooped up a handful of water with the other. He trickled the cool water over her breasts and watched the drops slide over her skin.

“Not clean enough,” he murmured. Dipping his head he followed the path the water had taken with his tongue.

She clutched at his shoulders as his hot mouth closed over one beading nipple. “Alex…”

“Shhh.” He laved her entire breast with long, slow strokes of his tongue.

She closed her eyes. Familiar fire licked at her loins as his lips brushed the underside of her breast. She dug her nails into the muscles of his shoulders. He pressed her lower body against him, his hard shaft blatant proof of his desire.

“God’s teeth, but I want you,” he muttered, pressing open-mouthed kisses to her neck.

“Yes,” she gasped.

For an instant she thought he would take her then and there. But he shook his head. “Nay, not so quickly.”

“But—”

“I have been a poor instructor, my sweet.” He kissed her lips before she could protest again. “There is much more to loving than I have shown you.”

“Teach me,” she urged.

He lowered his mouth to hers in answer.

Her head spun as he introduced her to a new kind of loving. Their first encounter had been passionate and urgent. Now he took his time. Tasting her. Absorbing her.

His gentle caresses were lighter than the breeze blowing through the trees, yet as potent as a bolt of lightning. He murmured sweet words against her skin, his lips tenderly exploring the resilience of her flesh. He scooped up handfuls of cool water and trickled it over her hot skin, catching the sliding drops with his tongue. Her body had no secrets from him. No places he did not touch, taste or tease.

She slid her hands over his wet flesh, learning what pleased him. Copying his movements, she brought forth groans of pleasure from him.

“I love you,” she murmured against his skin.

He murmured her name and pulled her closer.

Her body pulsed with emotion as his hands and mouth coaxed her to the peak of desire. He caressed her with heart-breaking tenderness and devastating experience. She arched her back as he finally found the place between her legs that ached for his touch.

“Alex,” she cried, trembling with reaction.

“I know, my sweet.” He slipped his finger into her, and she clenched her muscles around him in response. Her body thrummed with passion, so close to the brink she thought she would explode. Then he rubbed his thumb over the sensitive nub hidden in her feminine folds.

She cried out as the pleasure shot through her, making her fingers tingle and her lips form his name. Her knees like water, she clung to him and waited for her tilting world to right itself again.

When her tremors ceased, Alex lifted her in his arms and carried her to shore. He seated himself on the boulder and settled her in his lap.

“Are you all right?” He stroked the hair back from her face.

“Aye.” She took a shuddering breath. “But what about you? You still appear quite…ready.”

“I am that.” With a roguish grin, he lifted her and arranged her thighs on either side of his. “Tell me, milady. Do you ride?”

“On occasion.” She balanced herself with her hands on his shoulders.

“My sweet,” he said with a kiss to her lips, “you ride tonight.” He lowered her slowly on to his straining shaft.

She moaned with delight as he filled her. Closing her eyes she shifted her hips, luxuriating in the feel of him inside her.

He cupped her hips in his hands and began to slide her up and down with unhurried, powerful movements. She picked up the rhythm, using her inner muscles to caress him. His groans of pleasure spurred her on. Her nails scored his shoulders as she shifted to find a better seat and tightened her legs around his flanks. Her hair whipped around them as she galloped with him over the edge and into a storm of potent pleasure.