PluckingthePearl (8 page)

He forgot all about the mayor when he saw her.

She stood in front of a drooping clothesline with a basket
of laundry beside her. He noticed everything, from the way the sun shone on her
arms, to the peaceful curve of her lips. Despite her surroundings, she looked
content.

The blue scarf on her head made her look wild and innocent.
Better yet, her hair hung loose and long. He had half a mind to knock the men
overboard and whisk her off to the deep seas.

Henry steered the mayor toward the bow. “How about a nice
big glass of water?”

Pearl looked up as the boat came closer. Relieved to have
this moment without the other men watching him, Caleb stood with his hands
glued to the railing, staring at her. He didn’t dare smile or move a muscle. It
was enough just to look at her.

Her arm moved as if she were about to wave but she must have
thought better of it. The sight of the fancy yacht probably reminded her of the
roles they had to play. Caleb had taken a risk coming here with the mayor. As
usual, he had no common sense when it came to her.

It was wrong to come, he thought. He had his world and she
had hers. Mixing the two as he’d done today had stirred up things better left
alone. Now that he saw how she lived, he had a harder time accepting the way
things were.

He jumped when he realized his brother was by his side.

“You startled me, Henry. How long have you been standing
there?”

Henry leaned on the railing, looking at Pearl too. “Long
enough. Caleb, I’m thinking something right now and I sure hope I’m wrong.”

Caleb pushed himself away from the railing feeling the sun
burn the scratches on the back of his neck. “You
are
wrong. Let’s get
the hell out of here.”

He said the last sentence louder than he intended but he had
to convince his brother he had no interest in the girl hanging clothes. As he
headed toward the captain, he wrung his hands again. First Leroy last night and
now this. Two close calls in two days were too damn many.

Besides that, a bit of marsh grass sped past them in the
water, telling him the tide was going out and quickly. The mayor would not be
pleased if his expensive boat got stranded in swamp mud at low tide, possibly
ruining the motor.

Caleb vowed to be much more careful from now on.

* * * * *

Wearing her best dress—the blue one she’d traveled here
in—Pearl walked out of the Baptist church on Sunday with her family, using her
hat to fan herself from the heat. Children laughed as they ran across the
grassy area behind the church while women spread quilts on the ground and
opened baskets of food.

Being away from the oyster plant for two days felt strange.
She’d spent most of yesterday helping Wilma and Sadie with chores while Leroy
chopped extra wood for the upcoming winter.

The last thing she’d expected to see was Caleb perched on a
big yacht. She couldn’t hear everything the men said but she’d heard enough.

Let’s get the hell out of here.

Even now, Caleb’s cold words left a sour feeling in her
stomach. Hadn’t Leroy warned her about getting hurt? Afterward, the Johnsons
and their neighbors had chattered about the biggest boat that had ever ventured
into Crab Creek. No one could figure out why the mayor had come.

But Pearl knew. Caleb must have wanted to see where she
lived. She didn’t know whether to feel flattered or angry. He had no business
prying into that part of her life. When they were together, the color of their
skin and the differences in their lives didn’t seem to matter. When he touched
her, they were one.

Yesterday they couldn’t have looked more different—him
standing on that fancy boat like a rich king while she pinned rags to a
clothesline. She hoped he’d satisfied his curiosity. He probably wanted nothing
more to do with her. Never again would he make her body feel as if the earth
had split in half.

This was her life, she reminded herself as she watched Wilma
and Sadie fuss over the picnic basket. It could be worse. She had family, a
home and food to eat. Leroy even cared about her. True to his word, he hadn’t
said anything about her secret.

She helped the women unpack the food and sat on the edge of
the faded quilt while Charlie eased himself into a chair. When she saw Jimmy
head toward them, she wished she felt the same magical spark Caleb gave her
instead of nothing.

“Hello, Jimmy.” When Sadie batted her lashes at him, Wilma
elbowed her.

“There’s a spot beside Pearl,” her aunt said.

Jimmy smiled at her after he sat down. “You look real pretty
today, Pearl. Did you enjoy the service?”

Pearl struggled to pull her thoughts away from Caleb and the
yacht. The man beside her had a kind, handsome face. More importantly, he could
give her a future. It was time she stopped listening to her crazy body—making
obscene demands like
harder
and
faster
—and started thinking with
her head.

Jimmy asked her where she was from and she found talking
about her life in Annapolis easier than the life she had now. Wilma served
lemonade, cornbread, hard-boiled eggs and soft crabs. She smiled at Pearl
periodically with approval while Sadie glared into the distance.

“You must be used to the fine things in life,” he told
Pearl.

“Pardon me? Oh yes. I do miss it sometimes.”

She chewed her food slowly, noticing the textures more than
the taste. If only she could forget about Caleb she’d probably be happy at this
moment. Jimmy seemed to lean closer with every word she said and barely took
his kind eyes off her. She looked up to the blue sky, wondering if her mother
was watching her with approval.

When they’d finished eating, Jimmy stood and held out his
hand. “Would you care to walk with me? Maybe we can catch a breeze off the
water.”

Pearl stood slowly, her heart accelerating with worry as she
wondered what to expect. Sitting with family was one thing. Being alone with
him was another. What if he tried to kiss her?

Even though she’d braced herself for the rejection Caleb was
sure to give her on Monday, she wasn’t ready to be close to another man so
soon. In fact, she might never get over Caleb.

The church was near the inlet of Crab Creek so there was a
nice breeze. It reminded her of Caleb’s scent. The distraction made her trip
over a rock sticking out of the grass. That was a mistake because it gave Jimmy
an excuse to touch her. He took her arm and then held her hand. She didn’t let
go, knowing it was the smart thing to do.

Jimmy’s hand was strong and calloused from hard work but it
wasn’t Caleb’s. He led her to a bench and they sat down together. If only she
and Caleb could walk around in public holding hands and sitting in beautiful
spots like this. It just wasn’t fair.

She let out a sigh of frustration as she gazed out at the
water, holding her hand over her eyes to shade them. Part of her looked for the
yacht, wondering if Caleb was on it watching her.

“Something wrong?” Jimmy asked.

“No. I’m sorry. I’m just tired, I guess.”

He squeezed her hand. “You work too hard. You need someone
to give you an easier life.”

Pearl didn’t know what to reply to that so she didn’t say
anything. Thankfully, Molly Bingham came over and handed her a daisy.

“I picked this for you,” she announced.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Pearl said, smiling.

Jimmy took it and tucked it into Pearl’s hair behind her
ear, reminding her of how Caleb had smoothed her hair there. Did everything on
the world have to remind her of that man?

Molly ran back to her mother, leaving them alone again.

“She’s precious,” Jimmy said. “Do you like children? I do. I
want to have lots of them.”

Unless you get knocked up with his half-breed bastard
child before you get the chance.

Pearl looked down at her feet, recalling Leroy’s blunt
words. She couldn’t have children with Caleb. Jimmy, on the other hand, could
give her marriage, children and a respectable life. Still, the thought of never
having Caleb’s child made her feel hollow. What use was all their passion if
they couldn’t create something wonderful together?

Jimmy bent to peer into her face. “Did I say something
wrong?”

“I love children.” She looked back at the churchyard. “We
shouldn’t be gone too long. They’ll need help packing up.”

“Pearl, I’d like to ask your aunt and uncle’s permission to
come court you. Would that be all right with you?”

“C-court me?”

She lifted her face to the breeze, hoping it would clear the
numbness. Surely she’d expected this. First came courting then came marriage.
That was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

“Yes, I suppose that would be fine,” she finally answered.

Jimmy shifted on the bench. She could tell by the cautious
expression on his face he didn’t feel very encouraged by her reaction.

“How about Tuesday night?” he asked. “I could come over and
sit with you a while.”

Her family would be there so at least she wouldn’t have to
worry about being alone with him.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I work during the evenings.”

“Can’t you get that one night off?” he asked.

“I’ll try.”

And she would. Caleb would probably reject her and end her
cleaning job anyway. She stood, facing the river breeze. After her old life had
tragically ended in Annapolis, she was finally on the right track for a brand
new one.

She wasn’t about to let an arrogant white man stand in her
way.

When Pearl came to Caleb’s office after her shift, he could
tell by the stony set of her lips something was wrong. It probably had
something to do with his insane yachting expedition. It had taken him hours to
calm the mayor down after the trip. Luckily the captain managed to get the
yacht out of Crab Creek before the tide got too low and it didn’t get damaged.

At least some good had come of it. He’d placed an order at
the Sapphire Crab early this morning for a catered lunch for his workers.
They’d delivered a feast of ham, potatoes, corn, biscuits and even some oysters
to the lunchroom. His workers smiled all afternoon and productivity went up.

“The windows in the small shucking room need cleaning,” he
told Pearl. “Fill a couple of buckets with hot, soapy water. I’ll be down
later.”

She arched a brow. “Really?”

Her voice was as cold as her expression and her hair looked
as if she’d pinned it more tightly than usual. He needed to see it long and
loose again.

“Absolutely.”
We haven’t been together for two days and
I’m already hard.

He smiled and cocked his head, undressing her with his eyes
to give her the message but her face still looked blank. After she left, Caleb
drummed his fingers on the desk. Something was very wrong and he hoped he could
fix it because he planned to continue his exploration of her tempting body
tonight.

The floor men took forever to leave. At last, the plant grew
quiet. His cock was so brick hard he could hardly walk down the stairs. When he
went inside their special room with his basket of food and locked the door, she
was finishing up the window cleaning. Despite their interruption the other
night, he still preferred this room. They had made it theirs.

He pointed to the buckets of water on the floor. “I figured
we should have some cleaning supplies around to prove that’s what you’re really
doing. You know, in case we get interrupted again.”

She wiped her hands on a rag. “If the windows meet with your
approval, Mr. Rockfield, I’ll be going.”

Like hell she would. Maybe she was having her monthly
courses and was too embarrassed to tell him. The thought of not being able to
explore her body tonight deflated his cock but he still wanted to spend time
with her.

He jerked the window shades down. “Let’s have some oysters.”

“No, thank you,” she replied. “I’m not hungry.”

He took one of the rectangular wooden stalls the shuckers
stood in and turned it sideways on the floor. Then he sat at one end,
stretching his legs out before him.

“Sit with me and tell me what’s wrong,” he said gently.

She sat on the other end of it and folded her arms. “Stop
pretending you want to be with me tonight. This job is over, isn’t it?”

He rested one hand on the bench and the other on his thigh.
“Not by a long shot. Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Why, Caleb? Why did you have to come see where I live?”

He’d never heard so much emotion in her voice. The anger and
sadness in it wrapped around his chest, squeezing it.

He shrugged. “I was curious and I couldn’t go two whole days
without catching a glimpse of you.”

“Well, now you’ve seen it,” she replied, flinging out her
hand. “You couldn’t wait to get the
hell
out of there either, could you?
You sounded so disgusted.”

So she’d heard him. He took her cold hand and rubbed it to
warm it up. “Oh, Pearl. Why do you always assume the worst? What you heard was
disgust at myself, not you. I took a huge risk bringing the mayor’s yacht in
such low water.”

She looked away. “How could you not feel disgusted standing
up there on that fancy yacht?”

He closed his eyes against the regret welling up from his
chest. He’d been so focused on how adorable she’d looked standing at the
clothesline he hadn’t given any thought to how he must have looked to
her—white, imperious and condescending.

“All right, maybe I did feel disgusted. Because it broke my
heart, honey, to think of you freezing in that shack this winter.” He found
himself almost yelling and lowered his voice. “You deserve so much better.”

Pearl was a proud woman and too proud, he knew, to accept
the building supplies he wanted to give her family. He’d have to do it
anonymously.

“I realized all my employees deserve better. If it hadn’t
been for you, I never would have bothered to see everyone’s living conditions.
I don’t feel very good about that.”

“It seems to me you do the best you can,” she said quietly.
“Everyone appreciated the lunch today.”

But when he planted a sensuous kiss on the palm of her hand,
she pulled it away.

“You shouldn’t have come to Crab Creek.” Her bottom lip
trembled as she spoke. “How can you possibly still want me after seeing me
there?”

The wooden stall creaked as he grabbed her and pulled her
against him. Then he anchored both hands on the sides of her face and looked
into her stormy eyes.

“Let me make something very clear, Pearl Wilson. I will
never
stop wanting you.”

“Caleb…”

The breathy surrender in her voice pressed the accelerator
in his heart. Enough of this damn talking. Still gripping her face, he claimed
her mouth, proving how much he wanted her with the pressure of his lips and
every sweep of his tongue. Each time he let up, they both gasped for air before
returning to the frantic union of their mouths.

When they stopped, he put his arm around her.

“What was it like being on that yacht?” she asked.

“Boring,” he replied. “I only go because the mayor expects
it of me. Most of the time, I imagined us alone on that boat.”

Her stormy eyes warmed with a flicker of desire. “You did?”

He swayed from side to side on his seat, mimicking the
rocking of a boat. Her supple torso moved with his.

“I pictured you naked and spread open for me on that boat,”
he told her. “I imagined my tongue inside you while the waves rock us back and
forth like this. Each one would drive me a little deeper.”

Her breasts rose with a sudden intake of breath. “Good
heavens, Caleb.”

“Maybe I should borrow the mayor’s yacht so we can really do
it,” he said. “It would be dangerous as hell but I could probably just about
pull it off.”

When she leaned her head on his shoulder and giggled, he
held her closer. “Well, at least I finally got you to laugh.”

“So I still have this job?” she asked.

He frowned and turned her chin up with his thumb so he could
see her face. “Of course you do. You’re not going to quit on me, are you?”

She pulled her face away and shifted on her seat but this
time she looked more uncomfortable than guilty. What now? His heart raced so
much around her he was sure it would wear itself out.

“I almost hoped you’d fire me to make my life simpler.
Caleb, can I have tomorrow night off?” she asked.

“Sure, but may I ask why? I thought you enjoyed our time
together.”

“I do.” She sighed and studied her hands. “I saw Jimmy at
church Sunday.”

Jimmy.
His competition. “And?”

“I agreed to let him court me. He’s coming over Tuesday
evening. My family will be there, of course.”

The news nearly knocked him off the bench. “Damn,” he said
softly.

She rubbed the hairs on his arm, sending threads of heat
through his groin. “Caleb, we talked about this. Jimmy can give me the life I
need.”

And he couldn’t. “I know. I just hoped we had more time.”

Her fingers trembled as they touched his face. “We do have
time. It’s not as if I’m getting married tomorrow.”

But the time they did have left was even more precious now.

“Let’s not waste another moment talking,” he said.

He’d planned to seduce her slowly tonight but that was
before he’d found out another man would court her, kiss her, touch her…

Her yellow cotton dress buttoned from collar to hem. He
tugged at the top buttons, so impatient he almost pulled them off. She stopped
him and unbuttoned them herself. When the top of her dress was open, he guided
her arms out of the short sleeves. Next, he unfastened her bra and tossed it on
the floor.

With his mouth, he claimed every bit of her exposed,
coffee-smooth skin—her silky cheekbones, her tender neck and the warm hollow
between her breasts where her earthy-sweet scent was strongest. He sucked her
nipples into his mouth, one at a time, wishing he had the time and patience to
be gentler but he didn’t. He felt like a starving man at a soup kitchen.

It was as if at any moment the door would burst open and
someone would steal Pearl away from him forever.

Mine! Mine!
he wanted to shout with each kiss. Jimmy
would never know she’d belonged to another man first but he wanted to make sure
she knew it tonight.

“Take off your shoes and stockings and unbutton the rest of
your dress,” he ordered. “I need to see all of you.”

She did as he asked, leaving her naked except for the dress
attached by the belt at her waist. Although she kept her legs clasped together,
he eyed the triangle of black hair, damp from her excitement. The scent of her
cream made the blood sing in his ears.

“Thank you for not wearing panties again,” he said.

He groaned when her hand clasped the hard ridge of his
trousers. Inside, his organ strained against the fabric and ached for release.

“I need to see you too,” she said.

“Pearl,” he warned.

“I bet you have a naughty word for it too. Tell me.”

“It’s called a cock,” he replied.

Before he could stop her, she’d unfastened the buttons of
his trousers and undershorts and reached for his naked shaft. The sight of her
dark, delicate fingers around his hot, pink flesh sent a ball of heat to his
head, making it feel as if it might explode.

A shudder went through him when she rubbed a finger through
the milky cream oozing from his tip.

“Honey,” he said, gasping, “if you keep doing that, I don’t
think I can keep myself from fucking you.”

She ignored him, dragging her finger down the length of him.
His balls clenched with the need for release.

“I mean it, Pearl.” His throat rumbled with a growl of
warning. “If you want to stay a virgin, get your hand off my cock. Now!”

To prove it, he pulled a condom out of his pocket. He
carried it around now, just in case.

“What’s that?” She frowned as she took it from him and
studied it.

“This is a condom. It fits over the penis during intercourse
and prevents children.” He hoped the dry, scientific explanation would ease the
pressure in his balls but it didn’t. “If you ever decide to—”

She finally let go of him and dropped the paper packet back
into his hand as if it had caught on fire. “No, we don’t need it. Please put it
away. All of it.”

He pocketed the condom, stuffed his stiff member back inside
his trousers and buttoned them while he still could. Standing up, he laid out
the same blanket he’d used last time, cursing at the clumsiness of his fingers
as he rushed. He lifted her and laid her on it.

“Scoot your sweet ass near the edge so I can access it,” he
said.

He didn’t have patience to spend time fondling her legs
either. He just spread them wide. Judging by the wetness coating her folds, she
didn’t need it. The sweet opening beckoned him to stretch it with his erection.

The overwhelming urge to do just that nearly brought tears
to his eyes as he stared at her. Her writhing limbs told him she probably
wouldn’t argue until afterward. If only he could be the first—the only—cock
inside her.

As he inserted one finger inside her drenched folds,
watching the ruffled lips swallow his white skin, his other hand tugged at the
buttons of his trousers. White heat raced down his arms, urging him to rip them
open and unleash his shaft again. He knew if he did that, it would be buried in
her within seconds.

Caleb took a deep breath that did little to still the
shuddering need racking his body as he pulled his finger out of her depths.
Next, he grasped Pearl’s inner thighs to anchor them and lowered his face to
her cunt. She moaned when he kissed the tender area on each side of it. Then he
placed several kisses on her molten center, growing dizzy from the scent of her
cream.

“Your pussy tastes even sweeter than I imagined,” he said.

“Mmm,” she replied. “I thought pussies were cats and that’s
a cunt. I’ll never learn your language.”

He glanced up at the mountains of her breasts and the dark
nipples sticking up like points.

“Fondle your breasts while I do this,” he told her. “I want
your nipples to stay rock hard—as hard as my cock.”

“Yes. Yes…”

Seeing her fingers flicking and pulling on the swollen
points drove hot forks of need into his balls. He turned his attention back to
her pussy, scraping his moustache and mouth across the puckered lips. When he
pressed his upper lip against her slippery little pearl, she groaned.

Tearing himself away from her, he reached for a clean rag
and handed it to her.

“I hate to ask you to do this, honey, but I’m afraid someone
will hear you. Put this in your mouth, especially when you come.”

She lifted her head and took the fabric. “Do you think
I’ll…climax again?”

“You will,” he promised.

He gripped her thighs again and gazed at her. “This is by
far the most beautiful oyster this plant has ever seen.”

And I wish it were mine forever
, he thought as he
traced his finger down each lip. When he lowered his head this time, his tongue
darted out and dragged across her cunt as if it were a fish hook. Then he
wiggled the tip inside.

She responded by jerking her hips and putting the rag to her
mouth to muffle her cries of pleasure.

Encouraged, he pointed his tongue and traced it lightly over
her clitoris. Her hips moved so much he could barely keep his place. He pushed
harder with his hands to keep her pinned to the table.