Rapture's Tempest (25 page)

“Oh, Jim…I love you, too! So much! But…” Before she could protest, his mouth descended to claim hers.

As their lips met, their fate was sealed. Joined in spirit as one, they blended together, tasting and touching each other
until their passion for completion drove all thoughts from their minds, except the need for that ultimate union.

Shedding their clothes with a desperate urgency, they moved together to his bunk. Jim threw the blankets aside carelessly and then lifted her into his arms and laid her down on the welcoming softness. Lying on his side, he stretched out with her, drawing her full to him. He shuddered at the touch of her smooth body against his.

Gone were all thoughts of right and wrong. All that existed was Jim and her undying need for him. Delight clung to Jim then, drawing his head down to her so she could kiss him, expressing her full need for him in that flaming caress.

Knowing that he couldn’t hold himself in check any longer, Jim moved up over her.

“My beauty…” His voice was husky with emotion as he looked down at her. “You’re no longer just a dream.”

With infinite care, he claimed her as his own.

Giving and taking, they melded into one as his steady rhythm stoked to life the flames of their need. Her hands were never still as she held him and caressed him, her touch fueling the fire that was already burning out of control within him. Delight was consumed by the heat of his desire. Straining against him, her body crying out for the release only Jim could give her, she joined him in a spiraling climax. She called out his name in reverent love as his mouth found hers in a gentle kiss that soothed the painful beauty of their fervid mating.

Clasped in each other’s arms, they floated back to reality, and it was only then that Delight realized with a heavy heart that Jim had never declared his love.

“You feel so wonderful to me,” he told her as he held her. “I could keep you like this forever.”

“How would you explain that to your fiancée?” The words were out before she could stop them, and Delight was mortified that she’d revealed so much of what she was feeling.

“Annabelle has nothing to do with us,” Jim began, but the moment of exquisite loving was gone, shattered by Annabelle’s
unspoken presence. He wanted to tell her that by tomorrow she would never have to worry about Annabelle again, but before he could explain Delight left the bed and began pulling on her clothes.

“Please…take me home now.” She kept her back to him, afraid that he would see the pain she was feeling clearly etched on her strained features.

“Delight…”

But she refused to listen to anything he had to say. “I’m leaving here, with or without your help, Jim Westlake.”

Reluctantly he got up and began to dress, hoping that by tomorrow everything would be straightened out.

Martin had observed Delight’s secretive departure from the house, and he was livid. He had seen her get into the carriage with Jim Westlake, and he knew what she was up to now…why she was nothing more than a slut!

The mental image of Delight naked in Jim’s arms drove Martin nearly insane with jealousy. He was outraged by what was happening, and he threw caution to the wind as he stalked up the servants’ stairs to Sue’s bedroom. Without knocking, he entered her room and woke her abruptly.

“Martin? Is something wrong?” Even though she was still half asleep, Sue could sense the violence in Martin.

“Come with me.” He spoke curtly.

If he couldn’t have Delight tonight, at least he could have the next-best thing…Sue in Delight’s bed. Grabbing Sue by the forearm, he practically dragged her down the staircase to the second-floor hall.

“Where are you taking me?” she whispered as they headed down the hallway past the master bedroom.

“Where I want to be,” he replied mysteriously as he pulled her into Delight’s room and locked the door.

The ride from the levee seemed interminable to Jim, for he could not coax Delight into a conversation. To his every ventured
question, her expression remained impassive—almost stony—and Jim wondered at her mood. He didn’t understand how she could have been so responsive in his bed only moments before and now wouldn’t even look at him. It was as if she wanted to forget the entire night…

As the hired carriage pulled to a stop a block away from Delight’s house, he finally gave up the struggle to understand her. Deciding that he would see her tomorrow after he’d broken off with Annabelle, he opened the carriage door and climbed out.

“I’ll walk you the rest of the way,” he offered, not wanting to part from her so quickly.

“There’s no need,” Delight responded with frigid indifference. She had to get away from him as soon as possible. She couldn’t break down in front of him. He didn’t love her…he had used her…forced her own body to betray her, and now he was taking her home as casually as if nothing had passed between them.

“There is every need!” He was growing angry.

She shugged. “Suit yourself.” And she started off at a brisk pace down the sidewalk.

Jim stood in total frustration for a minute and then went after her, accompanying her in silence all the way to her back door.

“Delight,” he murmured as she started to open the door and go in.

“Good night, Captain.” And then she was gone, leaving him staring in thoughtful surprise at the closed and now locked kitchen door.

Saddened and feeling somehow cheapened by the night that had just passed, Delight headed slowly upstairs to her room. The hour was just before dawn, and she was more than startled to find Rose bustling about her bedroom when she opened the door.

“Rose? What are you doing?”

“I thought I heard a commotion up here, so I came up to check on you and discovered that you were gone. I was worried.”

Delight went to her and hugged her tightly. “Thank you for caring…but why are you straightening up the room? It was clean when I left.”

Rose debated whether or not to tell her what she’d discovered when she’d come in to check on her. Deciding that Delight should know what was going on, she braced herself to explain.

“When I came in I found this.” She held up the remnants of the once lovely negligee.

“My God…do you suppose Martin did it?”

“I know he did, and also what he did right here in your bed!” Rose said vehemently, pointing to the pile of dirty sheets she’d just pulled off Delight’s bed.

“He’s sick, Rose. He must have seen me leave,” she murmured thoughtfully.

“Where did you go tonight?”

“It’s a long story, Rose…”

“One that I’m sure you should have told me long ago.”

Desperately needing to unburden herself, Delight blurted out the whole story. Telling her dearest friend of her time disguised as Jim’s cabin boy and of how she’d fallen in love with him, she left out only the truth about their lovemaking, but Rose was sensitive enough to know what had already taken place.

“So, you do love him?” Rose asked gently.

A sigh shuddered through Delight as she faced her. “Yes. I love Jim, but he doesn’t love me. He’s engaged to Annabelle, and I know there’s no hope.” Tears stung her eyes, and when Rose opened her arms to hug her, Delight was grateful for the comfort.

“Let’s just wait and see what tomorrow brings,” Rose consoled her. “Things may not be as bad as they seem.”

Delight forced a teary smile. “Thanks, Rose.”

“Now, let’s figure out what we’re going to do about Martin.” Rose looked at the gown in disgust.

“I’ll just have to make sure to lock my door every night.”

“And I’ll start sleeping in here with you, beginning tonight.”

“That’s a good idea, Rose.” And Delight wondered if maybe it wasn’t time to tell her mother the truth about Martin…

Martin stood in the darkened hall outside Delight’s bedroom listening to Delight and Rose’s conversation. So, she was in love with Jim Westlake, was she? It didn’t matter to Martin that she declared that Jim had no love for her. He was determined to have no obstacle in his way to having Delight…especially now that he knew she was no longer the sweet young innocent. She was going to be his, and if it meant getting rid of Westlake, well, that’s what he would do.

As soon as possible, Martin decided, he was going to do a little investigating. From what he’d heard tonight, Jim would be leaving very shortly on a trip downriver, and more than likely he would be carrying gold. Martin knew that certain Southern sympathizers in town would pay handsomely for information about the gold shipment, and they might also eliminate the problem of Jim Westlake for him in their quest for that gold. His thoughts were black as he plotted Jim’s demise. No one would ever have Delight except him…no one!

Set on a definite course of action, he went on to bed, anxious to put his plan into motion.

Startled to wakefulness by the soft knock at her bedroom door, Annabelle called out in irritation, “What is it?”

The maid opened the door and told her in hushed tones, “It’s Mr. Wade, Miss Annabelle. He’s downstairs and he wants to see you. He says it’s urgent.”

“Wade? Here? Now?” Annabelle looked groggily around her dark room. “What time is it?”

“It’s about five o’clock, ma’am.”

“Oh.” Realizing that it must be very important or Wade would never have come at this hour, Annabelle rose and threw on her dressing gown. “Tell him I’ll be right down.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The maid disappeared down the hall while Annabelle took a few quick moments to pull herself together.

He was waiting in her father’s study when she finally came downstairs.

“Wade? What is it?” Her question was urgent as she entered the room and closed the door to ensure their privacy.

“I have some news that I thought you’d be interested in.”

“About the gold?”

“No. I’m afraid it’s more personal than that.”

“Tell me.” Annabelle could not imagine what it was that he knew.

“After I got off duty, I decided to ride down to the riverfront to see if anything was going on.”

“And…?”

“And I saw your precious fiancé going on board his boat with a woman….”

“Jim? With another woman?” She was shocked and hurt. While admittedly he had seemed a bit distracted when he’d left her tonight, she’d never suspected that he’d had a rendezvous with anyone else. “Who was it?” Her voice was hard and dangerously quiet.

“I waited, because I knew you’d want to know. They went to his cabin and it was a good hour before they came back out. I couldn’t make out who she was, so I followed them. It was Delight de Vries, Annabelle.”

“Delight de Vries…that slut! With my fiancé?!” She was livid. How dare Jim Westlake play her for a fool!

“I’m afraid so.” Wade knew that he’d upset Annabelle, but secretly he was delighted. He loved her, and he didn’t like this engagement of hers to Westlake. It seemed to him that lately it had come to mean more to her than just an arrangement to get information for the Cause.

Annabelle paced the study in a controlled rage. Had Jim no honor? How could he see another woman while he was betrothed to her? It didn’t occur to her that she had slept with Wade since her engagement. It only mattered that Jim obviously was not totally under her power. She had failed, and failure didn’t sit well with Annabelle.

“I’m sure there must be a valid explanation for his behavior. I’ll just have to ask him,” she rationalized.

“Of course,” Wade responded dryly. “He just happened to pick her up at three in the morning and take her back to his boat for a friendly visit. It happens all the time….”

“Shut up!” She turned viciously on Wade. His snide comments rankled her, and she refused to listen to him.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to ask Jim about it first thing tomorrow.”

“You are?” Wade was indeed surprised.

“I’m sure he’ll be able to reassure me that it was a very innocent happening. Jim Westlake loves me. He wouldn’t do anything so foolish as to risk what we have together.”

“You’re a fool, Annabelle,” Wade declared harshly as he swiftly crossed the room and took her forcefully into his arms. With cruel fingers, he gripped her chin and tilted her face up to his. “But, God help me, I love you…more than life itself.” And he kissed her, savagely.

Annabelle was too stunned by Wade’s revelation about Jim to respond one way or another to his embrace. She remained passive, and Wade thrust her away from him in disgust.

“I’ll come back later. Maybe after you’ve heard his wonderful reason for spending an hour unchaperoned with Miss Delight de Vries, you’ll be more receptive to my advances.”

And with that he was gone, leaving Annabelle alone to
ponder her situation. While it was true that her engagement to Jim had started out to be just a ruse to get information for the South, she knew now that it meant everything to her. Whether she got news of the gold or not, she wanted to marry Jim Westlake.

“Well, did you get a chance to speak with Delight last night?” Marshall asked as he sat with Jim in the study early the next morning.

Jim had not slept at all after he’d returned from taking Delight home. Instead, he had spent the last hours before dawn pacing his cabin and trying to decide on the best way to handle the very delicate situation he was in. He had wanted to propose to Delight last night, but he felt that he owed it to Annabelle to wait until after he’d broken off with her. Once he was free, he would not hesitate to claim Delight for his own. His mind finally made up, he had waited until daylight and then gone to Marshall’s, knowing that they would be up early.

“Yes. I did,” Jim told him.

“A n d? ”

“And I’m on my way to Annabelle’s right now.”

“For what?”

“I have to break the engagement. There’s no way I can even think of marrying Annabelle, feeling as I do about Delight,” Jim stated firmly.

Marshall drew a sharp breath. “I’m pleased that you and Delight have worked things out, but I don’t envy you your visit with Annabelle.”

“I know. This is going to be difficult, but it’s something I have to do.” He sipped at the cup of coffee Renee had served him earlier. “What time is it?”