Sea of Desire (27 page)

“I can’t remember when it started. But the
more she locked me up, the worse it got.”

“Who? Who locked you up?”

“Miss Alice, my nanny. She didn’t want me to
disturb anything, so she locked the door. But I found the key and
would wander about the hall while she slept. Except one day I found
the caves.”

“What happened in the caves?” She clutched
his forearm, holding on tight. Jared didn’t think she even
noticed.

“Shouldn’t have gone down to the sea. I was
bad. Miss Alice told me it was bad, but I wanted to know.” Merideth
lifted her head, staring into Jared’s eyes. “You understand,
though. I wanted to find out what it was like... the sand and the
sea.” Her voice thickened. “But the caves were dark and cold. And I
couldn’t find my way out.”

She shivered and Jared wrapped his arms
around her tightly. “What happened then?”

“They found me. It was the next day.”

“At least you were safe.”

“Yes.” Merideth swallowed. “Mistress Alice
was very angry. She locked me in my room, and this time I couldn’t
find the key.”

The bitch. Jared found himself disliking the
governess and berating the father that would allow such a
punishment. “How old were you when this happened?”

“Eight. ‘Twas my birthday.” Merideth sighed
and her lashes drifted shut. She was so very tired. She’d never
told anyone of her fear... except her father. And he only laughed
and made light of it. To be honest, she couldn’t imagine why the
captain didn’t chide her for her foolishness. But he didn’t.

And because of that she completely relaxed
against him.

She was asleep. Jared tucked his chin and
stared at the golden head resting against his shoulder. His arms
tightened and she made a noise of contentment. He discarded his
plan to shift her down onto the mattress and hang the hammock for
himself.

At least for now. He’d hold her a while
longer. As he did he thought of her childhood, of the punishments
she’d endured. It was hard for him to imagine; he who’d grown to
manhood surrounded by loving parents and siblings.

But though he found her descriptions
incredible, he didn’t doubt her. That in itself surprised him, and
he fell asleep wondering when he’d started believing her.

Wakefulness came in small, pleasant
degrees.

Merideth was first only aware of a general
feeling of contentment. It seemed strange. Then as her senses
greeted the dawn she recognized a scent that she associated with
desire. She also realized she wasn’t that comfortable. Her neck was
bent at an odd angle, and her head was resting against something
hard. And her hip...

Merideth’s eyes opened and she found herself
staring at Captain Blackstone’s profile. He was asleep, his
black-as-coal lashes forming a crescent across his chiseled
cheekbones. Even with the sea-green eyes hidden from view, he was
so handsome. His nose was straight, and his sensual mouth with the
full bottom lip was slightly open. Merideth lifted her fingers and
very gently traced the curve of his black-whiskered jaw, barely
touching him.

When she came to his chin with its cleft, she
paused. What was she doing? Falling asleep on his shoulder was one
thing. Apparently he’d taken it as an invitation to spend the night
in the bunk with her—though by the looks of him, with his back
pressed against the bulwark, he hadn’t had a very comfortable time
of it.

Touching him, if he knew about it, would make
him think she wanted a lot more than a pillow for her head. Yet she
could scarcely resist. She looked again at his mouth and remembered
what it could do to her. She lifted her hand, then hesitated,
afraid to touch... afraid she wouldn’t be able to stop.

“Please.” The word was barely more than a
breath whispered in the early-morning air, but it startled her.
Merideth lifted her eyes to his, drawn by the desire she saw
there.

“I didn’t think you were awake.” He caught
her hand before she could pull it away. Then her fingers were
pressed against his lips and Merideth felt herself melt.

Last night he’d felt a kinship with her, a
deep caring. It had prompted holding her in his arms as she slept.
And it had even overshadowed the desire that unfailingly ruled his
emotions when around her.

But this morning he had awakened to her lying
across him, her hair a tangle of gold, her caress feather-soft on
his face, and he’d thought himself in heaven. He was almost afraid
to move, lest he scare her off, this angel of the dawn.

He shifted, settling her more fully on the
mattress, and lay on top of her. Her hand still cupped his face,
but when she looked up at him her fingers stilled. Her breath
caught and she swallowed. “I don’t think we should—”

Merideth never finished her sentence. The hot
hunger of his lips cut her off, made her forget what she’d planned
to say. Her arms crept around his neck, pulling him closer,
luxuriating in the feel of him, hard and heavy upon her.

What had started as a slow flame now exploded
upon Jared with startling force. He couldn’t seem to get enough of
her. And she matched his passion, kiss for kiss.

He barely knew what he was doing as he yanked
the tie of her shift and pulled it down, exposing her rounded
breasts to his hands and mouth. She writhed beneath him and his
hand delved lower, lifting the shift’s skirt and burying his
fingers in the moist heat between her thighs.

She climaxed instantly, her erotic moans
flaming the blaze of his body even hotter. He kissed her—her lips,
her cheek, the berry-hard tips of her breasts—and all the while
their bodies moved in unison, aching to draw together.

Jared pulled away to shed his breeches, then
unable to bear the separation settled his mouth on her smooth
stomach. In his haste the fastenings proved difficult, but her
hands were there too, urging him on, helping to free him.

They sighed in unison when his first thrust
brought them together. His probes were deep, and grew more frenzied
with each passing second. Jared felt his control slipping away, and
then she arched, her body flexing around his, and he exploded
within her.

How long they rode the stormy splendor, Jared
didn’t know, but when he finally collapsed by her side he was
replete and exhausted. Drawing her close, smiling when she came
readily, he fell asleep.

The call to arms, the loud rattling sound,
woke him quickly. Years at sea had conditioned him to the speed
with which he donned his breeches and shirt.

For Merideth the sound was frightening, for
she’d heard it before and knew what it heralded. The thought of
another battle, of the pain and suffering that accompanied it,
shoved from her mind any embarrassment about their making love. She
jumped up and grabbed her shift, yanking it over her head. By the
time she stepped into her gown and was pulling it over her
shoulders, she felt the captain’s eyes on her. She couldn’t help
the flush that suffused her cheeks. “Where do you think you’re
going?” Jared checked the priming in his pistol, then jammed it
into his breeches.

“To the surgery, of course.” Merideth barely
took the time to glance up.

“Nay!”

“What?” Now she looked at him, moving into
his path when he continued to ready himself and refused to meet her
stare. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t know what is going on. Maybe
‘tis nothing.” Jared shook his head when she began to argue, his
unbound hair skimming the breadth of his shoulders. “I’ll send Tim
down to let you know.” Grabbing up his cutlass, he headed for the
door, pausing before he shut it behind him.

“Are you going to be all right?” He cocked
his head toward the portal. “Can I close it?”

“Yes.” Merideth gave him a shy smile. “Yes,
I’ll be fine.”

He nodded, then rushed into the passageway,
shutting the door behind him.

Merideth stood, her fingers twisted together,
wondering if she spoke the truth. She could handle the door being
closed. It was daylight, after all. But what of everything
else?

She could hear the commotion from overhead;
cannons rolled, men scurried to battle stations. But there was
something else, something that resisted all efforts to make her
“fine,” as she’d told the captain.

She feared she was failing in love with him.
And she didn’t know what to do about it.

As sea battles went, Merideth decided, the
one this morning was unimpressive. Not that she wasn’t very
relieved. The actual fighting lasted less than a quarter of an
hour. Just enough time for the
Carolina
to fire a warning
shot and the collier from Wales to strike her colors.

After that, the privateers made quick work of
boarding a prize crew that set off for Morlaix with the captured
vessel loaded with coal.

There was no fighting, no injuries, and for
that Merideth was grateful. But there was no marked delay in their
arrival time at Land’s End. As strange as it seemed to her, that
bothered Merideth.

No more than a sennight ago, her fondest wish
was to return to Banistar Hall and put as much of this
unpleasantness as she could behind her. But now...

Merideth turned her face into the breeze,
shading her eyes as she stared toward the setting sun. She took a
deep breath of salty air and sighed. Wind whipped through the
sails, skimming the schooner ever closer to England. They would
arrive off Land’s End by nightfall, a mere twenty-four hours after
leaving the roadstand at Morlaix. The fifty-or-so leagues that took
three days to sail when traveling east passed quickly with the aid
of the prevailing westerly winds.

Turning, she caught sight of Jared Blackstone
standing on the quarterdeck behind her. Garbed in his usual dark
breeches and loose-fitting white shirt, he made an impressive
sight. His legs were apart, braced against the sway of the ship;
his hands were clasped behind him. As she had earlier, he faced
their destination.

But unlike Merideth, he seemed to harbor no
regrets about reaching it quickly. Their one encounter since he’d
left the cabin this morn, since they’d lain in each other’s arms,
was when he’d informed her she would be home by dawn.

Merideth looked away quickly when she noticed
him shift. She didn’t want to be caught staring. But her concern
was unwarranted. He simply nodded toward his friend Padriac, who
joined him on the quarterdeck.

“Here’s the final reckoning on the collier’s
cargo.” Padriac held out a rolled parchment to Jared. “ ‘Tis likely
to sell in France for a handsome sum.” Padriac paused, the tally
still in his outstretched hand. “Or then again we may all sink to
the bottom of the channel.”

“What? What nonsense are you blathering
about?”

“I thought that might get your notice. What
are you thinking about with such intensity? Or need I ask?” Padriac
turned, giving an exaggerated nod to where Merideth stood by the
rail on the deck below. “She’s enough to make anyone’s attention
wander.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Jared grabbed the
parchment, ignoring his friend’s grin as he unrolled it and began
studying the figures.

“Are you telling me the lovely Lady Merideth
wasn’t on your mind?”

“I’m telling you my thoughts are damn well my
own, Paddy.”

Shrugging, Padriac ignored the rebuke. “What
do
you plan to do with her?”

“Take her ashore tonight and be done with
it.” It sounded so simple when he said it aloud. Why couldn’t he
convince himself it was for the best? Jared scanned over the
figures, then rerolled the paper. Paddy was right. They’d made a
hefty haul this morning.

He was right about something else too. Jared
was thinking about Merideth Banistar earlier. He hadn’t been able
to think of much else all day. Hell, he hadn’t been able to get her
off his mind since that first night he’d met her. He looked toward
Padriac and realized by his friend’s expression that Paddy had
spoken again; and again Jared had missed it. “What did you
say?”