Swept Away (42 page)

Nathan laughed at her fears. “I’d say this is precisely the time to leave because your husband came dangerously close to getting his nose broken tonight.”

“I realize he was being difficult, but—”

“Sweetheart,” Nathan scolded gently. “What I’m trying to say is that, with Julian’s care, you’ll be fine. I doubt I’ll be able to return before the War’s end and until then you’ll have to get along with Raven as best you can. I certainly don’t trust him, despite the fact he’s been more than accommodating while we’ve been here, and it’s plain he doesn’t trust me.”

Eden blinked back her tears. “Raven has never learned to keep his thoughts to himself, no matter how vile they are. But I can’t bear to have you at each other’s throats. Let me go and get him so he can at least tell you goodbye.”

“He knows I’m leaving. I told him so this afternoon. That’s what we were talking about when you came into his cabin.”

That neither man had confided that information in her made Eden feel all the more wretched. “Raven is fond of saying that this is now my home as well as his. If you ever need a safe port again, I’ll demand he make you welcome.”

Nathan gathered his daughter into a loving hug. “I love you too much to put you in the middle, sweetheart. There are many ports in the Caribbean where we’re able to buy coal and provisions, so I can’t imagine returning here unless our situation becomes truly dire. Now smile for me, so I can remember how pretty you are.”

When he took a step back, Eden did her best to grant his request, but she wasn’t all that successful. “I love you too, Daddy. Please be careful.” Her father gave her a quick kiss, then let himself out the front door. Eden hoped with all her heart it would not be the last time she saw him. She turned and went back into the drawing room and, still distraught, was quite naturally drawn to Alex’s portrait. His engaging smile reminded her all too painfully of the love she had lost, and she could not bear to think she might lose her father too.

As she rested her hands on the mantel, a drop of wax caught her eye, and Eden wondered which of the servants had carelessly left a candle burning so near Alex’s portrait. She made a mental note to tell Yadira to caution the staff to be more careful, then thought better of it. One droplet of wax was scarcely cause for alarm, and since she did not want to discuss Alex with the housekeeper, she decided to keep the matter to herself.

Having absolutely no idea what to say to Raven, Eder did not look for him before going upstairs to bed. Perhaps he had actually tried to keep his opinions to himself, but he had certainly failed. To make matters worse, her father was every bit as proud and stubborn a man as Raven was. Neither had a forgiving nature and there was probably no hope they would ever develop a mutual respect now. She was positive insults less bitter than the ones they had exchanged had caused permanent rifts in other families, and would be no less damaging to hers.

When she reached the second floor, Eden saw the housekeeper about to enter her room. She called out to her and Yadira remained by the door. “Thank you for providing another wonderful evening, Yadira. Did you need to speak with me?”

The soft-spoken housekeeper held out a small silver tray on which she had placed half a dozen crackers. “I thought you might feel ill in the mornings, my lady. A cracker or two will settle your stomach.”

Although she was puzzled by Yadira’s suggestion, Eden accepted the tray. “My health is excellent, but I appreciate your concern.”

Yadira’s dark eyes remained devoid of warmth despite her smile. “You need not pretend with me. Raven told me you will have his child in the spring. You must be very proud.”

Proud
did not begin to describe how Eden felt at that moment. “Yes, of course,” she managed to lie smoothly, and she slipped into her room before Yadira noticed she was gripping the small tray so tightly her knuckles had turned white. Not caring whether or not the housekeeper’s remedy for morning sickness was effective, she set the tray on her dresser and went into Raven’s room. When she found it empty, she sat down to wait for him.

Nearly thirty minutes passed before Raven appeared and by then Eden’s anger had become a full-blown rage. By the time he had closed the door, she was out of her chair and half way across the room. Her voice was low so it would not carry past the door, but her tone was vicious. “That you would insult my father is bad enough, but that you would tell Yadira about the baby when we agreed not to tell anyone until after the holidays is unforgivable. I can understand why you felt you had to confide in Julian, but not Yadira. I don’t even want her in this house! How could you possibly have imagined I’d want her to know something so personal?”

After the way they had parted downstairs, Raven had not expected their next conversation to go well. He had already steeled himself for what he considered an unavoidable confrontation, and his mood was one of icy calm. He peeled off his jacket, tossed it aside, then removed his tie. He could not recall Eden ever losing her temper with him twice in one day, but the way she told it, he certainly deserved it. Knowing the best defense is always a vigorous offense, he ignored her hostile accusations.

“I’ve just been down at the docks talking with your father. I told him that I’ll supply whatever capital he requires when the War’s over. The shipyard is still in operation, but the Confederate government owes him more money for keeping their ships afloat than they’ve paid and you know as well as I do that he’ll never see it. Like most loyal Southerners, he’s funding the War with his personal fortune and he’ll not be able to recover his losses. While he didn’t leap at the chance to have me as a partner, he didn’t turn me down either. He told me the Sinclairs have been building ships since Colonial times, and I find becoming part of that tradition appeals to me.

“As for Yadira, I spoke to her before you asked me to send her away. She has a maddeningly superior attitude at times and I had hoped telling her about the baby would make her more sympathetic. Believe me, she’s not prone to gossip and our secret will go no further.”

Eden preferred Raven’s anger to the arrogance he was displaying now and she felt no less abused. Letting his offer to her father slide for the moment, she concentrated on the baby. “How many others have you told?”

“I’ve not told anyone else, nor do I intend to.”

“This whole farce is a mistake, Raven. Neither of us is comfortable with lies, and—”

“You gave me your word, Eden, and I intend to see that you keep it.”

Recognizing his mood as an intractable one, Eden simply channeled her anger in another direction. “There are some people who thrive on danger. Most are gamblers and adventurers who don’t feel alive unless something’s at risk. I’m beginning to suspect you’re that kind of man.”

“That’s possible,” Raven agreed with a slow smile. “The placid life we could lead at Briarcliff has never appealed to me.”

Briarcliff was associated with too many poignant memories of Alex for Eden to want to talk about it. “No, a quiet country life definitely does not suit you,” she said instead.

“Going to sea as young as I did spoils a man. There’s only one thing that compares with the constant challenge of sailing.”

“And what is that?” Eden asked flippantly.

Raven did not respond with words. Instead he slipped his arms around her waist to draw her near for a kiss he did not end until she had not only relaxed in his embrace, but had begun to cling to him, silently begging for more. At that precise instant he released her. “You were the one I wished to protect when I insisted we marry. Regardless of what your father mistakenly believes, I had no other dark, devious motive. If I have a flaw, it’s that I’m too honest, not that I’m deceitful.”

“If you have a flaw?” Eden asked sarcastically.

“You think I have a great many?”

Eden found it impossible to meet his gaze, and hoping he would not realize how difficult it was for her to respond to that question, she began to unbutton his shirt. “You’re not only bright, Raven, but rich as well, and that gives you a clear advantage over most people. If things don’t go your way, I think you’re capable of taking whatever action necessary to see that they do.”

As Eden’s fingertips brushed his chest, Raven began to pluck the pins from her hair. While her words were insulting, her actions were so seductive he did not know what to make of her mood now. “Give me an example.”

His shirt was now unbuttoned, and Eden laid her palms on his chest rather than attempt to move back when she knew he would surely follow. “My father knows he’ll face financial ruin if the South loses the War. So when he questioned your motives, you responded by offering him the money he’ll need to remain in business. That would certainly silence his objections, and it would also make it impossible for me ever to leave you.”

Scattering her hairpins in a dozen different directions, Raven reached out to grab Eden’s upper arms with enough pressure to lift her clear off her feet. “Is that what you really think, that I want your father in debt to me merely to prevent you from divorcing me? Is that what you and Michael Devane were talking about? Did he beg you leave me and marry him? Well, did he? If I loan your father money, will it put an end to those plans?”

Raven had again unleashed the violence of his temper, and Eden was more than merely frightened. “Put me down,” she requested with a calm born of stark terror. To her utter amazement, Raven set her down gently, but he did not release his hold on her, nor did his hostile expression soften.

“I’m not in love with Michael.”

That was not the answer Raven longed to hear. “He did ask you to leave me, didn’t he?”

“What are you going to do? Go down to the
Southern Knight
and beat him senseless for having such childish dreams? Don’t bother, Raven. He understands that I plan to stay with you.”

“Is it impossible for you to believe that I’d want to help your father simply because he’s your father? Or that any man would be as offended as I am if another man tried to seduce his wife?”

Eden found it difficult to accept Raven’s assertion of innocence when he continually forced choices upon her she would never make on her own. “You’ve nothing to worry about, Raven. Michael’s talents at seduction do not even begin to compare with yours.”

That was a challenge Raven could not ignore. While his dark eyes still smoldered with anger, after a moment’s pause his grasp became gentle rather than confining and he began to trail light kisses from her temple to the throbbing pulse in her throat. He retraced that tempting path, straying this time to her earlobe before reaching behind her to unfasten her gown. Eden stood quietly in his arms, fighting him with neither words nor actions, and he continued to lavish tender kisses on her cheeks and throat as he slid her gown off her shoulders. She pulled away for a moment then, but it was only to cast aside the elegant dress, not to escape him.

There were buttons, hooks, ribbons, and he undid them all to strip her nude and the whole time his lips caressed each tantalizing inch of newly exposed flesh. Finally he dropped to his knees and rubbed his cheek against her stomach, whose smooth flatness still gave no hint of the child growing deep within. Her flawless skin held the delicate fragrance of her perfume, and her body’s own far more enticing scent. When Eden leaned against him and drew him close, he rose and carried her to the bed but this time rather than laying her on it, he sat her on the edge.

As he again dropped to his knees in front of her, he turned his attentions first to the elegant line of her right leg and then her left. Slender and shapely, her legs were perfect from toe to hip and he spread adoring kisses along them, all the while listening to her breath quicken until it echoed the rapid rhythm of his. He slowed his pace then, savoring the tender flesh of her inner thighs with slow, deep kisses until she could stand no more of his erotic teasing.

He felt Eden’s hands move over him then, her nails raking his shoulders, her fingers tangling his curls. She wrapped her legs around his neck and pulled him down into the depths of her sweetness, but in driving her mad with desire, Raven had also sent his own passions reeling. The kisses he gave her now were as fevered as his blood, and seared the delicate recesses of her body with a tongue of flame.

As Eden writhed beneath him, Raven felt her whole body tremble first with the need for release from the unbearably sweet agony of desire, and then with endless waves of ecstatic deliverance. He moved over her then, pulling her up on the bed where he barely had time to free himself from his clothing before he sought his own release embedded deep within her. Her velvet soft center was wet and hot, and enfolded him in convulsive tremors that cost him the last of his sanity. He had never made love to another woman with such untamed abandon but the thrill they had shared was too exquisite to claim as a defeat for either of them.

Still flooded with her warmth, when at long last Raven could again think rationally, he rolled over on his back and brought Eden atop him where he could hold her in his arms without crushing her with his weight. She was completely relaxed now, languidly draped over his chest, her fair curls spilling over his shoulder, her hands resting lightly on his arms. He did not want to talk, and was grateful when she fell asleep without murmuring a word of protest at the way he had chosen to make love to her.

Then with a sudden chill of recognition, Raven recalled there had been no hesitancy in Eden’s gestures. She had not been in the least bit demure or shy, but instead demanding and eager for the intimate kisses that had given them both such intense rapture. A wicked grin graced his lips then, for he had not even suspected Alex would have been that bold with his delicate bride, but obviously the man had taught Eden more than Raven had guessed, and he had taught her well.