The Captain of All Pleasures

Chapter 22

Derek concluded that they couldn’t continue the indefinite nature of their relationship. He needed to cement something between them, and broached the subject one night while they lay in bed relaxed and sated together.

“I want you,” he began confidently, “to be my mistress.” She started to speak, but he held up his hand. “Before you answer, let me tell you how I’d plan to—”

“No.” She extricated herself from his cumbersome limbs and jumped up to get dressed. Derek watched her in grim silence as she pulled on her last boot and briskly brushed her hands. “I don’t believe I want to be your mistress, Captain.”

He didn’t know if he was more infuriated at her refusal or her flippant tone. She treated it as though he’d made an immature, half-cocked suggestion, when in fact he’d thought about little else since he’d realized she had nothing to do with the poisoning.

He’d never known a woman who made him so angry he wanted to put his fist through a wall! He didn’t bother to hide his annoyance. “Of course not, you would want more—a title, perhaps? I’ll warn you, if you angle for a marriage proposal, you’re wasting your time. I won’t give you more than an offer of carte blanche.”

“Whoa, my lord,” she said, dripping contempt on his title. “I don’t want more—I want less. I have no desire to make any commitment to you whatsoever!”

He stared at her with thinly veiled surprise—damn it, she meant that. Her heated refusal of any tie that might bind her to him rattled him to the core.

“From what I understand about upper-class men and their mistresses, in compensation for…intimacy, a man keeps his mistress in a house he provides and gives her jewels and silks.” She stood looking down at him, her eyes sparking. “Well, am I close?”

He agreed, impatient to hear what she would say next. One could never be sure with Nicole.

“Why on earth would I want to be kept in a house on land, stuck in the same place day after day for your convenience, all for some jewelry and finery I’d never wear?”

He’d only offered what had always worked in the past. Women liked to have things bought for them, to be cosseted. He’d had no reason to doubt that every female wanted fine things—expensive things—not only for her enjoyment but also for security.

Did Nicole even realize how abject her life would be once they returned to England? “In light of all that’s happened in the last few months, who do you think will take care of you if I don’t? Even if your father’s been released, you’ll have to get back to England to find him. How will you manage that?” He jumped out of bed and yanked on his clothes, his own temper threatening to boil over. “Your ship is on the bottom of the South Atlantic, and I stranded your crew at the Cape. You don’t have a guinea to your name.”

Her face took on a scornful, even haughty look. “I have means to survive. I’m not brought so low that I have to—oh, how did you put it that night in London?—bag an earl, either by marriage or by becoming your mistress,” she snapped. “When you leave me here in Sydney, I’ll be just fine.”

During the hours that she wouldn’t talk to him, he eventually cooled and considered their relationship more objectively. His desire to find some means to bind her to him hadn’t dimmed, but he wouldn’t force the issue. For the next several days, Derek said nothing about the future.

Really, what right did he have to offer her a future with him when his own life was so miserably set?

At first uneasily, then wholeheartedly, they forgot about the argument. To make up for it, Derek escorted her to downtown Sydney’s upscale district. He could watch her excited, radiant face for hours. She had no reason to affect a bored, world-weary mien like the women he’d been around for most of his life. He might have expected it, since she’d seen and experienced more of the world than the women, and many men, of his acquaintance. But she delighted in every little detail around her.

After an hour of casual strolling, they passed a jewelry store, and something in the window stopped him. Pulling her to join him at the thick glass, he saw a pair of sapphire pendant eardrops with a matching necklace showcased in the elegant display. What caught his attention was the depth of their dark color.

Wasn’t the dark color indicative of the stones’ rarity? More than that, they matched the color of Nicole’s eyes.

“What do you think of the sapphires?”

“They’re very beautiful,” she said, only half-looking at them, her attention focused on a peddler in the street. She tilted her head, wondering what he was selling.

To reclaim her wandering attention, he pressed a kiss in her hair. “Would you like—”

“Oh, Derek,” she interrupted, placing her hand on his arm, “look over there. That man’s selling strawberries . Do you know how long it’s been since I had some?”

He had only a second to note the name of the shop before she dragged him away.

So that he could spoil her with strawberries instead.

When Derek awoke just before dawn, Nicole was cuddled in his arms breathing softly. As usual, the merest touch of her skin against his set him off like a randy boy. But he needed her for more than just the release. True, his body craved hers, but he wanted that closeness that came afterward, when she let down her guard.

Though she slept, he slipped his hand down to stroke her, readying her, reveling in her quick response. She awoke with a quick inhalation of breath when he entered her, then sighed in pleasure as he pushed himself in, loving her.

He thought about their morning the rest of the day while he inspected offers for him to transport goods. He caught himself whistling as he signed the numerous contracts securing the flood of business the win had brought.

Grant would be floored when he learned of their success. The ship would be loaded in two days, and it looked to be a very promising run back.

But what to do about Nicole? He was running out of time. Sometimes she acted as if she would stay in Australia and wait for Chancey when Derek sailed, but those times were becoming fewer each day. He sensed he was wearing down her defenses.

He would talk to her tonight, he decided. But before he got a chance, they made love again. Then after dinner, she began reading the new book he’d bought her in town. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, he’d tell her she was coming with him.

And if she refused? He would have to play his final card. It was unseemly, but each day he grew more attached to her. He would tell her that she could be pregnant. He hadn’t been careful with her. He’d meant to; he had been careful all his life. But it felt impossible to pull away from her. It felt…wrong.

He didn’t think it had even crossed her mind. In so many ways, she was inexperienced. She’d never had to count days, never fervently hoped for one outcome or another. He would teach her—harshly—but it had to be done. There was no way he could walk away from her.

Derek’s musings were broken when he saw her scampering across the bed toward him, book in hand. She looked absorbed in thought, and he tensed while scrambling up against the headboard, certain that her knee would unswervingly connect with his groin.

Prepared for it, eyes closed and teeth gritted…he found only her breasts delicately pillowing across his lap. She lay perpendicular to him, the backs of her elbows touching his hip as she held the book open to read. He kept his eyes closed to better feel the luxury of her body.

He’d had her several times last night, twice this day, and still, at his age, he immediately turned stiff. When he strained against her breasts, her lips tugged up. Not in exasperation at his continual lust, not even in amusement. He knew because he ran his hand up her leg and under her gown to part her. He felt her breath catch when he touched her silky wetness. She smiled because she was ready.

And she wanted him, too.

Nicole looked down at the man next to her. In sleep, his face had at last begun to mirror the increased relaxation she’d sensed in his whole demeanor. She thought he’d grown more contented in the last few weeks. As had she. So happy, in fact, that she didn’t believe she could deny Derek if he asked her again to be his mistress.

Should she accept, she would break her word to her grandmother, and the news would devastate her father. She understood this. So why did her heart tell her it was right to be with this man for as long as she could?

What would her mother do? She had always told Nicole to follow her dreams and let nothing stand in her way. Hadn’t Laurel given up everything to be with the man she loved? Hadn’t she lost her own mother over it? Her father would never disown her, but he would wonder why she hadn’t demanded marriage. Nicole wondered herself.

She felt trapped in a curious position. She sensed that Derek was growing to love her. But she couldn’t decide if he was averse to marriage in general, or just marriage to her. Yet one thought recurred. Was she unthinkable as a bride merely because he was an earl and she apparently lacked a title, fortune, or roots?

And if that was the case, why hadn’t she told him who she was?