Captive Splendors

T
he night air was warm and soft. When Wren awakened, her first thought was of Caleb. For an instant she thought she had only dreamed that he had come to her, loved her. She realized that she was alone, her naked body covered by his shirt.

 

A splash from the stream attracted her attention; a plume of white shot up as Caleb threw the water over his body. Wren was mesmerized by the sight of him. She rose, casting aside his shirt, and waded into the stream, oblivious of the chill, knowing only that she had to be near him, to feel his arms encircle her once again. . . .

The Blossom Sisters
Balancing Act
Tuesday's Child
Betrayal
Southern Comfort
To Taste the Wine
Sins of the Flesh
Sins of Omission
Return to Sender
Mr. and Miss Anonymous
Up Close and Personal
Fool Me Once
Picture Perfect
About Face
The Future Scrolls
Kentucky Sunrise
Kentucky Heat
Kentucky Rich
Plain Jane
Charming Lily
What You Wish For
The Guest List
Listen to Your Heart
Celebration
Yesterday
Finders Keepers
Annie's Rainbow
Sara's Song
Vegas Sunrise
Vegas
Heat
Vegas
Rich
Whitefire
Wish List
Dear Emily
Christmas at Timberwoods

 

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Table of Contents

Soft sounds emanated from the center of the large four-poster bed which dominated the geranium-silk-draped room. Impatiently tossing back the bedcovers and exposing their naked bodies to the chill air which even the fire in the grate could not dispel, Caleb van der Rhys rolled over onto his back and brought her with him. In the fire's glow Celeste read his features, seeing there his unadulterated lust and thrilling to the gleam of dominance in his night-dark eyes.

Grasping her hips firmly, he lowered her body onto his, watching the display of emotions cross her face. Her fingers tore into the furring of soft hair on his chest and stroked the tight cords of muscles banded across his ribs. His hair was tousled and dark against the pillow and his eyes bore through her, seeming to command her senses, greedily enjoying the pleasure he was giving her. His strong, lean thighs accepted the burden of her weight; his hands caressed her breasts, then strayed to where their bodies merged, becoming one.

From below, the throb of music could be heard, and the familiar clinking of taproom glasses blended with laughter. As her passions mounted, Celeste lost her awareness of the sounds in Madame du Toit's bordello. The man beneath her was all-consuming.

She felt his eyes burning into her, watching for the approach of her ecstasy. Low moans of desire escaped from deep in her throat, her pulses raced, and a thin sheen of moisture veiled her skin. Suddenly she felt herself tumble backward against the mattress; he followed her movement, burying himself deep within her. And still his eyes watched her, triumphant now, realizing the power he held over her senses, fulfilling her passions while he slaked his own.

In the two years Captain van der Rhys could be counted among Celeste's clientele, she had always found herself looking forward to his next visit. Lusty and powerful, he was a magnificent lover, showing many sides to his expertise. Even now, as she watched him dress, she realized the power he exuded, the heady, masculine strength and potent domination he held over women.

Demanding, forceful, yet with a boyish charm which most women found irresistible, Caleb sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his soft knee-high boots.

“If you like,” she whispered, her voice a soft, contented purr, “I could meet you outside Madame du Toit's.”

He smiled, seeming to weigh her words. “Meet me where, my sweet? My ship is my home. Ships' captains don't usually keep apartments in port.”

“Marseilles is a very big port,” she pouted. “You come here often. I could keep the apartment for you, see to things . . .”

He threw back his head and laughed, the sound filling the room. “Could you, now? Celeste, don't ruin the evening. I've told you before, I have no need for an apartment and less need for a woman to keep it for me. Isn't it enough that the time I do spend in France I spend here with you?” To soften her disappointment, he leaned over and buried his face in her breasts.

“No! It is not enough! Once again I will be the laughingstock among the other girls. I am the only woman you seek out here at Madame du Toit's, and yet you care so little for me that you do not keep me for yourself.” Her lower lip jutted out in a display of pique, and her finely arched brows came together over the bridge of her upturned nose. “I think perhaps you have other women.”

“Certainly I have other women!” he answered good-naturedly. “Just as you have other men!”

“But that is my business!” she retorted, throwing back the covers and kneeling beside him, wrapping her scented arms around his neck in gentle persuasion. “How would I live otherwise? I am sick of Madame du Toit's. Why is it you never bring me out to your ship? I could stay with you, be there whenever you wanted me, instead of only for a few hours at night.”

Her petulance was beginning to grate on him. He reached for his waistcoat and pulled it on with a fury. “I've told you I never bring women out to my ship.”

“Yes, yes, something about it being a sacred shrine where your father and stepmother realized their love for one another. Bah! I never thought you could be accused of being sentimental!”

Once again Caleb regretted ever having told Celeste about the history of his ship, the
Sea Siren.
He owed his foolishness to the liquor he had consumed and perhaps to a barely admitted loneliness. Instantly he knew he would never again return to Madame du Toit's. Celeste had begun to bore him with her strident demands and pleas.

As if realizing she had pressed too far, Celeste became immediately contrite. She drew herself against him, her lips near his ear, whispering that she would never plague him about his ship again.

His hands found her wealth of golden hair and pulled it viciously until she was once again lying back on the pillows. His mouth came crashing down upon hers, his breath hot and wine-scented. Her pulses throbbed rhythmically, her fingers tore at his clothing, her hips arched in offering. His lips trailed a familiar path from her mouth to her breasts; his hands possessed her, igniting fires she had thought were quenched.

A slow, sly smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and her long, slanted eyes gleamed with conquest. He forgave her, he always would. In time she would manipulate him, make him see he couldn't live without her. She wanted him, needed him; in all her experience she had never known another man like him. His touch could fire her passions, his lips could conquer her desires. A slow curl of heat warmed her like a summer sun, and she knew she wanted him, again, and again . . .

When she had reached a dizzying height, Caleb tossed her away from him, leaving her hanging over an empty abyss. “That's right, Celeste, you'll never plague me again.”

His boots were almost soundless on the carpet as he strode to the door and banged it shut behind him.

Tyler Payne Sinclair strode down the wide gallery which winged out over the main staircase and entrance hall of his London town house. As he glanced at the impressive row of family portraits lining the wall, he again realized how difficult it was for him to comprehend that, since his father's death, he had inherited the title of Baron and taken his father's place in Parliament. All the dire threats put forth by his parents to disinherit him if he should ever marry his distant cousin, Camilla Langdon, had not come to fruition. When Camilla's jackanapes father had finally met his end at the hand of Sirena van der Rhys, the elder Sinclairs had experienced a change of heart. Or so they had told themselves and Tyler, explaining that Camilla, once free of Stephan Langdon's evil influence, had been found to be a girl of exquisite taste and a loving nature. It had never been spoken aloud that they would sooner have cut off their arms than alienate themselves from their only son.

Tyler's dark eyes became thoughtful as a squeal of girlish laughter rang in his ears. He would sorely miss Wren when she left with Sirena and Regan, who were expected in London within a fortnight. Now that Camilla had at last come into her own with approaching motherhood and little else filled her thoughts, he would be lost without Wren's exuberance for life and her flattering dependency on him.

How alike the beautiful Sirena and Wren were, yet how unalike. He supposed he should resign himself to the fact that he would always worry about her in the manner of an older brother. He could never seem to gain the detachment toward her that even the role of a substitute stepfather would designate during these years in which Wren had come under his care. He sighed heavily. It was time for Wren to return to the Spice Islands with Sirena and Regan and find her place in life, whatever that might be. Just as long as it didn't include that dandy, Malcolm. Weatherly.

God! How was he to explain that fop to Sirena? He shuddered as he pictured how those emerald eyes would spew fire when she was told that her little Wren was bent on marrying that rapscallion as soon as he could properly ask for her hand. A grudging smile split Tyler's handsome face. If Malcolm Weatherly managed to escape Sirena's fury, he would find he still had Regan to deal with. Tyler imagined he himself should be chagrined to consider that Regan might be able to gain control of a situation where he had not, but he soothed his spirit with the thought that Regan had not lived under Wren's charm and winning ways for these past three yeears.

Tyler had found it impossible to deny Wren anything, and Camilla had found herself in the same predicament, especially where it concerned Mr. Weatherly's courtly attentions. In fact, Camilla's fondness for Wren was surprising on all accounts. Tyler smiled again as he thought of his pretty blond wife. Camilla had come a long, long way from that pretty, empty-headed young girl he had known and loved in spite of her selfish, self-serving behavior. She had grown into a loving, tender woman, and Wren, as well as he, was grateful for her cloak of maternal regard. The only area where Camilla was disapproving of Wren lay in the young girl's friendship with the Puritan, Sara Stoneham. But even in that Camilla was being protective and defensive of her little family. The Puritans were speaking out dangerously against the King's control of the Church of England, and there were even rumblings of civil war.

As a member of Parliament, Tyler knew Camilla's fears were not unfounded, but he refused to allow his own concern to color his feelings toward Wren's young friend. Sara Stoneham was a lovely girl from a notable family, one he had known for years. If her religious preference was different from his, it mattered little to Tyler. Besides, how could he, in all conscience, have turned Sara out into the street when she had come here, at Wren's invitation, to await the arrival of her parents in London?

Tyler quickened his step toward the elaborately carved door of Wren's apartment to bid the girls good night. He had lifted his hand to knock when the sound of their voices penetrated the thick panel

“Wren! In the name of all that's holy, I didn't think you were ever coming back! What could you have been thinking of? Sneaking off with Malcolm and staying out so late! What if the Baron or the Baroness popped in to say good night? What would I have told them?”

Wren spun around the room, her blue and mauve striped silk skirt ballooning away from her slim legs like a brightly colored parasol. She hugged her arms close to herself, an expression of rapture softening her features. “Ooh, Sara, don't spoil this for me. You're always so disapproving every time I'm with Malcolm. Not tonight. Please?” Wren's eyes glowed softly in the light of the lamp, her thick lashes casting feathery shadows on her smooth cheeks.

Sara noticed the huskiness in Wren's voice and that her hair was disarrayed and wispy tendrils curled toward her ivory brow. There was no mistaking that look of voluptuous satisfaction which pouted her kiss-bruised lips, nor the languid, sensuous expression in her eyes. Sara was familiar with these outward signs of lovemaking. She had seen them branded on her own features after slipping out of school for a spring night's rendezvous. And, like Wren, but unknown to her, she, too, had spent breathless hours in Malcolm Weatherly's arms. She knew how the touch of Malcolm's hands on her flesh could transport her to worlds never before imagined . . . how his lips could plead and then tease until she was half mad with wanting him, with wanting to give herself to him. Then, suddenly, it had ended. The secret notes had stopped arriving; when she had slipped out of the dormitory at night, hoping to meet him, she had waited until the chill, damp, early-morning air had penetrated her clothing, causing her to shudder from the cold and from the deeper, more painful quiver of love lost.

After several weeks of pining for Malcolm and experiencing rapidly dropping grades, Sara had heard it rumored that Wren van der Rhys was keeping trysts with a handsome stranger. Her suspicions aroused, Sara had managed to befriend Wren and learned that indeed it was Malcolm Weatherly who tempted the innocent, young Wren to brave the dark and perilous rose trellis for a few moments in his arms. It was torture being here with Wren and knowing she was Malcolm's new love, but Sara was beyond helping herself. In some undefinable way, being close to Wren was like being near Malcolm.

“You don't like Malcolm, do you, Sara?” Wren said quietly, touching her friend's sleeve. “I know you've gone along with my little deceptions, but underneath you disapprove, don't you?”

Sara turned so that Wren couldn't see her face. She wanted to lash out, to scratch Wren's beautiful face, to force her to face the truth. Poor silly little Wren. Couldn't she see that Malcolm was more interested in her family's wealth than he was in her? Sara wished she had the courage to tell Wren that Malcolm had loved
her,
Sara, until he had discovered that the Stonehams had lost favor with the Crown over some loose remarks about the King's failure to call together a session of Parliament. Times were uneasy for Puritans, to say the least. A swift seizure of properties, and the Stonehams were on the verge of bankruptcy. But to reveal this to Wren would mean a certain end to their relationship and to her vicarious closeness to Malcolm. Sara's only satisfaction lay in the fact that Malcolm didn't love Wren. It was just a scheming, self-serving game he was playing. Sara knew she should hate Malcolm Weatherly, and she'd even experienced twinges of guilt because she was keeping the truth from Wren, but she couldn't hate him. She loved Malcolm Weatherly more than she had ever loved another person in her entire life. I must love him, she told herself; otherwise what kind of person am I, to have allowed him to do the things he has done to me?

A sly smile tugged at the corners of Sara's generous mouth when she remembered the nights alone in Malcolm's arms, the things she had done, the things she had permitted Malcolm to do to her. No one in the world knew what they had shared, and Malcolm certainly wouldn't tell.

“Sara, answer me,” Wren persisted. “Why don't you like Malcolm?”

“Wren, it's not that I don't like him. It's just that . . . how will you explain Malcolm. to your . . . to Sirena and Regan?”

“Why can't you ever bring yourself to refer to Sirena and Regan as my parents? They are, you know. They're the only parents I've ever had, and they consider me their very own daughter,” Wren announced defiantly, her amber eyes lighting from within.

“Not in the true sense of the word, Wren,” Sara said falteringly. She recognized that light in Wren's eyes, and it only meant an ensuing argument for the unfortunate person who dared to cross swords with her. Sara swallowed and pressed onward. “One of these days you're going to realize that Sirena doesn't belong on a pedestal and that she's a human being like the rest of us mortals. And you must stop thinking about the infamous sea witch—you're always talking about her and making her your idol. For shame, Wren! Here you are, contemplating marriage with old Mally, and it's time to leave such fantasies behind. Now that you've finished school and are ready to meet society, you must put all that nonsense behind you. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

Sara faced Wren and saw that her ploy had been successful. Once again she had put doubts in Wren's mind about the relationship between herself and her parents. She was quick to see that the seeds she had sown weeks ago as to Wren's rightful use of the van der Rhys name had taken root and had begun to flower. Besides, this well-worn path of conversation was a perfect distraction for Wren's too-personal questions concerning Sara's opinion of Malcolm.

Outside the door, Tyler massaged his temples. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but hearing that Wren had slipped out of the house for a clandestine meeting with Weatherly had stunned him. He hadn't realized things had progressed so far. Now he found himself anticipating Wren's answer. Sara was correct. Wren had been living in a make-believe world, and her fantasies were the prime reason she had fallen prey to Malcolm Weatherly's charm. The stories about the Sea Siren, infamous piratess, told to Wren when she was a child, were meant to be just that. Stories. Fairy tales for a child to dream about, not a basis on which Wren should build her life.

“Sara Stoneham! There is a person, a real person, who was the Sea Siren! I really don't care if you believe me or not, but you're wrong—she doesn't occupy all my thoughts, and I know you think I'm trying to pattern my life after her, but I'm not! There could never be another Sea Siren.” A wistful note crept into Wren's voice. “The Siren was the most beautiful creature who ever rode the seas. Long, flowing hair, eyes the color of emeralds and skin like spun honey. She was a master of fencing, and there wasn't a man who could best her. I could never hope to compete with her, either in looks or in actions. My eyes are the wrong color and my skin is too pale. And I'm too short, much too short. And try as I might, I'll never equal her skill with the rapier.”

“See? Listen to yourself! Do you hear you compare yourself to that sea witch in such an unfavorable light?” Sara grasped Wren's wrist and dragged her over to the pier glass. “Look at yourself! Look!” Reluctantly, Wren lifted her eyes to the glass. “Now, tell me that what you see there is not more beautiful than any fantasy about a female pirate! Tell me that just the sight of you doesn't turn all men's eyes. I've been to the Royal Exchange with you, Wren. I've seen the effect you have on the masculine sex. Didn't Rolland Chalmers send you love notes that nearly singed the fingertips? What did he say to you? That your hair was a cloud of dark night and your eyes were golden embers and your skin—”

“Stop it, Sara!” Wren wrenched herself away. “I never said I was ugly!” she protested.

“True. But you compare yourself to this sea witch and it eats at you. Admit it, Wren. Why can't you put these thoughts behind you? Take a word of advice from an old friend. You'd better concentrate on the problem at hand. Prepare yourself for what your guardians are going to do when they find out about Malcolm. Somehow I can't see the van der Rhyses giving your their blessings over old Mally, not after what you told me about them.”

“They'd better give it, otherwise I'll run away,” Wren declared recklessly.

It was time to intervene, Tyler decided. Privacy be damned. He knocked and opened the door at the same time. “It's late, young ladies, and you need your beauty sleep. Or so my wife has been telling me all these years.” He looked from one girl to the other. Sara was tall and slender, like a yellow tea rose, he told himself. And Wren was like a tapered candle flame. Right now her eyes were like banked fires, ready to flare into flame if the conversation were allowed to continue. The girl had an ungovernable temper where it concerned Sirena and the Sea Siren.

Sara laughed, tossed her white-gold curls and quickly embraced Wren. “Baron Sinclair is right, Wren. We get along so well and we're best friends. Let's not spoil it now. Besides,” she added coquettishly, “Baron Sinclair has been so kind in allowing me to spend these few days with you before my parents arrive, I must insist that I am on his side.”

“I didn't realize we were taking sides,” Wren snapped as she wriggled out of Sara's embrace. “Tyler is right, though. We do need our beauty sleep—at least I do. Malcom is taking me to the country tomorrow and I want to look my best. Don't frown so, Tyler,” she said as she threw her arms about him. “Sirena will love Malcolm just as I do, and believe me when I tell you she won't hold it against you that I've been permitted to see him. She's going to love him, you'll see.”

“Somehow, little one, I can't share your optimism.”

“You're behaving like the new father you soon will be,” Wren teased, yet there was a ring of steel in her voice that could set Tyler's teeth rattling. He knew in his gut that Sirena would take one look at the modish Malcolm Weatherly and rip out her rapier and cut him to pieces. Also, Sirena would blame him from start to finish for the relationship between Wren and Weatherly. Sirena van der Rhys never did things in half. No, he would receive full blame, and if she didn't cut him down, then Regan would. Wren was the apple of Regan's eye, and no dandy was going to snap up his little girl. Perhaps they would take mercy on Tyler when he told them he was about to become a father. He blanched as he imagined Sirena's face after she heard the news. How well he knew her. She would say, “Congratulations,” and then cut him down. She had style, he must admit. Camilla would be forced to intervene on his behalf, and he would take the coward's way out. God, how could he have been so foolish to let Wren get herself tangled up with Weatherly? How could he have foreseen that a mild flirtation would blossom into an engagement? Why didn't he insist, right now, that she make a quick end of Weatherly? Because the girl could wrap him around her little finger—it was that simple. Women had always been his weakness. Jehovah! He hoped Camilla gave birth to a boy; otherwise he wouldn't have a chance of living to forty. He had to get himself in hand; he couldn't let the girls see how upset he was. He forced a smile to his lips, quickly pecked both of them on the cheek and exited the room, his stomach crawling with fear. Sirena would cut him down in his prime.