Once a Mistress (17 page)

“No,” she said. “I am stealing a moment of happiness, despite the consequences.” She traced her fingers down his face. “In the worst of times, I will always have this to look back upon. Make love to me, Alex.”

He took a deep breath. His heart pounded until he expected it to burst from his chest. His loins had grown harder than a belaying pin, and he focused on finding a bit of discipline. This was her first time. He wanted it to be a memory she cherished forever.

“Alex.” She threatened to blow holes in his fragile control as she traced his ear with her finger.

“Yes.” With effort, he asked, “Do you want me to snuff the candle?”

“No.” She smiled with innocent seductiveness. “I want to see you. I have no intention of missing
anything
.”

“You won’t,” he said. “That I promise you.”

“Show me.”

“Yes,” he murmured, then kissed her.

Diana clutched his shoulders with desperate hands as passion surged within her like a hungry beast. The strength of her emotions might have frightened her if it hadn’t been Alex who touched her.

He held her tenderly, yet with an experience that was reassuring. His mouth on hers made her moan with newfound emotions. Excitement rose on a wave of pleasure as he tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her head back to expose her throat. The slow, gentle glide of his mouth from ear to collarbone made her whimper. Gladly did she lose herself to his touch.

He shifted. Tossing aside the bedding that covered her legs, he gathered her against him and kissed her with a slowness that maddened her. Very gradually he deepened the kiss as he held her tightly and stroked her back with long, languid caresses. The silk absorbed the heat of his hand, leaving a tingling path behind.
 

Her breath caught as he brushed the sensitive spot between her shoulder blades, then smoothed his fingers down to curve over her bottom. He reversed the course. Up. Down. Up. Down. The unhurried pace drove her wild. Each time he reached her shoulders, he pulled the robe open an inch or so more, never touching her bare flesh. She anticipated the moment, longed for it. The waiting stretched, building tension, until the expected touch came, and desire streaked higher.

He brushed his lips over her forehead, her cheekbone, the contact so light she could barely feel it. Her belly clenched with each caress of his mouth, each tickle of his breath over her skin. Barely touching her, he aroused her slowly, letting the passion build.

Her mind awhirl with new sensations, Diana reached out to smooth the rippling muscles of his shoulders. He made a small sound of pleasure and bent his head to nuzzle her neck. She pressed her hands down his chest, stroking over his nipples and down his sinewy ribcage. He pulled his shirt over his head, and she repeated the movement over his bare flesh.

“Diana,” he whispered, his dark eyes hot with need.

“I know.” Clinging to his shoulders, she leaned up to kiss him. His mouth lingered on hers as she pulled back.

“Slowly,” he murmured, staring into her eyes. “We have all night.”
 

“Slowly,” she repeated, then eagerly sought his mouth again. His kiss echoed the unhurried sensuality of their movements, his lips molding to hers, then retreating, only to return again. Hunger spiked into urgency.

She trembled when he caressed her sensitive lower lip with his tongue. She did the same to him. They barely moved, half sitting, half reclining. Passion smoldered, creeping higher a degree at a time, toward the breaking point.

Alex swept both hands up her back to clutch her shoulders, his thumbs caressing the delicate hollows of her collarbone. Diana broke the kiss to boldly graze her teeth down the side of his throat. He groaned, the sound rumbling deep in his chest. Desperate hands cupped her face, tilting it so that she was looking up at him.

She melted at the blatant desire etched on his face. His beautiful mouth was still damp from their kisses, his jaw taut with control. She moved toward him at the same time he lowered his head. Their lips met halfway.

The tension, kept so carefully in check, exploded. Alex folded Diana into his arms, pressing her against him as if he would become a part of her. Only she touched places in him he had thought long dead. He wanted to fill himself with her essence, become one with her in every way possible. His body shook with the force of his emotions. “I need you,” he whispered.

“Yes,” she answered back. Greedy, she grabbed the handfuls of his hair and tugged his head down for a hot, wet kiss. When she pulled back, her eyes were cloudy with longing.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Alex said when he could form words. He rested his hands on her silk-covered hips and pulled her against his erection.

“Oh!” She grew distracted from the strange hardness pressed against her as he slid his hands into the robe to cover her breasts with his palms. He kneaded the firm mounds and rained hungry kisses on her mouth, her ears, her throat. Gliding his palms upward, he pushed the robe off her shoulders and brought his mouth to hers again.
 

Diana curled her fingers into his hair and deepened the kiss with an innocent carnality that nearly brought him to his knees. He gripped a handful of the robe, her arms still in the sleeves. Tugged.

He swallowed, took a breath. “Diana.” As she copied his movements and tongued his ear, he tugged the sash loose. The robe dangled off her elbows. “Take it off.”

“Yes.” She slipped her arms from the robe and tossed the garment aside. Candlelight gilded her fair skin with a golden glow. Reverently, he took in the sight of her beautiful breasts, her slender waist, her sweetly curved hips.

“Alex?” she whispered nervously, a becoming flush creeping into her cheeks.

Her beauty astounded, but not just the physical. It was a light that shone from within her, the special spark that made her Diana. The passion that glowed in her face…for him.

He must have been staring, because she reached out to trail her fingers down his chest, over his navel, and beyond. “What about you?”

His control broke when her fingers grazed his straining erection. “Diana…”

“Yes?” She watched him with half-closed eyes, wonder and sensuality curving her lips, as she touched him with unsubtle curiosity.

“God’s teeth,” he hissed. “You’re making this impossible.”

She popped open the buttons of his breeches one at a time. He raised an eyebrow at her deftness, and she giggled. “I wore breeches for two days, remember?”

“I do.” He helped her peel them from his body. “I cursed them many a time.”

As he tossed the garment to the floor, she looked down and gasped. He grinned at her expression, and she blushed. Silently, he took her hand and guided it to him.

Her face took on a speculative expression as she began to caress him. Her inexperienced touch aroused him more than the most practiced courtesan, and nearly brought him to climax. He managed to hold back. Taking her hand, he placed it on his shoulder, out of harm’s way. He took her mouth in an open-mouthed kiss that left them both breathless.

Her whimper of satisfaction dissolved into a moan as he slipped his hand between her legs. She arched against him, her fingers digging into the muscles of his shoulders. Groaning with the knowledge that she was indeed ready for him, he tumbled her on to her back, never breaking the contact. Lifting her hips, he entered her with one smooth motion. She made a small sound of pain as the proof of her virginity gave way. He paused, savoring that first, desperately sought, contact. After a moment she moved her hips. He groaned and closed his eyes. She felt so good. He pulled her legs tightly around his waist and set an easy rhythm, reveling in the feel of her warm acceptance.

“Alex,” Diana whispered, her head falling back. She said his name again and again, a litany of passion. Each time he heard it, he wanted to drive her higher, make the climax better. He opened his eyes, saw her beautiful breasts inches from his face. He hadn’t kissed them, he realized. There hadn’t been time. He dipped his head down and caught one pebbled nipple in his mouth, sucking strongly.

“Oh God,” Diana gasped.

She convulsed around him, shuddering, calling his name. He was right behind her, her own release triggering his, falling over the edge in a powerful rush of pleasure.

They clung, drained, limbs heavy, with the realization that everything they had ever known, had just changed forever.

Chapter Twelve

Besosa loomed on the horizon, barely a shadow in the afternoon sun. Alex smiled with satisfaction from the quarterdeck. Home.

A familiar laugh made him turn his head. Down in the waist Diana attempted to handle strong hemp ropes used for the sails. A lad with barely enough facial hair to shave showed her how to tie the various knots used to rig the ship. Each time she fumbled, she laughed, the light-hearted sound carrying across the deck like music. The lad watched her with a look of bedazzlement. Alex was sure that if he checked his own mirror, he would see a similar expression.

He smiled and stretched, turning his face up to the afternoon sun. He was as content as a cat sleeping before a fire, and had felt so ever since he had awakened early that morning. He was starting to believe that he had indeed been resurrected.

Until he met Diana, he had not realized how submerged he had become in revenge. It was good to know he could still experience the softer feelings, that he was
not
becoming El Moreno as he had feared.

That he had a future beyond Marcus’s death.

He leaned back against the rail and watched Diana. A second smile curved his lips. She had obviously not been exaggerating when she indicated that she loved life at sea. He only wondered what she would think when she discovered that she was to live the conventional life of a countess, and not the adventurous life of a pirate’s mistress.

He had made love to her last night with the full knowledge that they would wed. Now that he had made the decision, he could see the logic in it. Diana was of good family, yet she wasn’t a dull, meek miss as was common for her age. She was definitely an unusual woman, passionate and loyal. With Diana as his countess, he knew his life would
never
be boring.

“Well now. Ye’re lookin’ pleased wi’ yerself.”

Alex grinned at Birk as the physician lingered on the ladder leading up to the deck. “I am.”

Birk chuckled and took the last few rungs with ease. “At least there willna be a mutiny because o’ yer foul humor. I can lay ma fears tae rest.”

Alex said nothing, his attention caught by the way the sun played on Diana’s hair. She looked up and caught him watching her. A slow, sweet smile spread across her lips. Alex felt his body react immediately.

Birk noticed his preoccupation and laughed. “She’s a fine woman, ma friend. I’m pleased for ye.” He ruffled his shaggy hair with both hands and turned his face into the wind. “Aye, I slept fair well wi’out yer rummlin and whummlin on ma floor. Now that thon lassie kens yer secrets, perhaps ye’ll keep
her
awake o’ nights.”

“She knows nothing.”

“What?” Birk stared at him. “Are ye daft, man? Ye canna take a woman like that tae yer bed and still keep secrets from her. She’ll skin ye alive when she finds out what ye’ve hidden, as sure as I’m standin’ here.”

Alex grew solemn. “It’s for her own good. I’ll tell her, Birk. Just not until this masquerade is done.”

“Bloody hell.” Birk rubbed a hand over his face. “She winna ken it’s for her own good, Alex. She’ll think ye dinna trust her.” He shuddered. “Women always think that.”

“It has to be this way.” Alex watched Diana enchant Mr. James with her smile as the men broke open a barrel of rum. “Thank God Marcus doesn’t associate El Moreno with the Earl of Rothstone. It has kept my mother safe. And ignorance will serve to protect Diana as well. God forbid Marcus should get his hands on her again…but if he does, then the less she knows, the better. It could save her life, Birk.”

“Ye’re playin’ wi’ fire, man.”

“I swear I will tell her the whole of it once Marcus is in Morgan’s hands. Until then I will leave her on Besosa so she will be safe. I will tend to Marcus, and when I return I will explain everything.” He grinned at Birk. “I hope you have suitable clothing to wear to my wedding, my friend.”

“So ye’ve come tae yer senses at last! It took ye long enough.” Birk clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Will ye be married in Port Royal?”

“I rather fancy wedding Diana at home, on Besosa.”

“Hmmm.” Birk scratched his chin. “And were ye thinkin’ tae invite Rosana as well?”

“Blast it all. I forgot about her.” Alex frowned, considering the unpleasant notion of his hot-tempered Spanish mistress meeting up with his fiery bride-to-be. “I will deal with Rosana. Until then, you will be keeping Diana out of sight.”

“A wise move, Alex.”

“Stay with her, Birk. I’ll secure a room at the tavern.”

“Yer no bringin’ her tae stay wi’ yer mother?”

“Oh, I am indeed. However, I believe I should speak to her first.” He smiled. “Besides, my mother should be prepared for Diana.”

“If I had a bottle, I would salute yer clear thinkin’, man.”

“Clear thinking my arse, Birk. I would survive to see my wedding night is all.”

The two men burst into laughter.

Diana dipped the cloth in the basin of water and dabbed at her neck and upper chest. It had been so hot up on deck, and she had been sitting in the Caribbean sun for too long. She closed her eyes, enjoying the relief the cool water brought to her over-warm skin. Lifting her hair aside, she dipped the cloth in the basin again and ran it along the back of her neck.

Strong masculine fingers covered both of hers on the cloth and closed over her shoulder to steady her. She let out a soft gasp, then relaxed as lips she knew well brushed her nape. She released the cloth to him and dropped her hand to her side as he continued to smooth it over her shoulder, his mouth following the damp trail of the cloth.
 

“Alex,” she whispered, as he placed nibbling kisses along her collarbone.

“It had better not be anyone else,” he murmured.